Press Release
of
Senator Manchin
MANCHIN'S MESSAGE FROM THE HILL TO THE MOUNTAINS Senator Manchin's first weekly column Friday, February 4, 2011
My fellow West Virginians, I am so honored to represent you and our great state in the United States Senate. I’ve been fortunate on my “Call for Common Sense” tour and at my “Coffee and Common Sense” breakfasts to hear your concerns, priorities and ideas for Washington, and I want to continue our conversation. This is the first column in a series of weekly columns to update you about what’s happening in Washington. I hope to hear back from you, both in person when I visit your area, or through my office at (304) 342-5855. You can also email me at common_sense@manchin.senate.gov. This week I delivered my maiden speech as U.S. Senator, and I outlined my 4-point commonsense agenda to create jobs, restore fiscal responsibility, develop a balanced energy policy that establishes energy independence within this generation, and keep our promises to seniors and veterans. In addition, I introduced my first piece of legislation, the bipartisan “EPA Fair Play Act,” which would prevent the agency from changing its rules on businesses after permits have already been granted – as the agency did to our own Spruce Mine in Logan County. To read the full speech, visit my Web site, http://manchin.senate.gov. Excerpts of the speech are included below: West Virginia may be a small state, but our impact on our nation’s history and its future is far greater than the size of our geography or our population. … But this great responsibility to serve as a United States Senator for West Virginia would never have come about had our state not lost a true giant - our beloved Senator Robert C. Byrd. … I have seen our state endure its most devastating challenges – tragic mining accidents and natural disasters – and I’ve seen our state in the best of times. But at all times, the spirit of West Virginia has never been broken. It is this spirit of working together and finding commonsense solutions to any challenge that inspires me. This is what I learned growing up: in West Virginia when things are tough, we don’t back down. When we’re having trouble paying our bills, we don’t think of new things to buy; when we face difficult times, we work together to make things better. When faced with a problem, we don’t avoid what needs to be done, we try and solve it. This is what West Virginians would call commonsense. … West Virginians don’t want a handout; we want a work permit. I believe to create a thriving economy and jobs we must lessen the burdens of unnecessary rules and regulations. Bureaucrats should not be able to regulate what has not been legislated. We need to make government work smarter, and its agencies operate more efficiently and effectively. We’re not asking government to be our provider; we want government to be our partner. … We are all Americans. We all share a love for this nation, for our families, for our children, and it is this bond which will unite us in these difficult times and which gives me the hope and optimism that once again we will rise above any challenge we face.
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