Pentagon announced proposed cuts to Des Moines Air Guard facility in February

Washington, DC - Today, Rep. Bruce Braley (IA-01) sent a letter to a bipartisan group of House leaders urging them to use the legislative process to reject a U.S. Air Force proposal that would lead to job and equipment losses within the Iowa Air National Guard in 2013.

The 132^nd Fighter Wing out of Des Moines is slated to lose all 21 of their assigned F-16 fighters with a force reduction of almost 500 personnel. The 185^th Air Refueling Wing in Sioux City also stands to lose one KC-135 tanker aircraft.

"The units of the Iowa Air National Guard exemplify the highly efficient, cost-effective, experienced force our nation needs," Braley said. "Decisions to cut units in Iowa are bad for jobs and bad for national defense.

"The Pentagon's priorities are wrong, and I'll continue working alongside Iowa's elected leaders to stop this damaging plan in its tracks."

The cuts to the Iowa Air Guard are part of a larger effort to achieve $8.7 billion in budget savings, including cutting 9,900 personnel across the nation from the active, reserve and guard components.

Braley wrote to the leadership of the House Armed Services and Defense Appropriations Committees who are crafting legislation to approve funding and authorization decisions for the Department of Defense next year.

Text of the letter follows; a copy of the signed letter can be downloaded at the following link: http://go.usa.gov/ytk

--

April 27, 2012

Chairman Buck McKeon

House Armed Services Committee

2120 Rayburn House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515                         

Chairman C.W. Bill Young

Subcommittee on Defense

House Appropriations Committee

H-405, The Capitol 

Washington, DC 20515

Ranking Member Adam Smith

House Armed Services Committee

2120 Rayburn House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515

Ranking Member Norm Dicks

Subcommittee on Defense

House Appropriations Committee

1016 Longworth House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515

Dear Chairman McKeon, Chairman Young, Ranking Member Smith, and Ranking Member Dicks,

As your committee considers defense authorization and appropriations legislation for 2013, I write with serious concern regarding the Air Force's recent decisions on force restructuring and its impact on the Air National Guard.

The combat aircraft retirements and personnel decisions discussed in the Air Force's recent proposal unduly affects the Air National Guard over the Active Component, and does not reflect an effort to support our national defense in a cost effective manner by maintaining the Guard and Reserve or taking a balanced approach to achieving budget efficiencies. The Iowa Air National Guard units in Des Moines and Sioux City exemplify the highly efficient, cost-effective, experienced force the Air National Guard provides. They've successfully deployed numerous times over the last decade in support of combat operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya, while personnel have displayed their experience, expertise and proficiency in executing missions and maintaining their aircraft ready for future deployment. The Guard and Reserve are highly efficient forces, maintaining experienced pilots and performing many of the same missions of Active Component forces when activated, all at a much lower cost than the Active Component over the long-term due to their Guard status and different eligibility for retirement and other benefits. Air Force statements on the cost of the Guard ignores these lower life-time costs, and the proposed shifts of combat aircraft to the Active Component and elimination of missions in the Guard Component achieve significantly less savings than if the situation were reversed.

Secretary Panetta has stated the Guard and Reserve forces have proved their combat readiness and combat effectiveness over the past 10 years. These units have activated and served with distinction in Iraq and Afghanistan alongside Active Component forces, while also performing valuable civilian support and homeland defense functions under the direction of their state Guard commands. As decisions are made to reorient our force and draw down our current combat commitments, we must work to maintain the readiness and effectiveness of the Air Guard forces to perform all of these functions, while also capitalizing on the wealth of knowledge and experience within our Guard and Reserve units to maintain the total force.

I recognize that the funding constraints we currently face require difficult decisions to be made in prioritizing the roles and resources of all aspects of the Air Force. I am disappointed that faced with these challenges, the Air Force chose to target one of the most efficient aspects of their force in finding reductions. I encourage you to take a balanced approach as cuts are made to the total Air Force and carefully consider alternative proposals that support the Guard and Reserve like those made by the Council of Governors, rather than Air Force decisions that protect the parochial interests of the Active Component over the total force.

