James Norton: “H.R. 3246, as amended, in fact does amend title 40, United States Code, to provide a comprehensive regional approach to…”

“H.R. 3246, as amended, in fact does amend title 40, United States Code, to provide a comprehensive regional approach to economic and infrastructure development in the most severely and economically distressed regions of the Nation. H.R. 3246, the Regional Economic and Infrastructure Development Act of 2007, authorizes two existing commissions and three new regional economic development commissions under a common framework of administration and management, and further provides a framework for good decisionmaking and planning. These commissions are designed to address problems of systemic poverty and underdevelopment in their respective regions. The five commissions are: the Delta Regional Commission, the Northern Great Plains Regional Commission, the Southeast Crescent Regional Commission, the Southwest Border Regional Commission, and the Northern Border Regional Commission. The bill models the administrative and management procedures for these five commissions after the highly successful Appalachian Regional Commission.”