[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 4]
[House]
[Pages 4549-4550]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                    STRENGTHENING THE RURAL ECONOMY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from North Carolina (Mrs. Clayton) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mrs. CLAYTON. Mr. Speaker, the United States has enjoyed the longest 
sustained period of economic growth in the history of the Nation. We 
have gone from record deficits to record surpluses. 20 million new jobs 
have been created in the last 8 years. We have the highest 
homeownership rate ever, the lowest unemployment in 30 years, and the 
lowest poverty rate in 20 years. Under current plans, we expect to 
eliminate the Federal debt; and we are looking forward to a surplus of 
more than $3 trillion over the next 10 years. Farmlands are being 
transformed into subdivisions overnight.
  Ordinarily that would be good, indicating progress. But the 
transformation of farmland into subdivisions is but further evidence 
that small ranchers and farmers are a dying breed. At the turn of the 
last century, close to half of the population in America lived and 
worked on ranches and farms. With the recent turn of the century, that 
number has been reduced to only about 1\1/2\ percent of the population. 
In 1900, thousands and thousands of small farms and ranches dotted the 
countryside, growing tobacco, cotton, wheat, soybeans and other 
products, raising pigs, poultry, horses and cattle. Today, by contrast, 
four companies are responsible for 80 percent of the beef market.
  Despite the rosy economic picture for some, many in rural America are 
suffering. Despite the economic boom, many in rural America have not 
shared in the bounty. In rural America, low-tech factories have been 
driven out of business by lower paying foreign competitors. Small 
tobacco growers and other farmers face extinction. The digital divide 
has left us with two Americas. According to a recent article in the New 
York Times, large chunks of rural America are being depopulated. Small 
ranchers and farmers are being impoverished, forcing them to sell out.
  The Department of Agriculture reports that wheat is at the lowest 
price since 1986, cotton at its lowest since 1974, and soybeans at its 
lowest since 1972. The Times article notes that in one of the poorest 
rural counties, the average income is less than $4,000, while in 
Manhattan, New York, the average income is close to $70,000. In rural 
North Carolina, where I come from, last year alone in the State we lost 
32,000 manufacturing jobs because of plant closings and layoffs, 43 
percent more than we lost in 1998. An old plant closed and a new plant 
opened in Ashe County. Only 200 of the 300 workers were retained. The 
new plant laid off workers because computers now do the jobs that they 
did.
  Yes, Mr. Speaker, in many parts of America, the help-wanted ads are 
full, unemployment rates are low, incomes are high, wealth is being 
accumulated. Not so in rural America. A $15 million satellite site 
opened recently in North Carolina to support the needs of a $350 
million plant. Because of computers, only three workers were hired to 
operate this satellite plant.

[[Page 4550]]

  What can we do, Mr. Speaker? We can emphasize education, preparing 
our students, and training our workers to compete in an increasingly 
high-tech and global economy. We can provide incentives to business to 
locate in rural America. We can improve our infrastructure, provide 
better water and sewer systems.

                              {time}  1815

  We can begin to close the digital divide and provide Internet access 
to even those in remote, rural areas, and we can improve our roads, 
helping to get rural goods and services to customers throughout the 
Nation and throughout the world.
  Most importantly, we can and we must use organizations like our 
recently organized rural caucus as a place to discuss, a place to 
generate new ideas. We can strengthen the economy in rural America and 
allow for all of our citizens to share in our Nation's growth. We can 
close the income and wealth gap in that it is growing between urban and 
rural America. We can strengthen our economy, Mr. Speaker, in rural 
America, and we must.

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