Op-Eds

March 18, 2024

Our Energy Policy is a Success and President Biden Should be Proud

by Senator Joe Manchin

I’m going to do something you probably haven’t heard me do much in the past three years: I want to congratulate President Biden for the record-breaking energy production we are seeing in America today. The United States is producing more oil, gas and renewable energy than ever before. We are exporting more fossil fuel energy than we import. Our country has never been more energy-independent than we are today. This is something to celebrate. And it would not have been possible without the … Continue Reading


February 15, 2024

Any Loss of Services at USPS Center Is Wrong

by Senator Joe Manchin

Since I last visited the U.S. Postal Service’s processing and distribution center in South Charleston, right after a review of operations at the facility was announced, I have spoken at length with U.S. Postmaster Louis DeJoy, USPS staff and postal workers. I am now more concerned than ever about the potential for staff relocations and significant reductions in services for West Virginia families and businesses. I also need to set the record straight in response to an opinion piece penned by … Continue Reading


February 13, 2024

Senate Failed U.S. By Blocking Immigration Bill

by Senator Joe Manchin

History had its eyes on the United States Senate last week. Illegal immigration across our southern border is the greatest threat facing our country today, and it has been a growing problem across both Democratic and Republican administrations for years. Last week, we finally had a chance to address it, but instead, I watched the U.S. Senate vote to block one of the strongest border security bills in decades. I have always said, “If I can go back home and explain it, I can vote for it.” I … Continue Reading


January 18, 2024

National debt is the greatest threat to our country, its time for Congress to act

by Senators Joe Manchin and Mitt Romney and Representatives Bill Huizenga and Scott Peters

While many Americans were celebrating the holidays with their loved ones, our country reached a milestone that is nothing to celebrate: The United States national debt now exceeds $34 trillion. In just ten years, the national debt has more than doubled. Not only is this level of debt unsustainable, but it is growing at the largest rate seen in the history of this country. $34 trillion is a staggering amount of money. To put this in context, the national debt has now exceeded $100,000 for … Continue Reading


November 09, 2023

It has been an honor to serve West Virginia

by Senator Joe Manchin

It was a cold November morning just a week after my family’s store had burnt to the ground, losing the lives of four people, when tragedy struck again. This time, there had been an explosion in the Farmington No. 9 mine. My Uncle John, our neighbor and several of my high school classmates worked in that mine. I knew family members of most everyone working in the mine that day. Everyone knew everyone in Farmington. Over the next several days, I sat with my mother and Aunt Jenny, Uncle John’s … Continue Reading


November 09, 2023

Why I Won’t Be Seeking Re-Election to the Senate

by Senator Joe Manchin

I have always been a responsible pro-life advocate, but polls and elections like this week’s ballot initiative in Ohio show that most Americans want the balance found for the past 50 years in Roe v. Wade. So last year I pushed for a bill that would have codified the 1973 ruling into law. At the time, Democrats controlled the White House and both chambers of Congress. We should have had the votes to pass the bill. But the Senate Democratic leadership and the majority of the caucus refused to … Continue Reading


October 31, 2023

West Virginia fuels the future

by Senator Joe Manchin

One of the reasons we are the most prosperous, powerful nation in the world is because of West Virginia’s ingenuity and grit. For generations, we mined the coal that forged the steel that built the guns and ships that powered us to be the greatest country. We have sacrificed more than nearly any state, and we take tremendous pride in this legacy. Once again, the time has come to reaffirm our enduring strength and service. West Virginia will soon be providing a new reliable, affordable and … Continue Reading


September 22, 2023

Because of the IRA, We Are Producing Fossil Fuels at Record Levels

by Senator Joe Manchin

Since President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law, Washington hypocrisy has been on display, with both sides politicizing the bill to gain a partisan advantage. On the far left, the administration has touted the bill as a transformational piece of green-energy legislation. On the far right, despite taking credit for fossil-fuel investments in their states, Republicans have assailed the act as the Green New Deal. That’s what people hate about Washington: Both parties mislead … Continue Reading


June 30, 2023

Fighting for equal access

by Senator Joe Manchin

In 1936, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Rural Electrification Act into law, legislation that installed electricity in remote areas across the United States, finally connecting communities in rural America to the electric grid. This was critical to leveling the playing field for all Americans and creating a stronger and more prosperous nation.   Nearly 90 years later, we find ourselves fighting for equal access to high-speed internet for rural Americans–the … Continue Reading


May 20, 2023

Permitting Reform Necessary for America’s Future

by Senator Joe Manchin

America’s permitting process is broken, consumed by bureaucratic delays and endless litigation at every turn. Our inability to permit projects in West Virginia and across the country on a timely basis is not only harming our energy security and ability to provide for ourselves, it’s also hurting our national security and ability to reduce our reliance on foreign adversaries who do not share our values. We only have to look at Putin’s ability to cripple much of Europe by … Continue Reading


