SEC. GILBERT GONZALES: "Good morning, and welcome to everyone. My name is Gilbert Gonzales. I'm the acting Under Secretary for Rural Development. I appreciate you taking the time from your busy schedules to be with us here this morning.

"Secretary Johanns is on an extremely tight schedule this morning, so we'll get started now. Our topic this morning is Expanding Business Opportunities. It's an important goal for everyone here. It's also a key priority for President Bush who's made an ownership society a touchstone to his agenda.

"Teaming up with minority business development agency and Rural Development makes perfect sense in many ways since MBDA will provide technical assistance if necessary for minority businesses in rural areas to really access the capital programs that Rural Development has to offer and establish really a critical component which is business formation.

"USDA is committed to this agenda. It's a high priority and that's why we're here today. It's a special pleasure to introduce our 28th Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns. He has deep roots and, of course, a commitment to Rural Development. He comes as a dairy farmer from outside Osage, Iowa. He moved to Nebraska and became an attorney, was involved in local government, became mayor of Lincoln, Nebraska and then governor and has led USDA Rural Development since January 21st. Every step of the way the Secretary has been consistent, focused on farmers, families, small businesses, ranchers and rural communities. There's no doubt that he's committed to the future of rural communities.

"We're delighted he was able to be with us here today to kick off the Minority Business Development Listing and Outreach Forum. Please join me in welcoming Secretary Mike Johanns."

[Applause.]

SEC. JOHANNS: "Thank you very much for that nice, warm welcome. It's great to be here, and it's great to look around and see virtually every chair is filled. What a great turnout. We're pleased-- very, very pleased to have you all here.

"Looking back at my short time here at the USDA, one of the things that we have tried to emphasize really from day one is that we work with all people. We do it respectfully, we do it in a very dignified way, and we do it with equality. That's our goal. The whole idea here is that the priority for every piece of USDA is to treat people with respect and dignity and equality.

"It's one of the reasons why I'm especially pleased to be here today to help kick off this very important effort. USDA's Rural Development mission is to improve economic opportunity and enhance the quality of life in rural America. Our goal today is to focus on one very important aspect of our mission, and that's to increase minority participation in our portfolio of business development programs. And that's something I want you to know that I will be personally committed to.

"And that is why I'm pleased to announce today that as a part of President Bush's efforts to increase minority business ventures I will be joining the Secretary of Commerce in holding a series of listening forums in several regions in the country. We're doing this because we need to have a conversation with our constituents and with our customers. We need to hear from them, and we hope that we can put out a great message of support by the President, USDA and the Department of Commerce.

"But to get the message out we need your help. USDA Rural Development does have a good story, if not a terrific story, to tell. Over the last four years we've invested more than $50 billion in rural communities. We've created or we've saved 800,000 jobs, and we've helped thousands of rural small businesses either get started or expand their operations.

"In at least one area, home ownership, we've really become a pacesetter. Last year more than 20 percent of the homes we financed were purchased by minority buyers. We're proud of that. But when we turn to our business programs, we discovered that we need to do more. In fact, I would suggest we need to do a lot more.

"The truth is that rural America is changing. That change is all over this country, and the USDA wants to make sure that it's part and parcel of leading that change. We've done some internal analysis of these programs, and I'll just be very candid with you-- there's some good news and there's some bad news.

"The good news is that minority applicants once they're through the door with a completed application actually do very well in the process. The bad news is that we're simply not reaching out to as many potential applicants as I believe we should.

"And that's why we're here today because I believe we can do better, and I believe very strongly we should.

"If there's an area where we can improve such as outreach or education or perceived barriers among minority communities that discourage people from even trying, then we have to address that. The door is open, but as I know every person in this room recognizes sometimes an open door policy isn't enough. It isn't enough to just say that.

"We need to change perceptions and attitude amongst potential partners. And if there are problems on our end, we should have broad shoulders. We should recognize that, and we need to change the way we do business to make our programs more accessible.

"We're determined to follow through on this to do a better job of first listening and then a better job of outreach. Gil Gonzales and Ron Langston on behalf of the USDA Rural Development Minority Business Development Agency signed an agreement last year to get this process started. As I mentioned, we're going to hold a series of outreach forums to identify ways in which we can improve program delivery to underserved rural communities.

"At the same time we want to get ourselves on the radar screen of groups that have not historically perceived the USDA Rural Development as a potential resource, maybe even as an ally. We hope that the meetings will help to lay the foundation for a real change in how we do business on both ends. Again I emphasize, we need your help. We need feedback based upon your own experiences as to how we might do better. And I will tell you again, we have broad shoulders.

"We can take the feedback even if it is critical of what we're doing and how we need to change what we're doing. And we need you to bring some of your own constituents to the table to share their experiences, to lend their expertise to tell us what they're seeing. So to succeed this effort has to be a two-way process. I want it to be a conservation, not a monologue.

"Much of the groundwork in the form of MOUs and preliminary planning has been done. And Rural Development which was comprehensively restructured just a decade ago has recently launched a new national public awareness and marketing campaign.

"So first steps and important first steps are being taken, but we need to do more. We want to ensure that your constituents are included right from the very start. The door is open, and we want to work with you to ensure that every rural American has a full and fair opportunity to participate.

"So thank you for being here today to help us with this kick-off. I look forward to working with U.S. partners in this very, very important endeavor. Thank you very much."

[Applause.]