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People don't understand rural America. Sixteen percent of our population is rural, but 40 percent of our military is rural. I don't believe that's because of a lack of opportunity in rural America. I believe that's because if you grow up in rural America, you know you can't just keep taking from the land. You've got to give something back.

Tom Vilsack

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Tom Vilsack
Age: 73
Born: 1950
Born: December 13
Lawyer
Politician
United States Secretary Of Agriculture
Pittsburg
Pennsylvania
Thomas James Vilsack
Thomas James Tom Vilsack
Keep
Taking
America
Percent
Give
Military
Back
Grow
Giving
Land
Rural
Something
Grows
Sixteen
Believe
Opportunity
Lack
People
Understand
Population

More quotes by Tom Vilsack

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One out of every 12 jobs in the economy is connected in some way, shape or form to what happens on the farm.
Tom Vilsack
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If I had a rain prayer or a rain dance I could do, I would do it.
Tom Vilsack
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To amplify our efforts, USDA is joining with First Lady Michelle Obama in aggressively promoting the 'Let's Move' campaign, which will combat the epidemic of childhood obesity through a comprehensive approach that builds on effective strategies, and mobilizes public and private sector resources.
Tom Vilsack
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To help producers serve larger institutional customers like schools and hospitals, USDA has helped fund new regional infrastructure like cold storage warehouses, commercial kitchens and local slaughter facilities.
Tom Vilsack
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Strong communities ... embrace change. New discoveries require us to think differently and approach things differently, to think anew.
Tom Vilsack
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We should also challenge this country to come up with strategies and technologies that allow us to produce nuclear energy without necessarily producing a byproduct that can be converted to something far more dangerous. I believe that can be done. It may not be done tomorrow, but it clearly needs to be worked on.
Tom Vilsack
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It's how you make decisions that matters, and that ought to be the question that people ask of any candidate for any executive office, whether it's mayor, governor or president. How do you make decisions? Who do you want in the room helping you make those decisions?
Tom Vilsack
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If we truly want an innovative and creative renewable fuel industry, then it needs to be challenged. And if we create a set of protections that allow it to not be as creative and innovative as possible, then we aren't doing a service to the industry or to the people of this country.
Tom Vilsack
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If we can get people to focus on fruits and vegetables and more healthy foods, we'll be better in terms of our healthcare situation.
Tom Vilsack
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Proper school nutrition must be complemented by activities outside of the cafeteria. The decisions parents make to keep their kids healthy are critical in fighting this battle on the home front.
Tom Vilsack
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During a national crisis, we as a nation become a single community and no one should take advantage of a crisis.
Tom Vilsack
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Rural Americans want leaders who help middle-class communities to plan and prosper over the long-term - not opportunists who reap the rewards for themselves, leaving nothing for the people who do the sowing.
Tom Vilsack
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I can't give you a specific number today, in large part because the analysis upon which we would make that determination has not been completed. . . . I think it is fair to say there may be additional costs associated with a farming operation, but it is very difficult to quantify.
Tom Vilsack
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I don't think the face of the Democratic Party is Nancy Pelosi.
Tom Vilsack
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Food is a fairly significant aspect of my life. I have struggled mightily with food. With my weight. And I'm conscious of it. So I have a sensitivity to people who struggle with their weight.
Tom Vilsack
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If we are to transition to a new economy and to lead it, we must start by transforming our schools.
Tom Vilsack
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What Republicans have done in my view is that they are systematically dismantling a sense of community in America.
Tom Vilsack
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Somewhere between 50 to 60 percent of the food you eat has been touched by immigrant hands, and it is fair to say some of them are not here as they should be here. But if you didn't have these folks, you would be spending a lot more - three, four or five times more - for food, or we would have to import food and have all the food security risks.
Tom Vilsack
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The rise of childhood obesity has placed the health of an entire generation at risk.
Tom Vilsack
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I grew up in a city. My parents would think there was something wrong with America if they knew I was secretary of agriculture.
Tom Vilsack