[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 162 (Monday, September 20, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6537-S6538]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                         Tribute to Hal Rogers

  Madam President, now, on one final matter, Representative Hal Rogers 
once described Southeastern Kentuckians by saying: ``They're honest, 
forthright. . . . they can see through a phony in a minute flat.'' So 
it is fitting his constituents just reelected him by 70 points. He is 
certainly honest, forthright, and no phony.
  For over 40 years, Hal has fought for his home region and delivered 
unparalleled support for its development and its growth. In honor of 
Hal becoming the longest serving Representative in the history of the 
Commonwealth earlier this September, I would like to pay tribute to 
this one-of-a-kind Kentuckian.
  I first met Hal during the 1971 Kentucky gubernatorial election. He 
was already a rising star in the State Republican Party, having just 
been elected Commonwealth's attorney for Pulaski and Rockcastle 
Counties 2 years prior. As a fellow attorney and young conservative, I 
looked up to Hal and watched his career with considerable interest.
  Less than a decade later, Hal was elected to the House of 
Representatives in Kentucky's Fifth Congressional District the same 
year Ronald Reagan was elected President. Since then, he has won 
reelection 19 times, always by a wide margin. He loves his corner of 
the State, and as his repeated victories absolutely prove, his 
constituents love him right back.
  Once Hal got to Congress, he quickly went to work fighting for the 
issues his constituents cared the most about. His hard-won legislative 
victories earned him praise from fellow House Republicans who tapped 
him to lead the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security 
in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
  Eight years later, he became chairman of the full House 
Appropriations Committee, expertly cutting spending, reducing waste, 
and directing funds to important projects all across the country. As a 
former Commonwealth's attorney, Hal used his law enforcement 
credentials to defend Kentucky from a wide array of threats. Before the 
rest of America was paying full attention to the scourge of substance 
abuse, Hal launched Operation UNITE.
  The anti-narcotics initiative covers 32 Kentucky counties and has 
been on the frontlines in the fight against the opioid epidemic, 
helping to lock up thousands of criminals and remove millions of 
dollars' worth of illegal drugs from the streets.
  Hal is a lead promoter of investment in Southeastern Kentucky, which 
for

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too long has suffered economic distress and seen indifference from 
Washington. He united Kentucky's Appalachian counties around the 
Shaping our Appalachian Region, or SOAR, initiative to create a 
concerted effort to attract jobs and development to the region.
  He revolutionized Southeastern Kentucky's water infrastructure, 
bringing new water treatment centers to our State and championing flood 
protection measures.
  He wrangled Federal funding for the Cumberland Gap Tunnel in Bell 
County, which he described as ``the most significant thing that has 
happened there since Daniel Boone began to bring settlers through the 
gap.''
  He helped bring the fine arts to Southeastern Kentucky through the 
Mountain Arts Center in Prestonsburg.
  Locals are so appreciative of Hal's many projects that they dubbed 
the state-of-the-art Center for Rural Development in Somerset, one of 
his capstone initiatives, as the ``Taj Ma-Hal'' in his honor.
  And that is not the only place in Hal's district that commemorates 
his service. If you visit Southeastern Kentucky, you will drive along 
the gorgeous Hal Rogers Parkway, study groundbreaking technical 
advances at the Hal Rogers Advanced Technology Center, and learn 
important career skills as part of the Hal Rogers Scholars Program.
  Whitley County residents were so thankful for Hal's work that they 
even named the home of their new Kentucky Splash Water Park, the Hal 
Rogers Family Entertainment Center.
  In Congress, we are just as fond of Hal Rogers as his constituents 
are back at home. I have been proud to work alongside this premier 
legislator for nearly four decades. We share the same priorities for 
the people of Kentucky and the same vision for our State's great 
future.
  Hal would not be the man he is today without the love and support of 
his late wife Shirley and their children, Anthony, Allison, and John. 
Later in life, Hal met and married Cynthia, a Tennesseean who has also 
come to love Kentucky and its people.
  So as Hal breaks the record as the longest serving U.S. 
Representative in Kentucky history, let us all give thanks to this 
great public servant and the entire Rogers family.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mrs. FISCHER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.