Hillary Has a Plan: The Future of America's Rural Economy

Hillary Clinton has a plan for rural America.  She laid it out today in a speech at teh Des Moines Area Community College in Ankeny where she was accompanied by Secretary of Argiculture Tom Vilsack who endorsed her.

The future of America’s rural economy

Well I think you can tell by the reception that your former governor just received how highly regarded you are, Tom, for the work that you did here in Iowa and I would add for the work that you are now doing around the country. Talk about somebody who studies a problem, asks for advice about what will work, puts together teams, collaborates, and then delivers: he is exhibit A.

And I want to thank all of you for being here and President Denson and everyone at DMACC. Thank you for once again welcoming me here. I think this is my third visit. The first one back in ’93 or so about healthcare, and then back in ’07-’08. And it’s great to be here with you, alongside my friend Tom Vilsack — a champion for farmers and families here in Iowa and across America.

And what I’m about to talk about, the agenda that I am putting forth for rural America, is very much in line with what Tom did here in Iowa and what he is doing at the Department of Agriculture. And I am honored to have his friendship and his support in this campaign.

Tom and I just had the chance to see just some of the impressive work being done here to train the next generation of farmers, innovators, tool-and-die makers, machinists, you name it: leaders for rural Iowa. I wanted to come to DMACC to offer my ideas about what we can do to improve the rural economy.

And as Tom said, I know it’s a little unusual for a presidential candidate perhaps to be making a speech like this at a community college, instead of in front of a barn or a bale of hay — but we did get a tractor, so at least we’re in the theme here. But I wanted to emphasize the changing face of rural Iowa and rural America: Education. Innovation. Technology.

Iowans are in the future business — that’s what all Americans should be in. Just look at the way that you have seized the opportunities from wind energy to biofuels. Think about talking to a farmer who is as attuned to fluctuations in foreign markets as any Wall Street trader. Or spend a few minutes meeting with the students here at DMACC, like Tom and I just did — they are full of energy and ideas and excitement about what their training and education here will mean for them in the future.

I want America to be in the future business too. And I believe a strong America depends on strong rural communities.

For prosperity to be real and lasting, it has to take root right here in Iowa and in small towns and in rural areas across the country.

This is not a new cause for me. Now a lot of people and probably a number of you hear today don’t realize this, but New York — where I was elected twice to the Senate — is actually a major farm state. It’s principally dairy, fruits, and vegetables. And when I was in the Senate, I made agriculture and rural development a top priority. And I have to confess that was a surprise to a lot of my colleagues in the Senate. They kidded me a lot because I was always asking what we were going to do in the Farm Bill or what more we could do on rural development. And they would say, ‘What do you care? You represent New York.’ And I would say, ‘Well, have you ever seen a map of New York? There’s a lot of New York north of New York City.’ So finally one day in the spirit of fun and engagement with my colleagues, I brought a picture of a New York dairy cow down to the Senate floor to give a speech about how we do have cows in New York. And when I finished, one of my friends from a Midwestern state that shall remain nameless, came up to me and said, ‘Ok, so you’ve got one cow.’

But I was struck then by the disconnect between upstate, rural New York, which is struggling as it has for years, and the downstate, urban communities. There were entrepreneurs Upstate who were desperate for capital, and there were investors in New York City looking for promising projects — but they didn’t know each other and they didn’t connect with each other. There were even chefs and restaurant owners in Manhattan obsessed with local produce, and there were farmers and wine-makers in Upstate New York who had never sold beyond their own immediate communities.

So I got to work. I wanted to convene and connect and we launched something I called the Farm-to-Fork initiative. And we fought for broadband access, and we brought new technology partnerships to rural areas, and we helped to start small businesses get online and find customers all over the world. There was so much potential, we just had to unleash it. And in the years since, the opportunities for rural economic growth across America have only grown more exciting.

But the challenges facing rural communities have also grown. Thanks to a lot of hard work and sacrifice, we’ve come back from the worst of the great recession. We’re standing again, but we’re not yet running the way America should. Median household income in rural areas is still thousands of dollars less than in urban communities. Farmland values, agricultural exports, commodity prices have all declined and recently, they’ve declined even as the cost of everything else — like prescription drugs and going to college — keeps rising.

More than 25 percent of children in rural America are growing up in poverty. And in many places, you might have to drive for hours to find a quality, affordable health care provider. And too many young people feel they have to move away to find a good job and start a family.

Now the consequences of all these pressures on families can be devastating. As I’ve traveled around Iowa, I’ve heard story after story about the quiet epidemic that Tom mentioned — roughly 23 million Americans suffer from and need treatment for addiction and substance abuse, including meth and prescription drugs, heroin, and alcohol. In 2013, more Americans died from overdoses than car crashes. Problems many people used to associate with big cities are now part of daily life in small towns. And there are far too few treatment options available, and there are too fewer because of Governor Branstad’s veto of funding.

And here’s a statistic that stopped me cold when I first heard it: Many American women in rural communities — especially those with the least education and the lowest incomes — are actually living shorter lives than American women used to in the same environments. Shorter lives too than women in nearly every other major industrialized country.

