Date: 1993-09-28
Speaker: DE LA GARZA (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker. the legislation that we bring to the floor today will restructure the loan programs and the authorities of the Rural Electrification Administration [REA] to meet todays fiscal realities and tomorrows technology needs. H.R. 3123 has three basic goals: First. the bill will eliminate REAs authority to make 2percent loans. The purpose of the 2percent Loan Program was to encourage electric and telephone cooperatives to provide service to high cost. less densely populated areas shunned by privately owned utilities. Our Nations budget problems dictate that we find less costly ways to promote affordable. quality electric and telephone service for rural areas. Second. the bill will better target the taxpayerfunded assistance that is made available through a restructured lending program. The bill establishes criteria for hardship lending that would make available Governmentinsured loans at 5 percent. Borrowers not meeting the hardship criteria would be eligible for Governmentinsured lending at a higher rate tied to .the. interest rate charged to municipal utilities or the Governments costofborrowing. Third. this bill will promote the delivery of modern telecommunications services to rural America. Today. rural residents are seeking access to emerging electronic technologies and the economic opportunities they provide. This legislation requires rural electric and rural telephone borrowers in all States to develop statewide telecommunications modernization plans as a prerequisite to further Governmentinsured lending through REA. This carrotapproach will provide an added incentive to rural electric and telephone borrowers to upgrade their telecommunications systems. Mr. Speaker. the basic intent of H.R. 3123 was approved by the House earlier this year as part of the Housepassed reconciliation bill. The language here In H.R. 3123 is nearly identical to language agreed to by the conferees on the 1993 Budget Reconciliation Act. These REA provisions were stripped from the reconciliation conference report at the last minute because of the possible point of order that could have been raised in the other body under the socalled Byrd rule. The one major difference between the reconciliation agreement and this bill is that H.R. 3123 does not contain any language shielding the service area of rural electric cooperatives from annexation procedures by a municipally owned utility. Mr. Speaker. REA has helped .bring affordable electric and telephone service to farms. ranches. and rural communities across our Nation since the 1930s. It is no exaggeration to say. quite simply. that REA has been the Federal Governments most successful effort at improving the quality of life in rural America. If you doubt that statement. just ask any man or woman who lived on. or grew up on. a farm or ranch in the thirties. forties. and fifties what life was like before the electric cooperatives sunk poles and strung up lines to their house and barn. They know the difference the REA programs made in their lives. Nevertheless. there are people today who say REA has outlived its usefulness. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Mr. Speaker. REA is needed now more than ever. We hear about the need to build the information highway of the future. This is a part of the infrastructure that will lay the foundation to a hightechnology. highwage future for our economy. Rural America wants to be a part of that revolution. People in our small towns. and on remote farms and ranches. see a whole host of information sources. educational advantages. and economic opportunities through the use of advanced telecommunications. To take part In this telecommunications revolution. rural America needs affordable Plending to build the necessary infrastructure and modernize its electric and telephone systems. The lack of modern telecommunications capability and reliable electric service puts rural residents and rural businesses ata distinct disadvantage. With the help of the REA. rural electric cooperatives and rural telephone companies can give rural businesses an opportunity to compete in this new hightechnology economy. With the help of the REA. rural electric cooperatives and rural telephone companies can provide people living In our small rural communities and in remote areas with the same level of residential service that urban America has come to take for granted. . This bill provides REA with the authority to promote statewide modernization of telecommunications services for rural areas. Mr. Speaker. I want to commend Congressman GLENN ENGLSH of Oklahoma. the chairman of our Subcommittee on Environment. Credit and Rural Development. for his yeomans work on this legislation earlier this year and his help in accommodating concerns from the other side of the aisle during Committee consideration last week. I also want to thank our ranking minor�ity members PAT ROBERTS. BOB SMrrH of Oregon. and JOHN BOEHNER of Ohio for their help and their willingness to cosponsor this legislation. Mr. Speaker. this legislation is made even more necessary and urgent bythe fact the conferees on the agriculture appropriations bill. anticipating our reforms. have defunded the 2Percent Loan Program and reallocated funds to the new accounts with the expectation that this authorizing language would be sent to the President. Mr. Speaker. for all these reasons. I urge my colleagues to support passage of H.R. 3123. Mr. Speaker. for the RECORD I Include correspondence and a cost estimate from the Congressional Budget Office: