The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“PENN STATE EXTENSION IS A VALUABLE SERVICE” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Agriculture was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H2087 on March 16, 2017.
The Department is primarily focused on food nutrition, with assistance programs making up 80 percent of its budget. Downsizing the Federal Government, a project aimed at lowering taxes and boosting federal efficiency, said the Department implements too many regulations and restrictions and impedes the economy.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
PENN STATE EXTENSION IS A VALUABLE SERVICE
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson) for 5 minutes.
Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commend the efforts of Penn State Extension, which is an educational network that gives the people in Pennsylvania's 67 counties access to the university's resources and expertise, especially its agricultural resources as a land-grant university.
Cooperative extension services began in 1914. The Smith-Lever Act established a system of cooperative extension services connected to the land-grant universities in order to inform people about the current developments in agriculture, home economics, public policy and government, leadership, 4-H, economic development, coastal issues, and many other related subjects. It helped farmers learn new agricultural techniques by the introduction of home instruction.
Since its inception, it has been focused on informal, noncredit adult continuing education. Thus, cooperative extension is not a service, but a scholarly content-driven educational mission of the university. This program is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, State, and county governments. Through these county-based partnerships, Penn State Extension educators, faculty, and local volunteers work together to share unbiased, research-based information with local residents.
Penn State Extension can help you become a master gardener. It helps teach families how to prepare and preserve food safely. It can help you learn about how to start a home-based business or how to properly prepare tax forms. Penn State Extension helps individuals, families, businesses, and communities throughout Pennsylvania with information and a broad range of educational programs.
Everyone in the community can tap into the assets and information of our major research university, and there are numerous ways to learn. You can attend an educational event, take an online course, read a publication, or speak face-to-face with an extension educator. There is no shortage of learning opportunities with Penn State Extension.
Mr. Speaker, this is just one way that Penn State is extending knowledge and improving the quality of life for all Pennsylvanians. The programs are very localized and touch every county in the State through 21 separate districts. Extension is particularly helpful to farmers and those involved in the agriculture industry, which is Pennsylvania's number one economic driver.
Whether you are a beginning farmer or you have a few years under your belt, it is good to know you are not in the farming world alone. Extension activities can help connect you with others to share ideas, trials, and tribulations. In fact, Federal cooperative extension programs have helped more than 137,000 farmers stay in business just since 1985. Without cooperative extension and the underlying research, researchers have estimated that the country would have lost 28 percent more farmers than those who actually left agriculture.
Who would feed us? Who would provide that food, fiber, building materials, even forms of energy that our farmers and farm families do today?
By design, extension is locally directed and responsive to the needs of local communities. I am grateful that Penn State is one of those land-grant universities and can offer this service to the public. It helps keep our local farmers abreast of the most up-to-date information that impacts the industry and impacts the lives of families. It helps promote lifelong learning and provides invaluable support and assistance to our communities. That is something for which we can all be very proud.
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