In the News
Manchin Presses U.S. Energy Department nominees about maintaining plants | WV Metro News
U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., questioned two nominees for the Department of Energy last week regarding the importance of technology development within the energy sector. Manchin asked questions Tuesday to Steven Winberg, who President Donald Trump nominated for Assistant Secretary of Energy in regards to Fossil Energy, and Bruce Walker, who was nominated for Assistant Secretary of Energy overseeing Energy, Electricity, Delivery and Energy Reliability. Manchin stressed the importance of … Continue Reading
September 28, 2017
Manchin pushes plan to increase internet access | WV Metro News
U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., is pushing a plan to bring high-speed internet to communities across the United States as part of the Democratic Party's proposal to increase jobs and wages. A Better Deal will include investing at least $40 billion in federal funding to provide adequate and affordable internet services nationwide, while also upgrading existing infrastructure to provide high-speed internet. In a detailed statement, Democrats compared the plan to the rise of electricity access … Continue Reading
September 18, 2017
Manchin touts new broadband measure | Huntington Herald Dispatch
by Taylor Stuck
HUNTINGTON - Southern West Virginia should begin seeing better broadband connectivity as early as next year, said U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. In August, the Federal Communications Commission voted to move forward with Mobility Fund II, which will provide $4.53 billion of federal support over the next 10 years to expand mobile broadband coverage to rural America. This included a new data collection that incorporates requirements of Manchin's Rural Wireless Access Act, which the senator … Continue Reading
September 05, 2017
Lincoln County native gets Purple Heart for Pearl Harbor wounds | Charleston Gazette Mail
A Lincoln County native who was wounded in the attack on Pearl Harbor finally has received his Purple Heart medal. Wetzel "Sunrise" Sanders, 94, of Midkiff, authorized U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin's office to help him get the long-overdue medal late last year. Sanders received shrapnel in his right knee while helping to repel the Japanese attack on the Pearl Harbor base in Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941, which catapulted the United States into World War II. Sanders remains a fixture at the annual Pearl … Continue Reading
July 11, 2017
Senator Manchin introduces bill to get lost education funding back | Charleston Gazette-Mail
U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., is introducing a bill which would could help two West Virginia universities access federal dollars they lost out on because of small mistakes on their applications, according to a news release. Manchin's bill, "Defending Education Opportunities for West Virginia Students Act," would allow the U.S. Education Secretary to review applications for TRIO funding, even if colleges had minor budgeting errors on their applications. The U.S. Department of Education … Continue Reading
June 20, 2017
A West Virginia Day of remembrance and thanks | Montgomery Herald
Every June 20th, West Virginians come together to celebrate the day our beloved Mountain State became our country's 35th state. It's a day that unites all of us because of our shared history and proud traditions. West Virginians share a deep sense of pride for what it means to call this place home. And this year, we are especially proud as our state turns 154, and as we look back on the year that has passed since devastating floods tested - but did not defeat - our spirit and strength. The … Continue Reading
June 20, 2017
Joe Manchin: Republican ACA repeal will hurt West Virginians | Charleston Gazette-Mail
Last month, the House of Representatives passed a health care bill after only one legislative hearing, without knowing how much the proposal would cost the American people, without knowing how many people would lose their insurance coverage, and without any feedback from Democrats in the House. We now know that this bill will deliver $661 billion in tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans while cutting critically important health care services for the poorest among us. This is unacceptable, … Continue Reading
June 18, 2017
Check-up reveals major problems: The health of West Virginia truly in crisis | Exponent Telegram
It might be easy to lose sight of this amid a state with a plethora of other problems, but West Virginia has a crisis in health. Gov. Jim Justice ran his campaign last year by rallying West Virginians around a common disillusionment with a penchant for finishing last in measures of national success. And though West Virginia isn't in last place, many would likely find it disconcerting to know the state ranks 48th in mortality rate, according to a study by the Institute for Health Metrics and … Continue Reading
June 18, 2017
Black lung clinics Support vital for retired miners | Bluefield Daily Telegraph
For more than a century, thousands of coal miners in the two Virginias have labored deep underground to help power our nation. Those same brave workers often risked injury and death to help fuel and protect our country. Unfortunately, many of these retired coal miners are now suffering from black lung disease, a debilitating, potentially fatal illness caused by long-term exposure to coal dust. They are in need of the best medical care possible. That's why we welcome the efforts of a group of … Continue Reading
June 16, 2017
U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin: $36B Investment Possible with Ethane Hub | Wheeling Intelligencer
U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin represents West Virginia, but he'll gladly share $36 billion worth of potential capital investment with Ohio, Pennsylvania and Kentucky - which could become reality if any of these states can land an ethane storage hub. While meeting with numerous Upper Ohio Valley public officials and industry leaders Friday at the City-County Building in Wheeling, Manchin, D-W.Va., discussed both legislation he recently introduced to help make the ethane storage hub a reality, as well … Continue Reading
