John Edwards for President-Edwards Campaign Announces Statewide Rural Advisory Committee, Expands Strong Iowa Organization

Edwards Campaign Announces Statewide Rural Advisory Committee, Expands Strong Iowa Organization

Oct 16, 2007 10:15 AM

Organization Reflects Edwards' Leadership On Issues Important To Rural Iowa and Depth Of Support Across The State

Dunlap, Iowa – At the start of a two-day, nine-county "Barnstorm for Rural America," Senator John Edwards announced the Statewide Rural Advisory Committee for his Iowa campaign. Consisting of 44 rural leaders from across the state, the steering committee reflects the breadth and depth of Edwards' support throughout Iowa.

The committee consists of a wide group of leaders including first responders, business leaders, elected officials and agricultural leaders. The committee will work with the campaign's 99 Rural County Chairs to advise Edwards on the issues facing rural Iowans and spread his detailed plans to strengthen rural towns and communities across America. Edwards was raised in a small rural town and has made rural revitalization a cornerstone of his campaign. In August, the campaign announced more than 1,000 rural supporters showing Edwards' broad support throughout rural Iowa.

"I am pleased to announce today our campaign's Statewide Rural Advisory Committee," Edwards said. "This widely respected group of leaders shares my commitment to restoring hope to rural America. They know that our small towns and rural communities have unlimited potential and we need to do more to help make sure they reach that potential. As president, I will never forget rural America—it's part of who I am."

"Having grown up in rural America, John Edwards understands our challenges like no other candidate can, and you can see this in his policies," said Denise O'Brien, 2006 Democratic Secretary of Agriculture Nominee and Organic Farmer from Atlantic. "John Edwards has outlined bold plans to bring back jobs and prosperity to rural towns, invest in alternative fuels and ensure fairness for family farmers. Plus, he can beat the Republicans in key battleground states and put more states in play, so we can make sure we put a Democrat back in the White House."

As a native of a small rural town, Edwards knows that America cannot turn its back on rural areas. Small towns and rural areas are the keepers of American values like family, work, community, and freedom. Edwards' plan for rural recovery would restore economic fairness and create new jobs and businesses in rural America, help struggling counties and towns and protect rural people and their way of life. As president, Edwards will restore hope to rural America by:

Strengthening rural schools by improving pay for teachers in rural schools to help attract quality new and experienced teachers, creating digital learning opportunities, increasing high school graduation and college enrollment rates and putting Washington on a path to fully funding its share of special education costs.

Restoring economic fairness to rural America by helping small businesses thrive and grow. Edwards will create the Rural Economic Advancement Challenge (REACH) Fund to bring capital and management expertise to small town America.

Creating a new energy economy in rural America by establishing the New Energy Economy Fund to jumpstart renewable energies. Edwards will create new markets for ethanol, invest in renewable energy research, support locally owned biorefineries and require 25 percent of electricity to be generated from renewable sources by 2025.

Protecting family farmers against agribusiness conglomerates by enacting a packer ban, enforcing country-of-origin labeling, imposing a moratorium on Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations and targeting farm subsidies to family farmers instead of corporations by limiting payments to $250,000 per person.

Improving health care in rural America by rewriting the unfair Medicare and Medicaid funding formulas that punish rural states and communities, and supporting investments in telemedicine. Additionally, Edwards' plan for universal health care will cover the 9 million rural Americans that lack insurance and establish a nationwide network of safety net clinics and public hospitals.

Ridding rural America of methamphetamines by investing in the enforcement of drug laws in rural areas, help states make meth ingredients more difficult to get and expand programs that successfully treat addicts.

A listing of the complete membership of the John Edwards for President Statewide Rural Advisory Committee follows.

John Edwards for President Campaign
Iowa Rural Advisory Committee

Linus Solberg, Farmer, Cylinder, Palo Alto County
Vicky Anderson, Hancock County Chair of Twin Lakes and Amsterdam Townships, Garner, Hancock County
Marty Jahn, Mayor of Charlotte, Charlotte, Clinton County
Garry Pape, Veteran, Durango, Dubuque County
Christine Pardee, Community Development Consultant, Des Moines, Polk County
Tom Wynia, Land Use Law Attorney, Story City, Story County
Bruce Biederman, Iowa Farmers Union Member, Osage, Mitchell County
Denise O'Brien, 2006 Democratic Secretary of Agriculture Nominee and Organic Farmer, Atlantic, Cass County
Deborah Stalter, 4th Grade Teacher, West Central Valley Community School District, Stuart, Guthrie County
Charlie Irons, Farm Laborer, Pleasant Hill, Polk County
Richard Mason, Farmer, Webster City, Hamilton County
Don Sonntag, Farmer and Small Business Owner, Atlantic, Cass County
Donovan Adson, Former Mayor of Vincent and Volunteer Firefighter, Vincent, Webster County
Delbert Lee, Former Member of the Leon Community Development Corporation and Small Business Owner, Leon, Decatur County
Greg Ochs, Mayor of Garwin, Garwin, Tama County
Margaret Stout, Military Family Member, Mitchellville, Polk County
Doug Kouba, Mayor of Leon, Leon, Decatur County
Barb Kalbach, Nurse, Dexter, Adair County
Daryl Beall, State Senator, Fort Dodge, Webster County
Reg Merrill, United Methodist Minister, Manson, Calhoun County
Gail Teter, Wayne County Deputy Sheriff and Board Member of Wayne County Pheasants Forever, Corydon, Wayne County
Donna Larson, Family Farmer, Exira, Audubon County
Marjorie Everts, Retired Teacher, Lytton, Sac County
Don Beatty, Farmer, Atkins, Benton County
Alan Anderson, Steelworker, Mason City, Cerro Gordo County
Kevin Miskell, Vice President of Iowa Farmers Union, Stanhope, Hamilton County
Sandi Mielke, Family Farmer and Health Care Worker, May City, Osceola County
Nathan Reichert, State Representative, Muscatine, Muscatine County
Gregory Fenton, Mayor of Centerville, Centerville, Appanoose County
Jane Graham, Family Farm Advocate, Nevada, Story County
Lee Johnson, Former State Board Member and Rural Advocate, Batavia, Wapello County
Connie Smith, CWA Officer and Broadband Internet Access Advocate, Tama, Tama County
Wes Whitead, State Representative and Farmer, Sioux City, Woodbury County
Henry Marquard, Iowa Environmental Protection Commissioner, Muscatine, Muscatine County
Dennis Starling, County Supervisor, Calamus, Clinton County
Lynne Pothast, Licensed Practical Nurse, Gilman, Tama County
Brian Sines, General Manager, Iowa Radio Plus, Washington, Washington County
Patricia Timmens, Chamber of Commerce Member, Cincinnatti, Appanoose County
Dave Thompson, Benton County Attorney and Community Leader, Garrison, Benton County
Thomas Downs, Southeast Polk Community School District Superintendent, Altoona, Polk County
Don Hoffman, Retired Teacher, Missouri Valley, Harrison County
Jerry Sanderson, City Council Member, Liscomb, Marshall County
Jennifer Cole, High School Social Studies Teacher, Clarinda, Page County
Paul Deaton, Chair of Johnson County Board of Public Health, Solon, Johnson County