Angie Craig: “I rise today with Senator Conrad to introduce the National Rural Development Partnership Act of 2001--a bill to codify…”

“I rise today with Senator Conrad to introduce the National Rural Development Partnership Act of 2001--a bill to codify the National Rural Development Partnership, NRDP or the Partnership, and provided a funding source for the program, I am pleased that Senators Allard, Baucus, Bingaman, Burns, Collins, Crapo, Daschle, Dayton, Dorgan, Enzi, Gramm, Grassley, Hagel, Helms, Hutchison, Jeffords, Johnson, Kennedy, Kerry, Leahy, Lugar, Mikulski, Murray, Ben Nelson, Reed, Roberts, Sarbanes, Bob Smith, Gordon Smith, Thomas, and Wellstone are joining us as original cosponsors. The Partnership was established under the Bush administration in 1990, by Executive Order 12720. Although the partnership has existed for ten years, it has never been formally authorized by Congress. The current basis for the existence of the partnership is found in the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act of 1972 and the Rural Development Policy Act of 1980. In addition, the conference committee report on the 1996 federal farm bill created specific responsibilities and expectations for the partnership and State rural development councils, SRDCs.”