Harold Dallas "Hal" Rogers (born December 31, 1937) is the
U.S. RepresentativeThe United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
for , serving since 1981. He is a member of the Republican Party.
Early life, education, and early career
Rogers was born in Barrier, Kentucky, attended
Western Kentucky UniversityWestern Kentucky University is a public university in Bowling Green, Kentucky, USA. It was formally founded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1906, though its roots reach back a quarter-century earlier....
in
Bowling GreenBowling Green is the third-most populous city in the state of Kentucky after Louisville and Lexington, with a population of 58,067 as of the 2010 Census. It is the county seat of Warren County and the principal city of the Bowling Green, Kentucky Metropolitan Statistical Area with an estimated 2009...
and received a baccalaureate degree (A.B.) and a
lawLaw is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
degree (LL.B.) from the
University of KentuckyThe University of Kentucky, also known as UK, is a public co-educational university and is one of the state's two land-grant universities, located in Lexington, Kentucky...
at
LexingtonLexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...
. Rogers served in the Kentucky and
North CarolinaNorth Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
Army National GuardEstablished under Title 10 and Title 32 of the U.S. Code, the Army National Guard is part of the National Guard and is divided up into subordinate units stationed in each of the 50 states, three territories and the District of Columbia operating under their respective governors...
. The January 1961 Kentucky Guardsman reported a story noting Harold Rogers recognition in his selection as soldier of the year, stating, "Specialist Fourth Class Harold (Hal) Rogers has been named “Soldier of the Year” by vote of the 125 member Battery A of the Fifth Observation Battalion at Lexington. Rogers, 22, a journalism major at the University of Kentucky, was cited for his performance with his unit during regular weekly drills and the 1960 ANADUTRA (annual active duty for training)."
As a lawyer Rogers was in private practice and was elected to serve as
Commonwealth's AttorneyCommonwealth's Attorney is the title given to the elected prosecutor of felony crimes in Kentucky and Virginia. Other states refer to similar prosecutors as District Attorney or State's Attorney....
for Pulaski and Rockcastle counties in Kentucky, an office he held from 1969 to his election to Congress in 1980.
Rogers was the Republican nominee for
Lieutenant Governor of KentuckyThe office of lieutenant governor of Kentucky has existed under the last three of Kentucky's four constitutions, beginning in 1797. The lieutenant governor serves as governor of Kentucky under circumstances similar to the Vice President of the United States assuming the powers of the presidency...
in 1979. He was on the ballot with former
Governor of KentuckyThe Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky is the head of the executive branch of government in the U.S. state of Kentucky. Fifty-six men and one woman have served as Governor of Kentucky. The governor's term is four years in length; since 1992, incumbents have been able to seek re-election once...
Louie B. NunnLouie Broady Nunn was the 52nd governor of Kentucky. Elected in 1967, he was the first Republican elected to that office since Simeon Willis in 1943 and the last to hold it until the election of Ernie Fletcher in 2003....
. He lost to Democrat
Martha Layne CollinsMartha Layne Collins is a politician from the US state of Kentucky. From 1983 to 1987 she was the 56th Governor of Kentucky, having served the previous four years as lieutenant governor. She was Kentucky's first and only female governor to date...
63%-37%. The following year Rogers won election to Congress.
Elections
In 1980, incumbent Republican U.S. Congressman
Tim Lee CarterTim Lee Carter was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives for the commonwealth of Kentucky from 1965 till 1981.-Background:...
of
Kentucky's 5th congressional districtKentucky's 5th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Kentucky. Located in the heart of Appalachia in Southeastern Kentucky, the rural district is one of the most impoverished districts in the nation and, as of the 2010 U.S. Census, it has the largest percentage of...
decided to retire. Rogers won the Republican primary with a plurality of 23%. He won the general election with 67% of the vote. He won re-election with at least 65% of the vote since then, except in 1992. That year, he defeated Democrat State Senator John Doug Hays 55%-45%.
