Former Iowa governor and current United States Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said during a conference late this past week that in the national landscape, rural America is “becoming less and less relevant.”
Vilsack is working to finish a five-year farm bill before the end of 2012, and spoke with House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, Ranking Member Colin Peterson and Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Debbie Stabenow at the Farm Journal Forum conference in Washington Thursday.
The perhaps poor choice of words came as Vilsack was arguing that the delay on the farm bill is not the result of policy reasons but rather the decline of political power in Washington from rural America as the population has declined and grown old in age.
The Des Moines Register reports that the former Democratic Governor encouraged those living in rural areas to be proactive, not to hang on to the past, and to pick their battles carefully.
“Unless we respond and react, the capacity of rural America and its power and its reach will continue to decline,” Vilsack said Thursday. Vilsack also said rural America needs to make sure the rest of the country does not overlook their biggest assets like the food supply, recreational areas, and energy.
“It’s time for us to have an adult conversation with folks in rural America.”
The Associated Press reports on Vilsack’s remarks:
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