BERKELEY SPRINGS, W.Va. — Off the heels of a visit to the White House Thursday where President Donald Trump declared the opioid epidemic a public health emergency, U.S. Senator Joe Manchin toured the Eastern Panhandle Friday, holding a community town hall meeting in Berkeley Springs.
Over 100 people gathered at the Country Inn on South Washington Street to speak with the Senator. Manchin. He hit on a number of topics before taking questions from those in attendance. He commented on the budget plan that was passed by the House Thursday in a close vote. Manchin said he’s against the plan.
“If I can’t go home and explain it, I won’t vote for it,” he said.
Manchin told WEPM Radio News that the town hall discussion created a great forum for the people to express their issues for him to relay on Capitol Hill.
“Tell me what your number one concerns are,” said Manchin. “How can I help you? How can I take it back to Washington and say ‘This is the people in West Virginia and the biggest concerns we have. This is what we’re trying to achieve. This is what we need help and assistance for.’”
Manchin also discussed the nation’s debt, healthcare, natural gas pipelines, and divisiveness in politics. Manchin said that he is working on “finding commonality” in Washington saying “For some reason we want to fight each other while ignoring how great we have it in this country.”
Story by Elias McMillan