[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 11928]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      21ST CENTURY HEARTLAND TOUR

  (Mrs. BUSTOS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mrs. BUSTOS. Mr. Speaker, during the past month, I have been to every 
corner of my congressional district as part of a 21st Century Heartland 
Tour. I have spoken with the hardworking men and women who truly make 
the Heartland the greatest place in America to live, work, and raise a 
family.
  But our region faces serious challenges, and these challenges need to 
be addressed by Congress. That is why I held a roundtable in Monmouth, 
Illinois, to discuss rural broadband. In rural America, just over half 
of our families have access to high-speed Internet, as opposed to 90 
percent in the more urban areas.
  That is why I was in Stronghurst, Illinois, to talk about rural 
health care. Although one in four Americans live in rural America, we 
only have a tenth of the Nation's practicing physicians.
  These are just a couple of the issues facing our families in rural 
America. They can't wait for solutions. I urge my colleagues on both 
sides of the aisle to come together to support a thriving, modern 21st 
century heartland.

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