WASHINGTON, D.C. — On September 18, 2024, the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee will hold a hearing to examine the work of the nation’s Regional Commissions.
Below is the opening statement of Chairman Tom Carper (D-Del.), as prepared for delivery:
“Today, we are gathered to discuss our nation’s regional commissions and the integral role that they play in strengthening our communities, our workforce and our infrastructure. We will hear testimony from our bipartisan panel of witnesses representing five different regional commissions — the Delta Regional Authority, the Denali Commission, the Northern Border Regional Commission, the Southeast Crescent Regional Commission and the Southwest Border Regional Commission.
“To our witnesses — Dr. Wiggins, Dr. Clyburn Reed, Mr. Saunders, Mr. Sanchez and Ms. Fenton — thank you all for joining us today.
“For those who may not be familiar with our regional commissions, let me begin by discussing what exactly our regional commissions do and why their work is important.
“Our nation’s federal regional commissions are federal-state partnerships that Congress has created over time, starting in the 1960s, to implement community and economic development strategies in some of our most disadvantaged communities. Our regional commissions work closely with the Economic Development Administration in order to build durable regional economies throughout the United States.
“One might ask, why is this mission so important? To answer that question, I’ll paraphrase President Abraham Lincoln who once said that the role of the federal government is to do for the people what they cannot do for themselves. This is what the regional commissions do every day when they provide financial resources and partner with state governments to help communities prosper. Working hand-in-glove with the Economic Development Administration, our regional commissions are reinvigorating some of America’s most distressed regional economies.
“I know just how important this kind of work is for our communities. Right after I had returned from my third and final tour in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War as a naval flight officer and moved to Delaware where I earned my MBA, I went to work for the Delaware Economic Development Authority. Although I worked there for less than a year, this experience has helped influenced every part of my career since then, including my time as governor of the state of Delaware.
“When I was privileged to serve as governor of Delaware, more jobs were created than during any other 8-year period in the history of our state. In truth, I did not create a single one of them. Governors, after all, don’t create jobs. Senators don’t create jobs. And, regional commissions don’t create them either. What we can do — and we need to do — is create a nurturing environment for job creation and job preservation throughout America.
“The work of our regional commissions — from workforce development and infrastructure improvements to promoting access to capital and broadband deployment — is necessary in order to create a nurturing environment.
“Today, we look forward to hearing what regional commissions are doing well and what improvements might help these agencies work more effectively to enable disadvantaged communities to recover and thrive.
"As the members of this committee have oftentimes heard me say, ‘we need to find out what works and do more of that.’ Regional commissions have used Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding to support more than 300 projects in 19 states. The commissions have used their funding in diverse and innovative ways. For example, last year, the Delta Regional Authority funded infrastructure projects to support a $5.6 billion investment by Ford in a new electric truck manufacturing plant in Tennessee.
“In Alaska, the Denali Commission provided technical assistance to an Alaska Native Tribal consortium to help secure over $90 million in federal funding for broadband infrastructure in remote communities. And earlier this year, the Northern Border Regional Commission awarded a pre-development grant to a Vermont community which, once completed, will enable the private sector to create over 125 mixed income housing units in an area facing a major housing crisis.
“As our colleagues will recall, in March, this committee unanimously passed legislation to reauthorize each of the regional commissions that are represented before us today, as well as the Economic Development Administration. Enacting this reauthorization bill into law is a crucial part of the work we must do to ensure our regional commissions can continue to support economic growth in communities of all sizes throughout our country. In fact, this legislation would also create two new regional commissions — the Mid-Atlantic Coast Regional Commission and the Southern New England Regional Commission.
“In closing, let me just say that I look forward to hearing more today from our witnesses about the impact our regional commissions are having in communities large and small. And, I look forward to working with our colleagues on this committee to ensure that our regional commissions have the tools and the resources they need to support economic development and enable communities across the country to succeed.”
