MASON CITY – Today in Mason City, Presidential candidate Chris Dodd will unveil his comprehensive plan to revitalize rural America. Dodd, who has long fought to strengthen America's middle class, will call for more action to help America's farmers and ranchers compete in an increasingly global economy.
"Farmers and ranchers are struggling to compete in an ever-expanding global marketplace whose rules are often stacked against them. Rural families have also found their incomes squeezed by the soaring costs of health care, college tuition and energy," said Dodd. "Preserving the values and viability of the American Heartland is our country's best hope to combat these rising stakes. Every American benefits from the hard work of our family farmers and those living in the American Heartland, and my plan ensures this continues in the 21st century."
Dodd's plan would ensure that farmers receive a fair price and promotes free, but also fair trade. Dodd would work to end the digital divide by bringing broadband access to America's Heartland, allowing all Americans to have the ability to communicate easily in the digital age. Dodd would also invest in our nation's infrastructure to ensure that food can be easily and safely transported, and work to create new markets for America's farmers, starting with Cuba.
"Chris Dodd has put forth a truly honest and bold plan to revitalize America's rural communities. His leadership in addressing these issues is exemplary, especially when thousands of American farmers and ranchers are suffering under an ever-expanding global marketplace, where the odds are stacked against them, and many are ignoring the importance of rural America," said Congresswoman Rosa Delauro, Chairwoman of the House Agriculture-FDA Appropriations Subcommittee.
Rob Marqusee, Director of Rural Economic Development for Woodbury County, Iowa, said, "I applaud Senator Dodd for doing what needs to be done to revitalize our rural communities."
As President, Chris Dodd will revitalize rural America by:
- Ensuring that family farmers and ranchers get a fair price and have access to a strong safety net of farm programs that will support family farmers and ranchers, not corporate agribusiness
- Opening new markets to American agricultural products, enforcing existing trade agreements and ensuring that new trade agreements are fair and balanced
- Creating new opportunities for homegrown, renewable energy so that our future energy sources come from the Midwest and not the Middle East
- Incentivizing American businesses to bring new jobs to rural communities
- Ending the rural digital divide through a national rural broadband initiative
Dodd will continue to campaign in Iowa through the weekend, and his plan to revitalize rural America can be read in full here.