Tenure
Rogers is the longest serving Kentucky Republican ever elected to federal office. Rogers served as a delegate to the Republican National Conventions of 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004.
Rogers has focused his legislation on bringing jobs to Kentucky and providing a better education for Kentuckians. His record reflects these objectives, and from public works projects that provide flood control and clean drinking water, to business and tourism development projects to create jobs, to job training and education programs, his record reflects a sustained focus. Rogers has been the founder of numerous organizations that serve these policy objectives including the Southern Kentucky Economic Development Corporation; the Southern Kentucky Agricultural Development Association; the Southern and Eastern Kentucky Tourism Development Association; Unlawful Narcotics Investigations, Treatment & Education - UNITE; and The Center for Rural Development. Rogers first such organization was Forward in the Fifth, which promotes better education, and Rogers efforts through Forward in the Fifth brought national attention to his district which at the time had the worst education attainment in the U.S. Through SKED, Rogers has been instrumental in the creation of 10,000 jobs in southern and eastern Kentucky.
In 2001, the City of
Williamsburg, KentuckyAs of the census of 2000, there were 5,143 people, 1,928 households, and 1,127 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,102.5 people per square mile . There were 2,118 housing units at an average density of 454.0 per square mile...
named their
new water parkKentucky Splash Waterpark is a $5 million amusement park, which includes a waterpark, miniature golf course, go-kart track with kiddy track, and a five station-batting cage in Williamsburg, Kentucky, U.S.- History :...
and miniature golf facility the
Hal Rogers Family Entertainment Center as a "thank-you for all of the federal money he has brought back to Whitley County, the City of Williamsburg, and the other 40 counties he represents."
In 2003,
Daniel BooneDaniel Boone was an American pioneer, explorer, and frontiersman whose frontier exploits mad']'e him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. Boone is most famous for his exploration and settlement of what is now the Commonwealth of Kentucky, which was then beyond the western borders of...
Parkway, a part of the Kentucky system of
toll roadA toll road is a privately or publicly built road for which a driver pays a toll for use. Structures for which tolls are charged include toll bridges and toll tunnels. Non-toll roads are financed using other sources of revenue, most typically fuel tax or general tax funds...
s, was renamed
Hal Rogers ParkwayThe Hal Rogers Parkway, formerly named the Daniel Boone Parkway, connects London and Hazard in southeastern Kentucky. This toll road opened in November 1971 and the tolls were removed June 1, 2003. The original extent of the highway was to be instead of today's 62.90, with that mileage to have...
(over the objection of some historians) in honor of Rogers efforts to have the parkway's construction bonds paid by the federal government. This action resulted in the ending of toll collection, as required by Kentucky law when a parkway's construction bonds are paid off by toll collections or other means. The highway runs through Rogers' district, and is scheduled to become part of an expanded
Interstate 66Interstate 66 is an Interstate Highway in the eastern United States. As indicated by its even route number, it runs in an east–west direction. Its western terminus is at Middletown, Virginia, at an intersection with Interstate 81; its eastern terminus is in Washington, D.C., at an...
.
In January 2003, Rogers' colleagues selected him to be the first chairman of the Subcommittee on Homeland Security, which is responsible for funding and oversight of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The Department is the third-largest cabinet agency behind the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs and is home to more than 180,000 employees. Security-related entities such as the Transportation Security Administration, Federal Emergency Management Service, Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Secret Service, and Coast Guard fall under the DHS umbrella.
In May 2001, Kentuckians for Better Transportation Chairman Hugh Gabbard hosted an event to recognize and “celebrate Hal Rogers’ two decades of outstanding leadership and distinguished service on behalf of the citizens of his district, Kentucky and the nation. …Rogers is a leader who understands the importance of transportation. He understands that our national security and future growth depend upon the transportation system.” Noting Rogers was first elected to Congress in 1980, Gabbard said, “Kentucky’s Senior Congressman has earned a reputation for getting things done. He has worked tirelessly on behalf of Kentucky’s Fifth Congressional District and Kentucky. His mission has always been the same: to bring jobs, better education, and more opportunities to Kentucky families. During Hal’s tenure on the House Appropriations Committee, he has actively supported programs that provide economic growth, better roads, protection from flooding, and more jobs.”
