Energy And Water Development And Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2008

Floor Speech

ENERGY AND WATER DEVELOPMENT AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2008 -- (House of Representatives - June 20, 2007)

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Mrs. CAPITO. I want to thank Mr. Space for offering his amendment to something that I believe in very much, and that is more funding for the Appalachian Regional Commission.

The ARC encompasses all 55 counties of the State of West Virginia and is an important resource to the lower economic communities across Appalachia. Some of the good news is, since the ARC was created, poverty in the region has dropped from 31 percent to 13 percent, and more adults have high school diplomas. The percentage rate has risen to 70 percent. Over 400 rural primary health care facilities have been built. And in my district, three of the counties of my district have recently been removed from the list of economically distressed counties. We have already seen that ARC is a solid investment for our government by leveraging both private and public dollars.

The Appalachian region still lags behind the Nation in water and wastewater facilities, health care and poverty. And the ARC is a major part of continuing to address these challenges in my district and across the region. Now is not the time to cut ARC funding. This amendment will simply bring ARC funds back up to last year's level and the President's requested level of $65 million.

I look forward to bipartisan support of this amendment.

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