WASHINGTON, May 11, 2005 - Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns today lauded USDA Rural Development and its predecessor agencies for 70 years of commitment in serving America's rural residents and communities.

"The rural electrification effort of the 20th Century serves as a benchmark of excellence. In 70 years, the quality of life in rural America has dramatically improved due in large part to the massive effort by USDA to bring economic opportunity, affordable housing and electric, telephone, community water and wastewater infrastructure to rural communities across the nation," said Johanns. "President Bush has now challenged us to bring telecommunications technologies, like broadband, with the same dedication to rural communities by 2007."

Today's celebration marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the Resettlement Administration and the Rural Electrification Administration in April and May of 1935, signaling the beginning of America's quest for rural electrification, homeownership, and economic security.

Concerned initially with emergency relief during the crisis of the Great Depression, the Resettlement Administration made small loans to help farmers get through tough times, built and managed migrant worker camps, constructed rural water projects, purchased land for conservation purposes, resettled displaced farmers on new land and even built entire model communities from the ground up. Later, out of this eclectic mix of programs, grew the Farm Security Administration, the Farmer's Home Administration, and today's USDA Rural Development.

At the same time, the REA assumed the mission of electrifying the countryside. Approximately 10% of America's farms had electricity in 1930 and progress was slow. In 1949, REA added a telephone program. Bringing modern infrastructure to rural areas is one of the greatest public policy success stories of the last century and that mission continues under the management of USDA Rural Development.

Johanns noted that since the inception of the Resettlement and Rural Electrification Administrations, both have taken on new responsibilities, changed names and evolved into one comprehensive rural development organization in 1994. Today, USDA Rural Development 's mission is to deliver programs in a way that will support increasing economic opportunity and improve the quality of life of rural residents. As a venture capital entity, Rural Development has invested over $50 billion since the beginning of the Bush Administration to provide equity and technical assistance to finance and foster growth in homeownership, business development, and critical community and technology infrastructure. As a result, over 800,000 jobs have been created or saved through these investments. Further information on rural programs is available at a local USDA Rural Development office or by visiting USDA's web site at http://www.rurdev.usda.gov.