BY SARAH ROSS

KEIZER- Speaking to the importance of America’s rural economy, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack made an appearance Friday morning with Congressman Kurt Schrader, D-Canby, at Keizer’s Civic Center.

Sec. Vilsack came to Oregon as part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Tours program, speaking to groups across the country about issues faced by rural Americans.

“We’ve got to get the rest of the country understanding that they have a stake in rural economics and survival, their value systems, their food supply, their water supply,” said Vilsack.

“That’s the reasons why I’m traveling all over the country with this message, hoping to impress upon members of Congress who come from rural areas, who represent rural areas, the need for connecting their urban friends to the importance of the rural economy, so we have support for the programs we heard about today,” he said.

In response to the opening question, asked by Oregon’s Farmworker Union, Schrader said he was disappointed that comprehensive immigration reform has not been addressed sooner and that such reforms will be key to putting his state back to work.

Additionally, Schrader noted that, like most, he wants to make sure that the U.S. borders are “very, very secure” but that a comprehensive solution is required “to put this to rest once and for all.”

Vilsack echoed similar sentiments, adding that immigrant workers and productive farms are important to keeping food costs low and wages high by lessening the need to import food from foreign countries.

To stress the plight faced by many rural Americans, Vilsack explained a big problem of declining population leading to declining influence in Congress.

“A lot of young people who are bright, who were raised in these rural communities, decide they want to seek opportunity elsewhere and they go to the cities and suburbs,” said Vilsack. “That leaves the rural economy with an aging population and a declining population.”

Vilsack acknowledged the improvements he has seen in technology for rural areas over the past eighteen months, including the expansion of broadband internet, allowing rural Americans not to have to travel so far for work and education.

Vilsack answered additional questions from the audience regarding renewable energy, food safety, the USDA grant program, and small business before the question-and-answer portion of the forum ended.