The three nominees that appear before us this morning have been nominated for three very different positions. Mr. Campbell, has been nominated to be the Assistant Secretary for Economic Development at the Department of Commerce. Ms. Wong-Rusinko, has been nominated to be the Alternate Federal Co-Chair of the Appalachian Regional Commission. And Mr. Aidala is here because he has been nominated to be the Assistant Administrator for Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances.
Mr. Chairman, I am particularly pleased that Mr. Campbell and Ms. Wong-Rusinko are here today. As you know, oversight jurisdiction for the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) and the Economic Development Administration (EDA) fall under the purview ofthe Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure, which I chair.
In 1965, Congress created the EDA to bring opportunity to economically-distressed areas of the United States. The EDA has been working for the past 35 years to generate jobs, support private enterprise and help achieve sustainable economic growth by empowering distressed communities to develop and implement their own economic development and revitalization strategies. Since 1965, EDA has funded more than 43,000 projects, investing over $17 billion in more than 8,000 communities. It is estimated that EDA assistance has helped create over 4 million jobs and leveraged more than $ 130 billion in private-sector investment.
Also in 1965, Congress established the ARC to bring the Appalachian region of our nation into the mainstream of the American economy. This region includes 406 counties in 13 states, including Ohio, and has a population of about 22 million people. As a unique partnership between the federal government and these 13 states, the ARC runs programs in a wide range of activities, including highway construction, education and training, health care, housing, enterprise development, export promotion, telecommunications, and water and sewer infrastructure. All of these activities help achieve the goal of a viable and self-sustaining regional economy.
The ARC currently ranks all of the 406 counties according to four categories: distressed, transitional, competitive and attainment. These categories determine the extent for potential ARC support for specific projects. They also help ensure that support goes to the areas with the greatest need. Mr. Chairman, distressed counties are the poorest of the poor, with unemployment at least 150 percent of the national average, a poverty rate of at least 150 percent of the national average, and per capita market income of no more than two-thirds of the national average. This means that a distressed county has an unemployment rate of greater than 8 percent, a poverty rate of at least 19.7 percent, and per capita market income of less than $13,674. For fiscal year 2000, 111 counties in the region are classified as distressed, including 9 in Ohio. That is over one-fourth of the counties included in the region.
I know there is terrific potential in Appalachia, and I wholeheartedly agree with one of ARC's guiding principles that the most valuable investment that can be made in a region is in its people.
I look forward to the next reauthorization of the ARC. In preparation, I am planning to hold a field hearing in Ohio on the ARC program under the auspices of the Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee sometime in August.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.