The Congressional Rural Caucus

Floor Speech

Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I come before the House today to bring attention to the Congressional Rural Caucus, of which I have the privilege of being vice Chair, along with my colleague from across the aisle, Mr. Walz of Minnesota. The caucus is being led by co-Chairs Mr. Childers of Mississippi and Mr. Smith of Nebraska, whom I commend for their bipartisan spirit and for their ability to reach across this so-often divided aisle in order to push for the betterment of rural issues--our rural values and our rural way of life.

The Rural Caucus has re-formed and is alive and well. Together, we will focus on issues of telecom, education and workforce development, transportation, and health care.

In January, the Congressional Rural Caucus penned a letter to the President asking him to form an Office of Rural Policy to complement the recently created Office of Urban Policy. Today, I echo that call, and I encourage the administration to make a commitment to create communities of choice, not of destiny, where no one should ever be at a disadvantage because of where one is born or chooses to live.

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