Political Quotes

“It is certainly a good day for rural America. I want to congratulate the gentlewoman from Missouri (Mrs. Emerson) and the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Mrs. Clayton) for reviving the Rural Caucus. I do not know what happened that it died. It should never have. For someone who represents a very rural district, it is certainly a delight that we have it back. Why do we need a Rural Caucus? Well, first, I come from a very rural district, the most rural district east of the Mississippi, from northern tier Pennsylvania. A lot of people do not think of Pennsylvania as being rural. They think of Philadelphia and Lancaster and Pittsburgh. But much of Pennsylvania is rural. It is the most rural population in the country. One-third of Pennsylvanians live in towns of less than 2,500. That is rural. Now, the problem we have is that urban America, who really runs this country, dominates governments at State and national level, does not understand the needs of rural America. I call rural America the heartland of this country where we have some of our finest, hardest working people with the best work ethic. There is nothing more than we can point to today than the farm crisis.”