I urge you to protect the National Guard and support its long-term viability as part of the force.   Thank you for your consideration of this important issue.

Sincerely,

Bruce Braley

Member of Congress

Report finds poverty in rural areas higher than urban centers

Lyons, Nebraska - Today, the Center for Rural Affairs released a report that challenges many conventional assumptions about where poverty and food insecurity exists in the central United States. The report concludes that rural counties in the Midwest and Great Plains are experiencing higher incidence of poverty as well as greater rates of food insecurity, especially among children, than urban centers in the region. These findings challenge conventional thought and policy debates which often conclude, directly or implicitly, that poverty and food insecurity are primarily urban issues.

"Rural poverty continues to be a serious issue in many parts of the Great Plains region, affecting scores of rural households and families," said Jon Bailey, Director of Research and Analysis at the Center for Rural Affairs and co-author of the report.  "The poverty rates among rural children are most alarming, both in the immediate term and for their long-term development."

The report, Poverty on the Great Plains, is the third in a series of briefs examining data from the 2010 Census. The analysis covers a 10 state region that includes North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, Iowa and selected counties in Colorado, Montana, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

A full copy of the report can be downloaded at: http://files.cfra.org/pdf/census-brief3-poverty.pdf

According to the report, 414,331 people in rural areas (or 13.3% of the regional rural population) were living in poverty in 2010. And that same year 145,065 or 16.4% of rural children in the region lived in poverty compared to 15.6% of children in micropolitan counties and 14.1% in metropolitan counties.

While portions of metropolitan areas of the region are likely to have among the highest poverty rates in the region, the data presented here is county level data that in many cases contains both high poverty and low poverty areas within a county or metropolitan area.

Additionally, Bailey points out that another sign of living in poverty is food insecurity. Food Insecurity is defined as USDA's measure of lack of access, at times, to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members or limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate foods.

Bailey's report finds that rural people who were food insecure accounted for 12.7% of the population in 2010. And rural children who were food insecure accounted for 23.8%. It is critical for the future of rural residents that the issue of food insecurity be addressed. Solving childhood poverty and food insecurity is particularly important as the physical and intellectual development of children is affected by poverty and a lack of access to healthy food.

"A food insecure household may not experience insecurity throughout the entire year," continued Bailey. "Any time one has to make a choice between adequate food and other expenses, such as medical bills, a household is considered to be food insecure."

A previous report also authored by Bailey found that although rural grocery stores play a crucial role in our rural communities, providing vital sources of nutrition, jobs and tax revenue that support the community, they are slowly disappearing across the nation. In Iowa, for example, the number of grocery stores with employees dropped by almost half from 1995 to 2005, from about 1,400 stores in 1995 to slightly over 700 just 10 years later. Meanwhile, "supercenter" grocery stores (Wal-Mart and Target, for example) increased by 175 percent in the 10-year period.

"The growing phenomena of rural 'food deserts' - the lack of outlets for purchasing food - is impacting residents in many rural areas of the nation, no matter their age or income," Bailey explained. "And combined with increased rural poverty rates, especially among rural children, food insecurity among rural families is on the rise."

"In order to reverse these trends in rural America, it is crucial for rural communities and public policy to find new, innovative ways to create rural economic opportunities and revitalize rural economies," said Bailey.

A 2007 Center for Rural Affairs analysis demonstrated that USDA and Congress have severely over-subsidized the biggest and most powerful farms while consistently under-investing in rural economic development, spending twice as much on subsidizing the 20 largest farms in each of 13 leading farm states as it invested in rural development programs to create economic opportunity for millions of people in thousands of towns in the 20 rural counties with the most out-migration in each respective state - (the full report - An Analysis of USDA Farm Program Payments and Rural Development Funding In Low Population Growth Rural Counties, a.k.a. Oversubsidizing and Underinvesting... can be viewed or downloaded at: http://www.cfra.org/node/603).

