U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) was sworn into the United States Senate on November 15, 2010 to fill the seat left vacant by the late Senator Robert C. Byrd. For Senator Manchin, serving as West Virginia's Senator is truly an honor and a privilege.
Born and raised in the small coal mining town of Farmington, W.Va., Sen. Manchin grew up learning the values that all West Virginians share — family, common sense, fairness and hard work. As a small businessman, he learned firsthand from his grandfather, Papa Joe, who was an Italian immigrant and the town grocer, the importance of serving the public. As a young man, his beloved grandmother, Mama Kay, inspired Senator Manchin's belief in public service through her unflagging compassion and desire to help those less fortunate.
As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Manchin is able to advocate for projects that make the biggest difference in the everyday lives of West Virginians. On the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Manchin fights to ensure West Virginia receives adequate funding for infrastructure projects, community healthcare centers, economic development efforts and many other projects important to West Virginia.
Senator Manchin welcomes appropriations suggestions from West Virginians. If you would like to submit a request, please contact Senator Manchin’s office at appropriations@manchin.senate.gov.
Ensuring the security of West Virginians and Americans is one of Senator Manchin’s top priorities. As a member of the United States Senate Armed Services Committee and Ranking Member of the Cybersecurity Subcommittee, he is committed to working with both sides of the aisle to keep Americans safe from threats both at home and abroad. Senator Manchin is fighting to keep America’s military strong and capable of confronting the threats of the 21st century.
The Senator is a firm believer that our military servicemembers are the greatest in the world and the glue that keeps our country together. Senator Manchin is especially proud of the West Virginians who are making sacrifices every day to keep us safe and is forever grateful for their service. It is important that we provide our servicemembers with the resources they need to keep our country safe and the tools needed to successfully transition back to civilian life after their service, which is why he fights for these brave men and women every day.
Senator Manchin has worked to ensure that priorities for West Virginia and the United States are included in the yearly National Defense Authorization Act and that the Senator’s longtime priority, the National Guard, is funded and supported every year.
Senator Manchin believes a strong education from birth throughout life is the building block for success for every child and the foundation for our country’s long-term economic strength. There are currently more than 10,500 homeless students living in West Virginia. Senator Manchin is working to ensure that our children have a safe, stable and comfortable place to sleep at night because it is essential to their wellbeing and education. For those students and many others, our schools are more than just classrooms, teachers and textbooks. They’re the heart of the community and a home away from home. They’re a place where nutritional meals are served and healthcare services are provided by trusted school nurses. As a country we need to do more at every level to ensure that all of our children receive a high-quality, well-rounded education that prepares them for college and a career.
Senator Manchin believes there are five promises we should make to every child:
Senator Manchin believes higher education is the key to opportunity and the best way to keep the United States competitive in the global marketplace. For many of our nation’s students, though, student debt has been overly burdensome and made it harder these students to meet their career goals. Senator Manchin has worked and will continue to work on bipartisan legislation that will simplify loan repayments for students and families so they can focus on getting the best education they can and being a productive member of society.
As West Virginia's senior Senator, Senator Manchin is proud of the critical role the Mountain State plays in providing energy to our nation. Senator Manchin believes in an all-of-the-above energy policy and, as Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, he has doubled down on his commitment to a broad range of pragmatic climate solutions. Energy experts agree fossil fuels will continue to play a significant role in our energy portfolio for decades to come. On the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Senator Manchin is ensuring West Virginia coal communities have a seat at the table to discuss cleaner energy solutions and opportunities for economic development in our clean energy future. The United States, with the help of the National Energy Technology Lab in Morgantown, must continue to lead the world in developing and advancing transformational clean-energy technologies like carbon capture, utilization and sequestration, energy storage, advanced nuclear energy, geothermal, energy efficiency, solar and wind.
Senator Manchin is also working tirelessly to make the Appalachian Storage Hub a reality in West Virginia. The Department of Energy estimates the proposed Appalachian Storage Hub would create up to 100,000 jobs. The Hub would capitalize on West Virginia’s and Appalachia’s abundant natural resources, growing infrastructure and innovative spirit. The development of the Hub will help secure our energy and manufacturing future by providing a reliable, affordable supply of natural gas liquids.
