Editing Nick Rahall (section)

==Political issues==

===Mining===
In 2010 Rahall introduced legislation to improve mine safety.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Writer |first=Sam HananelAssociated Press |title=Congress proposes mine bill to crack down on repeat violators |url=https://www.register-herald.com/news/congress-proposes-mine-bill-to-crack-down-on-repeat-violators/article_b5b04e8c-3169-514f-853f-ee5819c6200f.html |access-date=2023-03-06 |website=Beckley Register-Herald |date=June 30, 2010 |language=en}}</ref> Rahall opposed legislation designed to end [[mountaintop removal mining]], a process often used in West Virginia.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Lillis|first=Mike|title=Rahall takes sole credit for blocking bill to end mountaintop mining|work=The Hill|date=October 17, 2010|url=https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/72848-rahall-takes-sole-credit-for-blocking-bill-to-end-mountaintop-mining/|access-date=October 17, 2010}}</ref>

Rahall's policies involving mountaintop removal mining have been criticized as reflected by author and journalist [[Jeff Biggers]] in "The Blog" in ''[[The Huffington Post]]'', with the link between mountaintop removal mining and flooding, as well as the billions of pounds of explosives used since 2004, being given as examples.<ref name="Ansel Adams">{{cite news|title=Should Wilderness Society Strip US Rep. Nick Rahall of the Ansel Adams Award?|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-biggers/should-wilderness-society_b_213108.html|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=July 10, 2009|first=Jeff|last=Biggers}}</ref>

===Environmental issues===
Rahall accepts anthropogenic [[climate change]] as real and has stated that to reject the [[Scientific opinion on climate change|scientific consensus regarding it]] is "to just put your head in the sand."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.register-herald.com/todaysfrontpage/x935815715/U-S-HOUSE-CANDIDATE-CONVERSATIONS-Nick-Rahall|title=U.S. HOUSE CANDIDATE CONVERSATIONS — Nick Rahall|date=October 14, 2010 |publisher=Register Herald|access-date=October 14, 2010}}</ref>

Rahall called the [[United States Environmental Protection Agency|Environmental Protection Agency]] "callous", attacked [[Barack Obama]]'s greenhouse gas rule as "disastrous", and filed legislation to block the president's climate agenda, but in the summer of 2013 he attended a ceremony to rename the EPA headquarters and has praised EPA Administrator [[Gina McCarthy]].<ref name=politico/> Rahall, alongside three other Democrats, supported a GOP bill that would limit EPA authority on {{CO2}} emissions, the [[Energy Tax Prevention Act]]. He commented on this, saying: "I am dead set against the E.P.A.'s plowing ahead on its own with new regulations to limit greenhouse gases."<ref name=wapo1>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/03/AR2011030302312.html|title=Dems join GOP in fight to block EPA climate rules|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=October 2, 2014}}</ref> He also voted against the [[American Clean Energy and Security Act]].

In 2007, Rahall introduced the [[Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007]], which banned [[incandescent light bulb]]s. Despite introducing the legislation, Rahall voted against the bill on final passage. As a result of the legislation, as of January 1, 2014, incandescent light bulbs between 40 watts and 150 watts are illegal to manufacture or import.{{citation needed|date=January 2015}}

In 2013, Rahall voted for the [[Progressive Caucus|Progressive Caucus's]] budget, which included provisions for a carbon tax. The budget failed to pass.<ref>{{cite news|last=Boucher|first=David|title=Rahall to officially start re-election bid|url=http://blogs.charlestondailymail.com/capitolnotebook/2013/05/09/rahall-to-officially-start-re-election-bid/comment-page-1|access-date=May 23, 2014|newspaper=Charleston Daily Mail|date=September 3, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140523230017/http://blogs.charlestondailymail.com/capitolnotebook/2013/05/09/rahall-to-officially-start-re-election-bid/comment-page-1/|archive-date=May 23, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Kercheval|first=Hoppy|title=Rahall vote gives opponents ammo|url=http://wvmetronews.com/2013/05/01/rahall-vote-gives-opponents-ammo/|access-date=May 23, 2014|newspaper=West Virginia Metro News|date=January 5, 2013}}</ref>

