As Congress continues to work on an economic stimulus package to be rolled out when the nation welcomes a new president next week, Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, is leading a call to ensure that rural communities are not left out.

Thompson, along with 32 other representatives in Congress, sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Minority Leader John Boehner Friday, urging them to include equal funding for rural areas in the country’s economic stimulus package.

“People across this country are struggling to pay their mortgages and afford rising health care costs, but rural communities are being hit even harder by the tough economy,” Thompson said in a prepared statement. “Congress must ensure that America’s rural areas receive their fair share of any economic stimulus package by investing in the highways, bridges, and other infrastructure that are the arteries of our country’s economy. America cannot be restored to greatness without the help of all Americans, not just those in urban areas.”

About 50 million Americans live in rural communities, according to the letter, and seasonally adjusted unemployment rates in non-metropolitan areas outpaced metropolitan regions every quarter in 2008.

“Facing rising unemployment, rural America cannot afford to be shortchanged in an economic recovery plan,” the letter asserts.

While Thompson and the letter’s other authors insist that they support efforts to include spending on public works, roads and bridges in a recovery package, they maintain that supporting projects in urban and suburban areas alone “will fail to provide the broad economic benefit that American people expect.”

“As representatives of rural districts, we know that rural communities are prepared with ready-to-go infrastructure projects that could put people to work within months,” the letter says. “Rural communities have the workforce and the infrastructure needs to effectively utilize new federal spending.”

Lawmakers who signed the letter include Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick Rahall, D-W.Va.; Science and Technology Committee Chairman Bart Gordon, D-Tenn.; and Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Bob Filner, D-Calif. Thompson’s signature appears at the top of the list.

In Napa today, a group of Democrats from MoveOn.org plan to rally in front of Thompson’s Napa office to push for the rapid passage of President-elect Barack Obama’s plan, an $800 billion package that would employ a combination of tax cuts and increased government spending.

“After eight years of mismanagement of our economy, we need real solutions,” said Mary Elke, a MoveOn.org member from Napa. “President Obama’s first act will create 3 million new jobs and jumpstart investment in sectors that really benefit the American people. We hope that Rep. Thompson won’t let politics-as-usual stop this package from moving quickly through Congress so that ordinary Americans can get what they need to survive this crisis.”

The group plans to rally in front of Thompson’s local office — at 1040 Main St. in Napa — at 1:15 p.m. today, where they will deliver a signed petition in support of Obama’s stimulus plan.

The event is one of more than 400 “Rallies to Support Obama’s Economic Recovery Plan” planned across the country today by MoveOn.org.