I’ve looked into this and there is no single explanation, but many of the declines in life expectancy are coming in rural communities are related to job losses, poverty, high rates of smoking, obesity, and substance abuse. Places where the traditional support systems of family and community that used to hold people up are fraying and failing. Women — and men also — who are trying to build a life and a family in such places don’t just face ceilings on their aspirations and opportunities. For many it’s as if the floor has collapsed beneath them.

Today happens to be Women’s Equality Day. We have to ask ourselves — or at least I’m asking: How can this be happening in the richest, most powerful nation on earth?

So there are many reasons why I believe it’s imperative that we have a comprehensive agenda to revitalize rural America. Today, I’m calling for action in four areas that reflect the greatest opportunities for growth: energy, investment, agriculture, and access to health care and education.

First, we need to capitalize on rural America’s strength as a producer of clean, renewable energy.

I have set two big goals for our clean energy future:

Half a billion solar panels within four years and enough energy production from renewables to power every home in America within 10 years. That will create jobs, it will grow our economy — it will especially grow the rural economy, and it will help us meet the challenge of climate change — which poses an acute threat to everyone, but particularly the livelihood of farm communities through droughts and other extreme weather. But it’s only going to be possible if rural states like Iowa lead the way. Already you’re producing roughly a third of your total electricity from renewables, especially wind and biofuels. If Iowa can do it — I say this all over the country — so can the rest of the America.

We need to strengthen the Renewable Fuel Standard so that it drives the development of advanced biofuels and expands the overall contribution that renewable fuels make to our national fuel supply.

And we should also double our investment in loan guarantee programs that help rural communities build the processing plants and convert agriculture and landfill waste into useful products. Projects like that are already supporting millions of good jobs, and with the right incentives, they can create even more.

As we were going through the machine shop and meeting some of the young people, Tom told me one of those Vilsack facts — everybody who knows him knows he has a head full of really interesting facts. Every wind turbine requires 8,800 parts. Just making the parts, like we saw in the classroom, would employ a lot of people. In fact President Denson told me he got 135 calls from businesses in the area wanting to hire tool-and-die makers.

And you graduated how many, President?

And they graduated thirty. There are good jobs out there. There are good opportunities out there. We just have to do more to connect up, not just young people — but I saw a couple people who had been laid off or whose business was no longer in operation, coming back to DMACC to improve their skills — so people of all ages.

Second, beyond renewables, we need to spur broader investment in our rural economy.

The vast majority of the 46 million Americans who live in rural America don’t actually farm themselves. And many who do farm rely on second jobs and outside income to make ends meet. So it’s essential that we create more jobs with higher wages in a wider range of industries. Small and medium sized businesses are the job engines we need. But too often, here in Iowa and in other rural areas around the country, people can’t get access to credit– especially women and minority-owned businesses cannot get access to credit.

Why is it so easy for a big corporation to get a tax break and so hard for a small business to get a loan? You know the answer. Well we’re going to fix that. What I want do is to be the small business President, and that includes, small businesses, farms, and everybody who’s actually creating the most jobs for Americans in this economy.

And I’m not just saying it. Here’s what I want to do to make it happen. I want to expand on the number of approved Rural Business Investment Companies that link entrepreneurs to capital. I’ll make it easier for community banks that are at the heart of the rural economy to give out responsible loans to small businesses. And for rural businesses to thrive, we need better infrastructure… the roads, the rails, bridges, airports. They all have to be maintained, they have to be brought up to a higher level of performance, and that way they can get products more quickly and effectively to market.

And broadband is key to this. Because if we don’t have universal access to fast, affordable broadband, a lot of opportunities are going to be left behind. So I will create as well a national infrastructure bank. We will put special focus on expanding high-speed Internet to connect rural areas to the global economy. I did that in New York. There were a lot of small businesses — they didn’t have websites, this was back in 2001, -2, -3, -4. I brought in a team of people. I partnered with eBay and other technology firms to help small businesses get on to the World Wide Web so they could begin selling more than 20, 30 miles from where they were located. And we began to see results. That’s what I want to do in rural America.

I am also a big believer in the New Market Tax Credit, which, was on the books, it encouraged investment in hard-hit and remote communities, and it helped to create tens of thousands of jobs in rural America. We should revive this credit — started by my husband, we should expand it, we should make it permanent.

And even as we diversify our rural economy, we can’t forget that agriculture will always be a cornerstone of prosperity. And this is the third area where we need decisive action.

We have to stand with our farmers, give them the tools and support they need to boost both production and profits.

Whether they’re taking over a long-time family operation or whether they’re new to the industry. In too many ways, the deck is still stacked against small farms. As President, I’ll make sure that federal resources like disaster assistance and crop insurance go to farmers and ranchers who need it the most — not those who have the biggest businesses or the best connections. We will change the formula.

Our success with our New York project, Farm-to-Fork, is a model I’d like to scale up and share across the country, so more producers can break into new markets and more customers — especially children — get access to fresh and healthy food. Those new markets might be across the state, they might be across the country — and maybe even across the world. And we need to be smart about trade. Done right, it can drive a lot of economic growth, particularly for farmers who export produce and other products overseas.

But we’ve also seen too many hard-working communities hammered by outsourcing and unfair competition. So we need to set a high bar for trade agreements. We should support them if they create jobs, raise wages, and advance our national security.

