Bernie Sanders will roll out new policy to combat the major crisis facing rural Iowa communities

Kevin Hardy, Des Moines Register Published May 3, 2019

Excerpt:

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders says rural America is facing a "major, major crisis" and will roll out a major policy plan in Iowa to combat it.

"That's a fact and somebody's got to recognize that," the presidential candidate said Friday in an interview with the Des Moines Register. "And if we don't recognize it and we let this crisis continue, what we'll see is more and more depopulation of rural counties."

Sanders, who will campaign across Northwest Iowa Saturday and Sunday, is set to deliver a speech about agricultural policy Sunday morning in the swine barn of the Mitchell County Fairgrounds in Osage. Laying out his vision Friday, the senator said the rural way of life needs to be preserved both in his home state of Vermont and across Iowa. To do that, he will call for major, structural changes to the agricultural economy. To start, he wants more active anti-trust enforcement of the major agricultural companies.

While he will call for major changes in ag policy, Sanders says his rural vision goes wider than just farms and fields. He said it's "beyond comprehension" that many rural areas lack adequate and affordable broadband and cellular service. Given the prevalence of technology today, he said rural communities are increasingly poised to recruit small businesses.

"But if they're going to come or people in rural America are going to stay in rural America they need decent schools for their kids," Sanders said, "they need access to healthcare and they need an infrastructure that works."

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/elections/presidential/caucus/2019/05/03/iowa-caucus-bernie-sanders-ia-agriculture-rural-america-policies-elizabeth-warren-tyson-anti-trust/1091335001/