Nick Rahall
Encyclopedia
Nick Joe Rahall II is the U.S. Representative
for West Virginia's 3rd congressional district
, serving since 1977. Rahall is currently Ranking Member of the House Resources Committee. He is a member of the Democratic Party
. The district includes much of the southern portion of the state, including Huntington
, Bluefield
and Beckley
. Rahall has served in Congress since 1977.
. He is of Lebanese
descent. His father was a businessowner with diverse holdings, including many radio
stations throughout the state. Rahall graduated in 1971 from Duke University
. Following his graduation, he attended graduate school at the George Washington University
. He then went to work for the late U.S. Senator
Robert Byrd
(who was from nearby Sophia
) as a staff member.
gave up his seat to run for governor. Rahall won the Democratic primary with a plurality of 38%. Hechler lost the primary for governor, and tried to mount a write-in campaign for his old congressional seat. However, Rahall won the general election with 46% of the vote, while Hechler got 37%. In 1978, Hechler challenged Rahall in the Democratic primary, and Rahall won with 56% of the vote. He has been re-elected 17 times. Hechler became the West Virginia Secretary of State a few years later, and ran against Rahall in the primary again in 1990. Rahall once again defeated him, this time with 57% of the vote.
Only three times has he gotten less than 61% of the vote in a general election (1976, 1990, and 2010). In 1990, he defeated Republican insurance agent Marianne Brewster with just 52%, the second lowest winning percentage of his career. His poor performance may have been caused by the nasty primary election with Ken Hechler back in May of that year. The district was renumbered the 3rd after the 1990 census
, when West Virginia's declining population cost the state a congressional seat. In 2010, he defeated Republican State Supreme Court Justice Spike Maynard
with just 56% of the vote, the third lowest winning percentage in a general election in his career. Out of the seventeen counties in the district, Maynard won just two of them: Raleigh
(52%) and Mercer
(53%). Assuming Rahall completes this term, he will pass Harley Staggers, who represented the now-defunct 2nd District from 1949 to 1981, as the longest-serving US Representative in West Virginia's history.
Rahall strongly believes in global warming, remarking to the Register-Herald that denial of climate change is "to just put your head in the sand." However, as a strong advocate for the coal industry, Rahall voted both against the American Clean Energy and Security Act
and to block the Environmental Protection Agency from reducing the gases blamed for global warming.
On October 3, 2008 Rep. Rahall voted in favor of the Troubled Asset Relief Program. He said he believes the Constitution grants Congress the authority to "purchase assets and equity from financial institutions in order to strengthen its financial sector." In November 2009 and March 2010 he voted in favor of the Affordable Health Care for America Act
.
Rahall received attention when he, along with other Lebanese American lawmakers, expressed concern with a bipartisan resolution supporting Israel
in the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict
without adding language urging restraint against civilian targets, saying, "I'm just sick in the stomach, to put it mildly." Rahall assisted in drafting a bipartisan alternative resolution that urged "all parties to protect innocent life and civilian infrastructure."
He has a mixed record on gay rights. He voted for the inclusion of sexual orientation and gender identity as hate crimes in April 2009 but was one of 15 Democrats who voted against the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell
" in December 2010.
In 2011, he co-sponsored HR 3, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act
. The bill contained an exception for "forcible rape," which opponents criticized as potentially excluding drug-facilitated rape, date rape, and other forms of rape. The bill also allowed an exception for minors who are victims of incest.
In August 2010, Politico
reported that in February 2005, Rahall used congressional stationery to write a letter to a Fairfax County
judge asking for leniency for his son, Nick Rahall III, who was facing felony robbery charges. The congressman denied that his son was given special treatment because of his father's status as a member of Congress or because of his intervention. Rahall acknowledged that he should not have used congressional stationery for letter but said it was not the same type that he uses for official or committee business. Rahall stated he may have drawn the wrong paper "[i]n the emotions" and that he would reimburse the Treasury for the cost.
The House Ethics Committee has not launched an inquiry into the incident.
Rahall has been the Chairman of the Resources Committee since the Democrats won control of the House in 2007. He is also the second-most senior Democrat on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
United States House of Representatives
The 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 West Virginia's 3rd congressional district
West Virginia's 3rd congressional district
West Virginia's 3rd congressional district is located in the southern part of the state, it is based in the state's second largest city, Huntington and includes Bluefield, Princeton, and Beckley.The district is currently represented by Democrat Nick Rahall....