The fourth area where we’re going to take action is expanding access to health care and education in rural areas. That is the key to strong families and strong futures.

This community college is a model of the kind of excellent education that should be available to everyone — so our young people don’t have to leave places they love in order to get the skills they need.

I support President Obama’s proposal to make community college tuition-free as part of — I think this community college serves 37,000 students. Think about that, that’s a very big opportunity. I want free community colleges to be part of what I’m going to be doing, and they are — my comprehensive New College Compact. It will ensure that cost will no longer be a barrier and debt won’t hold anyone back. Because we are going to offer refinancing of all the student debt that is out there already. And we are going to do is make sure that nobody has to borrow tuition money to go to a public college. So we are really going to go right at this problem that is bedeviling families and students.

I also believe we have to start early, so all our kids have the best start in life. Children in rural areas disproportionately lack access to quality, affordable childcare and pre-kindergarten programs.

I will double funding for Early Head Start, a program I helped to create when I was First Lady, and set a course to ensure that every 4-year old in America can attend high-quality preschool in the next 10 years. And we also need to do better on health care. Decades ago, I led a commission on rural health in Arkansas that worked on increasing access in remote parts of the state.

Today, our health care system has changed dramatically, but it’s still too difficult for families in rural America to find quality, affordable health care. And I know many families here in Iowa are worried about even more rural hospitals closing. Telemedicine can help — and we should streamline licensing and explore how to make that reimbursable under Medicare.

Here in Iowa, you just won an important victory, stopping efforts to prevent Planned Parenthood from providing telemedicine services to women who might not be able to make it to a larger city. Thousands of women in Iowa have used these services in recent years. This shouldn’t have to be said, but how can anyone be advocating for denying women access to healthcare? That may be good politics in a Republican primary, but it is terrible policy in the real world. It’s wrong and it should stop.

And it’s just one example of the hypocrisy we see from Republican candidates and leaders. They pay lip service to rural America every chance they get. But their out-of-touch, out-of-date policies would strip away the progress we’ve made and take rural communities backwards. They would give billions of taxpayer dollars to big oil companies that are already successful, instead of investing in the clean renewable energy of tomorrow.

You know many Republicans even deny that climate change exists, despite the damage it’s doing to farmers and ranchers. And they killed the Export-Import Bank even though it helps small businesses and farmers. Instead of expanding support for education, your governor here in Iowa vetoed additional funding for education. We need to be giving teachers a raise, not putting their jobs at risk.

And then there’s immigration. The fact is, American agriculture is heavily dependent on immigrant labor, from the orchards of California to the processing plants of Iowa to the groves of Florida.

The Des Moines Register recently noted that even though producers have raised pay, it’s getting harder to find enough workers to harvest their crops. We’re talking about billions of dollars in income lost because of farm worker shortages. Comprehensive immigration reform would help address this problem and give a needed boost to rural communities. And yet many Republicans still say they want to deport millions of hard-working people — breaking up families, disrupting communities, and harming our economy.

Now don’t get distracted by the flamboyant front-runner. Most of the other Republican candidates are just Trump without the pizazz — or the hair. Just like him, they don’t support a real path to citizenship. When they talk about “legal status,” that’s code for “second class status.” Now some are even calling for repealing the 14th Amendment to the Constitution and stripping lawful American citizens of their rights. It’s hard to imagine being more out-of-touch or out-of-date. But all the over-the-top rhetoric does throw the choice in this election into stark relief.

Voters are going to look for who best understands the pressures facing our families and the challenges facing our nation… who has the right vision for America’s future — and the skill and tenacity to lead us there. Other candidates may be out fighting for a particular ideology, but I’m fighting for you. I’m running for President to deliver real results for hard-working American families so they when you do your part, you can get ahead and stay ahead. That’s the basic bargain of America.

In small towns and big cities; young, old, black, white, Latino; our country should work for you and every American… for the struggling, the striving, and the successful… for the farmer who’s up before dawn and never quits… for the migrant worker who labors in the shadow of deportation… for the engineer building a wind turbine to power our future… for the young person who wants to stay in town and keep the family business going. For everyone who’s ever been knocked down, but refused to be knocked out. That’s the America that we are going to build together, and it will include rural America.

That is my pledge to all of you. Thank you very much.

Hillary Clinton Fact Sheet: Strengthening Rural America

Hillary is on the road in Iowa today at Des Moines Area Community College in Ankeny IA.  With Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack,  who has endorsed her, she laid out her plan for rural America.

Earlier,  she expressed heartbreak at the sad news out of Virginia.

