Boise, ID - One of the nation's best-known Western leaders will be in Boise next month to address the annual banquet named in honor of the Idaho's greatest U.S. Senator.

U.S. Sen. Jon Tester (D-Montana) will be the featured speaker at the 2010 Frank Church Banquet, the annual gala hosted by the Idaho Democratic Party. This year's event is February 27 at the Boise Centre.

"It's an honor to speak with fellow Democrats about the values important to the West," Tester said.  "We have a lot to be proud of, and we have a lot of work to do together.  I look forward to visiting Idaho and talking about the challenges and opportunities we face as westerners--from job creation to renewable energy development to bringing common sense back to Washington, D.C."

Tester agreed to attend the event at the request of Idaho Congressman Walt Minnick, a fellow Western Democrat who has also championed the renewal of agriculture as a core issue within the Democratic Party.

"I grew up on a dryland farm, so I have a lot of respect for the men and women who do that work today," Idaho Congressman Walt Minnick said, "I very much appreciate Senator Tester's work to represent farmers and ranchers, and look forward to welcoming him to Idaho to talk politics, policy and the price of wheat.'

The choice of speaker was praised by Keith Allred, another ag-friendly Democrat who is running to unseat Idaho Governor Butch Otter. "I am delighted that Senator Tester will be our featured speaker. He is smart, independent, and understands the western way of life", said Allred.

Idaho Democratic Party Chairman Keith Roark also praised the choice, and said Tester's message will resonate with Idaho voters, Republicans, Independents and Democrats alike. "In recent years we have watched the emergence of a new class of Western Democratic Senators, Congressmen and Governors who understand agriculture from personal experience and Sen. Tester is a leader among that class.  Our own Congressman Walt Minnick and gubernatorial candidate Keith Allred are prime examples of this emerging class of leaders and we all join in welcoming Sen. Tester to the Gem State for this event."

About Tester:
Jon Tester was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2006 after serving four terms in the Montana State Senate. In 2005, after Democrats won control of that body, Tester was chosen by his colleagues to be Montana Senate President.

Tester grew up near Big Sandy, Montana, where the rich landscape and life as a farmer’s son instilled in him a deep-rooted commitment to Montana, family, faith and hard work.
Today Jon Tester continues to honor the agricultural roots his grandfather planted in Big Sky Country by continuing the Tester family dry-land farming operations.

A respected member in the community, Tester served for five years as chairman of the Big Sandy School Board of Trustees, is a past master of Treasure Lodge #95 of the Masons in Big Sandy, and served on the Big Sandy Soil Conservation Service (SCS) Committee and the Chouteau County Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service (ASCS) Committee.

In the U.S. Senate, Tester has been a pioneer in ethics reform, Tester’s first act in Congress was passing the most sweeping ethics overhaul since the Watergate scandal.  Tester is also the first U.S. Senator to post his daily schedule online and to conduct a self-imposed ethics audit of his office.

Tester values integrity, common sense, transparency in government, and working across party lines to do what’s right for Montana.  He is a staunch supporter of Second Amendment rights, individual privacy, and public access to public land.

In the U.S. Senate, Tester is an outspoken leader for rural America, working families, small businesses and family agriculture.

Tester has a strong vision for America’s energy future.  He crafted and passed measures to develop clean and sustainable new energy resources and to promote conservation.