James Oberstar: “Mr. Chairman, I have been associated with the EDA program for almost 33 years. I still have, am proud of having it, one…”

“Mr. Chairman, I have been associated with the EDA program for almost 33 years. I still have, am proud of having it, one of the pens that President Lyndon Johnson used to sign that bill into law in August 1965. EDA was created then for the purpose of responding to those communities, those regions in the Nation that did not share in the Nation's general prosperity, to pinpoint and target assistance to those communities locally or those regions that did not share in the Nation's prosperity. President John F. Kennedy was fond of saying, the national economic policies will float all boats, they will all rise. But not all boats rose with our prosperity then, and nor have all communities shared in the Nation's general economic growth and prosperity over the last 3 or 4 years. The objective of the EDA program is to give local communities, regions, groups of counties or areas like Appalachia, where we have a separate program but which dovetails with EDA, the tools they need, the financial assistance they need to create jobs and economic opportunity and outlook and hope.”