"Under President Obama's leadership, the United States has reached historic levels of investment in rural communities."
"A strong agriculture sector is key to strong rural communities, supporting 9.2 percent of jobs in the economy."
"Eighty-five percent of the Nation's poorest counties are rural, and per capita income in rural America lags behind that in urban areas."
"we expect and anticipate that by April 15, folks will begin to apply for disaster assistance."
"As Senator Blunt suggested, we need to make sure that as we make decisions about a realignment of our Farm Service offices, and a modernization of them, that we actually match-up where the work actual..."
"We will have the new program in place by September."
"We hope to be able to allow folks to make application for assistance by April 15."
"We have significant safeguards built into all of our systems at USDA to make sure that individual identities are protected."
"we want to encourage producers to do what they need to do for their operations."
"This is about better service. It's not about saving money."
"We can do more for farmers and ranchers who are challenged."
"We believe that there are thousands of people who are getting sick that won't get sick under this new system."