FDIC Federal Register Citations

Sirs:

Don't gut the Community Reinvestment Act! Rural America, and especially it'sfamilies, need this program to assist in developing new communityinfrastructures and career opportunities, so families can stay together and support themselves in the small towns and rural areas where they grew up.

I live in New York City now, but I have many relatives and friends who live in rural America and I care about their welfare. And I'm not alone. Much of the population growth in American cities in the past three decades has occurred because economic opportunities were (and are) very limited in the country, so people have been forced to leave their home areas for more job opportunities in the cities. If there had been viable work opportunities in their home area, many would have been happy to stay there. So, if you think there is no interest in this issue among urban voters, I assure you you're wrong.

Gutting the CRA will only increase the economic pressure that splits up families. The young are forced to relocate to cities and the old and untrained languish. Thus, we are creating ghettos of the old, the weak, the poor, and the dysfunctional in rural America, where there are few social services and little civic protection. Crime is on the increase in many rural areas because of these realities.

Is this how America should serve the people and locales that gave birth to the Baby Boomer generation, and were the source of much of America's current prosperity?

Sincerely,

/Dick Jones

Dick Jones 212-787-0700
Director, Progressive Internet Action