Similar praise for Rogers leadership in economic development comes from Appalachian Regional Manufacturing (ARM) president Linda McGinnis, whose facility employs over 100 people, "Representatives Bunning and Rogers have done their part in helping to keep jobs in an area that desperately needs it."
"I know of no one in the region who has done more to improve the quality of life in Southern and Southeastern Kentucky," said Charlene Harris, chair of the SCC board of directors at the naming of the Harold D. Rogers Student Commons Building at KCTCS Somerset campus.
Rogers has been widely criticized by both liberal and conservative pundits for his priorities when it comes to national security.
National ReviewNational Review is a biweekly magazine founded by the late author William F. Buckley, Jr., in 1955 and based in New York City. It describes itself as "America's most widely read and influential magazine and web site for conservative news, commentary, and opinion."Although the print version of the...
referred to Rogers as "a national disgrace" and
Rolling StoneRolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
named him one of America's "Ten Worst Congressmen", calling him "Bin Laden's Best Friend" due to the fact that Rogers steered federal homeland security money away from large cities to his home district, which critics claim is one of the least likely terrorist targets in America because of its lack of any notable monuments or population centers. In 2007,
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in WashingtonCitizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington is a nonprofit 501 organization that describes itself as "dedicated to promoting ethics and accountability in government and public life by targeting government officials – regardless of party affiliation – who sacrifice the common good to...
named Congressman Rogers to its list of the Most Corrupt Members of Congress.
On May 14, 2006, the New York Times reported that Rogers had used his legislative position as chairman of the House subcommittee that controls the Homeland Security budget to create "jobs in his home district and profits for companies that are donors to his political causes."
The Lexington Herald-Leader in 2005 called Rogers the "Prince of Pork". The
Times article reported that Rogers had inserted language ("existing government card issuance centers") into appropriations bills that effectively pushed the federal government into testing at a cost of $4 million older, inappropriate technology for a new fraud-resistant green card for permanent legal immigrants, at a production plant in
Corbin, Kentucky- Economy :Originally formed by L&N Railroad, rail transport was the backbone of the local economy in the first half of the twentieth century. While the railroad continues to play an important role, the decline of the rail industry in the latter half of the twentieth century, as well as the loss...
, within Rogers' district. The study concluded that the smart card approach was far superior. The
Times found that about $100,000 in contributions had come to Mr. Rogers from parties with at least some ties to the identification card effort.
In response to these critics, Rogers has stated, “It should surprise no one that this article from Rolling Stone regarding my activity in connection with the Transportation Worker Identity Card (TWIC) is grossly incorrect, and highly slanderous,” the congressman said. “A true and honest analysis would reveal that my sole interest in TWIC is simply to protect America's seaports, airports, and other transportation facilities from terrorist penetration. To purport that my actions have compromised national security in an effort to bring jobs to Kentucky or for personal gain is an absolute lie.”
On the House/Senate conference decision to bolster the Department of Commerce and support the Clinton Administration priorities, President Clinton remarked, “I commend the congressional leadership, Senator
Ernest HollingsErnest Frederick "Fritz" Hollings served as a Democratic United States Senator from South Carolina from 1966 to 2005, as well as the 106th Governor of South Carolina and Lt. Governor . He served 38 years and 55 days in the Senate, which makes him the 8th-longest-serving Senator in history...
, Senator
Pete DomeniciPietro Vichi "Pete" Domenici is an American Republican politician, who served six terms as a United States Senator from New Mexico, from 1973 to 2009, the longest tenure in the state's history....
, Congressman
Neal SmithNeal Smith was the drummer for the rock group Alice Cooper from 1967 to 1974. He performed on the group's early albums Pretties For You and Easy Action, the breakout album Love It to Death and the subsequent successful albums Killer, School's Out, and Billion Dollar Babies...
