U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) released the following statement on the President’s visit to West Virginia this week.

“The President is coming to West Virginia, and I’m excited he is. I know some Democrats, especially those in Washington, D.C., would not want the President to visit their state. As Americans, we should always be honored to have a President visit our state whoever he or she is regardless of political party. All Americans should hope for the President to succeed, because if he does the country succeeds and West Virginia does as well.

“I am particularly excited to work with him on tax reform. Our existing tax code is too complicated, burdensome, and hinders our economic development. Working West Virginians deserve a break and businesses need a level-playing field. Also, we can’t continue to pile on debt for our grandchildren and future generations. If we work together and reject Washington partisanship, I think we can get that done.

“But we need to start our work now. Each side is already going to their political corners: the Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said he intends to pass tax reform with only Republican votes and only Republican input. I hope the President will reject this flawed approach. For their part, Senate Democrats have already sent a letter signed by only Democrats laying out their demands for tax reform. I didn’t sign that letter because press releases don’t solve problems, people do. Now is not the time to make tax reform harder. Now is the time to get everyone involved and put everything on the table. My only prerequisite is that whatever we pass makes the lives of West Virginians better.

“There is an opportunity for the President and me to work together, because factions in both of our parties have already started to blame each other if tax reform fails. Whether its finding a balance between the economy and the environment, stopping the war on coal, stopping the bad trade deals that have robbed West Virginians of jobs or the willingness to buck each other’s political party extremes, we have proved we can work together.

“I was deeply grateful to attend President Trump’s Council meeting at the White House to combat the opioid epidemic. The recommendations that came out of that will help thousands of West Virginians. We were able to come together and pass Jessie’s Law in the Senate today. I am hopeful “that he will soon be able to sign Jessie’s Law, which I introduced following the tragic death of Jessie Grubb from a preventable opioid overdose. We’ve proven that together, we can make a difference.

“So let’s reject partisanship, look for a solution in the middle, and lower taxes for our constituents and businesses, so we can get the economy growing, give working people a break, and put Americans everywhere back to work. Then we can move on to infrastructure, and I’ll be first in line to help there too. Our job is to fix things, not fight, and I’m excited to work with the President to do just that.”