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ONE-ON-ONE - August 2006
by Ed G. Lane
'Pork Is the Bad Word for Making Good Things Happen'
U.S. Congressman Hal Rogers discusses the challenges facing Kentucky and the nation and his role in addressing those issues
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U.S. Congressman
Hal Rogers
Elected to Congress in 1980, Hal Rogers is currently serving his 13th term representing Kentucky’s Fifth Congressional District, which encompasses 29 counties in the southern and eastern regions of the state. A native of Wayne County, Ky., Rogers earned his bachelor’s and law degrees from the University of Kentucky. He stepped into the public arena during the 1960s by promoting industrial development in his hometown of Somerset. In 1969, he was elected as Commonwealth Attorney for two Kentucky counties and served in that position for 11 years. Now in his 26th year on Capitol Hill, Rogers is the longest serving Kentucky Republican ever elected to federal office. In 2003, Rogers' colleagues selected him to serve as the first chairman of the Subcommittee on Homeland Security. He has also chaired the Subcommittee on Transportation and the Commerce, Justice, State Subcommittee. |
Ed Lane: You have served as Kentucky’s 5th District Congressman for 26 years. Why have your constituents elected you 13 times?
Harold Rogers: Well, we’ve tried to help people that needed help – whether it is with a social security problem, a veteran’s pension claim, or visa application. We literally work with thousands of people a year and with good results. I have the best constituent service staff in the country with offices in Somerset, Prestonsburg and Hazard.
We’ve tried to tackle the biggest problems the district has. We started off with flood control and essentially stopped flooding along the Cumberland River all the way from Harlan County to Lake Cumberland including Harlan, Middlesboro, Pineville, Barbourville and Williamsburg. Now we’re working on other rivers – the Kentucky, Licking and Big Sandy. We are trying to save thousands from being flooded every year and it’s working.
EL: Why has population in your district been in decline?
HR: The problem is outmigration. For generations, we’ve seen people move out – mainly to the north seeking employment – as I did and my dad before me. In 1986, we started an organization called the Southern Kentucky Economic Development Corporation. SKED, with an economic development program that covers 42 counties, takes advantage of the region’s beauty to recruit business, industry, and tourism. By pooling its resources, the region can afford to advertise in national publications and hire a highly professional staff. The region’s effort is really working; tourism is booming here – more than any other part of the state.
EL: Eastern Kentucky has historically had a problem with illegal solid waste dumps.
HR: We’ve had a trash problem – litter, garbage, dumps, and straight pipes. We started an organization in the district in 1996 called PRIDE (Personal Responsibility In a Desirable Environment). Soon to be 10 years old, the program has had phenomenal success. PRIDE has cleared over 2,300 dumps; some landfills were enormous and covered hillsides and streams. They have picked up over 880,000 tires and 170,000 appliances, stove and refrigerators.
PRIDE is also helping eliminate straight (waste water) pipes. It is a three-pronged approach. Get monies to extend sewer lines to sewer plants in the old-fashioned way. Where there is a cluster of homes without sewers, we commissioned the Corp of Engineers to change regulations so innovative wastewater treatment systems are permitted to handle 15 to 20 homes. Then for those people who were even more remote and couldn’t afford a septic tank, we provided one for free if they qualified as a poor person. We’ve installed thousands.
Because of that entire program, about 27,000 homes are no longer using straight pipes into the streams.
School kids in PRIDE Clubs go out periodically to test the water in streams near their school. They are testing practically all the streams – small and large – for water quality. As a result of these efforts, the streams are getting cleaner.
EL: You have been a strong advocate of reducing illegal drugs in Eastern Kentucky.
RH: Yes. I didn’t mention the UNITE (Unlawful Narcotics Investigations Treatment and Education) program. Four years ago, the Herald-Leader had a hard-hitting six-week series of stories on the impact of narcotics and drug abuse in the mountains. So we called together leaders and created UNITE.
We’ve received federal funding for the program and hired 36 undercover agents. Assistant prosecutors are now assigned to the drug problem in all jurisdictions. We have drug courts established in practically every county, which was unheard of before this. We’re in every school with paid counselors.
And now we are building two new drug treatment centers, as well as getting the state to build another two or three, to accommodate the traffic. There still is not enough bed space, so we created a voucher program. If you qualify (a one-time benefit), we will provide treatment any place you want to get it and give you the voucher to pay for it. UNITE is a comprehensive approach to the drug problem. It’s a good program.
EL: The Fifth Congressional District of Kentucky is the third poorest in America.