, serving since 1977. Rahall is currently Ranking Member of the House Resources Committee. He is a member of the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
. The district includes much of the southern portion of the state, including Huntington
Huntington, West Virginia
Huntington is a city in Cabell and Wayne counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia, along the Ohio River. Most of the city is in Cabell County, for which it is the county seat. A small portion of the city, mainly the neighborhood of Westmoreland, is in Wayne County. Its population was 49,138 at...
, Bluefield
Bluefield, West Virginia
Bluefield is a city in Mercer County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 10,447 at the 2010 census. It is also the core city of the Bluefield WV-VA micropolitan area which has a population of 107,342.-Geography & Climate:...
and Beckley
Beckley, West Virginia
Beckley is a city in Raleigh County, West Virginia, United States, which was founded on April 4, 1838. The 2008 population was estimated to be 16,832 by the U.S. Census Bureau. Early in its history, the town was known as Beckleyville and Raleigh Court House...
. Rahall has served in Congress since 1977.
Early life, education, and early career
Rahall was born in BeckleyBeckley, West Virginia
Beckley is a city in Raleigh County, West Virginia, United States, which was founded on April 4, 1838. The 2008 population was estimated to be 16,832 by the U.S. Census Bureau. Early in its history, the town was known as Beckleyville and Raleigh Court House...
. He is of Lebanese
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
descent. His father was a businessowner with diverse holdings, including many radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
stations throughout the state. Rahall graduated in 1971 from Duke University
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
. Following his graduation, he attended graduate school at the George Washington University
George Washington University
The George Washington University is a private, coeducational comprehensive university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States...
. He then went to work for the late U.S. Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
Robert Byrd
Robert Byrd
Robert Carlyle Byrd was a United States Senator from West Virginia. A member of the Democratic Party, Byrd served as a U.S. Representative from 1953 until 1959 and as a U.S. Senator from 1959 to 2010...
(who was from nearby Sophia
Sophia, West Virginia
Sophia is an incorporated town in Raleigh County, West Virginia, United States. It was incorporated in 1912. The population was 1,301 at the 2000 census. Sophia was the hometown of the late U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd....
) as a staff member.
Elections
Rahall was first elected to Congress in 1976 in what was then the 4th district, after nine-term incumbent Democrat Ken HechlerKen Hechler
Kenneth William Hechler is an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented West Virginia in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1959 to 1977 and was West Virginia Secretary of State from 1985 to 2001....
gave up his seat to run for governor. Rahall won the Democratic primary with a plurality of 38%. Hechler lost the primary for governor, and tried to mount a write-in campaign for his old congressional seat. However, Rahall won the general election with 46% of the vote, while Hechler got 37%. In 1978, Hechler challenged Rahall in the Democratic primary, and Rahall won with 56% of the vote. He has been re-elected 17 times. Hechler became the West Virginia Secretary of State a few years later, and ran against Rahall in the primary again in 1990. Rahall once again defeated him, this time with 57% of the vote.
Only three times has he gotten less than 61% of the vote in a general election (1976, 1990, and 2010). In 1990, he defeated Republican insurance agent Marianne Brewster with just 52%, the second lowest winning percentage of his career. His poor performance may have been caused by the nasty primary election with Ken Hechler back in May of that year. The district was renumbered the 3rd after the 1990 census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
, when West Virginia's declining population cost the state a congressional seat. In 2010, he defeated Republican State Supreme Court Justice Spike Maynard
Spike Maynard
Elliot E. "Spike" Maynard is an American lawyer and former judge from West Virginia. In 1996 he was elected as a Democrat to the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia...
with just 56% of the vote, the third lowest winning percentage in a general election in his career. Out of the seventeen counties in the district, Maynard won just two of them: Raleigh
Raleigh County, West Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 79,220 people, 31,793 households, and 22,096 families residing in the county. The population density was 130 people per square mile . There were 35,678 housing units at an average density of 59 per square mile...
(52%) and Mercer
Mercer County, West Virginia
-External links:* * * * * * *...
(53%). Assuming Rahall completes this term, he will pass Harley Staggers, who represented the now-defunct 2nd District from 1949 to 1981, as the longest-serving US Representative in West Virginia's history.
Tenure
Rahall is a staunch opponent of legislation designed to end Mountaintop Removal Mining, a process often used to mine coal in West Virginia, and has introduced legislation to improve mine safety.Rahall strongly believes in global warming, remarking to the Register-Herald that denial of climate change is "to just put your head in the sand." However, as a strong advocate for the coal industry, Rahall voted both against the American Clean Energy and Security Act
American Clean Energy and Security Act
The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 was an energy bill in the 111th United States Congress that would have established a variant of an emissions trading plan similar to the European Union Emission Trading Scheme...
and to block the Environmental Protection Agency from reducing the gases blamed for global warming.
