Sam Farr

When does it end? Research projects have a beginning and an ending.

I am just talking about the fact that the process seems very awkward.

I mean, you ought to abide by the same standards that university research labs have to do, which are under the Animal Welfare Act and do get inspected by the APHIS.

You are really trying to hide this story, to bury it.

We are proposing to invest almost $25 million in water in 2016.

I hope that we can get to the bottom of it.

I just want to tell you how much I owe you a debt of gratitude.

If we are going to have a foreign food aid program, then the intent of it is to work people out of poverty.

It seems to me that all these programs are welfare. And we have got to start being smart about it.

I went to Lalibela market in Ethiopia. And what they were selling there was all this food that we had shipped from the United States.

What I am surprised at is that you are spending so little.

I would like to follow up on the Chairman's questions.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could in a decade commit that the persistently--every 10 years, when we measure this in our census, it is the same counties that are there.

Put it in the context of the military families that are defaulting because of payday lending and all of these scammers that are trying to--that DOD is very upset about.

There is no way you can--I mean, my personal story is that, when I got out of college, I went in the Peace Corps.

I am really pleased that you are a Chair of this Committee that understands that, because so many people don't understand rural poverty.

I am just a little sick and tired of hearing rhetoric around here that if we give aid to farmers and we give aid to veterans and we give aid to senior citizens, those are benefits. But if we give aid to single moms trying to pay for rent…

I would be very appreciative if you could also recommend to the Committee if these rural caps that we put on programs are problematic in trying to address the problems in these rural counties.

So do you recruit government employees to be on this Rural Corps, or are these volunteers with professional experience?

I think your remarks are right on in a lot of issues, but I do not see that we are following through.

I think this idea of a Rural Corps is really interesting, but maybe I would like to hear how we can partnership with AmeriCorps and other kinds of corps that are out there that might get a better bang for the buck for every one of them.

I don't know how we are going to run this government if we are just going to cut, squeeze, and trim and do it kind of without reason, just because it is a new idea.

What I am very shocked about, Mr. Chairman, is sort of this attitude that, if it is new, we are not going to fund it.

I think this hearing is very important because the U.S. Department of Agriculture is--and this hearing is the only hearing that will be held in Congress on rural poverty by any Committee.

I appreciate that, particularly with your background as a State administrator.