mr. bobby selman on behalf of the mississippi rural water association. you're recognized for five minutes. thank you. >> good morning, mr. chairman, and members of the subcommittee. it's an honor to appear before you today. my name is bobby selman. i'm a certified drinking and waste water operator in mississippi. i have been working in the water world for 25 years. starting in my home town in lawrence county. i still work for the lawrence county water authority in addition to 12 other small communities. and rural water associations. i want to thank my congressman greg harper for his support and assistance to over 150,000 small public water systems across the country sponsoring the grassroots rural and small community water systems assistance act. representatives harper's bill directs the u.s. environmental protection agency to prioritize the type of technical assistance that small communities find is most beneficial. the rural water type of on site technical assistance is what all the small communities in mississippi and the other states rely on for help

mr. selman. my time has expired. but mr. keegan, do you want to respond? >> we've had trouble accessing funds from either program. in new york state a lot of funding goes to communities that have some sort of citation, some problem with their system. engineers work very hard to keep our systems smooth running. so we're sort of at the bottom of the pile. >> thank you very much. mr. chairman, rural america knows how hard it is to get blood out of a turnip. and i appreciate you having this hearing so that we can shed some light on how difficult it is to do this. thank you very much. >> thank you very much. and i thank my ranking member and my vice chair, who is trying to lead this charge too. last but not least, mr. kramer from the rural state of north dakota. you're recognized for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman, from illinois and ranking member from new york for acknowledging rural america and for reminding us there are other rural places that are better known for their urban centers. it's good to have an alliance. my colleagues -- or my constituen

mr. bobby selman on behalf of the mississippi rural water association. u're recognized for five minutes. thank you. >> good morning, mr. chairman, and members of the subcommittee. it's an honor to appear before you today. my name is bobby selman. i'm a certified drinking and waste water operator in mississippi. i have been working in the water world for 25 years. starting in my home town in lawrence county. i still work for the lawrence county water authority in addition to 12 other small communities. i want to thank my congressman greg harper for his support and assistance to over 150,000 small public water systems across the country sponsoring the grassroots rural and small community water systems assistance act. representatives harper's bill directs the u.s. environmental protection agency to prioritize the type of technical assistance that small communities find is most beneficial. the rural water type of on site technical assistance is what all the small communities in mississippi and the other states rely on for help with compliance, operations, eme