Date: 1992-08-04
Speaker: D LA GARZA (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of H.R. 5237. and tell our distinguished colleagues in this House that this Is a continued commitment to rural America and the needs of rural America. It is in fact committing us to further enhance and improve life in rural America with everything that it entails. from Jobs. from homes. for roads. for schools. for health care. for all the family values that we cherish. This is another small item in trying to enhance all of those areas for those that live in rural America and produce basically all our food and fiber. Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of H.R. 523. and recommendits adoption by the Memlbers of the House. This legislation. which waa approved by the Committee on AgricUlture on June 25. has two main purposes which I would like to briefly describe. The first purpose of H.R. 5237 is to allow prepayment of outstanding Indebtedness by Rural Electrification Adminltration [REA] borrowers. This provision will simply allow local rural electric coperatives the option of prepayln their REA loan. This will serve to reduce the Federal Governments exposure to future repayment risk and free the cooperative from the rules and regulations of the REA. Perhaps. more importantly. at a time when we have a 2year long wating list of requests for REA loans. we should allow financially healthy REA borrowers to prepay their loans so that other. more needy cooperatives will have greater access to the REA program. An REA prepayment program has been authorized before. primarily in reconciliation legislation. However the prepayment provisions of H.R. 5237 are different from past prepayment programs. The bill authorizes prepayments based on the present value of the debt owed to the Government. discounted from the face value of the debt at a discount rate equal to the cost of funds to the Treasury. Cooperatives prepaying their debt to the Federal Government under this program will be Ineligible to apply for futher REA program loans for 5 years following the prepayment. This prepayment program will result in no cost to the Federal Government. I repeat. both the Congressional Budget Office and the Office of the Management and Budget report that the prepayment provision In H.R 5237 will not incur any cost to the Federal Government. The second purpose of H.R. 5237 is to promote Interactive telecommunlcations systems in rural areas. This provision. first proposed in H.R. 5238. a bill introduced by Subcommlttee Chairman GLENN ENGLISH. would require the Administrator of REA to establish a grant program to help eligible States implement Interactive telecommunications systems for improving health care and educational services In rural areas. A State would qualify by establishing a program meeting the criteria outlined in the bill. thus ensuring a longterm program targeted to the health and educational needs of rural areas of the State. The need for this grant program is obvious. A growing number of residents in remote rural areas lack access to many educational and medical information technologies taken for granted by urban citizens. Many rural areas simply do not have the telecommunications infrastructure urban areas enjoy. This legislation is a modest attempt to encourage the upgrading of rural telecommunications infrastructure and better meet the informational needs of our rural citizens. Mr. Speaker. I woiuld like to take this opprtunity to commend and ccmpliment Congressman ENGLISH. who serves as the chairman of our Subcommittee on Conservation. Credit and Rural Development. for proposing this legislation and guiding it through the markup process. Several changes have been made In this legislation to address various luriadictional and budget concerns. As Introduced. section 4 of H.R. 5237 would have amended the credit reform provisions of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. an issue within the jurisdiction of the Committee on Government Operations. The Committee on Agriculture has deleted this provision. and I want to express my appreciation to Chairman CONYERS of the Committee on Government Operations for his cooperation in helping us clear this bill for floor consideration. In addition. H.R. 5237. as reported out by the Committee on Agriculture. contained a section regarding REA lien accommodations. This provision has been stricken from the legislation before us today due to its direct spending and payasyougo implications. Let me state again. the lien accommodation provision has been stricken entirely from this bill. I would like to thank Chairman PANiTFA of the Committee on Budget and Budget Committee staff on both sides of the aisle for their assistance in addressing the budget implications of the Committeereported bill. I am pleased to report that both the Congressional Budget Office and the Office of Management and Budget agree the cost of the bill before us is zero. Mr. Speaker. I am- pleased to bring this legislation to the floor today. This legislation prudently continues and expands our Nations commitment to improving life in rural America at no direct cost to the taxpayer. I urge my colleagues to support the passage of H.R. 5237. Mr. Speaker. I yield 8 minutes to the gentleman from Oklahoma . the distinguished chairman of the subcommittee. who has done yeoman work in this endeavor.