Cord Byrd: “in my home State of West Virginia and all across America, our people are frustrated and outraged with the soaring cost…”

“in my home State of West Virginia and all across America, our people are frustrated and outraged with the soaring cost of gasoline. The rising cost of gasoline means workers in West Virginia are seeing their paychecks dramatically reduced by the simple fact that they have to drive to get to work and to get back home. It is darned difficult and expensive for a coal miner to pay $2.25 a gallon to drive his pickup truck to work on the two-lane, hilly, winding roads of West Virginia. Noting that West Virginians have become ``hawkish about watching gas prices,'' the Charleston, WV, Gazette of March 11, 2005, pointed out that they ``have few mass transportation options, travel farther to work, and often traverse [much] more rugged terrain.'' Automobiles are essential for West Virginians to get to work. According to Census data, although West Virginia is a relatively small State, workers in West Virginia spend more time commuting to work than the national average. Mr. President, 86 percent of West Virginians use cars or trucks to get to work, and nearly 75 percent of West Virginians commute by themselves in their pickup trucks and other such vehicles. The percentage of people in West Virginia who own a pickup truck is almost double the national average. Nearly one-third of West Virginians must travel outside their home county to get to work. Let me say that again.…”