Office of Rural Affairs Enhancement Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. GOODLANDER. Mr. Speaker, I am very proud to rise today and join my colleagues from across America in support of what is a commonsense, bipartisan bill.

H.R. 4549 is a bill that will deliver a fair deal for America's rural small businesses and entrepreneurs by cutting red tape, delivering access to key Federal resources, and ensuring experienced and accountable representation and leadership within our government. It is a bill that will ensure the voices of rural America aren't just heard but are truly prioritized within our government.

Running a small business is really an act of faith. It is hard work, often brutally hard work, and it is extraordinarily important work because rural small businesses are the beating hearts of communities across America, and in every corner of my home State of New Hampshire. They are the backbone of our economy.

As I have worked alongside and as I have listened to and learned from rural small businesses across New Hampshire, from the family farmers of our north country to the manufacturers of our Monadnock region, and from the loggers of our upper valley to the small businesses of the Souhegan Valley, I have heard again and again that the Federal programs designed to help our rural small businesses are riddled with red tape, and they are often impossible to access.

I have heard again and again that the rules of the road are simply not written with the realities of rural America in mind, their challenges and the opportunities. That is not right, and it is our job as lawmakers to correct it.

In 1990, Congress created the Office of Rural Affairs within the Small Business Administration to tackle this problem set, but as we have seen over the past 35 years, the office is underperforming. It lacks experienced and accountable leadership, and the red tape is still very much there for the cutting.

So our bill is going to address these gaps in the law. It is going to require a senior leader with real experience in rural economic development to be at the helm and to be accountable to Congress and the American people.

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Ms. GOODLANDER. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues from across this body and across our Nation to come together to deliver for our rural small businesses. They are the backbone of our economy, and they are the fabric of American life. This bipartisan bill, the Office of Rural Affairs Enhancement Act, is going to go a long way to delivering for them.

Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers.

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