U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., announced he will host West Virginia's first bipartisan federal fiscal summit Sept. 10 in the Cultural Center in Charleston.
Former Republican Sen. Alan Simpson and Democrat Erskine Bowles, the co-chairmen of President Barack Obama's National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform and authors of the Simpson-Bowles deficit-reduction plan, will join Manchin as the featured guests at "Our Finances & Our Future: A Bipartisan Conversation About the Facts."
In a press conference last week, Manchin said the summit will facilitate a much-needed discussion about the United States' increasingly dire economic situation.
"Putting this country back on the right path will hurt, but we have to be willing to come together across party lines, determine our highest priorities and make tough choices," Manchin said. "That's what the people of West Virginia sent me here to do, not cater to any one special interest group."
He said bringing Simpson and Bowles to West Virginia to discuss the country's $1.2 trillion dollar deficit will be an important step toward the right direction.
The Simpson-Bowles plan has received criticism from members of both parties, and Manchin admitted they paint a grim picture about the problems the country is facing.
However, while their solution is not perfect, it has "earned more support from members of both parties than anything else that has been proposed in Washington," Manchin said.
During the forum, Simpson and Bowles will present the truth about the United State's economic situation and then they will hold a discussion about possible solutions, Manchin said.
"It's a rare opportunity to have a frank, bipartisan conversation about the grave conditions of our nation's finances," he said.
More information about the summit will be released as it becomes available.
