Jodey Arrington: “I respect the ranking member's comments, and I appreciate his commitment to rural America, but I would submit that my…”

“I respect the ranking member's comments, and I appreciate his commitment to rural America, but I would submit that my hometown, which is over the 20,000 threshold but under the 50,000, has every bit of the challenges that small towns at 20,000 and below face. They deserve access to quality care. This amendment, by the way, does not change that threshold. However, that threshold is changed in the farm bill. It reserves the direct lending portion of the program at $2.8 billion for those communities at 20,000 and below, and it actually expands the Guaranteed Loan Program that has delivered capital to levels close to $150 million. That program would be the one we would expand for communities above 20,000 but below 50,000. Again, Plainview, Texas, is a rural small town. It is an ag community, and if the people of Plainview and towns like that don't have access to healthcare, then they cannot sustain the ag economy in west Texas. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.”