Hillary Clinton ‏@HillaryClinton 

Heartbroken and angry. We must act to stop gun violence, and we cannot wait any longer. Praying for the victims' families in Virginia. -H

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton tours the Tool and Die Lab at the Des Moines Area Community College, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2015, in Ankeny, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton, left, tours the Tool and Die Lab at the Des Moines Area Community College, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2015, in Ankeny, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack tour the Tool and Die Lab at the Des Moines Area Community College, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2015, in Ankeny, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

FILE - In this July 26, 2015, file photo, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. In her many visits to the leadoff caucus state, Clinton has included multiple remarks with regional references. The approach is a stylistic shift from Clinton’s failed 2008 presidential bid, which began poorly with a third-place finish in the Iowa caucuses. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton waits to be introduced before speaking about rural issues at the Des Moines Area Community College, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2015, in Ankeny, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton, followed by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, left, waves before she speaks about rural issues at the Des Moines Area Community College, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2015, in Ankeny, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton, followed by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, left, arrives to speaks about rural issues at the Des Moines Area Community College, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2015, in Ankeny, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks at the Des Moines Area Community College, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2015, in Ankeny, Iowa. The transmission of classified information across Hillary Clinton’s private email is consistent with a culture in which diplomats routinely sent secret material on unsecured email during the Obama and George W. Bush administrations, according to documents previously made public and reviewed by The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks about rural issues at the Des Moines Area Community College, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2015, in Ankeny, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

The Briefing

Factsheets

Hillary Clinton’s Plan for a Vibrant Rural America

America’s rural communities lie at the heart of what makes this country great. The affordability of our food, the independence and sophistication of our energy supply, and the strength of our small communities all depend on a vibrant rural America. Despite their critical role in our economy, too many rural communities are not sharing in our nation’s economic gains. Unemployment and poverty are too high, commodity prices have recently declined, and necessary components to economic security – including accessible health care and affordable education – are unavailable in too many rural communities. We must do more to ensure the vitality of our rural areas—not only because America’s 46 million rural residents make up nearly 15 percent of our population, but also because rural America provides the foundation for the entire country’s economic success.
Clinton’s focus on strengthening rural America for the next generation focuses on four key areas.

