As someone who has been privileged to represent small town Missouri in the Congress, I have come to appreciate how the rural economy helps to drive our national economic engine.  Our farmers and ranchers make our great cities possible by feeding families near and far.  Our national renewable resources are processed into alternative fuels, which help us break our nation’s reliance of foreign oil.  And our rural countryside is a key frontier in the technological revolution, as we bring telecommunications and information infrastructure to small towns and remote areas.

All Americans in every part of the country face challenges due to the economy, experiencing budget constraints, falling home prices, and escalating health care costs.  But, as a rural Missouri Congressman, I have paid particular attention to the economy’s affect on small town America.  And, as Congress has addressed the recession and the legislative solutions to it, I have worked with my colleagues to ensure that rural interests and economic needs remain a priority.

As a member of the Bipartisan Congressional Rural Caucus and the Democratic Caucus’ Rural Working Group, I have joined with other Congressmen and women with similar districts to promote rural America and to call attention to our economic priorities.  In January, I wrote Speaker Pelosi and asked her to ensure the unique needs of rural America were addressed in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, H.R. 1, which Congress was writing at the time.  I am pleased that rural priorities were included in this important economic stimulus legislation and that Missourians have already begun to see the benefits associated with this bill.  In the Fourth District, several highway improvement projects worth over $10.7 million have been announced, as has critical health clinic funding.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act directs funds toward other meaningful rural priorities, including rural water projects, loan guarantees for rural businesses, rural housing loan guarantees, school modernization, Corps of Engineers projects, and the expansion of wireless Internet coverage to rural America.  It also includes tax relief beneficial to farmers and small business owners.  And, it provides a tax cut to 95 percent of all Americans. 

Recently, I have also worked with members of the Bipartisan Congressional Rural Caucus in urging the President to create a White House Office of Rural Policy.  The President would be well served by creating an Office of Rural Policy in the White House so that he and his advisors can better understand how proposed policies might impact Americans living in small town and rural areas.  And, just this week, I wrote to Speaker Pelosi and the House Majority Leader to express my concern as a rural Missourian that the 111th Congress ought not consider legislation that infringes upon law-abiding Americans’ Second Amendment right to bear arms.

For the good of our nation, we cannot afford for rural America to be left behind.  In the days ahead, as Congress and the President continue studying the economic crisis and other important legislative priorities, I will stand in the shoes of my rural neighbors as their representative in Congress.  I remain committed to ensuring that my colleagues from every part of our country devote time, energy, and resources to building rural America.

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