Joe Manchin

Joseph “Joe” Manchin III (born August 24, 1947) is the junior United States Senator from West Virginia. Manchin, a member of the Democratic Party, previously served as the Governor of West Virginia from 2005 to 2010 and the Secretary of State of West Virginia from 2001 to 2005. He won the special election in November 2010 to fill the seat of Senator Robert Byrd, who died in office. Manchin was elected to a full term in office with 60 percent of the vote in November 2012.

Early life and education
Manchin was born in Farmington, West Virginia, in 1947, the second of five children of Mary O. (née Gouzd) and John Manchin. Manchin was derived from "Mancini." His father was of Italian descent and his maternal grandparents were Czechoslovakian immigrants. His father owned a carpet and furniture store, and his grandfather, Joseph Manchin, owned a grocery store. His father and his grandfather both once served as Mayor of Farmington, West Virginia. His uncle, James Manchin, was a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates and was elected as the West Virginia Secretary of State and West Virginia State Treasurer.

Manchin graduated from Farmington High School in 1965. Manchin entered West Virginia University on a football scholarship in 1965; however, an injury during practice ended his football career. He graduated in 1970 with a degree in information management and later became involved in several family-owned businesses.

Early political career
Manchin was elected to the West Virginia House of Delegates in 1982 at the age of 35 and was later elected to the West Virginia Senate in 1986, where he served until 1996. He ran for Governor in 1996, finishing second to Charlotte Pritt among a large group of candidates in the Democratic primary election. He later ran and was elected as Secretary of State of West Virginia in 2000.

Elections
Manchin announced his intention to challenge incumbent Democratic Governor, Bob Wise in the 2004 Democratic primary election in May 2003. Wise decided not to seek re-election after a scandal, and Manchin won both the Democratic primary and general election by large margins. His election marked the first time that two people of the same political party followed one another in the West Virginia Governor's office since 1964. After the election, he was criticized in the press for using taxpayer funds to purchase 17 flat screen TV's for the Governors Mansion.

Manchin won re-election to a second term as Governor in 2008, capturing 70 percent of the vote.

Tenure
Manchin was a member of the National Governors Association, the Southern Governors' Association, and the Democratic Governors Association. He was also chairman of the Southern States Energy Board, state's chair of the Appalachian Regional Commission and chairman of the Interstate Mining Compact Commission.

In July 2005, Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship sued Manchin, alleging that Manchin had violated Blankenship's First Amendment rights by threatening increased government scrutiny of his coal operations due to Blankenship's political activities. Blankenship had donated substantial funds into campaigns to defeat a proposed pension bond amendment and oppose the re-election of state Supreme Court Justice Warren McGraw, and he fought against a proposed increase in the severance tax on extraction of mineral resources. Soon after defeat of the pension bond amendment, the state Division of Environmental Protection (DEP) revoked a permit approval for controversial new silos near Marsh Fork Elementary School in Raleigh County. While area residents had complained for some time that the coal operation there endangered their children, Blankenship claimed that the DEP acted in response to his opposition to the bond amendment.

During the Sago Mine disaster of early January 2006 in Upshur County, West Virginia, Manchin initially appeared to confirm incorrect reports that 12 miners had survived; in actuality only one survived. Manchin later acknowledged that an unintentional miscommunication had occurred with rescue teams within the mine. On February 1, 2006, he ordered a stop to all coal production in West Virginia, pending safety checks, after two more miners were killed in separate accidents. A total of 16 West Virginia coal miners died from mining accidents in early 2006. Manchin's overall handling of the Sago mine incident may have enhanced his popularity. In November 2006, SurveyUSA ranked him as one of the most popular governors in the country with a 74 percent approval rating.

On April 15, 2006, during an Easter visit to U.S. soldiers stationed in Iraq, Manchin generated controversy by posing for photographers while signing two missiles at Balad Air Force Base. One of the messages read, "Sending you to hell, from Almost Heaven, West Virginia." He told the media: "I just thought, 'Hey, these are people doing tremendous harm to our people.' I wanted to send them a little message." After receiving several complaints, Manchin apologized.

In 2007, a controversy arose after Manchin's daughter, Heather Manchin Bresch, claimed to have earned an MBA degree from West Virginia University (WVU). However, after information emerged detailing the fallacy of the statement, Manchin placed the blame on WVU. In the wake of the controversy, WVU President Mike Garrison resigned after a year in office, other officials including the Dean of the Business School and Garrison's legal counsel resigned, and a panel was convened to fully investigate the measure. The issue hurt the credibility of the university, which placed pressure on the board to take action and remedy the situation.

