The White House Bulletin
SECTION: IN THE WHITE HOUSE AND AROUND TOWN
Members of Congress representing rural parts of America joined with a number of rural-based advocacy groups today, and were expected to announce they will actively fight changes in the Social Security program along the lines President Bush has discussed. Expected to appear at a noon press conference today are Sens.
Max Baucus, Blanche Lincoln, and Debbie Stabenow, along with U.S. Representatives Bob Etheridge (D-NC), Stephanie Herseth (D-SD), Collin Peterson (D-MN) and Earl Pomeroy (D-ND). The groups involved in the coalition are Americans United, the League of Rural Voters, the American Corn Growers Association, the National Farmers Union, and the National Family Farm Coalition. They are expected to launch Rural Americans for a Secure Future (RASF) and to release a study showing "rural communities rely on Social Security income nearly twice as much as non-rural communities." According to the report, "rural counties depend on Social Security for 8 percent of total personal income while non-rural counties depend on Social Security for 4.7 percent of total personal income. The report also shows that rural communities have a higher percentage of seniors, that women in rural communities are more dependent on Social Security than women in non-rural communities and that more people with disabilities receive Social Security in rural communities than in non-rural communities." Specifically regarding rural women, the study found that fifteen percent of rural women over age 60 are poor compared to 11 percent of men, and 80 percent of rural seniors over aged 85 with incomes of less than $10,000 are women.Bulletin News Network, Inc.
