30 



gram is within the range of RDA programs. We can sit and talk 

 about it. 



But just in general, I can tell you that I believe in the REA. I 

 believe in the loan guarantee programs of the REA. In many ways 

 they are legitimate and beneficial and should be continued. 



There is a lot within REA that can be changed. I am going to sit 

 with you and work it out. 



Mr. English. Of course, this committee and the Congress both in 

 1987 and again to a much greater extent in this timid section of 

 improving rural development, we charged the REA with the re- 

 sponsibility to become very actively involved in inter-rural develop- 

 ment. We have not seen that happen. 



The real question, I suppose, it comes down to is whether the ad- 

 ministration, OMB or no OMB, is going to obey the law. That law 

 is very clear as to what they have been charged with. 



The difficulty, it appears, is that we are into some who philo- 

 sophically don't believe that they should be involved as opposed to 

 what is mandated by the law. Will you and the administration 

 follow the dictates of the law in this regard? 



Secretary Espy. I think we all have a part to play in the develop- 

 ment of rural America. The promotion of rural America depends 

 upon the success and participation of all enterprises under the 

 broad heading of USDA. 



So this is an agency with some money. I think we should not 

 ignore their tremendous resource base as we endeavor to empower 

 our regions. We should use REA and RDA and all of them. I would 

 be in favor of it. 



Mr. English. With regard to another area of great concern, deal- 

 ing with the environment — there has been a great deal of attention 

 focused in the last few years on agriculture's role in the environ- 

 ment. We have a number of different practices that were put into 

 play in the 1990 farm bill. Farmers have to have conservation 

 plans. Those have to be approved. 



There is a growing concern that we had not seen an aggressive 

 use by the Department of Agriculture's Soil Conservation Service 

 in helping farmers get those plans in place and get those plans ap- 

 proved. As you are well aware, if we don't get this done by 1995, we 

 have farmers that are going to be declared ineligible for the farm 

 program. 



Is the Department now looking at meeting that timetable and 

 what they can do to assist farmers to make sure that no qualified 

 farmer is left out because of insufficient personnel or resources in 

 approving his particular plan? 



Secretary Espy. To be honest with you, since I have been there 

 we have not met on this particular subject. But I would hope that 

 we could move very quickly to this subject. It is caught up in, as 

 you know, the establishment of simplified farmer services. I would 

 hope that we could do that and do that very quickly. I don't want 

 to be responsible for farmers being left holding the bag on certain 

 funding mechanisms because they have not complied with certain 

 conservation practices through no fault of their own. 



So if it comes to staffing a local office in the field, if it comes to a 

 personal message from the Secretary, if it comes to certain funding 

 of a program, then we will do that. 



