LAWMAKERS REVIEW RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS
News Date June 16, 2009
The House Agriculture Subcommittee on Rural Development, Biotechnology, Specialty Crops, and Foreign Agriculture, chaired by Rep. Mike McIntyre (D-NC), last week reviewed USDA rural development programs and the status of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (economic stimulus) funds.
The subcommittee heard testimony from two panels of witnesses, including USDA Under Secretary for Rural Development Dallas Tonsager, and Phyllis Fong, Office of the Inspector General. The time-conscious American Recovery and Reinvestment Act authorized $4.36 billion for rural development loan and grant programs. Tonsager said USDA's plans for the funds include high speed broadband infrastructure, construction or improvement of rural water and waste disposal systems, financing rural family homes, building critical community facilities, and funding new rural business ventures. Other panelists representing rural communities recommended ways for the Recovery Act funds to reach rural communities quicker, more efficiently, and through a simpler process. (Contact: Kasey Miller or David Hickey)