Spending Cuts to Expired and Unnecessary Programs Act
Floor Speech
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Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to the proposed rescission package, the so-called Spending Cuts to Expired and Unnecessary Programs Act.
I do not think these are unnecessary programs. They are vital programs, and our rural communities all across America rely upon them.
For example, the administration is proposing a rescission of $37 million to the Rural Development Water and Waste Disposal Loan and Grant Program at USDA. This program provides funding for clean and reliable drinking water systems, sanitary sewage disposal, sanitary solid waste disposal, and stormwater drainage to households and businesses in rural areas.
With all due respect, that does not seem unnecessary to me. In fact, we in Congress provided a special appropriation of $500 million for this program in fiscal year 2017, in addition to regular program funds, to begin to address the backlog in this program.
Even after the 2017 bill was enacted, the National Rural Water Association estimated there was a remaining backlog of more than $2 billion. This rescission will only push us back down the hill in our efforts to address the needs for clean water and wastewater disposal in rural areas.
This package also takes away nearly $15 million from the Value-Added Agricultural Product Market Development Grant program; $40 million from the Rural Housing Service rental assistance program; $14.7 million from the Rural Cooperative Development Grant program; and $147 million from the Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program. And that just names a few. There are even more cuts across agriculture, rural development, energy, and conservation programs.
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Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, in total, the rescission is more than $15 billion. I cannot emphasize enough how much this bill will hurt our farmers, our ranchers, and all those who live in rural America.
I ask my colleagues to join me in standing up for rural communities by rejecting this unconscionable rescission bill.
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