Brian Jones: “I thank the chairman and the ranking member for allowing me to have this opportunity to speak about this amendment. The…”

“I thank the chairman and the ranking member for allowing me to have this opportunity to speak about this amendment. The amendment allows military towns who are on the bubble of eligibility for USDA rural development programs the ability to apply for loans and grants for their communities. Given the transitory nature of military service, town populations change frequently and having this buffer will allow otherwise ineligible communities to have the ability to apply and compete for assistance in funding critical facilities such as fire departments, hospitals, and children's centers. {time} 1915 Allowing these communities to compete for financial assistance does not increase spending for these programs. We are probably only talking about four military towns at this point. So these towns are in the rural part of America, and, again, we are just saying that they should have the ability to compete. That is the amendment, the best I can explain it, and I ask for support of the amendment. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time. The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Jones). The amendment was agreed to. Amendment No. 8 Offered by Mr. Latta The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 8 printed in part C of House Report 115-677.”