,,ii  #aafth ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,s4 #bcge  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,july #ca1     
#bjai ,mr4 ,manchin introduced the      
following bill2 which was read twice and
 referred to the ,committee on          
,environment and ,public ,works  ,a     
,,bill  ,to amend title #dj1 ,united    
,states ,code1 to relocate the          
headquarters of the ,appalachian        
,regional ,commission1 and for other    
purposes4  #a4 ,short title ,this ,act  
may be cited as the ,,arc ,relocation   
,act4  #b4 ,headquarters of the         
,appalachian ,regional ,commission  7a7 
,findings ,congress finds that--  7#a7  
,senate ,report #aae-beh1 accompanying  
,s4 #bige 7#aaeth ,congress71 contained 
bipartisan language expressing a belief 
that if the ,appalachian ,regional      
,commission is going to move1 it should 
move to the ,state of ,west ,virginia2  
7#b7 the greater ,washington1 ,,dc1     
metropolitan area accounts for #bb      
percent of the ,federal workforce1 yet  

only accounts for less than #b percent  
of the population of the ,united        
,states2  7#c7 the headquarters of the  
,delta ,regional ,authority1 the ,denali
 ,commission1 and the ,northern ,border 
,regional ,commission are already       
headquartered in their respective       
regions2  7#d7 headquartering a regional
 commission within the jurisdiction of  
the commission can reduce administrative
 overhead1 increase accountability to   
the people the commission was designed  
to serve1 and enhance confidence in the 
work of that commission2  7#e7 the      
,appalachian ,regional ,commission is an
 economic development agency focused on 
the ,appalachian region and representing
 a partnership of ,federal1 ,state1 and 
local governments across #ac ,states2   
7#f7 despite the reach of the           
,appalachian ,regional ,commission      
across #ac ,states1 ,west ,virginia     
remains the only ,state fully within the
 jurisdiction of the ,appalachian       
,regional ,commission2  7#g7 ,west      

,virginia is located at the midpoint of 
the ,appalachian region2  7#h7 ,west    
,virginia is central to the creation of 
the ,appalachian ,regional ,commission2 
7#i7 following the visit of ,president  
,john ,f4 ,kennedy to ,west ,virginia   
during his presidential campaign in     
#aifj1 he was moved by the poverty he   
observed there and he worked to create  
the ,appalachian ,regional ,commission  
through an ,act of ,congress in #aife2  
7#aj7 the ,appalachian ,regional        
,commission is critical to assisting    
communities impacted by the decline of  
the coal industry as well as the opioid 
crisis1 and no ,state has seen a greater
 impact from these issues than ,west    
,virginia2  7#aa7 one of the top goals  
of the ,appalachian ,regional           
,commission is to spur economic         
opportunities in the ,appalachian region
 by investing in strategies that        
strengthen the economy of the region2   
and  7#ab7 an effective way to achieve  
the goal referred to in paragraph 7#aa7 

is to directly invest in the region by  
relocating the workforce of the         
,appalachian ,regional ,commission to   
the region itself4  7b7 ,headquarters   
,section #adcja of title #dj1 ,united   
,states ,code1 is amended by adding at  
the end the following3  7g7             
,headquarters ,the headquarters of the  
,commission shall be located in the     
,state of ,west ,virginia4  4  7c7      
,implementation ,the ,federal           
,co-,chairman of the ,appalachian       
,regional ,commission shall take such   
actions as may be necessary to carry out
 the amendment made by subsection 7b74