Rural Issues

The sprawling 17th Congressional District covers most of West Central Illinois from the Quad Cities in the north, running along the entire length of the state to Grafton in the south, and to Springfield and Decatur in the center. It includes all or portions of 23 counties and the cities of Sterling, Rock Island, Moline, Kewanee, Galesburg, Canton, Macomb, Quincy, and Carlinville. Most of these areas are rural farm land.

I have worked in Congress as a strong advocate for rural America so that all residents of West Central Illinois have access to quality, affordable health care, good-paying jobs, higher education opportunities, early education programs, and telecommunications services. I am also a member of the Rural Working Group, a bipartisan coalition focused on strengthening and revitalizing rural communities across the nation.

Health Care:
Access to health care is the biggest challenge facing our rural communities. I am a proud member of the Rural Health Care Coalition (RHCC), a bipartisan group committed to advancing rural priorities in health care policy. Since its inception, the RHCC has been a very active and effective force in Congress. They have been successful in establishing the Office of Rural Health Policy within the Department of Health and Human Services and in forming the Critical Access Hospital program.

I have also introduced legislation (H.R. 3066) to ensure the Critical Access Hospitals (CAH) in the 17th District continue to receive reimbursements for surgical services. These reimbursements enable thousands of citizens in medically underserved areas to receive needed, and sometimes life-saving surgeries.

Education:
Studies have found that children who attend Head Start enter kindergarten better prepared than children who do not. As a Member of the House Education and Labor Committee, I played a lead role in drafting the bill to reauthorize and improve the Head Start program through 2012. Two of my amendments—which would improve access to Head Start for rural communities—were made a part of the final legislation. Specifically, my amendments would remove barriers to professional development, parental involvement, transportation, home visits, and health screenings in rural areas.

I am currently working on legislation to reform No Child Left Behind to help rural schools recruit and retain highly qualified teachers, receive Title I funds that they have been shortchanged, improve the way special needs children are assessed, and provide minimum grants for technological improvements and other essential services.

Additionally, I passed provisions in the College Opportunity and Affordability Act, which became law in August 2008, to help rural schools recruit highly qualified teachers. I also passed an amendment to prepare individuals to be principals, superintendents and other administrators in rural schools through Teacher Quality Partnership Grants. School leadership is a key to student achievement and rural communities experience a huge deficit in this area.

Veterans:
I hear often not only from veterans, but also from critical access hospitals about the frustration they feel from the inability to access or provide the care our veterans need. We often see our disabled and elderly veterans driving hundreds of miles to the nearest VA health facilities in Freeport, IL or Bettendorf, IA. I believe this travel burden is not in the best interest of our veterans. Therefore, I helped pass a bill I strongly supported, the Rural Veterans Access to Care Act (H.R. 1527) to establish a pilot program in four Veteran Integrated Services Networks that would allow a highly rural veteran to elect to receive covered health services through a non-VA health care provider. The information we gather from this pilot program will go a long way in helping our rural veterans access care while also paying attention to the quality of care our veterans receive and VA patient enrollment numbers.

Additionally, I have been fighting for a Community-Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) in Whiteside County to increase veterans' access to care. Currently, the application for the CBOC awaits review by the VA in the next budgetary cycle.

Economic Development:
The number one issue facing our region is jobs. I am working closely with the Economic Development Agency, USDA Rural Development, Workforce Alliance, local development groups, and local businesses to ensure that our communities have the resources and tools they need to grow.

Dislocated Workers
A challenge facing economic development in our rural areas is dislocated workers; individuals who lose their jobs through unfair trade agreements, plant closings and other factors outside of their control. I have taken several measures to ensure these workers have access to re-training opportunities to find new jobs. First, I successfully included in the House’s Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) reform bill (the Trade and Globalization Assistance Act of 2007), which passed the House on October 31, 2007, provisions regarding early access to training, notification of financial/career counseling at Unemployment Insurance (UI) agencies, and greater financial aid for dislocated workers.

Second, in the College Opportunity and Affordability Act, I improved the way we inform dislocated workers of their eligibility to qualify for more financial aid through “Professional Judgment,” a process financial aid officers can employ to more accurately assess financial need, ensuring these workers receive the most assistance possible.

Higher Education in Rural America
I also co-authored the College and University Rural Education (CURE) Act, which provides grants to increase the enrollment of rural high school graduates in institutions of higher education, move those students into good-paying jobs, and expand training for professions of need in rural areas of Illinois. This bill was included in the College Opportunity and Affordability Act, which became law on August 14, 2008.

Biofuels and Green-collar Jobs
I am a strong proponent of biofuel production and green-collar jobs, which I believe are the economic future of West Central Illinois. I secured federal funding to help Richland Community College of Decatur develop a degree program to prepare and train workers for the emerging biofuel industry in Illinois. Additionally, as a Member of the House Education and Labor Committee, I had the privilege of working on the Green Jobs Act (H.R. 2847), which establishes an energy efficiency and renewable energy worker training program to develop a workforce for “green-collar” jobs. This bill was passed as part of a larger energy package that became law on December 19, 2007.

Transportation and Infrastructure
In order to boost the local economy, we must strengthen our transportation infrastructure. I have been working to re-establish Amtrak service between the Quad Cities and Chicago, which will increase economic development opportunities in West Central Illinois.  Furthermore, completing the 4-lane expansion of Highway 34 from Burlington, IA to Monmouth, IL would create a key East-West corridor for commercial traffic and further stimulate economic development in the region.  I am fighting to secure the federal funding needed to complete these projects.

Additionally, I voted for the National Highway Bridge Reconstruction and Inspection Act which authorizes more than $30 million for the reconstruction of the 46 bridges in West Central Illinois that are structurally deficient—creating thousands of good-paying construction jobs in the process. In the wake of the June 2008 flooding, I also co-sponsored an amendment, which passed unanimously, calling on the Secretary of Transportation to study the risks posed by a “500-year” flood to bridges on the National Highway System and other public roads. This provision will improve public safety and ensure minimal devastation from floods in the future.

Finally, I am a strong proponent of modernizing the locks and dams system along the Mississippi River. The river transports $12 billion worth of products every year, impacting agricultural, commercial, and labor interests across the state. I voted for the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), a bill that included critical updates to seven locks and dams on the Upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers.

Telecommunications
I am a strong supporter of the Universal Service Fund (USF). This proven program aims to increase nationwide access to advanced telecommunications services, which is greatly needed in rural Illinois. By advancing the availability of such services to consumers in low-income, rural and insular areas at rates that are reasonably comparable to those charged in urban areas, we can promote the availability of quality services at affordable rates for all consumers.