June 16, 2017
Manchin: Dept. of Education to reconsider WVU, WVSU funding requests | Charleston Gazette-Mail
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., says Education Secretary Betsy DeVos assured him her department is reconsidering the issue concerning funding requests from two West Virginia colleges that made small mistakes on their applications. The schools, West Virginia University and West Virginia State University, both recently learned they lost out on hundreds of thousands of federal dollars because of errors on their applications to the U.S. Department of Education, the federal department that oversees the … Continue Reading
June 08, 2017
EDITORIAL: Highest possible level of funding for black lung clinics should be approved | Times West Virginian
The nation's coal miners suffering from black lung disease need the best care possible. An effort is underway to help ensure that goal is met - that those suffering from the disease get the medical care they need and the essential benefits they have earned. Black lung disease is a debilitating, potentially fatal disease caused by long-term exposure to coal dust and impacts thousands of individuals who have played a major role in the energy economy of the United States. A group of U.S. … Continue Reading
June 07, 2017
Senators call for highest level of funding for black lung clinics | Beckley Register Herald
by Wendy Holdren
A group of U.S. Senators, including Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., has requested the highest level of funding - $10 million - in Fiscal Year 2018 to support black lung health clinics. Black lung disease, a debilitating, potentially fatal disease caused by long-term exposure to coal dust, impacts thousands of individuals who have played a major role in energy economy. In a letter to the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and … Continue Reading
May 13, 2017
Manchin meets with UMWA in Beckley to discuss pension legislation | Beckley Register Herald
by Wendy Holdren
U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., shook the hands and slapped the backs of the retired miners gathered Friday at the UMWA office in Beckley. "We're going to get it done," Manchin said of their pensions as he made his way through the crowd. "We're halfway there." Congress reached an agreement earlier this month creating a permanent solution to fund health care benefits for retired miners' and their widows, as promised to them in 1946 with the Krug-Lewis agreement. "We had to fight for five … Continue Reading
April 01, 2017
Sunday Perspective: Behind each opioid death statistic | Charleston Gazette Mail
On the floor of the U.S. Senate, Sen. Joe Manchin read a grieving letter from a West Virginia couple outlining years of struggle in a doomed attempt to save their son from opioid addiction. Renee and Criss Fisher wrote that their tall son Nick had a happy boyhood and became a basketball star. His high school team won a 2011 state championship, then he played for Glenville State College. He fell in love with a girl and they soon had a son. She was prescribed pain-killers after childbirth - … Continue Reading
March 10, 2017
LifeBOAT Act | Bluefield Daily Telegraph
Measure merits congressional support Eleven lawmakers, including U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., have reintroduced the Budgeting for Opioid Addiction Treatment Act (LifeBOAT Act), an important measure that would establish a permanent funding stream to provide and expand access to substance abuse treatment. "A major barrier that those suffering from opioid addiction face is insufficient access to substance abuse treatment," Manchin said last week. "These are people who have recognized that … Continue Reading
March 06, 2017
Manchin introduces Vet Connect act to reduce opioid abuse among veterans | WDTV
Washington, D.C. (WDTV) - U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) introduced the Vet Connect Act of 2017, which would streamline health records sharing between the Department of Veterans Affairs and community healthcare providers, on Monday. Under current law, veterans being treated for drug abuse, alcoholism or alcohol abuse, infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), or sickle cell anemia must provide written consent to the VA in order to share their health records with their community … Continue Reading
December 02, 2016
Manchin ready to keep Congress in session if there’s no vote on Miners Protection Act | MetroNews
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Joe Manchin says he'll do what he has to do procedurally to keep Congress in session until Christmas if the provisions of the Miners Protection Act aren't included in a bill to continue the funding of the federal government. Manchin and fellow U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito have been pushing a financial fix for the program that has guaranteed funding of union miners' pensions and lifetime health care since the 1940's. The provisions of the Miners Protection … Continue Reading
December 02, 2016
Manchin in the middle | Washington Examiner
CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Joe Manchin said not a day goes by that someone doesn't ask him if he wants to switch from Democrat to Republican. Every day? "Every day," he answers. From colleagues in Washington to Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the senior U.S. senator from the Mountaineer State is persistently but politely nudged to make the leap. Has he ever considered it? "Not one day," he said. "I am not far Right, and I am not far Left. I am a proud West Virginia … Continue Reading
October 12, 2016
Sen. Manchin speaks to PCHS juniors and seniors | The Inter-Mountain
FRANKLIN - U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin,D-W.Va. told Pendleton County High School juniors and seniors Thursday that their generation is the hope of the world. "You are an elite class in the world today with more opportunities that anyone else. You are the luckiest young people on earth; I hope you take advantage of it," Manchin said. Manchin emphasized education and nonuse of opiates. He discussed his ability to make appointments to the service academies which could provide a great education as … Continue Reading
