FUND FOR RURAL AMERICA INITIATIVE

                                              Release No. 0014.97

                                      Tom Amontree (202) 720-4623
                                      Jim Brownlee (202) 720-2091
                                                                 
GLICKMAN LAUNCHES $300 MILLION FUND FOR RURAL AMERICA INITIATIVE

     WASHINGTON, Jan. 17, 1997--Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman today
announced his priorities for the Clinton Administration's Fund For Rural
America, an innovative, three-year initiative funded at $100 million annually
to aid critical rural development programs, to boost agricultural, rural
telecommunications, and other high priority research, and assist beginning and
socially disadvantaged farmers.

     "The Fund For Rural America delivers on the President's commitment to
expand economic opportunities for rural Americans," Glickman said.  "USDA is
the only federal agency with a primary focus on rural America--advocating for
and protecting the interests of rural residents and communities.  The fund is
an innovative approach in providing additional resources for agricultural
research and rural development programs while finding creative solutions for
the challenges facing rural America."

     The Fund For Rural America will help meet the critical needs of rural
communities with the following assistance:

     provide an estimated 36,000 families with drinkable water as part of the
     President's Water 2000 Initiative;
     provide new loans to 140 beginning farmers as well as outreach and
     technical assistance to socially disadvantaged farmers;
     construct or rehabilitate close to 3,000 single family homes for low-income rural residents;
     use information technology to advance education opportunities to more
     than 175,000 students and provide health care access to 400,000 rural
     residents;
     expand gleaning, food recovery, food safety, and nutrition activities;
     take additional actions to counter concentration in livestock and
     poultry industries; 
     provide additional monies to the President's Empowerment Zone/Enterprise
     Community Initiative for technical assistance to Enterprise Communities;
     and
     assist farm laborers by building new housing units.

     One third of the fund is dedicated to rural development programs and
another third to research through competitive research grants.  Glickman is
authorized to use the remaining one third of the fund at his discretion in
either rural programs, research, or both.  Glickman said that his priorities
for the Secretary's one third target approximately $20.5 million in 1997 to
rural development, and $10 million to research on key Secretarial priorities
like concentration, food safety, nutrition and gleaning, as well as $2.8
million for a new research initiative that will investigate the special needs,
applicability, and use of cutting-edge technologies for rural and agricultural
based information users.

     "Only by ensuring that rural Americans have access to information
relating to the development of rural America, the development of agricultural
science and education can the country ensure that it is providing the best
opportunity to all Americans," Glickman said.

     The telecommunications research combined with the boost in funding for
the distance learning telemedicine program will build upon Vice President
Gore's information superhighway efforts by ensuring access to rural Americans. 
The fund will provide additional monies for communications technology that
will allow children in remote locations to attend classes without leaving
their communities and to give sick people in rural areas the benefit of
diagnosis and treatment by a specialist in an urban health care center without
traveling to that location.

     The Secretary's portion of the fund also includes $4.5 million for
outreach and technical assistance to socially disadvantaged farmers.  These
funds will help serve over 8,000 farmers and ranchers in 23 states across the
country.  In addition, there is $2 million for new loans to 140 beginning
farmers.  The Secretary's portion of the fund has $6.5 million to assist
business entrepreneurs in rural communities. It will help create hundreds of
jobs via 15 new business development efforts.    

     The research part of the fund will be awarded on a competitive grant
basis.  A request for proposals (RFP) will be published in the Federal
Register this month.  The RFP will focus on three objectives: 

     international competitiveness, profitability, and efficiency--meeting
     the challenges of globalization of food, feed, and fiber markets in the
     wake of changes in farm and trade legislation;   
     environmental preservation and improvement--centering on stewardship of
     natural resources in agriculture and forestry; and
     rural community enhancement--centering on employment in rural areas,
     farm profitability, new crops, and community advancement.

     Priority will be given to projects that address all 3 objectives
simultaneously.      
                                
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