1. Spurring investment to power the rural economy. Small and medium sized businesses power the rural economy but many are being held back by inadequate infrastructure, poor access to credit and capital, and insufficient incentives to invest. To unleash the potential of America's rural businesses, farms, and ranches – and create jobs and grow wages for working Americans – Clinton will:
   • Expand access to equity capital for rural businesses by increasing the number of Rural Business Investment Companies (RBICs), which make equity investments in small rural businesses—driving growth and creating jobs in rural areas. RBICs are approved through the Farm Credit Administration, funded by Farm Credit Banks, and directly link entrepreneurs to capital. They help to build "capital networks" in rural areas, which research suggests is a major factor impacting venture capital access in states with large rural populations.¹
   • Simplify regulations for community banks to ensure they are focused on funding our small business and are not swallowed up by a never-ending cycle of examinations and paperwork. These banks are vital to our rural businesses—a National Federation of Independent Businesses survey found that more than 70 percent of rural respondents identified their primary financial institution as a local bank, compared to 49 percent of urban respondents.² Clinton's plan will cut red tape for banks that don't measure their assets in billions – while making sure community banks are never used as a Trojan Horse to undermine Dodd-Frank reforms for the largest Wall Street Banks.
   • Create a national infrastructure bank and invest in infrastructure to improve the country's rural transportation, water, and broadband infrastructure so that it meets the demands of our modernizing industries and creates jobs in rural America. Crucially, Clinton will focus on increasing access and adoption of high-speed broadband so that rural small businesses can better connect to the global economy, farmers and ranchers can benefit from agricultural technology, and students can benefit from distance learning.
   • Streamline, expand, and make permanent the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) to increase the amount of credits available to low-income communities and add new credits for hard-hit communities that have seen jobs and production depart. Since the NMTC was amended in 2006 to ensure non-metro communities were allocated their fair share, the credit has created tens of thousands of jobs and financed over 600 businesses and facilities in rural America.³ This tax relief for long-term investments in rural and other communities will be paid for by raising capital gains rates on short-term trading and churning.
   • Strengthen USDA grant programs to make them less about bureaucratic buckets and more about funding flexibility, leveraging local resources, and measuring results. For example, Clinton will partner with Land-Grant Colleges and Universities, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges, and Hispanic Serving Institutions to expand the USDA StrikeForce Initiative. StrikeForce targets rural development resources to create jobs and revitalize areas of the country where poverty rates exceed 20 percent—about 85 percent of which are in rural areas.
2. Raising agricultural production and profitability for family farms. A strong agricultural economy remains a critical cornerstone of a vibrant rural economy. Farmers and ranchers supply food for America's dinner tables, invest in farm machinery and supplies, and provide domestic energy resources that fuel small businesses. The agriculture economy also drives America's larger economic success—accounting for about $800 billion in economic activity each year and supporting one out of every eleven jobs in the country. To ensure that America's farmers and ranchers have the tools they need to succeed Clinton will:
   • Support the next generation of farmers by doubling funding for the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development program to provide education, mentoring, and technical assistance to aspiring farmers and ranchers. Clinton will also fight to enact her New College Compact to tackle student debt. A National Young Farmers Coalition survey found that 30 percent of respondents said that student loans delayed or prevented them from farming.⁴
   • Build a strong local and regional food system by doubling funding for the Farmers Market Promotion Program and the Local Food Promotion Program to expand food hubs, farmers markets, SNAP recipients' access to fresh food, and to encourage direct sales to local schools, hospitals, retailers and wholesalers. Clinton's focus on this issue stems from the “Farm-to-Fork” initiative she promoted in New York as Senator.
   • Provide a focused safety net for farmers and ranchers by continuing to make progress in targeting federal resources in commodity payment, crop insurance, and disaster assistance programs to support family operations that truly need them in challenging times, like when weather-related disasters devastate whole areas of the country.
   • Fight for comprehensive immigration reform because America's immigrants and migrant workers play a critical role in developing and supporting America's agricultural economy.
3. Promoting clean energy leadership and collaborative stewardship. Rural America is an energy leader, providing clean electricity and transportation fuels to the rest of the country, reducing our dependence on foreign oil, and making the air we breathe cleaner and safer. Over the past decade, American wind power workforce has grown 10-fold and domestic renewable fuels production has expanded by more than 350 percent—creating jobs, boosting farm incomes, and driving billions of dollars of investment into rural communities. Clinton believes that America can't afford to cede our leadership in developing and deploying advanced clean fuels and clean electricity that will grow our economy, lower our energy bills, combat climate change, and make America the clean energy superpower of the 21st Century. Rural America's rich endowment of natural resources extends far beyond energy, too, and Clinton will partner with local communities to protect our lands, waters, and wildlife. Clinton will:
   • Fully fund the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), which provides assistance to producers – including a set-aside for minorities and veterans – who are working to conserve and improve natural resources on their farms and ranches. Additional funding will be directed toward proven initiatives like the Regional Conservation Partnership Program, which provides communities with flexible funding to set priorities and lead the way on efforts to improve water quality, combat drought and wildfires, expand wildlife habitat, and enhance soil health.
   • Strengthen the Renewable Fuel Standard so that it drives the development of advanced cellulosic and other advanced biofuels, protects consumers, improves access to E15, E85, and biodiesel blends, and provides investment certainty.
   • Support the bio-based economy's dynamic growth by doubling the loan guarantees made through the Biorefinery, Renewable Chemical, and Biobased Product Manufacturing Assistance Program. The loan guarantee program helps fund the creation of bio-processing plants and emerging technologies that, for example, convert agriculture and landfill waste into productive chemicals and non-petroleum based materials. In 2013, the bio-based economy generated $369 billion and was responsible for over 4 million American jobs.⁵
   • Launch her Clean Energy Challenge to give states, cities, and rural communities ready to lead on clean energy the tools, resources, and flexibility they need to succeed. In doing so, Clinton will achieve the twin goals of having more than half a billion solar panels installed in this country by the end of her first term and producing enough clean renewable energy to power every home in America within 10 years of her taking office. This includes expanding the Rural Utilities Service and other successful USDA energy programs and ensuring the federal government is a partner, not an obstacle, in getting low-cost wind and other renewable energy from rural communities to the rest of the country.
4. Expanding opportunity in rural communities across America. Clinton believes that you should be able to live, work, and raise a family anywhere you choose. But increasingly, young Americans in rural areas have been forced to look outside of their communities to find quality heath care, a good education, or a stable job. America's rural areas are each unique, and each faces its own set of challenges—but every American, in every community, deserves a fair chance. That is why as Clinton fights to strengthen the rural economy and raise wages for working Americans, she will also work to ensure everyone has a solid foundation for success. Clinton will:
   • Make critical investments in our youngest learners by doubling funding for Early Head Start and working to ensure that every 4-year old in America has access to high-quality preschool in the next ten years. Rural children disproportionately lack access to quality preschool—during the 2013-14 school year, ten states did not offer a preschool program for four-year-olds, eight of which had a higher percentage of students enrolled in rural schools than the national average.⁶
   • Ensure cost won't be a barrier for college. For students from rural areas – who attend two-year institutions at a higher rate than their peers in metro areas – community colleges provide a pathway to obtain high-skilled manufacturing, service and agricultural jobs in their local communities.⁸ Clinton's New College Compact incorporates President Obama's plan to make community college tuition free so that young students and displaced workers can gain the skills they need to succeed. Research also shows a ten-percent gap in college attainment for rural students compared to the national average. Reasons for this gap include a lack of access to college preparatory courses in high school and cost barriers to attending 4-year institutions. Clinton is committed to ensuring that rural schools access college-prep courses in high school through on-line learning. And Clinton's New College Compact will work to ensure that students can attend a 4-year public college without taking loans for tuition.
   • Improve health care access for rural Americans by further integrating telehealth, remote patient monitoring, and other information technologies into our broader health system. Nearly a sixth of Americans live in rural areas, but barely a tenth of physicians practice there.⁹ Clinton will explore cost-effective ways to broaden the scope of healthcare providers eligible for telehealth reimbursement under Medicare and other programs, including federally qualified health centers and rural health clinics. She will also call for states to support efforts such as those by doctors and state medical boards to streamline licensing for telemedicine. Additionally, she will examine ways to expand the types of services that qualify for reimbursement, such as treatments that use remote patient monitoring technology – while ensuring that eligible services improve health and drive value. We need to harness public resources and private innovation to expand telehealth and information technology to benefit patients in rural areas and all over the country.
   • Ensure that our rural communities have better access to substance abuse prevention, early intervention, and treatment. Substance abuse is striking small towns and urban areas across America. But in rural America, the disease is particularly devastating—between 1999 and 2009, the death rates associated with drug poisoning grew by 394 percent in rural areas compared to 279 percent for large central metropolitan counties.¹⁰ In the coming weeks Clinton will release a comprehensive plan to address our substance abuse epidemic.

