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[[Image:RichardRaymond.jpg|thumb|150px|Under Secretary Richard Raymond]]

'''Richard Allen Raymond''' was [[Under Secretary of Agriculture for Food Safety]] from 2005 to 2009. His nomination was announced and sent to the Senate on May 26, 2005. He was confirmed on July 1 and appointed on July 18.<ref>{{cite web | title=Presidential Nomination: Richard Allen Raymond | url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/nominations/1253.html | access-date= September 20, 2007 }}</ref><ref name="a">{{cite web | title=Dr. Richard Raymond Bios | url=http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/!ut/p/_s.7_0_A/7_0_1OB/.cmd/ad/.ar/sa.retrievecontent/.c/6_2_1UH/.ce/7_2_5JM/.p/5_2_4TQ/.d/0/_th/J_2_9D/_s.7_0_A/7_0_1OB?PC_7_2_5JM_contentid=bios_raymond.xml#7_2_5JM | access-date= September 20, 2007 }}</ref>

==Education and career==

Before joining the [[U.S. Department of Agriculture]], Richard Raymond was director of the [[Nebraska]] Department of Health and Human Services Regulation & Licensure division where he oversaw regulatory programs involving health care and environmental issues. He had been appointed to the position on October 16, 2004, by then-Nebraska governor [[Mike Johanns]]. He was also Nebraska's Chief Medical Officer; he had been appointed to that position in January 1999. Raymond graduated from Hastings College and earned his medical degree from the University of Nebraska Medical Center. For 17 years, he practiced medicine in rural Nebraska.<ref name="a"/><ref>{{cite news|title=USDA|publisher=Food & Drink Weekly|date=May 9, 2005|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EUY/is_17_11/ai_n13829909}}</ref>

There, he established and directed a community-based Family Practice Residency for Clarkson Medical Center. He served as president of the Nebraska Medical Association, chaired Nebraska Governor Mike Johanns' Blue Ribbon Panel on Infant Mortality, and served on numerous state committees related to public health. He was also president of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) and has been a member of the association's Preparedness Committee for three years.<ref name="a"/>

==Under Secretary for Food Safety==

In November 2005, Richard Raymond was interviewed by the ''[[Washington Post]]'', which had christened him the "germ czar," on the subject of [[Thanksgiving]] food safety.<ref>{{cite news|first=Candy|last=Sagon|title=Cook and Eat Safely|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=November 20, 2005|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/18/AR2005111801305.html}}</ref> In May 2006, he appeared in television and radio advertisements seeking to ease concerns about the bird flu, saying, "It's important for you to know that it’s safe to eat poultry, even if bird flu is detected here sometime in the future."<ref>{{cite news|agency=Associated Press|title=New TV, radio ads aim to ease bird flu fears|publisher=NBC News|date=May 4, 2006|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna12634865}}</ref> In October 2006, he criticized the idea of combining multiple agencies into a single agency responsible for food safety as an "unnecessary solution."<ref>{{cite news|first=Libby|last=Quaid|agency=Associated Press|title=Official Abhors Food Safety Agency Idea|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=October 11, 2006|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/11/AR2006101101336_pf.html}}</ref>

In December 2006, he disputed a report by ''[[Consumer Reports]]'' in which 83% of chickens they tested were infected with [[campylobacter]] and/or [[salmonella]] bacteria, noting that the sample of 500 chickens tested was "very small."<ref>{{cite news|title=Turn up the heat: Consumer Reports finds 83% of chickens infected |newspaper=Chicago Sun-Times|date=December 10, 2006|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4155/is_20061210/ai_n16901997}} {{Dead link|date=September 2010|bot=RjwilmsiBot}}</ref> In February 2007, Richard Raymond ordered stepped-up inspections at some meat and poultry plants where the threat of [[E. coli]] is high or past visits found unsafe practices.<ref>{{cite news|title=More USDA scrutiny at riskier meat plants|newspaper=Chicago Sun-Times|date=February 23, 2007|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EUY/is_17_11/ai_n13829909}}</ref> On the subject of China's banning of pork containing ractopamine, he said that he hoped Beijing could change its stance if the Codex Alimentarius Commission, an international food safety body, could endorse tolerance levels for it.<ref>{{cite news|title=China rejects pork imports from U.S., Canada|work=Reuters|date=September 17, 2007|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSPEK4981120070917}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}
*{{C-SPAN}}

{{s-start}}https://ccrp.vcl.ncsu.edu/content/merle-d-pierson
{{succession box
| before = [https://ccrp.vcl.ncsu.edu/content/merle-d-pierson Merle D. Pierson] (acting)
| title = [[Under Secretary of Agriculture for Food Safety]]
| years = 2005–2008
| after = [https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/07/elisabeth-hagen-undersecretary-food-safety/454551/ Elizabeth Hagen]
}}
{{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raymond, Richard Allen}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:United States Department of Agriculture officials]]
[[Category:Hastings College alumni]]
[[Category:University of Nebraska Medical Center alumni]]
[[Category:People from Sherman County, Nebraska]]