madam chairman , i bring this amendment to the floor today on behalf of myself , the gentleman from california ( mr. baca ) xz4000090 , the gentleman from texas ( mr. reyes ) xz4003370 , and the gentleman from georgia ( mr. scott ) xz4003632 in order to provide much needed financial assistance to our nation 's minority farmers , and to the 1890 land grant colleges and universities . 
while i generally support this legislation , it falls short , in my estimation , in the area of funding for rural development . 
we must , madam chairwoman , offer more outreach and more technical assistance to our farmers . 
during fiscal year 1983 , president reagan initiated the small farmer outreach training and technical assistance program in response to the usda task force on black farm ownership . 
it reflected a commitment to implement reagan 's presidential executive order 123-20 dated september 15 , 1981 , to support historically black colleges and universities by addressing the many civil rights issues that are confronted by the agency . 
this is the only program , the only program implemented by the usda that directly helps minority farmers who are losing their farms at a rate that far exceeds their white counterparts . 
i , therefore , madam chairman , urge my colleagues to support this amendment . 