¹http://www.rupri.org/Forms/CapitalMarkets_Briefing_April2012.pdf
²http://www.nfib.com/Portals/0/PDF/AllUsers/research/studies/small-business-credit-study-nfib-2012.pdf
³http://nmtccoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/NMTC-Progress-Report-2014.pdf
⁴http://www.youngfarmers.org/new-nyfc-report-finds-student-loan-debt-is-exacerbating-farmer-shortage/
⁵http://www.biopreferred.gov/BPResources/files/EconomicReport_6_12_2015.pdf
⁶http://nieer.org/sites/nieer/files/Yearbook2014_full2_0.pdf
⁷http://bit.ly/1h7dnef
⁸http://www.rociidaho.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/ROCI_Rural-College-Patterns_Final.pdf
⁹http://celebratepowerofrural.org/?page_id=30
¹⁰http://claad.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/AMEPRE_3905-stamped-111213.pdf

Hillary Clinton’s ‘Hard Choices’ Retrospective Part Four Chapter 13 Africa: Guns or Growth?

Hillary Clinton describes the Obama Administration's Africa policy in typical Hillary fashion as resting on four pillars.

1. Promoting opportunity and development,
2. Spurring economic growth, trade, and investment,
3. Advancing peace and security,
4. Strengthening democratic institutions.

China, as we know, is  heavily invested in Africa.  Her description of that relationship as one of exploitation of natural resources in exchange for glitzy structure and infrastructure that benefits them and excludes local labor.  Her concern is the damage being inflicted by some foreign investment.
She quotes her remark to a TV interview question in Zambia in June 2011.

... our view is that over the long run, investments in Africa should be sustainable and for the benefit of the African people.

Confronted with a suggestion that the Chinese model, basically a hands-off local government model might serve African nations better than the good-governance model that could be interpreted as imposed by the west, responded:

It is easy – and we saw that during colonial times – it is easy to come in, take out natural resources, pay off leaders, and leave. And when you leave, you don’t leave much behind for the people who are there. You don’t improve the standard of living. You don’t create a ladder of opportunity.
We don’t want to see a new colonialism in Africa. We want, when people come to Africa and make investments, we want them to do well, but we also want them to do good. We don’t want them to undermine good governance. We don’t want them to basically deal with just the top elites and, frankly, too often pay for their concessions or their opportunities to invest.

Hillary Clinton’s Media Outreach: Three Interviews from Lusaka, Zambia

June 11, 2011 by still4hill

She mentions this speech where she spoke of sustainable partnerships that add rather than subtract value.

Hillary Clinton on Building Sustainable Partnerships in Africa

August 1, 2012 by still4hill

On the subject of the disturbing downward trend in electoral democracies on the continent she refers to a speech in 2011 at African Union Headquarters where she warned African leaders that the Arab Spring could spread.  We wondered, viewing the video, why she was speaking in the dark.  It turned out that there was a power outage that occurred while she spoke that might have been a coincidence.  It is a message that older, entrenched leaders do not want to hear.  Hillary remarks upon the reluctance of some of these leaders, often seen as liberators from colonialism, to cede power.  The phenomenon is endemic on the continent.
She delivered a similar message to Arab elders at Forum for the Future in Morocco in November 2009.  Neither was that audience particularly receptive to the message of inclusiveness.  The Arab Spring was a reaction to policies that she knew then, through her interactions with civil society in Arab countries, would boil over sooner or later boil over.  A look at the slideshow in this post speaks more than 1,000 words.

Video: Secretary Clinton’s Remarks at African Union Headquarters, Addis Ababa

June 13, 2011 by still4hill

Putting forth the example of a grassroots Senegalese movement effectively defeating Abdoulaye Wade in their 2012 election,  she posits that democratic change is possible in Africa and quotes further from her sustainable partnerships speech in Dakar.

I know there is sometimes an argument that democracy is a privilege belonging to wealthy countries, and that developing economies must put economic growth first and worry about democracy later. But that’s not the lesson of history. Over the long run, you can’t have effective economic liberalization without political liberalization ... the United States will stand up for democracy and universal human rights, even when it might be easier or more profitable to look the other way, to keep the resources flowing. Not every partner makes that choice, but we do and we will.

Liberia, today so unfortunately stricken with the ebola epidemic,  stands as a shining example of democracy in Africa as Hillary points out that former enemies on the field of battle now sit side by side in the legislative chambers.

Hillary Clinton’s Address to Joint Session of Liberian National Legislature

August 13, 2009 by still4hill

Some of you have seen a film that tells the story of a Liberian woman’s efforts to end the war. Tired of the killing and the conflict, she organized women at her church and then other churches and in mosques until thousands of Liberian women had joined a vocal, public movement demanding peace ... These were women who woke up one day and said, “Enough, enough. We’re better than that ...  I know that the suffering of the people of Liberia has been broad and deep. But now, you each have a chance, both personally and publicly through your service here, to make a stand against the past and for a future that is worthy of the sacrifice and the suffering that went on too long. The United States is proud to support you.