Elections

 * 2010



Due to the declining health of U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd, speculation focused on what Manchin's response would be if the Senator died, but the Governor consistently refused to comment on the subject prior to Byrd's death, except for stating that he would not appoint himself to the position. Byrd died on June 28, 2010, and Manchin in his capacity as Governor, having the responsibility of designating a replacement, appointed Carte Goodwin, his 36-year-old legal adviser, on July 16.

On July 20, 2010, Manchin officially announced he would seek the Senate seat. In the Democratic primary on August 28, he defeated former Democratic Congressman and former West Virginia Secretary of State Ken Hechler. In the general election, he then defeated Republican John Raese.


 * 2012

According to Democratic firm Public Policy Polling, early polling found Manchin heavily favored, leading congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito 50–39, 2010 opponent John Raese 60–31, and Congressman David McKinley 57–28. Manchin had not endorsed his party's candidate for the 2012 presidential election, saying he has "some real differences" with the presumptive nominees of both the Democrats and the Republicans, finding fault with Obama's economic and energy policies and questioning Romney's understanding of the "challenges facing ordinary people."

Manchin defeated Republican John Raese and Mountain Party candidate Bob Henry Baber with 60.49% of the total vote and won a full term in the U.S. Senate.

Tenure
Manchin was sworn in by Vice President Joe Biden as a U.S. Senator on November 15, 2010, succeeding interim Senator Carte Goodwin. Before his swearing-in, rumors suggested that the Republican Party was courting Manchin to change parties, although the Republicans later suggested that Manchin was the source of the rumors. Manchin named Democratic strategist Chris Kofinis to be his chief of staff. Kofinis was formerly an adviser to Wesley Clark and John Edwards.

Manchin has co-sponsored balanced budget amendments put forth by Senators Mike Lee (R-UT), Richard Shelby (R-AL), and Mark Udall (D-CO). He has also voted against raising the federal debt ceiling and advocated for substantial reductions in federal spending.
 * Federal budget

In June 2011, Manchin joined Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) in seeking a crackdown on Bitcoin currency transactions, saying that they facilitated illegal drug trade transactions. "The transactions leave no traditional [bank transfer] money trail for investigators to follow, and leave it hard to prove a package recipient knew in advance what was in a shipment," using an "'anonymizing network' known as Tor." One opinion website said the Senators wanted "to disrupt [the] Silk Road drug website."
 * Reducing drug trade

In May 2012, in an effort to reduce prescription drug abuse, Manchin offered a successful amendment to the Food and Drug Administration re-authorization bill to reclassify hydrocodone as a Schedule II substance.

To help locate missing senior citizens, Manchin introduced the Silver Alert Act in July 2011 to create a nationwide network for locating missing adults and senior citizens modeled after the AMBER Alert. Manchin also sponsored the National Yellow Dot Act to create a voluntary program that would alert emergency services personnel responding to car accidents of the availability of personal and medical information on the car's owner.
 * Senior citizens

Energy
Manchin sits on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and supports a comprehensive, all-of-the-above energy approach that uses coal.

Manchin's first bill in the Senate dealt with what he calls the EPA's overreach. After the EPA vetoed a previously-approved permit for the Spruce Mine in Logan County, West Virginia, Senator Manchin offered the "EPA Fair Play Act."

The bill would "clarify and confirm the authority of the Environment Protection Agency to deny or restrict the use of defined areas as disposal sites for the discharge of dredged or filled material." Manchin said the bill would prevent the agency from "changing its rules on businesses after permits have already been granted."

On November 14, 2011, Manchin chaired his first-ever field hearing of that committee in Charleston, West Virginia, to focus on Marcellus Shale natural gas development and production. Manchin said, "We are literally sitting on top of tremendous potential with the Marcellus shale. We need to work together to chart a path forward in a safe and responsible way that lets us produce energy right here in America."

Manchin supports building the Keystone XL Pipeline from Canada. Manchin has said, "It makes so much common sense that you want to buy [oil] off your friends and not your enemies." The pipeline would span over 2,000 miles across the United States.

