The Ag Minute: Delays in Broadband Funding Are Costing Rural America Opportunities

WASHINGTON – This week during The Ag Minute, guest host Rep. Mike Conaway, a member of the House Agriculture Committee, highlights the importance of holding the administration accountable for disbursing funds for broadband projects under the stimulus bill. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 provided the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Commerce with $7.2 billion to build critical broadband infrastructure throughout the country including unserved rural areas. To date, there have been no broadband infrastructure projects approved under the stimulus bill. Rep. Conaway worked as a certified public accountant prior to serving in Congress.

Click here to listen to The Ag Minute. The transcript is below.

"Hi, this is Mike Conaway. I am the Ranking Member on the House Agriculture Committee's Subcommittee on Rural Development. We will have a hearing this week - on Thursday - to review the current process and progress that both the Department of Commerce and the Department of Agriculture have made in rolling out some $4 billion in money that was passed as part of the $787 billion stimulus program.

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Ranking Member Frank D. Lucas

Committee Hearing to Review the Financial Stability Improvement Act Discussion Draft

Mr. Chairman, thank you for holding this hearing today.  As you know, I also sit on the Financial Services Committee, the committee that wrote the legislation we are considering today.  At the conclusion of today’s hearing, the House Agriculture Committee will have held as many hearings on this discussion draft as the House Financial Services Committee has held before that committee moved into markup.  This bill certainly needs more consideration, not less.  I thank you for moving quickly to expose many of its shortcomings. 

As we have said many times in this committee, it wasn’t the futures markets that caused the financial meltdown this country experienced a little over a year ago.  Why is there a rush to change how futures markets are regulated?  The CFTC can take pride in the integrity of the futures markets.  And, yet it seems as though the CFTC is ready to roll back what many consider to be a safe and sound core principals-based regulatory regime.  Why?  What is the risk that we are trying to legislate out of existence? 

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The Honorable Frank D. Lucas

House Floor Statement on H.R. 2868, the Chemical and Drinking Water Security Act of 2009

I rise in opposition to H.R. 2868, the so-called Chemical and Water Security Act of 2009 and request unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks.

It no longer surprises me that the Democratic leadership is once again racing to impose more government mandates on our farmers, ranchers and small businesses without considering the economic impact of their actions.

From cap and trade to food safety to soon health care –rushing ill-conceived, ill-timed legislation through Congress has shamefully become the norm around here.   

In renaming the bill from the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Act to the Chemical and Water Security Act, I appreciate that the authors of the bill at least acknowledge that it has nothing to do with protecting our country from acts of terrorism.  But, rather it has everything to do with pacifying the extreme environmental lobby.

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