In the News
Get Railroads Back on Track | Wheeling Intelligencer/News-Register
by Editorial
For many years, energy conservation campaigns have been considered very "green" - that is, good for the environment. Yet the United States may be missing the train, literally, in an important way of reducing energy use. Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Roy Blunt, R-Mo., recognize that in a bill they are sponsoring. It would promote new investments in railroads. As Manchin points out, the federal permitting process for highway projects was streamlined in 2012, to get more of them out of the … Continue Reading
March 25, 2015
Manchin among senators urging tighter safety rules for rail tankers | Register Herald
Following a number of train derailments hauling crude oil, U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., was among 21 senators who sent a letter to the Senate Appropriations subcommittee Tuesday supporting funding for a program aimed at improving coordination between various agencies with the U.S. Department of Transportation. The proposed program would consolidate the regulatory units within each agency to allow the Secretary of Transportation to develop uniform safety standards for the transportation of … Continue Reading
March 23, 2015
Senators Offer Bill to Help Homeless Vets | The Hill
Sens. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) have introduced legislation that aims to cut down on homelessness among veterans, as the Veterans Affairs Department scrambles to meet a year-end goal. There are nearly 50,000 homeless veterans in the United States. The VA pledged in 2010 to end homelessness among veterans by the end of 2015. Since then, they've decreased veteran homelessness by 33 percent. The senators' Homeless Veterans Prevention Act would allow children of homeless … Continue Reading
March 20, 2015
Manchin talks to TVHS via Internet | Elkins Inter-Mountain
by Editorial
Often politicians don't take into account the concerns of teenagers - perhaps because they're not old enough to vote. That's not a mistake Joe Manchin is willing to make, however. Sen. Manchin, D-W.Va., made time Wednesday for a long-distance meeting with the younger generation as he addressed concerns and questions from Tygarts Valley High School students. The senator fielded questions via Skype, a popular videoconferencing website, from a group comprised of juniors and seniors currently … Continue Reading
March 05, 2015
Manchin Correct To Oppose President | Wheeling Intelligencer/News-Register
by Editorial
U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin was right to join a few fellow Democrats in voting against President Barack Obama on the proposed Keystone XL?Pipeline, even though they were involved in a losing cause. Obama had vetoed a bill intended to clear the way for the pipeline, which the White House has blocked for six years. That set up attempts to override his veto. Though 62 senators voted to do so Tuesday, their initiative fell short of the two-thirds majority needed to overcome a veto. Most Democrats were … Continue Reading
March 04, 2015
Ensure Veterans Can Receive Care | Wheeling Intelligencer/News-Register
One issue - doing right by veterans of military service - erases party lines, as far as many members of Congress are concerned. U.S. Sens. Shelley Capito, R-W.Va., and Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., are among those who feel that is appropriate. The two were among 42 senators signing a letter sent to Veterans' Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald, in reference to the "Veterans Choice Card" program. Congress approved the program - along with about $10 billion to fund it - after hearing outrageous reports … Continue Reading
March 03, 2015
Manchin talks about career, Keystone and foreign affairs | Register Herald
In an exclusive interview with The Register-Herald last week, U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin said he hasn't yet decided if he will leave Congress to run for governor in 2016.Manchin said he misses West Virginia and has been upset with partisan politics in Washington, but the recent November election that handed both houses of Congress to Republicans has perhaps surprisingly put him in a "unique position." "The Senate is a different makeup now. The minority has as much, if not more, control than the … Continue Reading
March 03, 2015
Manchin: 'We've got to make it safer' | Register Herald
"I have no qualms asking for a full-fledged [Senate committee] investigation," he said, about the Powellton Hollow derailment, where 27 tankers hauling Bakken crude oil went off the rails Feb. 16. Currently, various federal agencies are conducting investigations. On Saturday, the Federal Railroad Administration started inspecting all the damaged tankers, recovering wreckage from the accident site, fully reviewing maintenance and inspecting records for rolling stock, signals and locomotives, … Continue Reading
March 03, 2015
Manchin: Name ship after ‘Woody’ Williams | Times West Virginian
FAIRMONT - In a letter sent to Navy Secretary Ray Mabus on Friday, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., urged the Navy to name a ship after Hershel "Woody" Williams. Williams was born in Fairmont, in October of 1923, and is the last living Medal of Honor recipient from the Battle of Iwo Jima. According to the West Virginia Encyclopedia, Williams earned his Medal of Honor for heroism at the Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945: "On Feb. 23, Williams neutralized seven concrete pillboxes from which came … Continue Reading
February 20, 2015
Manchin talks issues at airport | Huntington Herald Dispatch
by Brandon Roberts
HUNTINGTON - U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin made a stop at the Huntington Tri-State Airport on Thursday during a whirlwind trip through the state this week to speak about issues pertinent to West Virginia. The senator spoke on a variety of topics, touching on his stances on immigration, the war on terror, the Keystone Pipeline and the Environmental Protection Agency. Manchin said the Department of Homeland Security funding bill has become too politicized. "Some things we have to rise above," he … Continue Reading
February 19, 2015
Manchin talks of suicide prevention push for vets at VA | Beckley Register-Herald
