We urge you to use this moment, this opportunity, to invest in our 1890 universities, to invest in the future of our communities, and to invest in the people we serve.

Without these 1890 land-grant colleges and universities, it is very doubtful that we, as African American Members of Congress, would be here.

The fundamental purpose of this hearing is to hear from our African American college presidents on the work that we are doing in Congress.

I am so thankful for that, for I am a graduate of one of those 1890s, Florida A&M University, my beloved FAMU, home of the Rattlers.

I want to thank Congressman David Scott, whose vision was to establish scholarships for 1890s for students wanting to pursue Baccalaureate degrees in Food and Agricultural Sciences.

I want to thank you for the investments to the 1890s in the 2018 Farm Bill and in the American Recovery Plan.

I am so proud, and I am so thankful, for God blessing me with this opportunity to make history as the first African American Congressmember to chair this extraordinary Committee.

On behalf of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB) community, I would like to express my sincere thanks and gratitude...

We appreciate the Congress' partnership with our 1890 Universities and look forward to additional future collaborations.

How do you, if you are a young person, if you are a person starting out, how do you afford a house now?

Thank you, Madam Chairwoman, for this very, very important and critical hearing.

Through your leadership, Chairwoman Waters, even the most vulnerable among us... continue to have representation in these halls.

What is wrong with having a voucher for a person who needs a house?

I do believe that we need these vouchers, and I very much support them.

I am proud to join Chairwoman Waters and the distinguished gentleman from New York, Mr. Torres, in proposing the Ending Homelessness Act of 2021.

We do have to build more houses. We do have to loosen the up zoning up.

We have to solve this problem. We can't leave these poor folks. Many of them are single heads of households, people with disabilities, people with no bank accounts.

I want to talk about our unbanked and underbanked, as we apply that to the child tax credit...

So it seems to me, my bipartisan colleagues--Reverend Cleaver, myself, and Congressman French Hill from Arkansas have a bill moving, it is over in the Senate now, for financial inclusion.

And certainly, our bill passing the House yesterday brings in the consumer financial protection services.

How are your regulated banks preparing to handle loans emerging from forbearance?

I urge the Committee to support the bipartisan Secure Rural Schools Reauthorization Act of 2021.

I urge the Committee's support for the bipartisan, bicameral Joint Chiefs Landscape Restoration Partnership Act of 2021.

we want to ensure that our United States agricultural industry is always kept as the number one agriculture industry in the world.

This bipartisan legislation would provide Federal support for sustainable agriculture and soil research through the Agriculture Advanced Research and Development Authority (AGARDA) program.