Hillary Clinton Campaign Press Release - Hillary Clinton Supports Strong Farm Bill as Part of Rural Agenda and Criticizes Senator McCain for Opposition

Senate expected to vote on Farm Bill today; John McCain has said he would veto; Hillary also offers rural vision for South Dakota

Today, Hillary Clinton participated in a "Solutions for the Rural Economy" town hall at the Jones' family farm in Bath, SD. She was joined by farm-owner Dennis Jones, and his son, Jarrett, who both spoke of the challenges they face and the benefits that the Farm Bill would bring South Dakota farmers.

Hillary reinforced her support for the Farm Bill, which is expected to be voted on in the Senate today, and its benefits for the over 31,000 South Dakota farmers. Hillary also criticized Senator McCain for his opposition to the Farm Bill. Hillary believes South Dakota's farmers deserve a president who will stand for them. "Saying no to the farm bill would be saying no to rural America," said Senator Clinton. Yet two weeks ago, Senator McCain made it clear he sides with President Bush, who has repeatedly threatened to veto the Farm Bill. "I do not support [the Farm Bill]. I would veto it," Senator McCain told voters in Iowa. As President, Senator Clinton will work as hard for the producers of South Dakota as she has worked for the 34,000 family farms in New York over the past eight years. "When Bear Stearns needed assistance, we stepped in with a $30 billion package. But when our farmers need help, all they get from Senator McCain and President Bush a veto threat," said Senator Clinton. The Farm Bill contains a number of important provisions for South Dakota's family farms, including:

Permanent Disaster Relief – Hillary understands that farmers are susceptible to weather challenges that can devastate their crops. In 2007, drought impacted two-thirds of South Dakota. The Farm Bill establishes permanent disaster relief to ensure aid for producers will be there when they need it most. This provision would finally implement a sensible solution that would not provide a disincentive for crop insurance.

A Strong Safety Net -- The 2008 Farm Bill retains a strong safety net for producers as a cornerstone of farm policy. This bill also provides a new option for producers -- a state-level revenue protection system called the Average Crop Revenue program. This option offers producers better options for managing risk on their farms in today's uncertain environment.

Support for Biofuels Production – The Farm Bill makes significant investments in ethanol and other homegrown biofuels in order to decrease our dependence on foreign oil and increase our energy security. South Dakota is already committed to producing renewable sources; since 2003, ethanol production has tripled in the state. The farm bill will provide grants and loan guarantees to support new biorefineries and increase bioenergy research. It also expands the renewable energy and energy efficiency program, which provides financial support and technical assistance to producers of alternative and renewable energy.

Country of Origin Labeling – The Farm Bill would finally make ensure proper and prompt implementation of mandatory country-of-origin labeling (COOL) for agricultural products. Under the 2008 Farm Bill, COOL would be implemented by September 30, 2008. This provision was first passed as part of the Farm Bill in 2002, but the Bush Administration and Republicans in Congress have delayed implementation.

Strengthens Producer Protections - The bill ensures producers are not forced into mandatory arbitration in livestock or poultry contracts, and allows producers to decline arbitration prior to entering into such a contract. The bill also increases contracting fairness, and improves USDA enforcement of the Packers and Stockyards Act

As president, Hillary will go even further in supporting a farm policy that puts family farmers' front and center. She'll advocate for:

Limiting Payments and Closing Loopholes in the Commodity Payments Program – Hillary supports targeting our commodity payment programs so that family farms - not corporate farms - are the key beneficiaries. She supports closing loopholes that disproportionately benefit wealthy corporate farmers and those who do not directly take part in the operations or management of their farms by eliminating the triple-entity rule, implementing direct attribution of payments.

Making All Markets More Competitive – Vertical integration and concentration in agriculture have put South Dakota livestock producers at an unfair disadvantage in the marketplace. To further address this problem, Hillary supports a ban on packer ownership of livestock.

Ensuring Fair Trade for Farmers -- Hillary will work to level the playing field for producers and help farmers succeed in our global economy. She has opposed trade deals that were disadvantageous to America's farmers and she will appoint a trade ambassador that does not treat agriculture like a bargaining chip in trade negotiations. And Hillary will not allow animals from countries with questionable food safety enforcement to jeopardize our U.S. beef producers markets or consumers.

Promoting Local Production and Distribution of Food – Hillary has expanded markets for producers by developing her "Farm-to-Fork" initiative to link those who grow our food directly with those who process and serve it. As President, she will work to take this initiative to scale. By connecting farmers to South Dakota's schools and increasing direct-to-consumer marketing, we can expand markets for farmers and improve access to healthy, locally produced food for consumers.

Aiding Beginning Farmers – Hillary wants to ensure that beginning farmers have the same opportunities and tools as the rest of America's producers. Her plan begins by increasing access to credit and capital, developing a program to aid in the transition of operations, expanding technical assistance and ensuring participation in commodity, conservation and value-added programs.

Hillary also has a plan to expand South Dakota's rural economies and strengthen rural communities and small towns throughout the state. Hillary has proposed incentives to live, work and invest in rural areas. Rural communities in South Dakota make up nearly 58 percent of the state's population, and her plan creates more opportunities and strives to make it financially advantageous for people to move back to their South Dakota communities, while investing in rural education, healthcare, broadband, and agriculture.

