Rural and Agriculture

Illinois is one of the top agricultural states in the nation, a major producer of corn, soybeans, and pork, and other commodities such as beef, dairy, wheat, and even pumpkins, horseradish, apples, and peas. Illinois also is also a major producer of biofuels and farm machinery.

Throughout his career, Senator Durbin has worked to increase the agricultural strength of Illinois. To reduce farming costs, which includes improving crop yields and resiliency against weather and disease, Senator Durbin has fought to increase federal investments in research, such as the activities underway at the Peoria USDA Agricultural Research Laboratory, land-grant institutions like the University of Illinois, and the National Soybean Research Laboratory, the National Animal Health Laboratory Network, and the National Corn to Ethanol Research Center. To expand markets for crops, Senator Durbin has worked to keep Illinois a central crossroads in our national transportation network by securing major federal funding for road and highway improvements, and for upgrades to the lock and dam system for barges traffic on Illinois waterways.  Senator Durbin supported the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). Senator Durbin has been a longtime champion of biofuels like ethanol and biodiesel, including the Renewable Fuels Standard, the expansion of E15, and the development of renewable jet fuels. Senator Durbin also supported the creation of the USDA Office of Urban Agriculture, and supports expanding federal crop insurance protections to cover smaller farms that grow a diversity of specialty crops for local markets, and increased funding for urban farming, farmers markets, and expanding regional food systems.

 Rural Health

Rural communities face unique health care challenges, including workforce recruitment, limited funding for hospitals and health clinics, and geographic barriers to accessing care. But, they also bring great opportunities to improve care coordination and deliver innovative treatment approaches. Critical access hospitals and rural health care professionals are the backbones of health care delivery in rural Illinois. To support these essential providers and ensure patients can access their services, it’s important to protect public programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and the Affordable Care Act. Durbin supports federal programs to recruit and retain health care professionals in rural and underserved areas of Illinois and will continue to fight to expand access to care through telemedicine. Durbin’s bipartisan bill, the Supporting and Improving Rural EMS Needs (SIREN) Act, was signed into law as part of the 2018 farm bill.  It provides new funding to support rural EMS agencies as they train and recruit staff and purchase equipment.

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