The Delta Grassroots Caucus (DGC) is a broad coalition of grassroots leaders in the eight-state Delta region. DGC is also a founding partner of the Economic Equality Caucus,
which advocates for economic equality across the USA.

Schedule, Directions, & Thanks to Sponsors for Delta Initiative in DC, Sept. 15-16

Posted on September 07, 2009 at 04:54 PM

We start promptly at 5 p.m. for the opening session of the annual Delta Grassroots Caucus regional conference in Washington, DC on Tuesday evening, Sept. 15, 2009 at Room B-339 Rayburn House of Representatives building. In this message we include some scheduling and logistical information and also once again thank our sponsors who made this initiative possible.

Remember that we are here to urge the powers that be in Congress and President Obama’s administration to do much more for the economic progress of the vast, economically distressed region from southern Illinois and Missouri to New Orleans, Louisiana and eastward to Selma, Alabama. We will have a data sheet summarizing economic problems in the Delta for any national officials who ask–as many always do–why this region is in need of greater economic development aid–and the answer is that it is the most economically distressed region in America today. We have many good activities going on in our region and we deserve an equal opportunity at the American Dream. Thanks a million to so many of you for making this year’s DC initiative in spite of the costs during this severe recession!!

DIRECTIONS

From Reagan National Airport to Radisson Hotel

From Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport station take the yellow line in the direction of Huntington. Exit at Crystal City Metro Station. Take two escalators up. Make a right onto 18th street. Make a left onto Eads Street. Make a left onto 20th street. Make right on Jefferson Davis Highway. The Radisson Hotel is right next to the Hampton Inn.

From Radisson Hotel to the Crystal City Metro Station

Make a right out of the back door of the hotel. Walk 2 blocks to 18th street and Make a right.
Go under the overpass. You will see Crystal City Metro Station on your left hand side

1) OPENING SESSION:

From Radisson Hotel to the Rayburn US House of Representatives building: Most people will go from the Radisson Hotel by groups of four in taxi cabs, leaving about 4 to 4:15 p.m. from the hotel. The opening session starts at 5 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2009 , at B-339 Rayburn Building.

If you would rather go to the opening session by subway, here are directions: Go from the Crystal City Metro stop to the Capitol South metro stop. When you exit the Capitol South metro stop, go up the escalator and you will see the Cannon House Office Building directly in front of you. Take a left and proceed on C Street for 2 blocks. You will see the Rayburn Building on the right. The closest entrance will be to your left in the semi-circular driveway.

When you go through the entrance, ask the guards where Room B-339 is.

OPENING SESSION SPEAKERS: Rep. Mike Ross (AR), Rep. Jerry Costello (IL), Rep. Marion Berry (AR), health care reform spokesperson from Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius’ office to speak on the Obama administration’s health care positions, Rep. Charles Melancon (LA), Rep. Travis Childers (MS), Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (MO), Rep. Joseph Cao (LA), Mayor Helenor Bell of Hayneville, AL; Desha County Judge Mark McElroy; Mayor Brad Cole, Carbondale, IL.

2) SENATE SESSION AT SENATE DIRKSEN BUILDING, GROUND FLOOR, ROOM SD G11, WEDNESDAY MORNING, SEPT. 16, 2009 8:30 a.m. to noon:

We recommend going by taxi cabs in groups of three or four—GO TO THE FIRST AND C STREET ENTRANCE OF THE DIRKSEN BUILDING. ROOM SD G11 WILL BE STRAIGHT DOWN THE HALL FROM THAT ENTRANCE ON YOUR RIGHT A SHORT WAYS DOWN THE HALL.

