[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 10]
[HOUS]
[Pages 13593-13594]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     THE CONGRESSIONAL RURAL CAUCUS

  (Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  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.

[[Page 13594]]

  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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