, and Congressman Harold Rogers, for their foresight and support in revitalizing this country through these programs. It is a dramatic step forward for the United States toward a solid economic future.”
Similar praise comes from former President George H.W. Bush, “I'm pleased to see these three distinguished Members of the Congress here. You may not remember this ancient history, but Hal Rogers was my Kentucky State chairman in my quest for the Presidency. And what a job that guy did, I'll tell you.”
Kentucky state biographer Amy Witherbee commented on Rogers service, “Rogers' multiple roles on the Appropriations Committee have honed his skills as a bipartisan negotiator, and his economically challenged district often prompts him to stray from hard-line conservative stances. Although voting with his party against raising environmental standards on sports utility vehicles and against a controversial amendment that would have prohibited oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Rogers has been the creator and leading proponent of large environmental protection and clean-up programs throughout the Appalachian region.”
“In addition, Rogers' reluctance to involve the federal government in local issues has not deterred him from supporting a multitude of economic development programs aimed at creating new job bases in economically disadvantaged areas, and particularly in Appalachia. In 1993, Rogers was one of only three Republicans to vote for then-President
Bill ClintonWilliam Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
's economic stimulus package. In March 2003, Rogers' ability to work through the bipartisan tangles of the Appropriations Committee won him the chairmanship on the subcommittee designated to control funding for the new Department of Homeland Security,” noted Witherbee.
Ready evidence is found on March 20, 2008, when the invitation to testify in support of environmental legislation by Democrat House Majority Leader Rep. Rocky Adkins, and, on the same day, a rare invitation to speak from the Senate floor was afforded by Republican Senate Majority Leader Senator
David L. WilliamsDavid Lewis Williams is a lawyer and politician from the U.S. state of Kentucky. A Republican, he has represented Kentucky's 16th district in the Kentucky Senate since 1987. When Republicans gained control of the state senate in 2000, Williams was chosen as President of the Senate, and he has held...
of
Cumberland CountyCumberland County is a county located in the state of Kentucky in the United States. It was formed in 1799. As of 2000, the population was 7,147. Its county seat is Burkesville, Kentucky...
as part of the Senate’s unanimously passed bipartisan resolution honoring Rogers for his service.
Rogers called a bill to reduce funding for law enforcement "the result of this new Republican majority’s commitment to bring about real change in the way Washington spends the people’s money."
Committee assignments
- Committee on Appropriations
The Committee on Appropriations is a committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is in charge of setting the specific expenditures of money by the government of the United States...
(Chairman)
- As chair of the full committee, Rep. Rogers may sit as an ex officio member of all subcommittees
Caucus memberships
- Congressional Coal Caucus
- Congressional Prescription Drug Abuse Caucus (Co-Chair)
- International Conservation Caucus
The U.S. Congressional International Conservation Caucus is a bipartisan congressional organization that was founded in September 2003 with the conviction that “the United States of America has the opportunity, the obligation and the interests to advance the conservation of natural resources for...
- Sportsmen's Caucus
- Tennessee Valley Authority Caucus
Personal life
Rogers had three children with his wife, Shirley Rogers. She died of
cancerCancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
in 1995. Rogers married the former Cynthia Doyle Stewart in May 1999. They were introduced in 1998 by former Tennessee Governor
Don SundquistDonald Kenneth Sundquist is a former governor and congressman from Tennessee. A Republican, he served as the 47th Governor of Tennessee from 1995 to 2003...
, an old House colleague, and were married at the Tennessee governor's mansion.
External links
- U.S. Congressman Hal Rogers official U.S. House site
- Harold Rogers on Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
, official campaign site
- Profile at SourceWatch
SourceWatch is an internet wiki site that is a collaborative project of the liberal Center for Media and Democracy...
- Robert O'Harrow Jr. and Scott Higham, "Post-9/11 Rush Mixed Politics With Security: Congressman Benefits From Homeland Security Spending", Washington Post, December 25, 2005
- Biography at Our States: Kentucky, 2007