Porter Goss: “these are indeed historic times. This Congress has adopted the first balanced budget resolution in over a generation. We…”

“these are indeed historic times. This Congress has adopted the first balanced budget resolution in over a generation. We have successfully shifted the debate from more and more big Federal programs to fiscal restraint and responsibility. In this vein, I applaud the work of Chairmen Myers and Livingston and the committee in crafting an energy and water appropriations bill that reflects this goal. Nevertheless, I remain concerned that certain programs prime for elimination may escape intact, battered; and bruised but still standing. The Appalachian Regional Commission [ARC] plainly falls into this category. ARC was formed in 1965 as a temporary response to poverty in a broad section of the United States known as Appalachia. Thirty years later, we continue to spend hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars annually on ARC activities that are largely duplicated by several agencies, including DOT's Federal Highways Program and HUD's Community Development Block Grant Program. The legitimate programs the ARC funds, from building highways to sewer projects, will continue to be funded. However, ARC has a long history of funding projects that have a rather dubious impact on poverty. The ARC has spent taxpayer money on projects ranging from the NASCAR Hall of Fame to a football stadium for the NFL's Carolina Panthers. ARC has spent $100,000 for a film history of West Virginia and another $25,000 to attract German travelers to that same State.”