{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.manchin.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/in-the-news?ContentRecord_id=41ca79c9-be97-49db-9947-e020e5cca9de", "Manchin named Statesman of the Year for willingness to compromise | Clarksburg Exponent", "2013-12-29", "2013", "2013-12", "Democrat", "House", "WV", "Joe Manchin", "M001183", "www.manchin.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "December 29, 2013\n\t\t\t Manchin named Statesman of the Year for willingness to compromise | Clarksburg Exponent \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tWASHINGTON \u2014 Sen. Joe Manchin built his reputation at home in West Virginia as a politician who didn\u2019t subscribe to the ideals of either major national party.\r\nWith more than three years in the U.S. Senate now under his belt, Manchin, D-W.Va., is a fixture in national news for his efforts to bridge the gap between Democrats and Republicans.\r\nIn both roles, the constant theme has been putting constituents first, according to those who\u2019ve worked with him.\r\n\u201cHe has done a fantastic job in putting a face on West Virginia as a state where we care about people,\u201d said West Virginia House of Delegates Speaker Tim Miley, D-Harrison. \u201cWe care about balancing our budget. We care about doing the right thing, regardless of differences on the issues. ... He is a great ambassador for the state of West Virginia.\u201d\r\nMiley, who was elected to the House of Delegates the same year Manchin was elected governor, said he\u2019s learned a lot over the years from Manchin.\r\nWhen Miley was elected speaker, Manchin called him up.\r\n\u201cThe most poignant thing that he shared with me is that good policy always makes for good politics and good policy and good politics transcend party lines,\u201d Miley said.\r\nWest Virginia Senate Clerk Joe Minard described some other achievements from Manchin\u2019s days in state politics, including work on medical malpractice reform and tort reform.\r\n\u201cHe\u2019s always been fairly independent,\u201d Minard said. \u201cHe never was a straight party man. I guess you might say he was always an independent thinker.\u201d\r\nNow that the backdrop is one of the most fiercely divisive political landscapes of recent memory, Manchin\u2019s attempts can sometimes seem like wishful thinking.\r\nBut sometimes they work.\r\nMost recently Manchin, The Exponent Telegram Statesman of the Year, worked with a group of bipartisan senators on a proposal to end the government shutdown and raise the debt ceiling.  Manchin teamed up with Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine to find common ground, and the resulting template was used to draft the final bill that ended the shutdown.\r\nManchin used that accomplishment as an example of when compromise can work.\r\nBut that doesn\u2019t mean he won\u2019t get discouraged, especially as other initiatives, including a bill to expand the gun sale background check system, have stalled.\r\nThe reaction to that bill showed how disillusioned citizens are with Washington, according to Manchin.\r\n\u201cI get very frustrated,\u201d he said. \u201cI really do. I keep thinking, \u2018how come it\u2019s not so plain to everyone else to see what we\u2019re doing to our great country?\u2019 How can we not see that and not take more positive steps? ... I guess the thirst of power and all the money that\u2019s involved. We\u2019ve got to work past it.\u201d\r\nState and Washington, D.C., politics are different beasts, in Manchin\u2019s eyes.\r\n\u201cIt\u2019s the city itself of Washington, D.C.,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s the power and the money that goes with this city \u2014 the prestige, the world stage we\u2019re on. It makes it a little more challenging to get people to look to put our country before them or their party or their purpose that they\u2019re here. It should be all about country.\u201d\r\nBut the junior senator from West Virginia also has a lot of bipartisan successes to be proud of, including an agreement on stronger federal regulation of toxic chemicals.\r\nBefore an update to the Toxic Substances Control Act, which had not been improved in more than 30 years, thousands of chemicals were allowed to remain on the market without being tested for safety.\r\nManchin was credited for helping broker a deal between New Jersey Democrat Frank Lautenberg, who advocated for a tougher bill, and Louisiana Republican David Vitter, who supported a more lenient, industry-backed proposal.\r\nManchin also worked with a bipartisan group of senators on a bill to reduce student loan interest rates after they doubled to 6.8 percent on July 1\u2014 to 3.86 percent for subsidized and unsubsidized loans for undergraduate students, 5.41 percent on unsubsidized loans for graduate students and 6.41 percent on PLUS loans for parents and graduate students.\r\nTo prevent dramatic increases in the future, the bill also required that for each academic year, all newly-issued student loans be set to the U.S. Treasury 10-year borrowing rate, and that interest rates never exceed 8.25 percent for undergraduate students, 9.5 percent for graduate students and 10.5 percent for PLUS borrowers.\r\nManchin was proud of the FDA\u2019s recent announcement that it will recommend rescheduling hydrocodone combination drugs from a Schedule III to a Schedule II controlled substance.  He had fought for stricter control of the drug for years, including sponsoring the \u201cSafe Prescribing Act\u201d with Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., and Representatives Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., and Ed Markey, D-Mass.\r\n\u201cThat\u2019s not going to win the war on drugs,\u201d Manchin said. \u201cBut it\u2019s going to help us have a better tool in the arsenal to fight it, and I think it will save a lot of lives.\u201d\r\nManchin said he will continue working on more bipartisan efforts because that\u2019s why he was sent to Congress in the first place.\r\n\u201cWhen I take that oath of office, I take the oath to represent and to serve everybody, not just the Democrats or the people that voted for me. ... I take it very seriously,\u201d he said.\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t\t    By:\u00a0\n\t\t\t\t    Erin Beck", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.manchin.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/in-the-news?ContentRecord_id=41ca79c9-be97-49db-9947-e020e5cca9de"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.365011092275381, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}