Dear Secretary Vilsack:

A subpoena was issued to you as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture ("USDA") on September 4, 2013, for documents related to the Obama Administration's decision to sequester money paid to states under the Secure Rural Schools ("SRS") program. The subpoena required that the requested documents be provided to the Committee on Natural Resources ("Committee") no later than 12 noon on September 18, 2013.

On September 30, 2013, USDA produced approximately 808 pages of email communications and other documents, about 600 pages of which are copies of form letters concerning the sequester decision. No additional documents have been provided in response to the Committee's subpoena.

This letter is being sent to inform you the Committee expects to invite you to a hearing, tentatively being planned for November 20, 2013, to consider the USDA's compliance with the September 4 subpoena and to better understand the Obama Administration's application of the sequester to the SRS program. A formal invitation will follow this letter.

Read the entire letter HERE.