[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 17]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 24082]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                       NATIONAL COOPERATIVE MONTH

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. IKE SKELTON

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, October 5, 1999

  Mr. SKELTON. Mr. Speaker, October 1999 has been designated as 
National Cooperative Month. I rise today to call attention to the 
thousands of cooperatives in the United States and to the thousands of 
Americans who benefit from membership in a co-op.
  Some 40 percent of all Americans belong to a cooperative of one kind 
or another. Cooperatives bring people together to meet a common goal or 
need. There are cooperatives to provide electricity and telephone 
service to rural areas, cooperatives to help farmers market their 
goods, consumer cooperatives, and credit union cooperatives, to name 
but a few.
  In Missouri, electric co-ops serve approximately 450,000 meters, 
representing over 1,380,000 people. Nearly 20 small, rural 
telecommunications providers have received financing from a cooperative 
to ensure that all rural Missourians have access to reliable telephone 
and other telecommunications services at an affordable price. There are 
also more than 1 million credit union cooperative members in Missouri.
  Cooperatives allow people to band together and through the strength 
of numbers achieve what individuals could not accomplish alone. Members 
gain access to specific services, to marketing power, or to purchasing 
power. Unlike other businesses, cooperatives operate at cost and income 
that is not retained for cooperative operations is returned to the 
members.
  In recognition of National Cooperative Month, I congratulate our 
nations' cooperatives for their continued service to members in 
Missouri and throughout the nation.

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