by Sarah Plummer,
U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin sat down Wednesday with veterans and administrators at the Beckley VA Medical Center to celebrate the passage of the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act and talk about the local hospital's achievements and needs. The new act addresses suicide among veterans by requiring an evaluation of existing suicide prevention programs, creating a new website with mental health resources for veterans, improving resources and training for existing programs, and … Continue Reading
February 15, 2015
Mission accomplished: Victory for area veterans | Bluefield Daily Telegraph
by Editorial
Victory! After years of fighting for an actual brick and mortar veterans clinic for Mercer County, the resounding plea of our local war heroes has finally been answered by the Veterans Administration. A permanent VA clinic is coming to Mercer County. The mobile clinic that has served our region for the past year will be pulling out of Bluefield this summer as the doors to a new VA clinic are opened at 1511 North Walker Street in Princeton. The good news was confirmed Wednesday by U.S. Sen. … Continue Reading
February 12, 2015
Victory for Vets: New VA Clinic to Offer Primary Care in Mercer County | Bluefield Daily Telegraph
After years of work and waiting, eligible veterans in southern West Virginia will have access to primary medical care services at a new VA clinic in Mercer County. Beckley VA Medical Center Director Karin L. McGraw announced Wednesday that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs approved a VA clinic to be located at 1511 North Walker Street in Princeton. The Princeton VA Clinic will be an extension of the medical center and will offer access to primary care and telehealth services. "Beckley VA is … Continue Reading
February 12, 2015
Manchin Bill Targets Pedophiles Working in Schools | Charleston Daily Mail
Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Pat Toomey, R-Pa., are set to reintroduce legislation aimed at keeping sexual predators out of schools. The Protecting Students from Sexual and Violent Predator Act would provide a mechanism for states to check the backgrounds of teachers, bus drivers and other school employees to ensure schools don't employ sexual predators. Since January 2014, more than 400 school employees nationwide have been arrested for sexual misconduct with children. Manchin and Toomey … Continue Reading
February 12, 2015
Toomey, Manchin team on bill that targets job-jumping predators | Pittsburgh Tribune
Sens. Pat Toomey and Joe Manchin want to make sure no school district can "pass the trash" again. The Pennsylvania Republican and West Virginia Democrat will reintroduce in the Senate on Thursday the Protecting Students from Sexual and Violent Predators Act, a bill intended to keep pedophiles out of schools and from moving undetected from state to state, a practice known as "passing the trash." The bill would require elementary and high schools that receive federal funding to conduct … Continue Reading
February 07, 2015
Manchin, students recall Storer’s past | Martinsburg Journal
by Mary Stortstrom
HARPERS FERRY - As the nation begins celebrating Black History Month in February, U.S. Senator Joe Manchin visited the former Storer College, co-located with the Harpers Ferry National Historical Park headquarters, to recognize the college's place in the early civil rights movement. According to Guinevere Roper, a ranger at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, Storer College opened near the close of the Civil War and the passage of the 13th Amendment. Roper said the school began through … Continue Reading
February 06, 2015
Military Spending Reforms Needed | The Intelligencer/Wheeling News-Register
by Editorial
Four U.S. senators who may be viewed by some as unlikely allies are sponsoring a bill that could be one small step toward a rational defense spending policy. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. has joined with Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.; Ted Cruz, R-Texas; and Rand Paul, R-Ky., on the bill. While observers of the Washington scene may wonder how lawmakers with such diverse views got together, the secret may be in the fact that to greater or lesser extents, three of the four - Manchin, Cruz and Paul - are … Continue Reading
January 30, 2015
More must be done to reduce the illicit sale of pseudoephedrine | Times West Virginian
by Editorial
Meth is a problem in West Virginia. And while the vast majority of the drug comes to the state through Mexico, small meth labs are being found throughout the state and even here in Marion County. It is a very dangerous drug to use, and its effect on the body is permanent and often deadly. And it's dangerous to make in laboratories, much less homes and garages where it is done right here in Marion County. It produces poison, making the structure where it was "cooked" uninhabitable until it is … Continue Reading
January 26, 2015
Senator Manchin Hosts Discussion | Elkins Inter-Mountain
by Dan Geohagan
DAVIS - U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) joined community leaders, officials from the Canaan Valley Institute, the National Youth Science Foundation, the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources and other individuals Saturday for a tour of the Canaan Valley Institute facility and to host a round-table discussion on the possible transfer of the Canaan Valley Institute facility to the NYSF. The NYSF is interested in building a National Center for Youth Science Education. It would be used to … Continue Reading
January 21, 2015
Manchin Discusses Expectations, Energy Independence | Parkersburg News and Sentinel
by Brett Dunlap
WASHINGTON - The Democratic U.S. senator from West Virginia wants to move America toward energy independence and not relying so heavily on foreign oil. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., spoke with reporters from around the state, via conference call, Tuesday morning. The call was initially to talk what he hoped would be a part of President Obama's State of the Union speech that evening, but the senator covered a wide variety of topics. The Senator's big concerns about the President's speech was he … Continue Reading
