Last week, Rep. Steve Southerland II (R-Fla.) introduced HR 1632: The Building Rural Communities Act (BRCA). The bill is cosponsored by Reps. Mike McIntyre (D-N.C.), William Enyart (D-Ill.), Don Young (R-Alaska), Vicky Hartzler (R-Mo.), Phil Roe (R-Tenn.), Steve Stockman (R-Texas), Reid Ribble (R-Wisc.), and Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.).

On April 8, Southerland used an RCAP community in Florida as the setting to announce his intentions to introduce the bill.

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.