Statement by the President on the Message Proposing a Program for Rural America.

THERE IS one purpose in the message that I sent to Congress today. We must improve the lives of those who live in rural America.

The need for improvement is clear and is here, and the time is now.

Here are the facts:

Nearly half of the poor of this country now live in rural areas.

Almost one in every two rural families has a cash income under $3,000.

One-fourth of rural nonfarm homes are today without running water. Rural people lag almost 2 years behind city people in educational attainment.

Health facilities in rural areas are very inadequate. Rural children receive onethird less medical attention than urban children.

All of these voids existed last year and despite the efforts of both the Executive and the Congress, they exist this year. They just must not be allowed to extend into the years ahead.

To do so would mock the abundance of this great land of ours. We must do all that it is possible to do to improve conditions now. Whole communities in our Nation are now denied the benefits of the strongest, the wealthiest country on earth. And that is why today I ask for the help of the Congress.

We already have the means for a massive attack on poverty. The legislation that we need was passed by the first session of this 89th Congress.

Today, however, many rural communities are not able to combine their available physical, human, and financial resources. They just must be able to do this if we are to achieve a satisfactory level of social and economic development.

I believe that the key to the rural future in America is planning for rural people. My recommendation, therefore, today is that the measures that I have requested for tomorrow be built on planning that will lead to action tomorrow.

Our purpose is to supplement and not supplant the present efforts of local and State and Federal Governments--but we must make it crystal clear that we do not, repeat, do not intend to forsake the small community in this land. We are going to do what it is needed to do in order to make the rural future brighter for the rural people who live in our rural areas.