[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Page 4920]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    APPALACHIAN REGIONAL COMMISSION

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, on one final matter, I want to take a 
minute to say something about an amendment yesterday that would have 
defunded regional commissions such as the Appalachian Regional 
Commission, or ARC.
  While I did not support that effort, it did raise some important 
questions about the direction of ARC. I have been a long supporter of 
the Appalachian Regional Commission, the only government agency whose 
main purpose is to help poor and disadvantaged communities in the 
Appalachian region. However, I am deeply concerned that after 50 years, 
ARC's focus has become clouded.
  For instance, ARC's internal guidelines cap at 30 percent the amount 
of area development funds that can be used in the most impoverished 
areas of Appalachia. It seems utterly illogical to me that at a 
government agency, whose mission should be to alleviate poverty, 70 
percent of the funds go to counties that are not among the poorest.
  What does ARC stand for if not to help the poorest areas of 
Appalachia? Is ARC a specialized agency with a coherent mission or is 
it just another Federal bureaucracy that simply allocates funds among 
13 selected States regardless of the need?
  I hope the vote last night will serve as a wake-up call for 
management at the ARC--a wake-up call that it is time for the agency to 
reform itself and focus on the counties that most need assistance.

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