SEC. MIKE JOHANNS: "That was a nice, warm welcome. I appreciate that immensely.

"I always tell this story. I had just been elected the governor of Nebraska, oh some six years ago, but I hadn't been sworn in yet. I was kind of in that in-between time between election and inauguration. But anyway, I was invited to go give a speech in Kearney, Nebraska. So Steph and I drive out there and get out there and I was introduced, a very nice introduction just like Cynthia presented here.

"And as I'm making my way to the podium everybody stood up and applauded. And I said, 'You know that's really very nice of you, but I haven't done anything yet.' And somebody in back yelled out, 'And when you do we won't be standing!'

[Laughter.]

"It is great to be here. Cynthia mentioned that I grew up on a dairy farm or grew up in Iowa. Of course I saw those puzzled expressions. You're thinking, where in Iowa did you grow up? Better clear that up so you're not distracted while I'm trying to visit with you here.

"I actually grew up near a little community called Osage, Iowa. Now you're still puzzled, aren't you? You don't know where Osage, Iowa is. Well, I'll enlighten you as to where Osage is. Osage is south of Stacyville and St. Ansgar, and it would be just east of Manly. So.

[Laughter.]

"Now you know where Osage is. But it's great to be here. I want to start out and remember my manners and say, Cynthia thank you for that great introduction.

"Many of you probably know that Cynthia's father had my job a few years back. He was Secretary of Agriculture [Clifford Hardin 1969-1971] -- just a very, very distinguished man. And when I think about what I want to do during the four years that I'm Secretary of Agriculture I think of your dad. He was, he served with such great credit and distinction. So it's a special pleasure for me to be here today and have you introduce me.

"Let me also say thank you to the Kellogg Foundation for organizing and hosting this very important event. I hope I can offer a thought or two that maybe will be provocative and give us something to talk about and think about.

"And then I also -- and you'll come to realize today I'm struggling with a cold, so we'll get through that too. But I also wanted to say thank you to all participants that are here today. What you're doing is very important and appreciated.

"And I would not have all the appropriate thank yous done without saying thank you to our wonderful acting Under Secretary of Rural Development Gil Gonzales who I think will be speaking here later on today. He's done a great job in this interim period of time. I've gotten to know him a little bit better since I came on board a few months ago. What a great guy.

"And then of course our nominee Tom Dorr who is off to make his way through a process, Senate confirmation process, which I can relate to. I went through that myself. Ladies and gentlemen, I will tell you there's nothing quite as intimidating as having the FBI scatter across four states to see what's in your background. So I wish him the very, very best.

[Laughter.]

"Not that they're going to find anything or anything like that.

"Well, I came to Washington many times over the past six years, and I have to tell you the past couple of months were just a tremendous, tremendous thrill for me. I'm honored to serve the American people.

"One of the first things I said to the USDA employees, in fact on my first real day at the USDA I said, 'You know public service is a great honor, and I'm thrilled to be here, I'm thrilled to be a part of the President's team.'

"I got to know the President when he was the governor of the great state of Texas, and I admired the man a great deal. He has a courage quotient that is just absolutely unbelievable, a really remarkable individual. So it's been an honor to be here.

"I have learned a few things about Washington. One of them is that an inch of snow constitutes a civil emergency here. It surprises me. You know, they actually cancel school here if they're talking about snow in the forecast. It's rather remarkable.

[Laughter.]

"One of the things I have missed about our state is just the tremendous opportunity I had over the past decade to travel the state far and wide. I've been in certainly not every community but nearly every community in the state. I've been in every county many times. In fact before I formally kicked off my campaign for governor Stephanie and I visited all 93 counties in the state of Nebraska.

"There are some wonderful memories about those trips, and I could share story after story with you about the great times we had across the state and the people that we've gotten to know, the people that even now when they're back to Washington call ahead to see if we can get together for a few minutes.

"I met a lot of good people. And you know, they had one thing in common-- they were all proud of their communities. They believed in the strength of their communities. They believed that there was a future for their community. And it didn't matter where I was at at a given moment -- whether it was a community of 150 or 15,000 -- they really believed in that community.

"These were places, ladies and gentlemen, like the place I grew up where neighbors helped neighbors, and the town council member or the mayor was also the Little League coach; and the barber knew how everybody liked their hair done without even asking.

"There's a certain timeless quality about those rural communities, but they are not stuck in the past. That's not what I'm implying here. In fact, far from it. The rural communities I know are holding on to their values while they're embracing the future.

"This is an exciting time to be involved in America's rural policies. People are beginning to stay in and migrate back to rural America. From 1990 to 1995 in-migration in rural America was about 50,000. From '95 to 2000 the net in-migration increased ten-fold to about 500,000.

"In January the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City released a report that details how America's rural economy is gaining strength and providing optimism for the future. The report shows how farm incomes along with non-farm economic activity are helping to create a healthy job market-- in some areas actually outpacing the urban markets.

"These positive trends are not occurring accidentally or by happenstance. They are the result of a focused rural agenda. You're involved in it, you're a part of it. But it's also a focused agenda by the Bush administration, sheer hard work by local communities in partnership with so many.

