Manchin Gives Farewell Speech After 14 Years In Senate

U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin addressed the Senate for the final time on Tuesday afternoon. Manchin is retiring next month after 14 years in Washington and more than 40 years in public life.

Manchin spoke about the difficulties he encountered when he first came to the Senate. He acknowledged that at times, he could be a thorn in the side of his colleagues and presidents. And he told his colleagues of all political stripes that they could work together to solve big problems.

Here are some excerpts.

So when I tell you, it wasn’t exactly my plan to join the Senate. When Senator Byrd passed away in 2010 I had to make one of the toughest political decisions of my life, but I saw an opportunity to serve more people and tackle bigger challenges, and that weighed on me heavily.

Our state was in good shape. We’d worked hard. I’d been there for six years as governor, and we worked together tremendously. And I thought, man, we can really do something together. We’ll come here and we’ll all work together. And I have to admit to you, it was a harder transition than I expected coming coming here to Washington was so humbling. It really was.

Despite all this, we’ve achieved some of the remarkable things over the past 14 years. We set a new standard for Wild and Wonderful West Virginia. My colleague, Senator Capito, and I worked on so many things together, and I appreciate her very much.

The New River Gorge became a National Park, and we just agreed to acquire 2,700 acres at the Blackwater Canyon, which is the most beautiful venue. We’ve been trying for 20 years to make this happen, and it’s finally coming to fruition, and this is gonna be the whole country can enjoy something that just can’t believe how pretty it is.

We’re anxious to share West Virginia with everybody. We maintained West Virginia status as an energy powerhouse. The Mountain Valley Pipeline is flowing. Companies like Nucor, Berkshire Hathaway and Form Energy have brought new facilities to West Virginia and thousands of new clean energy jobs.

I’m not saying that dealing with politics is easy. It’s not and it’s messy. At times, I’ve had my share of tough votes, and at times I felt like I feel like the whole Senate was united in being upset with me. So maybe we did, maybe we were able to bring you together. I don’t know. I tried.

Any time I was confronted with a tough decision, I know you’ve heard me says I relied on where I came from, how I was raised, and who raised me. And I would just tell them, I can’t explain this back home. It doesn’t make sense. I can’t vote for it. I’m just sorry. Please don’t be upset. That’s who I am, and you all been tolerant at times.

So I would like to say this, God has blessed me and blessed you with the opportunity to do something for a lot of people, they’re counting on us. And I think the challenges before you’re going to be more daunting than ever before. But again, I’ve said I believe in you more than you believe in yourself. I know you’re up to the challenge. I know you’ll do the job I really do. I believe in that.

I’m going to be rooting, screaming and hollering for my team. And this is my team, the all the Ds and the Rs and the Is, and here’s my team, and I love each and every one. You. Thank you for giving me the honor of a lifetime to serve in I think, the greatest deliberate body the world has ever known and ever will know, the United States Senate. God bless the state of West Virginia. May God continue to bless the United States of America.