Senator Manchin is a longtime advocate of the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). Senator Manchin successfully led the charge to permanently reauthorize the LWCF, which is responsible for the preservation of the Gauley River National Recreation Area, New River Gorge National River and Dolly Sods. Now he is leading legislation to permanently fund the LWCF. Since 1965, more than $243 million in LWCF funds have been spent in West Virginia on more than 500 projects, both on state and federal lands. This includes improvements to local parks and public spaces in 54 of West Virginia's 55 counties.
Senator Manchin believes that every American deserves access to quality, affordable healthcare. He has always said that our nation’s current system is in need of repair but we cannot simply repeal without a replacement. Senator Manchin believes that effective healthcare reform should expand access to coverage, while not inhibiting economic growth, and that the most effective healthcare legislation involves support from both political parties.
Senator Manchin is committed to working with colleagues from both parties to reduce the cost of prescription drugs for West Virginia families and decrease the cost of premiums without cutting the quality of benefits. Any changes to our current system should strive to make healthcare more affordable for West Virginia families ensuring more families have access to health insurance.
Senator Manchin believes that rebuilding America and investing in the next generation of infrastructure is not a Democratic ideal or a Republican ideal, it’s an American ideal. By choosing to focus on our needs here at home – on roads, bridges, airports, pipelines and broadband in every state – we will not only create jobs, but we will strengthen the very economic foundation of this nation that our people and our businesses rely on to thrive.
Senator Manchin recognizes the importance of delivering affordable, reliable broadband access to every corner of West Virginia. This digital divide prevents students from learning at home and makes it harder for our small businesses to grow and create jobs. Senator Manchin is focused on closing the digital divide to ensure every West Virginian has access to the technological resources they need to succeed in a 21st century economy.
Senator Manchin has hosted more than 20 job fairs across the state with thousands of West Virginians in attendance to help link West Virginians looking for employment with jobs. Senator Manchin understands how hard the people of the Mountain State work and that given the opportunity, nobody works harder than a West Virginian.
Combatting the opioid epidemic in West Virginia and across the country is one of Senator Manchin’s biggest priorities in the United States Senate. He works with lawmakers from both sides of the aisle to secure the additional resources we need to fight this epidemic. He has introduced multiple bi-partisan bills aimed at supporting recovering addicts and funding programs that help addicts receive the treatment they need.
Prescription drug abuse is the fastest growing drug problem in the nation and unfortunately, West Virginia leads the nation in overdose deaths. In light of these growing concerns, Senator Manchin launched the Prescription Drug Abuse Caucus. Through this caucus, members work together with stakeholders in hopes of developing legislation and urging Congress to invest in programs that will end the ongoing opioid epidemic and prevent future drug abuse.
West Virginia’s seniors helped build this nation and Senator Manchin is committed to ensuring we keep the promises made to them. To West Virginia’s seniors, Social Security and Medicare are not just government programs, they are promises made by a thankful nation to ensure a quality of life well-earned from years of hard work and sacrifice.
Senator Manchin believes that keeping our promises to our seniors by protecting Medicare and Social Security must be our priority as we discuss responsible ways to start living within our means again. Our nation faces a serious debt crisis, and Senator Manchin will support budget fixes that are defined by our priorities based on our values as West Virginians and Americans.
West Virginia is one of the most patriotic states in the country and Senator Manchin is proud of the number of Veterans and active duty members that have honorably served our military. As a member of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, Senator Manchin works to improve employment opportunities and healthcare access for West Virginia’s Veterans.
Senator Manchin is the co-chair of the Congressional Veterans Jobs Caucus and the Senate Post-9/11 Veterans Caucus. Unemployment, underemployment, and access to education and training are some of the biggest problems currently facing America’s Veterans. In addition to our gratitude and support, our Veterans need jobs and the caucus focuses on connecting Veterans with the resources and opportunities to ensure they find meaningful employment.
In the 21st century, the world is more interconnected than ever before. This presents the opportunity for adversaries to try to infiltrate and attack American values and our way of life. As a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Senator Manchin believes in sending a strong signal to foreign adversaries that hostility will not be tolerated. Preventing foreign attacks on our democracy and democracies abroad is not a political issue and Senator Manchin will continue to work in a bipartisan way to protect our nation and safeguard our way of life.
Senator Manchin has worked across the aisle to expand sanctions against the Russian government and establishing establish a Congressional Review process to prevent the relaxation or removal of sanctions in the future.