The District
The Sixth Congressional District of South Carolina is comprised of Bamberg, Clarendon, Colleton, Marion, and Williamsburg counties, and portions of Berkeley, Calhoun, Charleston, Dorchester, Lee, Florence, Georgetown, Orangeburg, Richland, and Sumter counties. The district’s geographic boundaries are outlined on the District Map. (Please click the MAP link to the left and then on your county of residence to find out more information about which office can best serve you.)
The Sixth District contains five of the state’s six poorest counties and has the state’s lowest per capita income. Many of these counties are found along the I-95 corridor, which bisects the Sixth District. This two hundred mile stretch of interstate has been dubbed the Corridor of Shame, because it is home to inadequate public schools, high unemployment rates, widespread poverty and alarming rates of strokes, diabetes, and prostate cancer. Textile plants have closed throughout the district due to outsourcing, and tobacco farmers in the eastern portion of the district have seen their livelihood evaporate.
Congressman Clyburn has been a vocal advocate of improving these negative statistics by focusing on a brighter future for the Sixth District through transportation and tourism. He has established and secured funding for the James E. Clyburn Transportation, Research and Conference Center at South Carolina State University. This facility will enhance transportation infrastructure in South Carolina especially in rural areas. It will conduct research in alternative fuel sources, and educate transportation innovators of the future.
Congressman Clyburn has also been an outspoken advocate of an inland port at the unutilized intersection of I-95 and I-26 at the heart of the Sixth District. He believes the port, a $23 billion economic engine for South Carolina, can grow exponentially if containers can be loaded directly from ships onto rail cars and barges to be taken to this central location for distribution. An inland port at this location would be a catalyst for significant economic development in an economically depressed region of the state, and improve the viability of South Carolina’s ports well into the future.
Tourism is another industry Congressman Clyburn believes can grow the economy of South Carolina’s Sixth District. That is why he as been an ardent supporter of ScienceSouth, a science and technology-based program that is currently planning a Pee Dee facility along the I-95 corridor that is destined to become an important tourist attraction.
While the tourism industry grows by 5 percent annually, heritage tourism is currently increasing at a rate of 30 percent. Congressman Clyburn authored legislation that established the South Carolina National Heritage Corridor, which provides both scenic and historic routes that meander through rural South Carolina from Oconee County in the upstate to Charleston along the path of the old Hamburg railroad, that the Best Friend ran on.
Heritage tourism offers an enormous variety of opportunities. These can be historic in nature such as Revolutionary and Civil Wars sites, and the birthplace of Brown v. the Board of Education in Summerton. Cultural sites like the Indian burial Mound at the Santee Wildlife Refuge, the International African American Museum being planned for Charleston, and the Gullah-Geechee Heritage Corridor Congressman Clyburn is working to establish could be economic engines in the future.
South Carolina’s Sixth District is also blessed with an abundance of eco-tourism. Congressman Clyburn was proud to sponsor legislation that created the Congaree National Park, South Carolina’s first national park. He also secured funding to enhance the Great Swamp Sanctuary in Colleton County, and the Nichols Wellness Center and Outdoor Park in Marion County that provides hiking trails for outdoor enthusiasts. The Sixth District also has Lake Marion at its center. This 110,000-acre, man-made lake, South Carolina’s largest, provides endless recreational opportunities for boaters, hunters, fisherman, and birdwatchers.
Congressman Clyburn believes promoting and enhancing these transportation and tourism projects can be effective in creating viable and vibrant communities throughout the Sixth District, but basic infrastructure is necessary in order to sustain these communities for the long term. That is why Congressman Clyburn established and funded the Lake Marion Regional Water Agency that will ultimately provide 12 million gallons of water per day for communities in Calhoun, Clarendon, Dorchester, Orangeburg, and Sumter counties. He is also the outspoken advocate of the Briggs-DeLaine-Pearson Connector that will create an economic corridor between Sumter and Orangeburg and improve access for tourists seeking to enjoy the wealth of nature attractions, bike trails, and golf courses on either side of upper Lake Marion.
Also essential infrastructure tools are the Columbia-Sumter Empowerment Zone, and the Charleston and Williamsburg Enterprise Communities for which Congressman Clyburn secured federal designations. These entities have been established in economically depressed regions, and have received federal seed money to enhance employment opportunities in the identified areas.
The Sixth Congressional District has suffered from decades of neglect. However, Congressman Clyburn is providing the leadership and vision to create a better future for all its residents.
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