WISCONSIN FARMERS UNION
For immediate release: May 7, 2010
For More Information Contact: Scott Schultz 715-723-5561 (office) or 715-533-5906 (cell)
sschultz@wisconsinfarmersunion.com  

WFU officials: Obey’s rural support and candor will be missed
Chippewa Falls, Wis. (May 7, 2010) – Congress will be losing a member whose passion for his work will be difficult to match or exceed, Wisconsin Farmers Union leaders said after hearing learning that Rep. Dave Obey, D-Wis., will not seek re-election.
 
Rep. Obey, a Wausau native who’s represented Wisconsin’s Seventh Congressional District, announced Wednesday that he’ll leave Congress after serving for more than 40 years.
 
“Whenever I’ve talked with Dave over the years, I could tell he really cared about family farmers,” said Wisconsin Farmers Union President Darin Von Ruden. “He was always sincere and talked passionately about trying to do what’s good for family farmers.”
 
Rep. Obey’s departure will mean Wisconsin will lose its direct connection to the federal government’s purse-strings. He’s served as chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, which has much to say about where federal funding will go.
 
“It’s a rare thing to have your representative in such a position, which makes it difficult even for his district’s political opponents to see him leave,” said Wisconsin Farmers Union Executive Director Scott Schultz. “There’s no denying that his position on that committee and his House seniority had financial benefits for his district and Wisconsin as a whole.”
 
Von Ruden said that connection especially was important in Rep. Obey’s case, because the Seventh Congressional District spans a large geographic area which is primarily rural.
 
“The things he spoke for went beyond finding ways to help family farmers,” Von Ruden said. “His work benefitted many facets of the region’s rural development, education and health care.”
 
Schultz also had gotten to observe Rep. Obey’s work from the perspective of a newspaper reporter and editor.
 
“Rep. Obey’s candor was one thing I and – and many others – noticed many years ago,” Schultz said. “Whether you agreed with him didn’t matter for many people nearly as much as the respect you had for him being up front with his thoughts and words. He’s never minced words about his beliefs.”
 

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