Asked and Answered: “Rural communities are the backbone of our Nation”
President Obama responds to a young woman from Illinois who shared concerns about the challenges still facing her rural hometown.
As President Obama has said, “The values that drive our small towns and rural communities are the same ones that drive America as a whole…At the same time, what’s also true is that when our country is tested, our rural communities are tested as well.”
A young woman from one such rural community, Chloe Carson, wrote to the President about the challenges that still plague her hometown —like falling crop prices, unemployment, and poor education. Today, the President responded to her.
In 2011, the President established the White House Rural Council, and over the course of the Administration — significant progress has been made across rural America: Household income climbed 3.4 percent in 2015, while poverty and food insecurity fell dramatically. Non-metro areas have added more than 250,000 jobs since 2014, while the share of rural Americans without health insurance is now at an all-time low.
But there is more work to do, and these topics, along with new actions, were all discussed at the White House Rural Forum, a convening of rural policy, business, and nonprofit leaders at Penn State University.
You can read both letters below:
I admire you. The decision to become the president and take responsibility for an entire country requires courage far greater than I could muster. However, I have a few questions as to some of the problems in our country. I live in a rural community where half of the town’s population are farmers and the other half commutes to a city half an hour away or more. Our community offers many pros, but also many cons such as unemployment and poor education. How do you plan to fix these problems?
My family has been in farming for years. When I was young, I watched my father and grandfather work from before the sun came up to after I went to bed in order to provide our family with an income. Now, grain prices are dropping so low that farmers across the nation are beginning to question whether they will be able to make a profit. America produces food and products to be shipped around the world, yet often in our own small towns, many cannot even make a proper living without federal assistance.
As in many rural areas, the school system could be described as less than stellar. Our teachers are all dedicated to bringing us an education, but lack of funding continually diminishes their numbers and the classes available. When students in an area with few opportunities do not receive a proper education, they are unprepared for college. Students that do poorly in college or are unable to attend often have dilemmas when applying for jobs. Thus, the cycle of unemployment continues.
During your presidency you have been busy with controversial topics such as gun control, refugees, and health insurance, but what do you plan to do about the above addressed issues? The problems that affect the average men and women who form the backbone of America and work hard every day in our struggling workforce. What can we do to help the children who will grow up and take the place of their parents? We must fix these problems first Mr. President if we wish to maintain the United States of America.
The President’s response to Chloe:
Thank you for writing. Your note reached my desk, and I recognize the struggles your community is going through.
You’re right that rural communities are the backbone of our Nation, and I assure you I will continue to fight for investment in places like . I agree that a brighter future for rural America means guaranteeing every child has access to a world-class education. It also means creating more jobs, empowering workers with the skills they need to do those jobs, and building more ladders of opportunity into the middle class for anyone who is willing to work hard to climb them — no matter where they live. I hope you know that voices like yours are critical to this conversation because there is a lot more to do.
My Administration is pushing for rural schools to get the funding they need to support education worthy of their students. We are working to fight rural poverty, expand broadband access, and empower local businesses and communities so rural economies can more easily get back on their feet. We have also implemented the 2014 Farm Bill in record time so that we could expand and strengthen the farm safety net. At a time when our economy is growing, we need to make sure every American shares in that growth. And as long I hold this Office, I’ll keep doing everything I can to make that vision real.
Thank you for speaking out — it’s clear you care deeply for your community, and your passion for these issues will remain on my mind as I strive to ensure all Americans have a fair shot at the American dream.
We’ve come a long way for rural Americans — but there’s more to do those that make up our country’s backbone. Let’s all keep working toward that vision.
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