Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006 - 2
AGRICULTURE, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2006 -- (House of Representatives - June 08, 2005)
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
AMENDMENT NO. 4 OFFERED BY MR. HINOJOSA
Mr. HINOJOSA. Madam Chairman, I offer amendment No. 4 on behalf of the gentleman from California (Mr. Baca).
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. HINOJOSA. Madam Chairman, I am offering this amendment on behalf of myself and my colleague, the gentleman from California (Mr. Baca).
I want to thank the chairman, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Bonilla), and the ranking member, the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro), for putting together this bipartisan bill.
[Begin Insert]
I believe this amendment will be an important improvement. The Baca/Hinojosa amendment would take $855,000 from the Common Computing Environment program and transfer it to the Hispanic Serving Institutions Education grant program under the Cooperative State Research Education and Extension Service.
This competitive USDA/HSI grant program is designed to promote and strengthen the ability of HSIs to carry out education programs that attract, retain, and graduate outstanding students capable of enhancing the Nation's food and agriculture, scientific and professional work force. This program is making a difference in the Latino community. Coastal Bend Community College in Beeville, Texas has used its USDA/HSI grant to improve retention, expand and strengthen the agriculture curriculum, engage high school students in agriculture-related fields through dual enrollment programs, and increase the number of articulation agreements with area universities like Texas A&M at Kingsville and many universities throughout the country and the territories!
Although Title VIII of the Farm Bill authorizes $20 million for this program, actual appropriations remain at only 28 percent of the authorized level.
Only 2.7 percent of HSI college graduates earn a degree in agriculture-related areas. The continued underrepresentation of Hispanics in these important areas of agriculture demands a greater investment in such programs to expand funding to additional HSIs to better meet USDA goals.
With over 200 HSIs, serving over 1.4 million students, it is time to increase the appropriations for this program beyond current levels. Our amendment is a modest step in that direction.
I strongly urge my colleagues to support this amendment.
[End Insert]
Mr. BONILLA. Madam Chairman, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. HINOJOSA. I yield to the gentleman from Texas.
Mr. BONILLA. Madam Chairman, the gentleman has worked very hard on this important issue, which is very important to students around the country; and we would be happy to accept the amendment and move forward and move it to a vote if the gentleman would like.
Mr. HINOJOSA. I would accept that. If the gentleman from Texas will accept the amendment, I will.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
http://thomas.loc.gov