[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 16]
[Senate]
[Page 22079]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    APPALACHIAN REGIONAL COMMISSION

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I rise to express my strong support for the 
Appalachian Regional Commission, ARC, and to thank Chairman Domenici 
for his leadership and his support to ensure that the Appalachian 
Regional Commission's fiscal year 2004 funding needs are adequately 
met.
  The ARC was established in 1965 to support economic development in 
the Appalachian Region. Today, the region includes 410 counties in 13 
States, representing a population of more than 23 million. There are 50 
counties in Tennessee currently participating in the ARC. Funding 
provided by Congress is used by the commission to fund locally 
sponsored projects such as education and workforce training programs, 
highway construction, water and sewer system construction, leadership 
development programs, and small business start-ups and expansions.
  I am proud that a Tennessean, Anne B. Pope, is currently serving as 
the Federal Co-Chair of the Commission. In this position, she is 
working to further the ARC's five primary goals, which include 
improving education and workforce training, physical infrastructure, 
civic capacity and leadership, business development, and health care. 
Each year ARC provides competitive grant funding for several hundred 
projects to further these goals. In 1965, one in three Appalachian 
residents lived in poverty. However, by 1990, the poverty rate had been 
cut in half. ARC programs are helping to shape a brighter future for 
the Appalachian region by working with local communities to foster 
economic growth and development.
  Last year, Congress reauthorized the ARC's non-highway programs 
through 2006, and authorized new programs in telecommunications, 
entrepreneurship, and job-skills training. Moreover, the legislation 
signed by President Bush reinforced the ARC's commitment to 
economically distressed counties by mandating that at least half of the 
Commission's project funding be made available to support activities 
that benefit distressed areas. These changes will help to create more 
opportunities for areas still struggling to join the Nation's 
mainstream economy.
  I am proud of the work that the ARC is doing in Tennessee, and I 
applaud Chairman Domenici for his continued support of the ARC's 
programs. It is my hope that, as we move to conference, we can work 
together to ensure that the ARC's funding needs continue to be met.

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