===Foreign policy===
Rahall and another Congressman of Arab descent traveled to Syria and ignored [[State Department]] policy by meeting with Palestinian leader [[Yasser Arafat]], whom Rahall had known for years.<ref name=candidate/> [[Queen Noor of Jordan]] presented Rahall with the first Najeeb Halaby Award for public service.<ref name=candidate/>

Rahall opposed the [[2003 invasion of Iraq]]. Rahall had traveled to Baghdad just before the Iraq War with the intention of convincing Iraqi leaders to allow the U.N. to inspect Iraq's weapons and have access to every site. He said that [[Tariq Aziz]] had accepted all of Bush's demands, and that "Bush said the war was not inevitable, but we now know that wasn't true. Iraqis did allow for complete access but Bush's mind was already made up. Iraqis were damned if they did and damned if they didn't .... We were falsely led into this war."<ref name=WRMEA/>

In 2004, it was reported that Rahall feared that Syria would be attacked by Bush before the November elections. He said that "They're using the same rhetoric against the Syrians they used against Iraqis.... We now have the Syrian Accountability Act. All this despite the State Department's admission that Syria helped us capture key al-Qaeda operatives and helped save American lives." As for Saudi Arabia, Rahall said that the U.S. "wouldn't dare" attack that country: "The Kingdom has been a key ally for decades."<ref name=WRMEA/>

===Israel===
Rahall has expressed concern about America's relationship with Israel. He said, "Israel can't continue to occupy, humiliate and destroy the dreams and spirits of the Palestinian people and continue to call itself a democratic state."<ref name=WRMEA>{{cite web|last=Hanley|first=Delinda|title=Congressman Nick Rahall Assesses Impact Of Iraq and Israel on U.S. Elections|url=http://www.wrmea.com/component/content/article/262/5275-congressman-nick-rahall-assesses-impact-of-iraq-and-israel-on-us-elections.html|date= June 2004|pages=29, 59|publisher=Washington Report on Middle East Affairs|access-date=April 21, 2012}}</ref>

Rahall, 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. He helped draft a resolution that urged "all parties to protect innocent life and civilian infrastructure."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/25/AR2006072501324.html?nav=rss_politics |title=Congress Cautioned On Support of Israel |newspaper=Washington Post|date= July 26, 2006|access-date=July 12, 2010 | first=Jonathan | last=Weisman}}</ref>

Rahall was the only member of the House to oppose the 1993 resolution urging Arab states to end their [[Arab boycott of Israel|boycott of Israel]].<ref name=sib/><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NXLHAAAAQBAJ&q=nick+rahall+israel&pg=PA91|author=Sarah Stern|title=Saudi Arabia and the Global Islamic Terrorist Network: America and the West's Fatal Embrace|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |date= 2011|access-date=October 2, 2014|isbn=9780230370715}}</ref>

Rahall was the most senior of five [[Arab American]] lawmakers on Capitol Hill.<ref name=sib>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-jun-17-na-rahall17-story.html|date=June 17, 2004|first=Chuck|last= Neubauer|title=A Sibling Symbiosis in the Capitol; A lobbyist for Qatar is sister to a congressman who is a key advocate for the Arab monarchy|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=October 2, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationaljournal.com/transportation-and-infrastructure-committee/for-rahall-representation-means-fighting-for-resources-20130724|first=Rebecca|last=Kaplan|title=For Rahall, Representation Means Fighting for Resources|work=National Journal|date=July 24, 2013|access-date=October 3, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006102845/http://www.nationaljournal.com/transportation-and-infrastructure-committee/for-rahall-representation-means-fighting-for-resources-20130724|archive-date=October 6, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Endorsement of Barack Obama===
In 2008, Rahall endorsed [[Barack Obama]], saying Obama understood the needs and aspirations of West Virginians. He was also Chair of the Arab Americans for Obama group.<ref>{{Cite web
  | title = Rahall endorses Barack Obama
  | publisher = The Herald Dispatch
  | date = March 6, 2008
  | url = http://www.herald-dispatch.com/elections/x1487405479
  | access-date = November 18, 2013}}</ref> Explaining his position, Rahall cited Senator Byrd, who said "I work for no President. I work with Presidents."<ref name="CSPAN">{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/CSPAN_20101028_210000_U.S._House_of_Representatives|title=C-SPAN Today in Washington |date=October 28, 2010 |publisher=[[C-SPAN]]|access-date=October 1, 2014}}</ref> In an interview with [[Keith Olbermann]], Rahall said that Obama had the courage and conviction to win the presidency, and that the then-senator was a true agent for change.<ref>[http://video.msnbc.msn.com/msnbc/24604032#24604032 MSNBC]{{dead link|date=November 2019|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} http://video.msnbc.msn.com/msnbc/24604032#24604032{{Dead link|date=December 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

