madam chairman , i am offering this amendment on behalf of myself and my colleague , the gentleman from california ( mr. baca ) xz4000090 . 
i want to thank the chairman , the gentleman from texas ( mr. bonilla ) xz4000370 , and the ranking member , the gentlewoman from connecticut ( ms. delauro ) xz4001030 , for putting together this bipartisan bill . 
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 & amp ; 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 . 
