WASHINGTON (HAC) – For decades before the current recession, rural Americans struggled with poverty and housing problems. In fact, a new Housing Assistance Council study reports, rural America encompasses 86 percent of the U.S. counties where poverty rates have remained at 20 percent or higher since at least 1990.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Deputy Administrator Robert Perciasepe and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan spent the day Nov. 17 in rural North Carolina discussing the Obama administration’s work to strengthen rural economies.