Hearing of the House Appropriations Committee - USDA Rural Development

Hearing

Good morning. I would like to welcome Mr. Doug O'Brien, Deputy Under
Secretary, Rural Development; Mr. John Padalino, Acting Administrator,
Rural Utilities Service; Ms. Lillian Salerno, Acting Administrator, Rural
Business-Cooperative Service; Ms. Tammye Trevino, Administrator, Rural
Housing Service; and Mr. Mike Young, USDA's Budget Director to the
Subcommittee to discuss the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA)
budget request for fiscal year 2014 for its Rural Development mission area.

As noted in the testimony, USDA is the sole federal department charged
with serving the needs of Americans who live in the rural parts of this
nation.

It seems that I've seen this budget request before and is hard to believe that
once again USDA proposes very large cuts for the programs, such as Single
Family Direct Loans and Water and Waste Disposal grants, that matter the
most in rural America. Instead, the administration seems to have placed its
focus on a new $55 million economic development program that has not
been reviewed by Congress.

As the only federal department dedicated to rural America, I have to wonder
if this budget request is truly in tune with its needs, especially the needs of
rural Americans with the lowest incomes.

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