Her 2009 visit to Kenya comprised several important speaking engagements to which she refers:  The AGOA Forum (Clinton administration legislation), a "townterview" with Fareed Zakaria, a visit, with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, to an agricultural research institute, and the usual ministerials.

Hillary Clinton’s Address at the Africa Growth Opportunities Act (AGOA) Forum in Kenya

August 5, 2009 by still4hill

Hillary Clinton’s Townterview at the University of Nairobi with Fareed Zakaria

August 7, 2009 by still4hill

Students greeted her with signs reading "corruption-free zone."  At this event Hillary shared the stage with Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathi who led a reforestation movement in Kenya.  The issue of natural resources being decimated arose.  You may recall that in her very lengthy confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Hillary was asked a question about natural resources in Africa (it might have come from John Kerry, but I am not certain).  Immediately she responded that "Botswana comes to mind."  Here she shared the same example.
Botswana's national trust fund has reinvested profits from its resources into the population and infrastructure with such success that both the Peace Corps and USAID pulled out of the country since their help was no longer needed.  Hillary credits Botswana's Five Ds for the success: Democracy, Development, Dignity, Discipline, Delivery.

Hillary Clinton at the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute

August 5, 2009 by still4hill

Well-intentio9ned as they were,  she notes that U.S. (and other) gifts of foodstuffs undercut the market for indigenous agricultural products.  She points to the Feed the Future Program as one that supports local produce and addresses the challenge of transportation.

 

Hillary Clinton With Kenyan Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula

August 5, 2009 by still4hill

She also met with President Kibaki, Prime Minister Odinga, and the cabinet.  There was tough talk,  to which she refers,  in this meeting but no transcript from the State Department.  The agreed-upon shared power in the government was not going smoothly. Her subsequent words with Foreign Minister Wetangula provide some insight into the tone she adopted, however.

The United States worked hard last year with Kofi Annan and the team of African Eminent Persons to support the Kenyan people to resolve the crisis that afflicted this country. Unfortunately, resolving that crisis has not yet translated into the kind of political progress that the Kenyan people deserve. Instead, the absence of strong and effective democratic institutions has permitted ongoing corruption, impunity, politically motivated violence, human rights abuses, and a lack of respect for the rule of law.
These conditions helped fuel the post-election violence, and they are continuing to hold Kenya back. The reform agenda agreed to by the coalition government and discussed in the speech that President Kibaki and Prime Minister Odinga gave this morning must be fully implemented not just to avoid a repeat of the previous crisis or worse, but more importantly, to set the stage for a better future, a future worthy of the dynamic people of this country, a future of economic growth, democratic development, social justice, and the opportunity for every Kenyan child to live up to his or her God-given potential. I wanted the leaders to know that we respect greatly the way that the Kenyan people pulled their country back from the brink of disaster once, and the ongoing connection between the private sector, civil society, and the government that is the key to resolving these issues.

Hillary's description of her visit to Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in summer 2009 is a contrasting patchwork of horror and hope.   She begins with her visit, with NBA star Dkembe Mutombo to the pediatric unit he built and named for his mother.

Hillary Clinton at the Biamba Marie Mutombo Hospital and Research Center

August 10, 2009 by still4hill

There were so many bright and lovely moments on this first official State tour of Africa.  Most of those were, sadly, not covered by the media, but no one missed the "snap in the Congo."  In an atmosphere that Hillary describes as sour with an air of sullen resignation in a stuffy auditorium at St. Joseph's School. everyone saw her lose patience with a question, remove her earbuds, and tell a student at a town hall that she would not be channeling her husband.

Hillary Clinton’s Town Hall With Search for Common Ground and Congolese University Students

August 10, 2009 by still4hill

In the book, she explains that the student came to her after the event, apologized, and explained that he had not meant to ask her President Clinton's opinion but rather President Obama's.

Goma is one of the the grimmest, most dangerous places on earth, especially for women.  Hillary tells of her visit there and the spirit she encountered among the residents of the refugee settlement she visited.

Hillary Clinton’s Day at the U.N. Internally Displaced Persons Camp, Goma, DRC

August 11, 2009 by still4hill

She says she witnessed the worst and the best of humanity there.  She was inspired to chair a U.N. Security Council meeting the next month on the subject of sexual violence in conflict regions.

Secretary Hillary Clinton Chairing Security Council Meeting Today

September 30, 2009 by still4hill

Secretary Clinton & Ambassador Rice: Remarks After Meeting on the Adoption of a UNSC Resolution to Combat Sexual Violence in Armed Conflict

September 30, 2009 by still4hill

Hillary turns at this point to her visit to Africa's and the world's newest country, South Sudan in August 2012 when a standoff between the breakout state and Sudan from which it had seceded was festering.  South Sudan had oil and Sudan had the ports and refineries.  Clearly some kind of cooperative agreement would benefit both, but South Sudan had shut down the pipeline to the North.