"The examples of this new rural America are numerous. For example, just a couple of weeks ago the Wall Street Journal reported that rural communities are looking at renewable energy as a means of ensuring greater economic opportunity and energy security for our nation. Right now I can tell you that there are 83 ethanol plants in operation in the United States with another 17 under construction, for a total of 100.

"Now what's the impact of that? Just one ethanol plant producing 40 million gallons per year can do this in a rural area. It can provide a boost of $142 million to the local economy during the construction phase of that plant. It can expand a local economic base by more than $110 million per year. It can create 41 full-time jobs at the plant and a total 694 jobs throughout the entire economy.

"The same can be said about biodiesel, maybe not the same growth rate but its impact is significant. Biodiesel production in 2004 was estimated to be 20 million gallons. That would be 100 times the 200,000 gallons produced in 1999 in that short period of time.

"Now as past chairman of the Governor's Ethanol Coalition I certainly understand the value of increasing reliance on renewable energy and the importance of this industry to the continued economic health of rural communities, not to mention the impact on America's farmers.

"At the USDA we are encouraging not just the supply capacity but also the demand, which must be present for these plants to succeed. In January, for example, the USDA published the final rule that requires the federal government to purchase biobased products when price, performance and availability are similar to other products.

"This provision was inserted in the last Farm Bill. USDA and the federal government are dedicated partners in all aspects of rural development.

"In the first four years of the Bush administration we invested these numbers: $14.7 billion for housing, helping more than 170,000 rural families. I've personally seen the impact of this program on our own state. And $22.2 billion in infrastructure including electricity, water and environmental programs and helping more than 1.3 million rural homes and businesses access high-speed broadband. And $190 million for renewable energy, $177 million for telemedicine and distance learning. And again, I've personally seen the impact that these facilities can have on health care in our rural areas. And $740 million to first responders. Again, we've seen that impact all across our country.

"These are remarkable accomplishments, and I'm proud to be able to work with you to build upon them. The President has proposed $12.8 billion for Rural Development Programs in 2006. His Strengthening America's Communities Initiative will help the federal government and rural communities work together to utilize this money more efficiently.

"The President's programs are making a difference, but there's no way that we can do this alone. That's where a partnership comes in. Leadership at the state and local level is vital to revitalizing our communities. In my home state of Nebraska I created an award. It's called the Showcase Community -- to highlight communities that exemplified the capacity to create economic opportunity and to accomplish major community development initiatives.

"One of these communities was Louisville, Nebraska, which received the award in 2002. I had a chance to -- I actually visited Louisville many times in the time I was campaigning as governor. But I saw in Louisville firsthand what it means for local leaders to take the reins and to lead the community forward. Ladies and gentlemen, they were doing remarkable things, but they didn't do it alone.

"They enlisted the support of local, state and federal resources including the USDA Rural Development Program. For 10 years the community worked together to improve its infrastructure, its schools, its emergency responder facilities, and home ownership opportunities. They even developed a local website to improve community communications.

"Now Louisville is a community of 1,200 residents that created a vision for its future and then brought together a lot of partners to implement that vision. Louisville is like many other rural communities we engage throughout this country every day. It's part of the new rural America, communities creating the environment to bring people back to their roots.

"And it's a remarkable resurgence, and it's based upon a combination of factors. From the President's strong commitment to rural development programs to new market opportunities, from the development of the Internet, to the growing desire of many Americans to raise their families in small communities with strong values.

"So what does it mean for a rural policy in rural communities? It means that our investments in rural infrastructure, our investments in housing, in nonfarm rural business lending are not propping up old-fashioned businesses, not at all. They are helping create new, modern businesses that are aware of and integrated with the external domestic and international markets.

"For instance, our rural broadband program is not part of what you would describe as old rural America. It is helping create a new rural America with many of the advantages of living in a larger city but without much of the downside. Broadband, ethanol, biodiesel, biomass are value-added grant recipients; there's great opportunity for rural America.

"USDA Rural Development has become the venture capital investment bank for rural America. Today Rural Development has a portfolio exceeding $87 billion in loans. It has deployed more than $50 billion in program funds in just the past four years, which has been responsible for creating or saving more than 800,000 jobs in rural America.

"I am proud that USDA is also looking outside of our own programs to enlist the resources and the talents of others. We know that we can't do it alone, but together the opportunities are there.

"There are those who said in the past that this country lacked a rural policy, and they might have been right-- to be very candid about it. But not any more. Since the very earliest days of this administration the rural dialog that had been stalled for the previous decade was given direction and purpose, and we are investing in the future of rural families, businesses and communities.

"We are on the ground in communities across this country working with private and public sector partners and community leaders. We are helping build rural America, and it's working. We have 800 offices and 7,000 employees across this country who are invigorated. They know the philosophy and they are helping move in a bold direction. They are working hard to make a difference every single day.

"Everyone in this room has been committed to this cause, but I want to close the day by asking that we rededicate ourselves to these ambitious goals, goals of improving the quality of life and economic opportunity in rural America, goals of building a rural America with technology and an economy of the future and the values that we treasure so much.

"Working together we can do all of this. God bless you all. Thank you."

[Applause.]