Bob Franks: “the TVA is an enormously valuable program. It may well be. But the problem is that it promotes an egregious regional…”

“the TVA is an enormously valuable program. It may well be. But the problem is that it promotes an egregious regional inequity. The program is great, but only for that handful of States that benefit from its activities. The fact of the matter is the taxpayers from all around the country are paying for this subsidy for only one region. That regional inequity should not longer be able to prevail in a climate where we are struggling to balance the Federal budget. We have also noted that TVA derives significant economic development activity funds from a variety of agencies, including the Appalachian Regional Commission and the Economic Development Administration. When the very leadership of the TVA says in testimony before the subcommittee that this is not a core mission and it ought to be phased out, that should give us the open opportunity to exploit that opportunity by ridding ourselves of this unnecessary program. It will help to eliminate this regional inequity and help us balance the Federal budget.”