U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) was sworn into the United States Senate on November 15, 2010 to fill the seat left vacant by the late Senator Robert C. Byrd. For Senator Manchin, serving as West Virginia's Senator is truly an honor and a privilege. Born and raised in the small coal mining town of Farmington, W.Va., Sen. Manchin grew up learning the values that all West Virginians share — family, common sense, fairness and hard work. From his days as a state legislator to his six years as Governor to his current role, Senator Manchin has always been committed to his philosophy of "retail government" — in other words, connecting with all of his constituents and making service to them his top priority. As a Senator, Joe Manchin is committed to bringing this same spirit of bipartisanship to Washington. As he has done throughout his entire life, he remains committed to working with Republicans and Democrats to find commonsense solutions to the problems our country faces and is working hard to usher in a new bipartisan spirit in the Senate and Congress. Senator Manchin currently serves as the Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and also serves on the Senate Committee on Appropriations, the Senate Committee on Armed Services, and the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs - four critical committees that tackle the important work of addressing our nation's energy needs, overseeing discretionary spending, defending our nation, and standing up for our Veterans. Senator Manchin is an avid pilot, outdoorsman, hunter, angler and motorcyclist. He has been married for more than five decades to the former Gayle Conelly of Beckley. They have three children: Heather, Joseph IV and Brooke, and are the proud grandparents of Joseph V, Sophie, Kelsey, Madeline, Chloe, Jack, Carly, Vivian, Beaux and Knox.