Submitted to the U.S. Senate by the Committee on Agriculture and Forestry, this report on the Rural Development Act of 1972 contains the following: (1) Brief Explanation of the Bill (Titles I-VII); (2) Statements on the Need for Rural Development and Rural Development Credit and Investment; (3) Titles I-VII (presented via a short explanation, a general statement, and a section by section explanation); (4) Message from the President of the U.S. Proposing a System of Special Revenue Sharing for Rural Community Development (Rural America in Transition: The Urban Stake in Rural Development; Programs; How Revenue Sharing Works; Building on Success: Streamlining the Rural Assistance Effort; The Statewide Development Plan; The Logic of Rural Development Revenue Sharing; The Urban-Rural Partnership); (5) Message from the President of the U.S. Transmitting Proposals for a Program of Rural Development (The Problems of Rural America; Changing Our Approach; Proposals Already Submitted to Congress; New Proposals--Expanded Credit for Rural America and Improving the Rural Environment); (6) Recommendations (submitted via letter) from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Deputy Comptroller General of the U.S., and the Environmental Protection Agency; (7) Transcripts of Proposed Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill; (8) Individual Views on the Bill (Milton R. Young, Jack Miller, Bob Dole, Carl T. Curtis, George D. Aiken, and Allen J. Ellender). (JC)