On November 9, 2011, Manchin introduced the "Fair Compliance Act" with Senator Dan Coats (R-IN). Their bill would "lengthen timelines and establish benchmarks for utilities to comply with two major Environmental Protection Agency air pollution rules. The legislation would extend the compliance deadline for the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, or CSAPR, by three years and the deadline for the Utility MACT rule by two years -- setting both to January 1, 2017."

Manchin introduced the "American Alternative Fuels Act" on May 10, 2011 with Senator John Barrasso (R-WY). The bill would remove restrictions to the development of alternative fuels, repeal part of the 2007 energy bill restricting the federal government from buying alternative fuels and encourages the development of algae-based fuels and synthetic natural gas. Regarding the bill, Manchin said, "Our unacceptably high gas prices are hurting not only West Virginians, but all Americans, and they underscore a critical need: the federal government needs to be a partner, not an obstacle, for businesses that can transform our domestic energy resources into gas."

Bipartisanship
Congressional Quarterly ranked Manchin as the 2nd most bipartisan Senator in the Democratic Caucus. In his first year in office, Manchin met one-on-one with all of his 99 Senate colleagues in an effort to get to know them better.

On December 13, 2010, Manchin participated in the launch of No Labels, a new, nonpartisan organization that is "committed to bringing all sides together to move the nation forward."

Afghanistan
On June 21, 2011, Manchin delivered a speech on the Senate floor calling for a "substantial and responsible reduction in the United States' military presence in Afghanistan." He said, "We can no longer afford to rebuild Afghanistan and America. We must choose. And I choose America."

Manchin has introduced legislation to reduce the use of overseas service and security contractors. He successfully amended the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act to cap contractors' taxpayer funded salaries at $230,000.

Committee assignments

 * Committee on Armed Services
 * Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities
 * Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support
 * Subcommittee on Strategic Forces
 * Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
 * Subcommittee on Energy
 * Subcommittee on National Parks
 * Subcommittee on Water and Power
 * United States Senate Special Committee on Aging

Coal industry
On October 6, 2010, Manchin directed a lawsuit aimed at overturning new federal rules concerning mountaintop removal mining. Filed by the state Department of Environmental Protection, the lawsuit "accuses U.S. EPA of overstepping its authority and asks the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia to throw out the federal agency's new guidelines for issuing Clean Water Act permits for coal mines." In order to qualify for the permits, mining companies need to prove their projects would not cause the concentration of pollutants in the local water to rise 5 times past the normal level. The New York Times reported that EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said the new legislation would protect 95 percent of aquatic life by banning operators from dumping mine waste into streams.

Manchin has received criticism from environmentalists due to his close family ties to the coal industry. He served as president of Energysystems in the late 1990s before becoming active in politics. On his financial disclosures in 2009 and 2010, his reported earnings from the company were $1,363,916 and $417,255 respectively. Critics have stated his opposition to health regulations that would raise expenses for the industry are due to his stake in the industry; Jim Sconyers, chairman of West Virginia’s Sierra Club chapter stated that "he’s been nothing but a mouthpiece for the coal industry his whole public life." However, opinions on the subject are mixed; The Charleston Gazette noted "the prospect that Manchin’s $1.7 million-plus in recent Enersystems earnings might tilt him even more strongly pro-coal might seem remote, given the deep economic and cultural connections that the industry maintains in West Virginia."

Don't Ask, Don't Tell
On December 9, 2010, Manchin was the sole Democrat to vote against cloture for the 2011 National Defense Authorization Act, which contained a provision to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell. In an interview with The Associated Press, Manchin cited the advice of retired military chaplains as a basis for his decision to vote against repeal. He also indicated he wanted more time to "hear the full range of viewpoints from the citizens of West Virginia." A day later, he was publicly criticized at a gay rights rally for his position on the bill. On December 18, 2010, Manchin was not present for the vote to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," and the vote on the DREAM Act, regarding immigration. The National Republican Senatorial Committee criticized Manchin for attending a family Christmas gathering instead of voting on these sensitive issues. The Washington Post reported that he was the only Senate Democrat to miss these votes “on two of his party's signature pieces of legislation.”

Personal life
Manchin married Gayle Conelly in 1967, and together they have three children: Heather, Joseph IV, and Brooke. He is a member of the National Rifle Association and a licensed pilot.

In 2006 and 2010 Manchin delivered commencement addresses at Wheeling Jesuit University and at Davis & Elkins College, receiving honorary degrees from both institutions. In December 2012, he voiced his displeasure with MTV's new reality show Buckwild and addressed the network's president requesting that it be cancelled.

= Resources =