Sheila Jackson Lee: “I thank the gentleman from Georgia for his leadership, and the manager of this appropriations process. I cannot start a…”

“I thank the gentleman from Georgia for his leadership, and the manager of this appropriations process. I cannot start a discussion of my particular amendment, very briefly--and I thank my colleagues for the amendment being included in the en bloc--without again mentioning the devastation in the Gulf Coast region and the need that we have on all aspects of recovery, and will look forward to an effective investment for the long haul. My amendment contributes to that aspect, and that is that the amendment makes a modest $500,000 increase to the National Institute of Food and Agriculture's Research and Education Activities account. The intent of the amendment is to enable the NIFA to increase funding by $500,000 to 1890 institutions, which are HBCU land grant colleges, to support education, research, and scholarship at HBCUs. The amendment is paid for by an offset of $944,000 in the chief information officer account. The offset is budget neutral and reduces outlays by $1 million, according to the CBO. This particular amendment supports the work of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture by making a modest increase that will help our land grant colleges.…”