According to Bailey, federal contributions to rural development have been plummeting for years - almost one-third of the USDA Rural Development budget has been cut since 2003. And Congress is currently considering making even further cuts to already bare-boned rural development programs. For example, funds for the popular Value Added Producer Grant are in jeopardy and all the money for the Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program is currently on the chopping block. The USDA only uses about 1.7 percent of its budget for rural development.

"Addressing poverty and food insecurity, especially among rural children, requires setting profoundly different priorities than are evidenced in the iteration of the Farm Bill currently being debated in Congress," concluded Bailey.

DURANGO, CO (04/27/2012)(readMedia)-- Evan Kurtz, of Bettendorf, IA, was honored with the Outstanding Freshman/Sophomore in Spanish Award for the 2011-12 academic year. Kurtz's major is Business Administration - International Business.

Fort Lewis College is a selective public liberal arts college that launches careers and changes lives through a compelling educational experience that features nationally recognized academic programs, extraordinary personal attention from faculty, the freedom of intellectual exploration, and once-in-a-lifetime experiential learning opportunities. Fort Lewis College is a physically active and athletic campus that takes full advantage of its breathtakingly beautiful mountain setting in Durango, Colorado. For more information, visit www.fortlewis.edu.

Des Moines, IA - The Greater Des Moines Convention and Visitors Bureau (GDMCVB) has now launched the annual Summer Ad Campaign, with several new additions this year.

For the first time, the GDMCVB expanded cooperative advertising reach to include Southern Minnesota/Northern Iowa and digital billboards. This has allowed additional Co-op Partners to become involved with the program.

The ads run throughout the summer in the following markets:

• Omaha/Council Bluffs -April-May 2012

o   TV/Radio/Digital Billboards - April 16-May 27

o   Print insert - Sunday, May 20

• Central Iowa - June-July 2012

o   TV/Radio/Digital Billboards - June 18-July 22

• Southern Minnesota and Northern Iowa (including entire state line of counties across Northern Iowa and Southern MN - includes towns such as Mankato and Rochester) - June-July 2012

o   TV/Radio/Digital Billboards - June 18-July 22

• Eastern Iowa (Cedar Rapids, Waterloo, Cedar Falls, Iowa City, Quad Cities and Dubuque) - July-August 2012

o   Print inserts - May 20, 2012 in Waterloo and Cedar Falls; May 23, 2012 in Iowa City

o   TV/Digital Billboards - July 16-August 12, 2012

o   Radio - July 23-August 5, 2012

New Co-op Advertising Partners include : Iowa State Fair, Jordan Creek Town Center, Des Moines Arts Festival, 80/35 Music Festival and the National Balloon Classic.

Funding of the Summer Ad Campaign is primarily provided by the GDMCVB which reinvests hotel/motel tax revenues into marketing and advertising initiatives to market Greater Des Moines as a destination. The advertising campaign is able to extend into more markets and for longer periods of time due to the strong support of the following Co-op Ad Partners: Prairie Meadows, Homemakers, Iowa Speedway, Valley West Mall, Des Moines Park and Recreation, Science Center of Iowa, Blank Park Zoo and Adventureland Inn.

To preview the television ads that are airing in Omaha, Council Bluffs and Western Iowa, go to http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4D89F9A080D7F9E5&feature=view_all.  Additional ads featuring other co-op partners will be posted on this link in June.

The ads were created by GDMCVB's new advertising agency, Trilix, with production by Applied Art.

The Greater Des Moines Convention and Visitors Bureau is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to promote Greater Des Moines as a fun, vibrant and affordable destination statewide, nationally and internationally. Our focus increases visitors to our community through meetings, conventions, sports events, leisure travel, and group tours, thereby contributing to the local economy.

###