Details of her plan

PROMOTING RENEWABLE ENERGY AND CONSERVATION

Senator Clinton believes renewable energy is the key to America's energy independence and security. Rural areas are integral to achieving that goal. Here's how:

Create a Strategic Energy Fund and Expand Renewable Electricity – Hillary has proposed a Strategic Energy Fund that would inject $50 billion into research, development and deployment of renewable energy, energy efficiency, ethanol and other homegrown biofuels. Hillary's proposal would give oil companies a choice: invest in renewable energy or pay into the fund. Hillary's proposal would also eliminate oil company tax breaks and will create a new clean energy industry in America. As President, she would also work to implement a renewable electricity standard and would increase tax incentives for wind, solar and other forms of renewable energy. This commitment to renewable forms of energy will create tens of thousands of jobs in South Dakota, and millions across the country, as well as create local investment in ownership of renewable projects that Hillary sees at vital to expanding rural areas. South Dakota already has taken steps to incentivize wind power production. Today, the state has 44 megawatts of wind power production and 141 megawatts of production capacity under construction.

Promoting Solutions to Environmental Challenges – Hillary is a strong proponent of programs to conserve agricultural land, reduce pollution, slow urban sprawl, like Conservation Reserve Program, and she strongly supports efforts to get farmers involved in the fight against global warming through carbon trading market, like those of the South Dakota Farmers Union.

PROMOTING RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF

LIFE IN RURAL SOUTH DAKOTA

Hillary has been a champion for improving rural quality of life since she came to the Senate.

She plans to expand that work by creating financial opportunities and improving all aspects of rural South Dakota living. South Dakota is home to 18 of the country's 50 rural counties with the greatest decrease in personal income from 2005 to 2006. Hillary's plan to promote rural economy:

Expanding Empowerment Zones to Revitalize Rural Communities – Hillary has been an adamant supporter of empowerment zones, and as President, will work to expand this successful program to help rural communities attract and retain businesses in areas of need. She would also issue tax-exempt rural enterprise community bonds to help retain and promote strong rural communities.

Helping Small Businesses and Creating Jobs – Hillary has introduced her Rural RISE Act to spur investment and job creation in rural America. This legislation would expand access to capital and strategic advice for rural entrepreneurs and small businesses, through a regional approach. It will also bring together businesses, community colleges and four-year universities to ensure workers have the training needed to compete in the global economy through Regional Skills Alliances. The Rural RISE Act provides true incentives and greater opportunities for those who wish to remain in, or move to, rural parts of South Dakota, or across the country. In addition, Senator Clinton will fund training for "green collar jobs," jobs in rural areas that involve working with renewable energy and energy efficient technologies.

Broadband for All and Promoting Telecommuting – Hillary believes that all tools should be available to rural South Dakota, and that includes reliable broadband access. To address that challenge, she introduced The Rural Broadband Initiatives Act. This policy will refocus efforts in expanding broadband, invest in the technologies needed for this expansion, and require accountability from agencies to provide high speed internet to every corner of the country, where experiences have shown education has improved and they have attracted new businesses to the area. Hillary will promote telecommuting by encouraging its use at federal agencies, and by committing up to $50 million per year to support state and local initiatives. According to a 2007 report, South Dakota had the second-slowest download speed in the country.

Improving Rural Health Care – Hillary's American Health Choices Plan provides affordable, high quality health care for all Americans. There are more than 91,000 people in South Dakota without health insurance [U.S. Census Bureau]. In addition, as President, she will continue to fight to recruit, retain and educate more nurses and health professionals in rural areas. By 2014, South Dakota could face a shortage of more than 2,000 nurses [South Dakota Center for Nursing Workforce]. Her plans to increase medical staff, improve our health information technology and make prescription drugs cheaper, will improve access to quality heath care in all parts of the country, especially rural South Dakota. This includes cracking down on methamphetamine abuse and "labs" that are plaguing rural areas.

Promoting Education –Hillary will expand initiatives to bring new teachers to rural communities in South Dakota, where almost half of all public school students attend rural schools [The Rural School and Community Trust]. She has championed legislation to provide income-based repayment programs to help people with low incomes better pay off their student loans. In 2006, 84 percent of students in South Dakota graduated college with debt, and the average amount was more than $21,000 [Project on Student Debt]. And she will advocate for loan forgiveness for people who work in public service jobs, like teaching, for ten years; a plan to rein in the cost of college and increase student aid; initiatives to expand distance learning opportunities; additional support for community colleges and universities; legislation to fund reconstruction of our crumbling schools; and to provide universal prekindergarten.

Access to Home Ownership –Hillary believes that people living in rural areas have the same dream of owning a home as all other Americans. She has unveiled a detailed approach to make sure that rural South Dakotans aren't exploited when they buy a home, while addressing the home mortgage crisis.

Dedication to the Infrastructure of Rural Areas – Hillary will establish a $10 billion Emergency Repair Fund to ensure that critical infrastructure repairs are made. She will also provide $250 million in Emergency Assessments Grants to states to conduct immediate safety reviews of their high-priority, high-risk infrastructure assets and form a commission to carry out a comprehensive assessment of our engineering review standards so that we better prioritize needed repairs on bridges and roads. She will also create a National Infrastructure Bank, a federally-backed independent entity that will evaluate and finance large infrastructure projects that are of regional or national significance. Recently in Yankton, a 10-ton gross limit was placed on the Meridian Bridge recently because of corrosion on steel plates.

Aiding Sportsmen – Senator Clinton will work to open increasing access to space for hunting and fishing, and she supports expanding the Wetlands Reserve Program and other environmental stewardship programs that focus on conserving land, water, and wildlife. In 2006, 572,000 people participated in wildlife watching, hunting, or fishing in South Dakota.