===Ethical issues===
In 2004, the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' ran an article about Rahall and his sister, lobbyist Tanya Rahall. They reported that she made $15,000 per month as a [[lobbyist]] for [[Qatar]], and that "the person she frequently lobbies is ... her older brother and one of Qatar's biggest champions in Washington." Rahall said "our paths cross professionally, but not across any lines appropriately established by law or House rules."<ref name=sib/> In May 2003, a year after his sister took on Qatar as a client, Rahall sponsored a resolution praising Qatar's "years of democratic reform"; according to one academic study from 2011, "For over three years, the country [Qatar] virtually had its own congressman in Washington, Nick Rahall (D-WV)".<ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NXLHAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA91|title=Saudi Arabia and the Global Islamic Terrorist Network|publisher=Palgrave MacMillan|chapter=The Saudi Penetration into American NGOs|first1=Kyle|last1=Shiderer|first2=Ilan|last2=Weinglass|date=November 3, 2011|pages=81–104|isbn=9780230370715|editor1-first=Sarah|editor1-last=Stern|access-date=October 2, 2014}}</ref>

In February 2005, Rahall used Congressional stationery to write a letter to a [[Fairfax County, Virginia|Fairfax County]] judge, David Stitt, asking for leniency for his son, Nick Rahall III, who was facing [[felony]] robbery charges. According to the House ethics manual: "Official stationery ... may be used only for official purposes." Rahall acknowledged that he should not have used Congressional stationery for his letter, but said it was not the same type that he uses for official or committee business. Rahall added he may have drawn the wrong paper "[i]n the emotions", and that he would reimburse the Treasury Department for the cost of the paper.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0810/41002.html|title=Questions raised about Nick Rahall helping son|publisher=Politico|author=John Bresnahan|date=August 12, 2010 |access-date=August 12, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gOM2iJE7aLkxUUMwsRwn0VcNeCbwD9HI7LOG0|title=Democrat Nick Rahall misused official stationery|publisher=Associated Press|access-date=August 13, 2010}}{{dead link|date=June 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wsaz.com/news/headlines/100592614.html|title=Rahall Admits to Using Congressional Stationary to ask Judge for Favor|date=August 12, 2010|publisher=WSAZ News Channel 3|access-date=October 3, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006064930/http://www.wsaz.com/news/headlines/100592614.html|archive-date=October 6, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> The [[United States House Committee on Ethics]] did not launch an inquiry into the incident.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Pergram|first=Chad|title=Second Congressman allegedly misuses stationary|publisher=Fox News|date=August 12, 2010|url=http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/08/12/second-congressman-allegedly-misuses-house-stationery|access-date=October 16, 2010|archive-date=July 26, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726125306/http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/08/12/second-congressman-allegedly-misuses-house-stationery|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Rahall was one of seven Democrats and twelve Republicans listed by [[Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington]] in its annual "Most Corrupt Members of Congress Report" in 2011.<ref name=most>{{cite web|url=http://www.charlestondailymail.com/News/statenews/201109203086|title=Rahall on list of most corrupt Congresspeople|date=September 21, 2011|author=Jared Hunt|publisher=Charleston Daily Mail|access-date=October 3, 2014|archive-date=October 6, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006120858/http://www.charlestondailymail.com/News/statenews/201109203086|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Rep.+Nick+Rahall+%28D-WV%29+Named+One+of+the+Most+Corrupt+Members+of...-a0267424762|title=Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV) Named One of the Most Corrupt Members of Congress|date=2011|access-date=October 3, 2014|archive-date=October 6, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006081959/http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Rep.+Nick+Rahall+%28D-WV%29+Named+One+of+the+Most+Corrupt+Members+of...-a0267424762|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Melanie Sloan]], CREW's executive director, said: "Rep. Rahall abused his position to help his son and sister in clear violation of the House ethics rules." Rahall's spokeswoman said: "There is as little merit to these allegations today as there was then."<ref name=most/>