PRESS
RELEASE from John Edwards for President
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 16, 2007
CONTACT:
Dan Leistikow
EDWARDS CAMPAIGN ANNOUNCES STATEWIDE
RURAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE, EXPANDS STRONG IOWA ORGANIZATION
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:
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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Linus Solberg, Farmer, Cylinder, Palo Alto County
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Vicky Anderson, Hancock County Chair of Twin Lakes and Amsterdam Townships,
Garner, Hancock County
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Marty Jahn, Mayor of Charlotte, Charlotte, Clinton County
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Garry Pape, Veteran, Durango, Dubuque County
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Christine Pardee, Community Development Consultant, Des Moines, Polk County
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Tom Wynia, Land Use Law Attorney, Story City, Story County
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Bruce Biederman, Iowa Farmers Union Member, Osage, Mitchell County
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Denise O’Brien, 2006 Democratic Secretary of Agriculture Nominee and Organic
Farmer, Atlantic, Cass County
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Deborah Stalter, 4th Grade Teacher, West Central Valley Community School
District, Stuart, Guthrie County
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Charlie Irons, Farm Laborer, Pleasant Hill, Polk County
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Richard Mason, Farmer, Webster City, Hamilton County
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Don Sonntag, Farmer and Small Business Owner, Atlantic, Cass County
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Donovan Adson, Former Mayor of Vincent and Volunteer Firefighter, Vincent,
Webster County
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Delbert Lee, Former Member of the Leon Community Development Corporation
and Small Business Owner, Leon, Decatur County
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Greg Ochs, Mayor of Garwin, Garwin, Tama County
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Margaret Stout, Military Family Member, Mitchellville, Polk County
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Doug Kouba, Mayor of Leon, Leon, Decatur County
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Barb Kalbach, Nurse, Dexter, Adair County
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Daryl Beall, State Senator, Fort Dodge, Webster County
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Reg Merrill, United Methodist Minister, Manson, Calhoun County
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Gail Teter, Wayne County Deputy Sheriff and Board Member of Wayne County
Pheasants Forever, Corydon, Wayne County
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Donna Larson, Family Farmer, Exira, Audubon County
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Marjorie Everts, Retired Teacher, Lytton, Sac County
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Don Beatty, Farmer, Atkins, Benton County
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Alan Anderson, Steelworker, Mason City, Cerro Gordo County
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Kevin Miskell, Vice President of Iowa Farmers Union, Stanhope, Hamilton
County
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Sandi Mielke, Family Farmer and Health Care Worker, May City, Osceola County
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Nathan Reichert, State Representative, Muscatine, Muscatine County
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Gregory Fenton, Mayor of Centerville, Centerville, Appanoose County
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Jane Graham, Family Farm Advocate, Nevada, Story County
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Lee Johnson, Former State Board Member and Rural Advocate, Batavia, Wapello
County
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Connie Smith, CWA Officer and Broadband Internet Access Advocate, Tama,
Tama County
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Wes Whitead, State Representative and Farmer, Sioux City, Woodbury County
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Henry Marquard, Iowa Environmental Protection Commissioner, Muscatine,
Muscatine County
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Dennis Starling, County Supervisor, Calamus, Clinton County
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Lynne Pothast, Licensed Practical Nurse, Gilman, Tama County
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Brian Sines, General Manager, Iowa Radio Plus, Washington, Washington County
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Patricia Timmens, Chamber of Commerce Member, Cincinnatti, Appanoose County
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Dave Thompson, Benton County Attorney and Community Leader, Garrison, Benton
County
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Thomas Downs, Southeast Polk Community School District Superintendent,
Altoona, Polk County
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Don Hoffman, Retired Teacher, Missouri Valley, Harrison County
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Jerry Sanderson, City Council Member, Liscomb, Marshall County
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Jennifer Cole, High School Social Studies Teacher, Clarinda, Page County
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Paul Deaton, Chair of Johnson County Board of Public Health, Solon, Johnson
County
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