Legacy

Congressman Hal Rogers

The vote to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act is in and the House of Representatives has voted in favor of repeal and replace. Our Congressman Hal Rogers voted in the majority. In his 5^th Congressional District some 83,000 people gained insurance under the ACA. The 5^th district ranks

dead last of the 435 congressional districts in measures of well-being. It is the poorest district in the United States. In Congressman Rogers' district there are thousands of people who will lose their health insurance, many by having pre-existing conditions. These are all people who every two years line up and faithfully vote for him to return to Washington D.C. to represent their interests.

Congressman Rogers has done very well over the decades in bringing millions of dollars in development money to his district. We have good roads and The Center for Rural Development is a jewel of a showpiece. The 914 bypass is a wonderful and safe road and is a real time saver for driving around the area. It's linkup to the Daniel Boone Parkway by way of the proposed I66 is a vision for the future. Congressman Rogers was first elected to the House in 1981 and has served uninterrupted until now. He eventually rose to the offices of the elite in the House only to be met with an insurgent party that killed the practice of earmarks leaving him without the spoils of victory. He's done a fairly

good job at attracting some industry that locates in our area largely because we work cheap and give out incentives fairly freely. He is involved in the effort to bring potential to Eastern Kentucky through development and broadband services that some believe will open up the mountains to investment capital. I would say though that it is hard for a zebra to change his stripes. Many of those efforts are mired in the same quest by the wealthy to insure that those development dollars end up in their pockets. I have to say though that the vote to strip his constituents of the basic right to affordable health care is the nadir of his career.

The Congressman will turn 80 this year and it is likely he will not serve too many more terms. His apex of power has been reached and now is on the wane. He will be able to retire to his home of Somerset to live out his time with reverence. It is good to be a king. Now, though, he might turn his thoughts to his legacy. After all, our time here on Earth is brief and we live on only in memory of our works and relationships. We have been fortunate here in Somerset and Pulaski County to hold dear another icon who has our love and respect in Senator John Sherman Cooper.

Senator Cooper is in the top 2 or 3 Kentuckians who have served their constituents and their nation with great dignity and distinction. As a young man I became an admirer of his courage when he teamed with Democrat Frank Church to offer the Cooper-Church Amendment to limit funding to the Vietnam War and the invasion of Cambodia. It was the first high level attack on the status of the War in Vietnam and he did it as a Republican during the administration of President Nixon. He always

preferred negotiation with the North Vietnamese and it took a great deal of nerve and righteousness to do that and he was attacked for it. It failed to pass Congress but it still stands as a significant point of resistance to an immoral war. Senator Cooper also served as Ambassador to the United Nations, to NATO, to India and was special emissary for the President on many occasions. After President Kennedy's assassination he served on the Warren Commission that investigated the President's death. A statue in bronze stands on our Fountain Square to demonstrate our respect and to honor his memory. He was in all likelihood the last of the great Kentucky statesmen.

At this stage of his career Congressman Rogers has the opportunity to rise in his comparison with Senator Cooper. The Congressman is already revered in his district regardless of his actions that have not served his disadvantaged constituents all that well. He is not likely to return to the echelons of power that he once held but he can become a well known and renowned member of his party to help put the partisan gridlock that exists in our government away. It is thought that he is unbeatable in his 5^th district and that may well be true. Without fear of losing an election he is in a unique position to reach across the aisle to form coalitions with the opposition that will bring real improvement in well-being to his constituents who have been battered by persistent poverty, drug addiction and pollution. He, too, can become a beloved icon and maybe someday get his own recognition on the square.

My Take is that our Congressman can do a lot to cement his legacy by focusing on bipartisan relief for the Kentucky 5^th District which only recently was named the worst in the country for access to affordable health care.

Worst healthcare in the nation.