WASHINGTON, DC – USA Rice presented its 2025 Congressional Staff Awards last month to Fitzhugh Elder IV and Anne Simmons, recognizing their decades of federal service and exceptional contributions to the U.S. rice industry.
Simmons retired from the U.S. House of Representatives this spring after more than 35 years on Capitol Hill, including more than three decades with the House Committee on Agriculture, where she began working in 1993. Her institutional knowledge and unwavering commitment to agricultural policy made a lasting impact on the industry and all those with whom she worked. Currently, Simmons is working on agricultural advocacy efforts alongside former House Ag Chair Colin Peterson at The Peterson Group, Inc.
Elder currently serves as staff director for Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee Ranking Member John Boozman (R-AR). He has worked in the Senate for more than 20 years, spending the bulk of his tenure at the Agriculture and Appropriations Committees, developing deep expertise in agricultural policy. Elder also had a mid-career stint in the private sector, where he advocated on behalf of agriculture clients, including rice farmers.
“The number of collective hours these two very deserving individuals have spent working tirelessly as public servants on behalf of American agriculture would be unimaginable to calculate,” said USA Rice President & CEO Peter Bachmann. “When I look at the number of farm bills and agriculture spending bills that benefited the rice industry over the decades where they’ve been at the table or at the helm for their committees, it really makes me appreciate the strong relationships we have with such dedicated professionals. While USA Rice does not present this award annually, when we do, it’s to those who have really gone above and beyond to support our industry’s priorities, and I’m proud to say that criteria made our friends Anne and Fitz obvious choices.”