Dear Secretary Vilsack:

More than a month has passed since the Committee on Natural Resources ("Committee") sent a letter on February 14 requesting that the Department of Agriculture ("USDA") abandon any plans to withhold a portion of the FY 2013 Secure Rural Schools ("SRS") payments as a way to recover the FY 2012 SRS money that the USDA ordered States to return last year. The letter also requested the USDA provide by February 25, 2014 information about the legal authority for those plans and about other available options, among other topics. It is disappointing and troubling that no response has been received.

Read the entire letter HERE.