Rosa DeLauro

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. The President's proposal was to zero out the broadband program, telemedicine, which is really quite extraordinary in an age of technology, an age of trying to bring our communities together and particularly rural America. One of the things that we do in this bill is we're examining why we have so many underserved areas in terms of rural America. And we're going to request that the Inspector General do a study of why money isn't going into the underserved areas. I don't think that there's an individual in this House, on either side of the aisle, that doesn't believe that that is the key to the future; the Internet, broadband, telecommunications. It's for urban areas. It is particularly for the rural areas which are underserved. Again, these are communities population under 20,000. Libraries, educational centers.

Ms. DeLAURO. How much time, Mr. Chairman, remains on our side?

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. Farr).

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition.

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chairman, let me close by saying that, again, this is about building infrastructure in rural America. The facts are that the demographics are changing in rural America. We are looking at communities that have lost jobs, that have lost because they can't sustain them, community institutions. These community facility grants allow for these communities to access resources in order to create the kinds of services that they and their families need in order to be able to survive. The demographics are going in one direction, and the administration will take away all of the opportunities, as with the gentleman from Texas, for these communities to be able to thrive. It is wrong, and I urge my colleagues to vote against this amendment. I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition.

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1\1/4\ minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Jackson). (Mr. JACKSON of Illinois asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition.

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Holt).

Ms. DeLAURO. If the gentleman would yield, these are both very, very worthy efforts, and I look forward to working with the gentleman on these programs. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hare).

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chairman, I rise to claim the time in opposition to the gentleman's amendment.

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Scott).

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the gentleman's amendment. Mr. Chairman, every year, the administration has castigated the Congress for funding these items. In fiscal year 2007, in the continuing resolution, we left the decision up to the administration. In order to decide what to do, the administration conducted an extensive review of all of the ``earmarks'' in the Agriculture Research Service account. Do you know what? They decided that the vast, overwhelming proportion of the earmarks were worth funding. This one on catfish genomics was approved by the administration. It may have a funny name, but it makes a good sound bite. I am sure that the members of each party that requested this funding can tell the House a lot about the importance of the catfish industry to their State and the economic losses from the disease in a very serious way. We also have recently witnessed what is happening with imported product in terms of catfish from China and, in fact, what that has done to that market in these communities.

Ms. DeLAURO. If the gentleman would yield, I, too, am concerned about treatment of workers at Blue Diamond Growers. I'm aware that the Secretary of Agriculture has the discretion to deny funding to a coop if it is in the best interest of the program. I further note that USDA regulations require that MAP participants adhere to the laws and customs abroad when they hire foreign workers to market their product. We'll work with you on this critical issue of real importance to our workers. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chairman, I yield to Congresswoman Kaptur for a unanimous consent request. (Ms. KAPTUR asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. I want to assure the gentleman that we appreciate the gentleman's hard work on this issue and understand and will be willing to work with you as we proceed.

Ms. DeLAURO. As we talked about in the full committee with both Mr. Cramer and yourself, Mr. Kingston, and Mr. Aderholt, I talked about working with you on this issue. I commend you for bringing it to our attention.

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee).

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to Mr. Crowley and Mr. Nadler, 1 minute between the two.

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chairman, I would just ask the gentlemen from New York to place their material into the Record.

Ms. DeLAURO. I pledge to work with the gentlemen from New York on this issue.

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Weiner).

Ms. DeLAURO. I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Crowley).

Ms. DeLAURO

Ms. DeLAURO. We have no guarantees with regard to the process.