Hillary Clinton With Foreign Minister of South Sudan Nhial Deng Nhial

August 3, 2012 by still4hill

Hillary Clinton in South Sudan

August 3, 2012 by still4hill

The surface issue was fees charged by Sudan to transport and process the oil.  Hillary used an Op-Ed by one of President Kir's former comrades-in-arms, Bishop Elias Taban, once a boy soldier.   Below the surface, the dispute rested on old battle wounds.  Hillary told him "a percentage of something is better than a percentage of nothing."  Taban's words moved Kir to accept a compromise.   By 2:45 the next morning, the oil flowed again.

Hillary Clinton Welcomes Oil Agreement Between Sudan and South Sudan, Calls for Peace and Humanitarian Access

August 4, 2012 by still4hill

Hillary writes that South Sudan's future remains uncertain, and indeed, while this post was being assembled the State Department issued this statement.
Bishop Taban, who provided the instrument that convinced President Kir to budge was her guest at last year's Clinton Global Initiative where she presented him with the Global Citizen Award.

CGI 2013: Closing Plenary Session

September 26, 2013 by still4hill

She reviews Somalia's war-torn, terror-ridden history and our efforts to assist through several U.S. administrations.  In August 2009, the president of the transitional government traveled to Nairobi to meet with her.  She wondered if he would shake her hand, and he did so very enthusiastically which was a very big deal all around.

Hillary Clinton With Somali Transitional Federal Government President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed

August 7, 2009 by still4hill

They met again for a final time in their respective official positions in August 2012.  A new president was elected the next month.

Hillary Clinton With Somali Roadmap Signatories in Kenya

August 4, 2012 by still4hill

At a military base in Uganda, U.S. Special Operations advisors showed her a surveillance drone used in the search for Joseph Kony chief of the Lord's Resistance Army and elements of Al Shabaab.  She notes that it resembled a child's toy.

Hillary Clinton at Kasenyi Military Base in Uganda

August 3, 2012 by still4hill

She mentions the September 2013 attack by Al Shabaab on a shopping mall in Nairobi that killed Elif Yavuz who worked for the Clinton Health Access Initiative which battles HIV/AIDS and other health challenges.

Bill, Hillary, and Chelsea Clinton Offer Condolences on the Death of Elif Yavuz

September 23, 2013 by still4hill

In the struggle to conquer HIV/AIDS on the continent, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) begun by George W. Bush plays a major role.  She recalls this event in Johannesburg in 2009 where she was accompanied by Eric Goosby,  the State Department's Global AIDS Coordinator, her Congressional Representative, Nita Lowey, and the late, Honorable Donald Payne who was a friend of this blog.

Hillary Clinton at PEPFAR Event in South Africa

August 8, 2009 by still4hill

Hillary declared a goal of an AIDS-free generation on World AIDS Day 2011.

Secretary Clinton on World AIDS Day 2011

December 1, 2011 by still4hill

Hillary Clinton at the Reach Out Mbuya Health Center, in Kampala, Uganda

August 3, 2012 by still4hill

Hillary begins drawing this Africa chapter to a close in South Africa around Nelson Mandela beginning with recollections of her visits to South Africa as First Lady, the second time bringing Chelsea with her.   A lifetime friendship ensued.

Hillary Clinton with Nelson Mandela

August 8, 2009 by still4hill

One working relationship that brought many smiles over the years was her friendship with South African Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane.   She gave parties for Hillary on both of her visits.  There was a rare snowfall on Hillary's last visit and she was called 'Nimkita' - one who brings the snow.

Hillary Clinton With South African Minister of International Relations Nkoana-Mashabane

August 8, 2009 by still4hill

Hillary Clinton with South African Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane

August 7, 2012 by still4hill

Hillary Clinton’s Meeting With U.S. and South African Business Leaders

August 7, 2012 by still4hill

Hillary Clinton at a Dinner Hosted by South African Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane

August 7, 2012 by still4hill

 Hillary led a delegation of business leaders to this summit.  Our friend Grace Bennett of Inside Chappaqua accompanied Hillary's traveling press on this trip,  and Hillary called her over to meet Maite.

Hillary Clinton at the U.S.-South Africa Business Partnership Summit

August 6, 2012 by still4hill

 

 

There was one last visit to Nelson Mandela.

Hillary Clinton Visits Nelson Mandela

August 6, 2012 by still4hill

Hillary Clinton at The United States – South Africa Partnership

August 8, 2012 by still4hill

She refers to these closing remarks in this speech.

It’s a burden being an American or a South African, because people expect you to really live up to those standards. People hold us to a higher set of standards, don’t they? And we owe it to all who came before, all who sacrificed and suffered, to do our very best to keep working every single day to meet those standards. But we mostly owe it to our future.
Many things have changed since Robert Kennedy came to Cape Town and Nelson Mandela left Robben’s Island. But some have not. The world we want to build together still demands the qualities of youth and a predominance of courage over timidity. So in that spirit, let us work together so that the values that shaped both our nations may also shape a world that is more peaceful, more prosperous, and more just.

Clintons Close CGI in Rio and Convene in South Africa to Honor Nelson Mandela

December 10, 2013 by still4hill

Hillary went on Air Force One with the Obamas and the Bushes.  Bill and Chelsea went from Rio.

Hillary ends this chapter with hopes for an Africa worthy of Nelson Mandela's long walk to freedom.

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