Published February 1985 — Download PDF of the original newspaper column
Byrd's-Eye View By U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd Fighting For Economic Development When Weirton Steel employees were putting together a financial package in their successful buy-out of that facility, one of the federal agencies to which they turned was the Economic Development Administration (EDA). The EDA came through with a grant to help Weirton Steel's employees meet the administrative costs of setting up their Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). The EDA grant, which contributed to the ESOP's success, is just one of many instances in which the Economic Development Administration has benefited West Virginia. Over the years, millions of EDA dollars have been channeled to West Virginia in the form of public works, planning, and technical assistance grants; grants that have been translated into community improvements and jobs for West Virginians. At present, West Virginia has nearly $6 million in grant applications pending before the EDA. I was concerned, therefore, when the Administration recently announced that it was impounding almost all of EDA's funding for the current fiscal year, $179 million of the $202 million appropriated. In response to that announcement, I joined a number of my colleagues in sponsoring a Senate resolution opposing the Administration's plan. The Administration cannot permanently impound the EDA funds without Congressional approval, and I believe our Senate resolution signals the White House that Congress wants the EDA to remain intact. The attempt by the White House to find budget savings in important programs like those offered by the Economic Development Administration, which has as its main goals promoting economic development and creating jobs, is a prime example of a penny-wise, pound-foolish approach to our country's current budget deficit problems. Without the help of the Economic Development Administration, many of our West Virginia communities, and many other communities across the country, would not be able to afford the projects so crucial to attracting and keeping industry and creating jobs. The programs of the Economic Development Administration have borne fruit in building better communities and increasing job opportunities, and those programs are worth fighting to keep. That is what we in the Senate will be doing in the coming months, as we work to keep the EDA alive. Wednesday, February 6, 1985