Department of Agriculture Office of Assistant Secretary for Administration Washington, DC, 20250-0100
March 26, 1995
Ms. Debby Moore President Kansas Environmentalists for Commerce in Hemp CPO Representative District 1.3 Kansas State Lobbyists 2742 E. 2nd Wichita, KS, 67214
Dear Ms. Moore:
This is in response to your correspondence of March 17, 1994, in which you address your desire to cultivate Cannabis Sativa L Hemp under Executive Order 12919.
In my prior correspondence on this subject, dated November 17, 1994, I stated that Under the authority delegated by Executive Order 12919, the Secretary of Agriculture can establish priorities in production and allocation of food resources, only if the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Energy or the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency determines in writing that the exercise of this authority is necessary to promote the national defense. (emphasis added) As of this date, no determination has been made to exercise this authority.
The letter that you provided to me from the Department of Energy merely expresses an interest on the part of the Department of Energy to study a number of crops as potential biomass sources. Therefore, I must reaffirm our position on this issue and state that neither the Defense Production Act of 1950 nor Executive Order 12919 contains any provision for the public to petition for production of commodities of any kind.
I hope this clarifies our position on this issue.
Sincerely
Wardell C. Townsend, Jr. Assistant Secretary for Administration