Political Quotes

“Madam Chair, this amendment cuts $35 million from this bill for the Appalachian Regional Commission, lowering the funding level in this bill to $165 million. The IIJA provided the Appalachian Regional Commission with an advanced appropriation of $200 million every single year, the entirety of its authorization level for fiscal year 2022 through 2026, meaning every dollar provided under this bill is more than the authorized level. This Congress said this is the level at which you can spend. We are spending way above that. In other words, under this amendment, the ARC would still receive $365 million for the fiscal year rather than $400 million provided by the underlying bill. Even with this minimal cut under this amendment, the program's funding is still extremely bloated, and its effectiveness remains unclear. It doesn't really remain unclear. It is completely unknown. I know. I sat in and presided over the hearing regarding this commission and all the commissions where, literally, the metric they use to determine success was we get loan applications. People want to receive loans and grants. That is their measure of success. Where I live in Pennsylvania, the Appalachian Trail comes right through the district, and people in Appalachia certainly sorely need help, but they don't need a bunch of throwaway things from contractors outside of their area coming in to make a bunch of money off the government and leave them with whatever is left over.…”