When not in session in DC, Representatives and Senators hold countless meetings with stakeholders in their home state or district to remain informed.
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By Stephen Smoot
As DC continues to witness the struggle between the two major parties over a shutdown caused by refusal to return to regular budgeting order, Congressman Riley Moore undertook a tour to speak with county-level officials in Eastern West Virginia.
In Moorefield, he met with County and emergency response officials. Wendy Branson, Hardy County Coordinator, stated that “the meeting we had . . . went very, very well.” Congressman Moore brought with him staff members Riley Keaton and Rhett Dusenbury.
One of the first concerns came from West Hardy EMS’s Billie Jo Biddle and Doug Mongold, Chief of the Moorefield Volunteer Fire Department. The twin crises of shortages of funding and personnel have afflicted emergency responders. They explained their equipment and vehicle needs as well.
Moore shared later in an interview that the federal government can help with grants and awards for vehicles and equipment, but funding for operations and personnel “is a state issue.” He added that when he served in the House of Delegates from Jefferson County that he saw the issues related to competition with bordering states.
“The majority of our population lives on the border,” Moore stated later. He explained that he has seen the issue recur in different fields, including law enforcement and education. West Virginia and local communities struggle to keep up with salaries across the state line, particularly in Virginia and Maryland.
“We need to get more competitive with what they do,” Moore stated. He told Hardy County officials that his staff would work on finding resources to help meet their needs.
Officials also expressed concern about the impact of drought conditions that settled in the region since mid-summer.
Moore also expressed his earnest desire to see the completion of Appalachian Corridor H. Now the longest running highway project in history, the Commonwealth of Virginia still has shared no plans to further its completion in that state.
He then requested three specific funding needs and three to five issues on which he should advocate for them to other Members and Congressional Committees.
Later, Moore discussed the impact of President Donald Trump’s tariff policy, used to both push for better trade deals and also to provide incentives and disincentives to countries engaged in practices like supporting the Russian war effort.
He downplayed the “fearmongering” and explained that the policy has already started to “reshape the job market in the United States.” That came on the same day as the CEO of Wal Mart praised the President for their positive impact on jobs and American made goods.
Moreover, Moore stated that “We now have access to markets that we were completely priced out of” before Trump.
