[As prepared for delivery.]

Thank you, Chairman Johnson and Ranking Member Davis, for holding today’s hearing, and a thank you to our witnesses for being here today to discuss one of the most pressing issues facing this committee: uplifting and supporting rural America.

Rural America is frequently portrayed as a monolith, especially by those in DC. We too often fail to recognize its diversity, not just of people but of industry, opportunity and challenges.

Farmers, their families and their businesses are the engines of small towns across Minnesota – but those same places are also the home to teachers and nurses, manufacturers and small businesses. And right now, too many of them are hurting. 

If you’re a farmer, you’re dealing with high costs, low prices, and not enough markets.

If you’re opening a business for the first time, you may have no access to high-speed internet and face severe workforce shortages.

And if you’re raising a family there or taking care of an aging parent, the cost of groceries and health care are increasing and your ability to access a doctor close to home is getting more difficult by the day. 

Republicans' so-called One Big Beautiful Bill is a direct assault on rural health care. It slashed Medicaid by nearly 1 trillion dollars. The rural health care fund that Republicans are touting as a new investment does not come close to correcting the damage their bill will do rural America’s health infrastructure. Just the latest attempt to put lipstick on this pig.

In my home state of Minnesota, rural clinics are already closing because of these “seismic Medicaid changes” – forcing people to travel miles further to receive medical care.

It doesn’t end there. This week, House Republicans are pushing a government funding bill through the House that would increase health care premiums by as much as 90 percent in many rural areas by allowing ACA tax credits to expire, hitting many rural Americans and farmers right in the pocketbook. There is no reason we can’t fix that problem right now.

These policies do not grow local economies, lower costs or improve access to the critical services rural communities need.

Rural America needs meaningful investments, not cuts to hospitals, which are often the largest employers in many rural counties.

It needs access to reliable, high-speed internet so that farmers and rural entrepreneurs can access the information and services they need to thrive.

It needs adequately qualified teachers, child care providers and affordable housing, so that rural families can grow.

It needs new economic opportunities so that our kids don’t leave for college in the “big city” and never come back.

It needs vibrant main streets so that rural businesses and communities can grow together.

It needs trade policy that doesn’t undermine American agriculture.

The seeds of those investments start here, in this subcommittee. They grow at USDA Rural Development. They bear fruit in small towns across the country.

I am glad we are finally taking a comprehensive look at what USDA Rural Development programs can do. While these programs are beneficial, they do not exist in a vacuum. Economic opportunities in rural America depend on the basics, like access to health care, a good education and jobs, and our discussion cannot lose sight of that. Because on those fronts, Republican policies are failing.

I look forward to hearing from today’s panel on how USDA Rural Development programs can support rural communities during these difficult times.

Thank you again for being here today, and I yield back.