HR: The coal business has been the dominant industry since the 1920s. Before that it was timbering. The bottom line is that extraction industries provided good-paying jobs but left nothing when they left. Coal mining is still a big industry, but as a job producer it is hiring fewer and fewer people because of mechanization.
The region is in transition; we’re trying to find other ways to make a living.
My district is targeting industries that are intelligent training-orientated. For example, we were able to get the Small Business Administration to locate its loan documents headquarters for the eastern half of the U.S. in Hazard. The U.S. State Department has a facility in Williamsburg that processes visa applications worldwide. In Barbourville, Homeland Security has an international call center. The National Weather Service is digitizing old paper and acetate film records in multiple locations.
Most of these jobs are not dependent upon an airport, a good highway, or a railroad. Raw data are electronically transmitted, processed and shipped back to the agency. Mountains are no barrier. We are trying to negate the adverse effects of isolation with these new high-tech jobs.
A facility in Corbin is making all the green cards that the government issues for people coming and going across the border. The card is tamper-proof, bio-metric and uses the latest technology. SAIC – one of the largest defense contractors – just moved into the Valley Oak Industrial Park in Somerset.
The 2000 U.S. Census showed that the region gained population for the first time in at least 100 years. I admit there are counties that are booming and others are not. It’s a spotty growth record, but there are some towns, cities and counties in the region that are doing really well.
EL: Eastern Kentucky has several federal prisons.
HR: Federal prisons are also big employers in the region. Four prisons each employ roughly 400 persons. These are good-paying jobs with excellent benefits. Prison jobs are recession proof.
EL: Do you have a vision for future opportunities for eastern Kentucky?
HR: The boldest thing we have tried is securing the bio-terrorism lab for Eastern Kentucky. Even as we speak, the department is sifting through 29 applications to select five semi-finalists. In a few months, two finalists will be named.
EL: Will politics matter significantly in the bio-lab selection process?
HR: No. It will be an objective, scientific decision. Our proposal is up against some really tough competition – The Research Triangle in Carolina, the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta with the University of Georgia, and Texas A&M. Kentucky, in partnership with Tennessee, is up against the very best. We have a very good team (University of Kentucky, University of Tennessee, University of Louisville and Oak Ridge) and just the creation of the team is a major achievement.
EL: Mine safety has been an issue. Thirty-four U.S. miners have died so far in 2006 – already exceeding the 22 deaths in calendar 2005. Are enhanced safety regulations needed or appropriate for the mining industry?
HR: They are. In fact, a bill that Congress passed goes a long way in that direction. It’s aimed at the safety of the miners: breathing machines must last for a longer period of time, the mines are required to position breathing machines on the exit routes out of the mines, a new communication system is required, mining companies must have rescue teams available on very short notice. Underground mining is inherently a dangerous occupation. We’ll never be able to make it perfectly safe, but we can make it much safer than it is now.
EL: You have been instrumental in helping develop and fund The Center for Rural Development in Somerset, Kentucky. What are the goals of the center? How was the funding made available?
HR: Funding for the center was provided by federal, state and local governments and private gifts. Somerset at the time needed an exhibition hall and Somerset Community College needed a theater. The economic development and service organizations needed a headquarters where they could work together. So the city, county, state and the feds pitched in. It is truly a joint effort. The center tries to tie together all regional development efforts. Headquarters of all development organizations are electronically equipped and teleconferencing capabilities are available in every one of the 42 counties.
Now, a young person doesn’t need leave home to find his or her future – that’s the theme of the center. The Rogers Scholars program invites high school juniors, picked by teachers from each county, to go through a week of intense activity and training mainly just to encourage them to get active in their community, finish college, come back home, and help us build a community. We are trying to grow a whole generation of civic activists starting in high school. Now, many of the colleges are offering scholarships to the Rogers Scholars participants.
EL: You serve as the chair of the U.S. Homeland Security Appropriations Committee, which has oversight and funding responsibilities. How well is the Department of Homeland Security protecting America’s borders from infiltration by terrorists and illegal aliens?
HR: Well, it’s a mixed bag. When Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert asked me to take this chore three years ago, Congress had just established DHS – the biggest government reorganization since 1948. Having merged 22 agencies into one, the House reconfigured its appropriation jurisdictions and created for the first time a new sub-committee to oversee and fund Homeland Security.
EL: Did you do the speaker a favor by accepting this chairmanship?
HR: Yes, I think I did. It is a big time chore but we stood up the department. We have vigorous oversight. I have two or three closed hearings a week. It’s a thankless chore, complex, expensive and at times very depressing. We are dealing with the what-ifs.
