Filemon Vela: “I continue to reserve the balance of my time. Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas…”

It is our job on this Committee to ensure that these programs are structured and implemented in a way that can quickly, efficiently, and most directly serve the farmers, ranchers and small towns who need them right now.

The stakes have never been higher than they are right now.

It is clear that USDA wants to find efficiencies, but is USDA prepared to make the changes needed to successfully deliver these important services, even if that means increasing, not decreasing, staff and resources?

Most of us on this Subcommittee represent pretty large swaths of land, and I can't go to any farmer in the 270 mile stretch of south Texas that I represent without hearing about how difficult it is for farmers to get loans and financing…