Political Quotes

“I rise in support of the Appalachian Regional Commission and against the amendment offered by my friend from Wisconsin. The gentleman from Kentucky is correct. A similar companion amendment was offered in 1995 at the beginning of this Republican Congress, and it was rejected overwhelmingly on a bipartisan vote, and it was rejected and the Appalachian Regional Commission was endorsed by this body because we were able to demonstrate on the basis of the facts that this program is a successful program, a program which has worked. It has provided jobs for over 108,000 people in the Appalachian region, it has helped to retain another 80,000 additional jobs, and highways are an important part of the mix. The highways are 75 percent complete, but we need to finish the rest of them. Since the ARC with the highway program has been in place, the poverty rate in the Appalachian region has been cut in half, infant mortality has been cut by two-thirds, and out-migration has slowed. Also, Mr. Chairman, I would state to you that this is a program which is still very much needed. In our region, per capita income is 16 percent below the national average. The poverty rate in the region is 16 percent higher than the national average. And I want to address this issue of double dipping. Some of my friends have said well, Appalachia, through the highway portion of it, gets an extra dip into the Federal Treasury. That is not true at all.”