SENATE SESSION SPEAKERS–Senators Mark Pryor and Blanche Lincoln (AR), Sen. Thad Cochran (MS), Sen. Mary Landrieu (LA), Rep. Artur Davis (AL), President Glenn Poshard, Southern Illinois University, Rev. Dwight Webster, New Orleans, LA; Chris Masingill, senior aide to Gov. Mike Beebe (AR)

Economic development panel: Johnnie Bolin, Arkansas Good Roads Council; Bill Triplett, DRA; Robert Dansby, President, Edgenics Corp.; Dean Tim Todd, Murray State University business school; Alan Branson, COO of Enterprise Corp. of the Delta/HOPE Community Credit Union.

3) USDA NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS SESSION, ROOM 104-A WHITTEN BUILDING, 1:10 P.M. TO 4:15 P.M.

Promptly at noon, we need to leave the Senate session go straight to the national USDA Whitten building on the national Mall. It is a short taxi cab ride down the hill.

WE RECOMMEND LUNCH AT ONE OF THE USDA CAFETERIAS IN THE WHITTEN BUILDING. ASK THE GUARDS AT THE USDA ENTRANCE FOR DIRECTIONS TO ONE OF THE USDA CAFETERIAS.

We will want to be there on time to hear USDA Under Secretary Pearlie Reed and other high-level USDA officials working on renewable energy, rural health care, telemedicine, federal nutrition programs, rural housing, small business and infrastructure, and other key issues for economic recovery in rural America and the Greater Delta Region. We will also have Mayor Heather Hudson of Greenville, Mississippi, president of the National Conference of Black Mayors, and several other grassroots leaders from the Delta.

Room 104-A is just to the right of the entrance to the Whitten Building, a short distance from the entrance.

USDA SESSION SPEAKERS: USDA Under Secretary for Administration Pearlie Reed; USDA Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services Kevin Concannon; Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development Victor Vasquez; Mayor Heather Hudson, Greenville, MS, president, National Conference of Black Mayors; Dr. Steve Onufrak, USDA ARS, Stoneville, MS; Michael Ashanti, Heifer International, Helena-West Helena, AR; Charita Johnson Burgess and Vivian Fry, Shiloh Distribution Center, west Tennessee; Buddy Spillers, president, Macon Ridge Community Development Corp., Ferriday, LA; Lynn Sullivan, Assistant Hospital Administrator, LSU Health Sciences Center, Monroe, LA; Donna Raynalds, Southernmost Illinois Delta Empowerment Zone; Robert Cole, East Arkansas Enterprise Community, Forrest City, Arkansas.

The Delta Caucus would like to thank our sponsors for making this initiative possible:

LEAD SPONSOR

Nucor Yamato Steel and Nucor Steel of Arkansas, Blytheville, Arkansas

MAJOR COSPONSORS:

Enterprise Corporation of the Delta - HOPE Community Credit Union (headquarters in Jackson, Mississippi, but active across Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi)

Housing Assistance Council, Washington, DC

Inspire Hope Institute (Chair, Laymon Jones)

Mississippi County Equal Opportunity, Commission (Blytheville, Arknsas)

Entergy Corp.

McGehee Industrial Foundation, McGehee. Arkansas

SPONSORS

Desha County Judge Mark McElroy

Shawnee Community College, southern Illinois

Foundation for the Mid South (active throughout Louisiana, Arkansas & Mississippi)

City of Carbondale, Illinois

Dumas, Arkansas Chamber of Commerce

Heifer International

G.A. Wildman of Alabama

Southern Illinois Delta Empowerment Zone

Edgenics Corp., a national company active in expanding broadband access in the Delta

Susanna Wesley Family Learning Center, East Prairie, Missouri

City of Sikeston, Missouri

PARTNERS OF THE DELTA CAUCUS

Last but not least, we would like to thank the large numbers of people who have contributed annual membership dues and other modest contributions in the amounts of $100, $85, $50 and $25 over the course of the year. As a grassroots coalition, we raise a substantial part of our budget through large numbers of modest donations, and we could not continue our work in promoting economic development in the eight-state Greater Delta Region without these hundreds of small contributions.

Thanks–Lee Powell, executive director, MDGC (202) 360-6347