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Economic development on a national level will not happen until 

 the development and recovery happens in poor rural communities. 

 Our rural communities have just as many young people as there 

 are in the urban areas. Historically, the members of the Southern 

 Rural Development Initiative have a record for significant accom- 

 plishments which have achieved relatively great impacts. There 

 has been more "bang for the buck" considering the amount of re- 

 sources being made available in the rural South. 



Southern people seem to feel that we have been forgotten. Some- 

 times, we feel like we have been forsaken by many of our Nation's 

 policies. There is more substandard housing, poor access to health 

 care, lower educational attainment, deeper problems of job growth 

 and creation, capital development and technology transfer, we have 

 greater outmigration, more family incomes, weaker infrastructure 

 development, tougher environmental threats, and generally more 

 severe societal problems in our rural communities than our Nation 

 as a whole. 



We have submitted to you some specific short-term recommenda- 

 tions that we would like you to look at. Also, we have submitted to 

 you some general principles and practices that we would like to see 

 considered as you consider the development in the rural United 

 States, particularly the rural South. 



Rural America, especially the rural South, involves more than 

 agricultural America. While farming is very critical in rural life, 

 agriculture directly provides less than 20 percent of all rural jobs. 

 Programs and policies to rebuild rural America must address the 

 range of needs which cut across environment, jobs, health, trans- 

 portation, education, labor, commerce, and other sectors. 



Ultimately, we also believe that it is the rural people who are 

 committed to improving the jobs and quality of life in their commu- 

 nity who will make the difference for rural America. Strategies for 

 rebuilding rural America must be built with citizens' involvement 

 at every level and driven by community leaders with the skills and 

 resources to create jobs and develop their communities. 



This morning, I heard a lot about changes that will be going on 

 from the top. We believe that while those will be helpful, that 

 there are many, many skilled people in the local communities who 

 can also be helpful from the bottom up in changing rural America. 

 Rural America has vast regional differences in geography, re- 

 sources, and culture. A national, regional, and rural development 

 program must be sensitive to, and allow for, the regional differ- 

 ences in its implementation and impact. 



I heard many people identify the parts of the Nation that they 

 are from and they indicate different types of problems. Many of the 

 States have a high degree of agriculture. In the rural South, while 

 most people think that we have a high degree of agriculture, we 

 just have a high degree of poverty. 



The national policy agenda for rebuilding rural America must in- 

 volve major public and private investment. In distressed rural 

 areas, investment in capital capacity-building and economic devel- 

 opment and private industry job creation strategies must provide 

 the stimulus necessary for recovery and revitalization. 



Major public investment in distressed rural areas should be in- 

 corporated into the administration's short-term economic stimulus 