On October 3, 2008 Rep. Rahall voted in favor of the Troubled Asset Relief Program. He said he believes the Constitution grants Congress the authority to "purchase assets and equity from financial institutions in order to strengthen its financial sector." In November 2009 and March 2010 he voted in favor of the Affordable Health Care for America Act
Affordable Health Care for America Act
The Affordable Health Care for America Act was a bill that was crafted by the United States House of Representatives in November 2009. At the encouragement of the Obama administration, the 111th Congress devoted much of its time to enacting reform of the United States' health care system...
.
Rahall received attention when he, along with other Lebanese American lawmakers, expressed concern with a bipartisan resolution supporting Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
in the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict
2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict
The 2006 Lebanon War, also called the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah War and known in Lebanon as the July War #Other uses|Tammūz]]) and in Israel as the Second Lebanon War , was a 34-day military conflict in Lebanon, northern Israel and the Israeli-occupied territories. The principal parties were Hezbollah...
without adding language urging restraint against civilian targets, saying, "I'm just sick in the stomach, to put it mildly." Rahall assisted in drafting a bipartisan alternative resolution that urged "all parties to protect innocent life and civilian infrastructure."
He has a mixed record on gay rights. He voted for the inclusion of sexual orientation and gender identity as hate crimes in April 2009 but was one of 15 Democrats who voted against the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell
Don't ask, don't tell
"Don't ask, don't tell" was the official United States policy on homosexuals serving in the military from December 21, 1993 to September 20, 2011. The policy prohibited military personnel from discriminating against or harassing closeted homosexual or bisexual service members or applicants, while...
" in December 2010.
In 2011, he co-sponsored HR 3, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act
No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act
The No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act is a bill that was introduced to the 112th Congress of the United States in the House of Representatives by Rep. Chris Smith and Dan Lipinski . Although the bill is a bipartisan effort, most of the 173 co-sponsors are Republicans...
. The bill contained an exception for "forcible rape," which opponents criticized as potentially excluding drug-facilitated rape, date rape, and other forms of rape. The bill also allowed an exception for minors who are victims of incest.
In August 2010, Politico
Politico (newspaper)
The Politico is an American political journalism organization based in Arlington, Virginia, that distributes its content via television, the Internet, newspaper, and radio. Its coverage of Washington, D.C., includes the U.S. Congress, lobbying, media and the Presidency...
reported that in February 2005, Rahall used congressional stationery to write a letter to a Fairfax County
Fairfax County, Virginia
Fairfax County is a county in Virginia, in the United States. Per the 2010 Census, the population of the county is 1,081,726, making it the most populous jurisdiction in the Commonwealth of Virginia, with 13.5% of Virginia's population...
judge asking for leniency for his son, Nick Rahall III, who was facing felony robbery charges. The congressman denied that his son was given special treatment because of his father's status as a member of Congress or because of his intervention. Rahall acknowledged that he should not have used congressional stationery for letter but said it was not the same type that he uses for official or committee business. Rahall stated he may have drawn the wrong paper "[i]n the emotions" and that he would reimburse the Treasury for the cost.
The House Ethics Committee has not launched an inquiry into the incident.
Committee assignments
- Committee on Transportation and InfrastructureUnited States House Committee on Transportation and InfrastructureThe U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. John Mica currently chairs the committee.-History:...
(Ranking Member)- Subcommittee on AviationUnited States House Transportation Subcommittee on AviationThe Subcommittee on Aviation is a subcommittee within the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The Subcommittee has jurisdiction over civil aviation, including most aspects of the Federal Aviation Administration , the Transportation Security Administration, and the National...
- Subcommittee on Highways and TransitUnited States House Transportation Subcommittee on Highways and TransitThe House Transportation Subcommittee on Highways and Transit is a subcommittee within the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The subcommittee oversees highway, transit, and highway safety programs in the United States, as well as policy governing how highway and transit projects...
- Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous MaterialsUnited States House Transportation Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous MaterialsThe Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials is a subcommittee within the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee...
- Subcommittee on Aviation
Rahall has been the Chairman of the Resources Committee since the Democrats won control of the House in 2007. He is also the second-most senior Democrat on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
Caucus memberships
- Congressional Coal Caucus
- Fire Services Caucus
- International Conservation CaucusUnited States Congressional International Conservation CaucusThe 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
- Steel Caucus
- Travel & Tourism Caucus
- Congressional Arts Caucus
External links
- U.S. Congressman Nick Rahall official U.S. House site
- Congressman Nick Rahall official campaign site
- Profile at SourceWatchSourceWatchSourceWatch is an internet wiki site that is a collaborative project of the liberal Center for Media and Democracy...