Vice President Joe Biden toured small towns across eastern North Carolina Wednesday explaining to residents how President Barack Obama’s recovery act will help rural America.

The vice president was joined by Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack as he visited Pikeville and Faison.

Biden and Vilsack announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture had begun dispursing $10 billion in housing loans provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

When the vice president arrived in Faison to speak at the Goshen Medical Center, he focused mainly on health care and how a small-town model, like the one Faison residents followed, was what the nation’s universal health care should resemble.

“This health clinic and health clinics across America, these are the future.” Biden said. “We’re here to try to make rural America stronger, and this is just one of many examples across this great nation.”

Biden said he came to eastern North Carolina because Secretary Vilsack said it was a good example of an area where the stimulus package will help.

Sara Cohen, a junior in food science, said eastern N.C. is a region that could benefit from the Recovery Act.

“Universal health care will help people who need it,” Cohen said. “It’s an important topic for that area of North Carolina because there’s an increasing number of people without health insurance due to job losses.”

Cohen also said she could see the benefit of using a small-town model for health care throughout the nation, though she admitted she didn’t know the specifics of Obama’s health care plans.

“Small clinics would provide more personal care for patients,” she said. “

Nick Young, a junior in civil engineering, said he could see why Biden and Vilsack would visit rural N.C.

“The tobacco industry is important to N.C.,” Young said. “It’s an example of the administration trying to reach out to rural America.”

Young did have issues with the health care plan Biden detailed, though.

“It’s one step closer to socialism,” Young said. “It’s both morally good and bad, because it’s very charitable but it’s also taking good money from taxpayers.”

Young said he was against most legislation involving higher taxes.

“I’m just against raising taxes,” Young said.