Good afternoon,

On Monday, we celebrated Memorial Day and the brave Americans who dedicated their lives to serve our country.

Of over 20 million veterans, 4.7 million live in rural America. While the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Rural Health exists to meet their needs, only 58 percent of these veterans are enrolled in the VA health care system. Rural veterans, much like their fellow rural residents, face barriers to accessing health care such as fewer hospitals and practicing physicians, limited transportation, lack of broadband, and lack of insurance.

Here's how the debt limit deal may affect them and other rural residents...

DEAL REACHED TO LIFT DEBT LIMIT

• Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen gave the United States a few more days until it defaults on its debt, but June 5th is still only five days away. President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy managed to do what, for a while, looked impossible: iron out a deal to raise the debt limit through January 1, 2025 – removing it as a 2024 presidential election impediment – but now Congressional leaders need to actually pass the bill to avert a default.
   
• The Fiscal Responsibility Act caps non-defense discretionary spending. Fortunately, it maintains full funding for veterans' health care and increases support for PACT Act's toxic exposure fund.
   
• It also, however, expands work requirements for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) beneficiaries, which have been shown to result, not in greater employment, but limit SNAP participation and lower incomes.

• Far-right House Republicans are continuing to curtail food and other critical assistance away from many low-income Americans who need it. If this attempt to raise the debt ceiling passes into law, it will be up to the Farm Bill – another monumental piece of legislation – to provide the necessary support to ensure Americans throughout the country can continue to access the resources they need to live, work, and grow.

GET THE HOT DISH ON MENTAL HEALTH PROGRAMS

• Hungry for more about how the debt deal will affect rural America? Tune in to the latest episode of OCP's Hot Dish Podcast to hear from OCP founder and former Senator Heidi Heitkamp and co-host Joel Heitkamp as they speak to the National Rural Health Association's Alexa McKinley and AgriSafe's Tara Haskins about the mental health programs that are designed for farmers and how funding from those programs may threaten the services rural communities receive.

DON'T MISS OCP'S 2023 RURAL PROGRESS SUMMIT

• Rural America plays an essential role in our national politics and economy, yet its priorities are often left out of important federal policy decisions. Join OCP board members, policymakers, and rural stakeholders at OCP's second Rural Progress Summit as they discuss how to ensure policies made in Washington reflect the needs of rural communities.

• NEXT WEEK...OCP board members will be joined by Mitch Landrieu, White House Senior Advisor; Lori Ann LaRocco, author and CNBC Senior Editor; Jocelyn Benson, Michigan's Secretary of State; and more.

• Keynote speakers include filmmakers Eternal Polk and Audra Malkern, whose documentaries, Gaining Ground: The Fight for Black Land and Women's Work: The Untold Story of America's Female Farmers, respectively, shed light on diversity in agriculture and challenges farmers face, and David Pepper, author of Laboratories of Autocracy. Register now to participate virtually Wednesday, June 7th through Friday, June 9th.

SIGN UP HERE!

• Today, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee will hold a hearing to examine solving the child care crisis, focusing on meeting the needs of working families and child care workers.

• OCP founder and former U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp appeared on CNBC's Squawk Box to discuss the debt ceiling negotiations.
• OCP board member and Alabama Minority Leader Anthony Daniels discussed how abortion restrictions have hurt hospitals throughout Alabama with Politico.
• OCP board member Rep. J. D. Scholten spoke to Politico about Sen. Joni Ernst's 2024 campaign.

• The Washington Post: Texas welcomed Elon Musk. Now his rural neighbors aren't so sure.
• NBC News: The Stark Numbers Driving Democratic Panic About a Third-Party 2024 Bid
• Politico: House Dems in No Labels-allied caucus are livid with No Labels
• Axios: Democrats Unveil 8-Figure Blitz for Hyperlocal Rural Races
• Politico: 'Numbers Nobody Has Ever Seen': How the GOP Lost Wisconsin
• The Washington Post: Miles-long trains are blocking first responders when every minute counts
• ABC: Pending abortion restrictions strain providers in US Southeast

Be sure to follow the One Country Project on Twitter and Facebook, and check out The Hot Dish podcast.

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