RUPRI President Chuck Fluharty participated in a public hearing before the House Agriculture Committee, Subcommittee on Rural Development, Research, Biotechnology, and Foreign Agriculture.

The public hearing was held to review the various definitions of rural applied under programs operated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. 

Also testifying in this hearing were Ms. Cheryl Cook, Deputy Undersecretary, Rural Development, USDA; The Honorable Don Larson, Commissioner, Brookings County, South Dakota; Dr. Timothy Collins, Assistant Director, Illinois Institute of Rural Affairs; and Mr. Mike Dozier, Director, Office of Community and Economic Development, California State University.

An audio and video of the hearing is available on the House Agriculture website, along with the written statement for the record of all participants:

http://agriculture.house.gov/hearings/hearingDetails.aspx?NewsID=1311  

Chuck Fluharty's Written Statement for the Record can also be accessed directly from the RUPRI website:
http://www.rupri.org/Forms/Fluharty_HouseAg_Feb2011.pdf