Joe Manchin

This is an area that is so long overdue in terms of needed reform.

This Government has not stepped forward, this Administration, and said oh, wait a minute, I cannot replace 34, 35, 36 percent of the energy that coal produces, right?

I am living in the real world right now, and West Virginia is getting absolutely plummeted by the overreach of this Administration.

I am a big believer in ARPA-E and what it can do.

If there is nothing else right now that this country demands it is affordable, reliable and dependable energy.

Earlier this year I worked with Senator Ron Johnson from Wisconsin, who is the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, and Mark Warner of Virginia to help introduce the bipartisan Social Security Identity Defense Act of 2015.

The VA to house the children of homeless veterans in transitional housing programs.

If we could do that which we have influence over, it could basically change the direction of how we treat chronic pain.

In my little State of West Virginia, from 2007 to 2012, over 200 million pills, opioids, have been shipped to my State; 200 million.

Just in my State. In a 5-year period--I only have 1.85 million people in my State.

I am saying, we have got to go to alternative pain methods.

I am finding that the VA does not always have or offer good alternatives.

This did not happen when we were youth. OK?

We use 80 percent of the opioids that are produced in the world.

It is the opioids, prescription of these opioids, painkillers, and I am sure you all are very much aware of it. We are being devastated in my State.

I have used up my time, but this is such an important topic.

With the Choice Act, are you all allowing them to find different providers, private providers, that might be able to provide the services they need?

We are working on it.

We have double the mortality rate as far as opioid overdoses in military VA than the national average.

I would prefer avoiding imposition of a hard cap that, per se, would require cutting off subsidies to those that otherwise meet eligibility requirements.

So, basically, as we usually do in America, we reward you for bad behavior.

There is no support. I hear no support.

You will be more--if it is capped and you only have a certain amount of money to work with, you are going to be much more efficient and effective with it.

I am concerned about expansion of the Lifeline program to include broadband before additional reforms to curb fraud and abuse are implemented and shown to be effective.

I hear more people complaining about people using these funds for illicit purposes versus legitimate purposes.