Homeland Security has had some notable successes. Airline security is good. We quadrupled the border patrol staff. We are now searching containers that come into the country through 42 different foreign ports, before they embark for the U.S., as well as when they get here.
Seventeen million container pieces enter the country annually and must be checked. It just takes one with something in it to cause enormous problems. That program is up and running. It’s not perfect but it’s moving forward.
And DHS had some monumental failures. It has not yet figured out how to make subway and rail travel safe or to protect planes from ground-to-air missiles.
EL: How good is our effort to keep illegals from coming over the U.S. border?
HR: After pouring money at the Immigration and Naturalization Service by the billions – I finally said, “this ain’t working.” So we abolished the INS when we created Homeland Security. In spite of the billions we have spent on the border – quadrupling the number of U.S. border patrol employees, adding drone planes, cameras, helicopters, walls and fixed-wing aircraft – illegal immigration grows every year. We know there are probably 12-15 million illegal aliens in the U.S. and it’s not getting much better. It’s been a monumental failure on the border.
A new effort called Secure Border Initiative (SBI) is an effort to modernize the way we try to stop illegals – with electronic gear, UAVs, fencing, and the National Guard on the border. If SBI works, it will be the first real success.
Most people say the U.S. would collapse if we didn’t have immigrant labor, but we’ve created sort of a second-class citizenship here and it’s dangerous.
EL: If the U.S. stringently enforced the documentation of foreign workers at the employment level and had tamper-proof ID cards, would that keep jobs from being an attraction for undocumented workers?
HR: That’s right. In spite of all we do on the border, good jobs are a powerful magnet that attract people to a better way of life. They are going to find a way to get here. There is no way to stop them. We’ve tried everything. We must enforce the employment laws in the country. The country is schizophrenic about that. They say, “Stop illegal immigrants from coming, but my maid is OK.”
EL: UK has developed a business plan to achieve “top 20” status among U.S. universities. How will this mission benefit the state’s and Eastern Kentucky’s economy?
HR: Top 20 status for UK is of enormous importance. I’ve tried to help the University of Kentucky and others get research monies with some degree of success. The bio-terrorism lab would have its own 300 or so resident scientists, but the universities would be major players on its campus. The lab could be the big step toward achieving “top 20” status and Lee Todd acknowledges that.
EL: Having served in Congress for 25 years – you as all elected officials – have your critics. National Review Online recently called you “a congressional disgrace.” The editorial comment specifically mentioned earmarks to retain and attract companies in Kentucky as providers of products and services for homeland security. The Lexington Herald-Leader called you the “prince of pork.” Do you feel these types of editorial comment are justified?
HR: If you define “pork” to mean a floodwall to protect a poor person from flooding or bringing a job to a community and providing a person an opportunity to stay at home and raise their kids in Kentucky, then I plead guilty. Pork is the bad word for making good things happen.
Bureaucrats (in the executive branch) earmark millions of items in the president’s budget. When Congress sees a need in somebody’s district, that the bureaucrats in Washington overlooked, and adds spending onto the president’s budget it’s called an “earmark.”
I don’t think the Lexington newspaper would call the extension of Newtown Pike (in downtown Lexington) pork, but what’s different between that and building I-66? New roads create new jobs and improve convenience and safety.
Henry Clay was Kentucky’s most famous federal representative. His platform was called the American Plan. What was it? Building canals and highways. The Maysville highway to Lexington was Henry Clay’s program. Today, the Herald-Leader would probably call him the “king of pork.” I’m walking in Henry Clay’s footsteps.
EL: Speaking of editorial comments and criticism, Governor Ernie Fletcher - who served with you in the U.S. Congress - has had a difficult time overcoming alleged mismanagement of the merit system.
HR: I’m not in the business of criticizing other public officials, we all have our loads to bear. Gov. Fletcher is a good man and I enjoyed serving with him in the House. We’ve often traveled together on the plane between here and Washington D.C. He’s a friend.
EL: The governor’s approval rating is down due to all the negative press and editorial comment. Will the governor be able to rebound during the 18 months remaining in his first term?
HR: 18 months can be three or four political lifetimes; sometimes a week is a lifetime. Yes, there is plenty of time.
EL: A number of political pundits have suggested that you would be an excellent candidate for governor if Gov. Fletcher elected not to run for re-election.
HR: Well, I’m flattered by those types of comments, but I’m focused on winning my election in November. I have an opponent. I have a race. I learned a long time ago, you run one race at a time. I’m focused on my re-election.
Ed G. Lane is chief executive of Lane Consultants Inc. and publisher
of The Lane Report.
edlane@lanereport.com
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