On the recordSeptember 6, 2023
Mr. President, just yesterday, all of us returned to the U.S. Capitol following a 5-week stretch where we exercised the opportunity to meet with our constituents in our homes, visit updated projects and attend events in our respective States; and some of us traveled across the country and around the world to expand our understanding and gather lessons so that we can apply that to our work here in Washington. I was able to accomplish this at home by attending my State's annual economic development summit, where I met business leaders from all across West Virginia on a variety of issues from a variety of fields. Through meetings with individuals in specific industries, I was able to share the landscape that I currently see in Washington and hear about the specific policies that are impacting West Virginia most directly. I was also able to attend a really great event, a ribbon- cutting ceremony for a brandnew high school in Kanawha County. This school, Herbert Hoover High School, had been decimated--the former school--in 2016 by floods, and we all gathered there and celebrated something that was really awful into something very joyful. And our own home State Brad Paisley came and gave us a concert to celebrate with. During the ceremony, the West Virginia spirit was really palpable as the community worked hard to remedy the scars from that horrible flood.…