March 29, 2023

The Inflation Reduction Act Betrayal

by Senator Joe Manchin

America is fast approaching another needless emergency—the raising of the national debt ceiling. This impending crisis isn’t an accident but a result of the inaction of various actors who refuse to confront fiscal reality, sit down, negotiate and make hard decisions for the sake of our nation’s future. While all parties have a responsibility to negotiate in good faith, recent actions make clear to me that the Biden administration is determined to pursue an ideological agenda rather than … Continue Reading


March 10, 2023

The Biden Admin panders to climate activists. I won't support their nominees.

by Senator Joe Manchin

European conflict, global crises, persistent inflation, rising energy prices and the fear of a coming recession have placed America and the world at a critical crossroads, with much of these challenges centered on one defining issue: energy security. Now, as energy leaders from across the world are gathered in Houston for the annual CERAWeek conference, the issue of America’s energy security and the role of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to address this challenge will no doubt be top of … Continue Reading


March 06, 2023

Maximizing Americans' investments, not promoting ESG agenda should be Biden's focus

by Senator Joe Manchin

For most Americans, a secure retirement is the ultimate goal. It is something we work towards, diligently save and plan for in the hopes that when that day comes, we can live healthy, comfortable lives. That’s why the recent actions by the Biden administration to prioritize their liberal policy agenda over protecting and growing the retirement accounts of 150 million Americans are especially infuriating. In 1974, Congress passed the Employment Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) that … Continue Reading


March 03, 2023

If FDA won't combat opioid crisis, this Republican and this Democrat will

by Senators Joe Manchin and Mike Braun

Jessica Grubb of Charleston, West Virginia was 30 when she died unexpectedly. Lauren Cole of Morgantown, West Virginia was only 26 when she died unexpectedly. These tragic deaths and thousands more across West Virginia, Indiana and the United States have one thing in common - they died from opioid related overdoses, leaving their families, friends, and communities reeling. Unfortunately, their circumstances are not unique. Approximately 200 Americans die every day from an opioid related … Continue Reading


February 27, 2023

Senator Pleased to be Serving Our Seniors

by Senator Joe Manchin

Throughout my career in public service, I have learned firsthand that the wisdom of our senior West Virginians makes our communities stronger. I have always believed that, after a lifetime of hard work, seniors deserve to retire with dignity and peace of mind.From my time as Governor when I made it a priority to secure a hot and cold truck for every West Virginia county to receive Meals on Wheels deliveries, to my time as Senator when I secured pensions and healthcare for nearly 100,000 coal … Continue Reading


February 07, 2023

Stop the political blame game and start cutting the debt

by Senator Joe Manchin

From a once-in-a-century pandemic and inflation not seen in decades to a global energy crisis, it is fair to say the American people are “crisis-ed out.” Given all that anxiety, one would presume that leaders of both parties would seek out compromise to avert an unnecessary, entirely avoidable financial crisis and act soon to raise the debt ceiling. Instead, we are again witnessing a dangerous game of unnecessary brinkmanship that puts our global credit rating at risk and could cost … Continue Reading


December 30, 2022

Bipartisanship Can and Does Work

by Senator Joe Manchin

When the new Congress is sworn in on January 3, 2023, it will mark the end of the longest 50-50 Senate in the history of our country. The narrow makeup forced compromise and ultimately the 117th Congress was the most productive Congress in decades. As Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the most moderate member of the Senate, I fought hard to leverage my role to deliver significant wins for West Virginia and our country. From passing the Bipartisan Infrastructure … Continue Reading


September 25, 2022

Both Parties Should Support My Permitting Reform Bill

by Senator Joe Manchin

Congress votes this week on the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2022. It’s a defining moment. Will we promote energy security and independence, or will we allow extreme ideologies and politics to embolden our nation’s enemies? Will we allow toxic tribal politics and the Vladimir Putins of the world to dictate our future, or will we protect our nation’s energy security?We are in the midst of a global energy war, and the American people—Republican, Democrat and independent—are paying the … Continue Reading


February 22, 2022

Funding For W.Va To Address Abandoned Mine Lands

by Senator Joe Manchin

On the morning of Nov. 20, 1968, the Farmington Consol No. 9 mine exploded and 78 brave coal miners lost their lives in the hours that followed. It was a tragic day that my family, and so many other families, will never forget. Like many other West Virginians, that disaster was personal to me. I lost my uncle John and several of my classmates and friends. I’ll never forget the look on my mother’s face when she found out her younger brother had died in the explosion. You can’t tell the history … Continue Reading


February 11, 2022

President Biden Should Withdraw Nominee To Lead The Food And Drug Administration

by Senators Joe Manchin and Mike Braun

Since OxyContin was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1995, more than 500,000 Americans have died from overdoses related to opioids and synthetic opioids.Nearly three decades later, more than 101,000 Americans - over 1,500 West Virginians and nearly 2,500 Hoosiers - died between June 2020 and June 2021. It’s clear that not much has changed in the way the FDA approves and manages these highly addictive, destructive drugs killing Americans at an astonishing rate.In fact, it has … Continue Reading

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