Who is Kentucky’s longest-serving member of Congress? There’s a new record.
As of Thursday, there is a new record for Kentucky’s longest-serving member of Congress.
U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers, a Republican from Somerset who represents the 5th District in Southern and Eastern Kentucky, marked 14,852 days in office on Sept. 2, according to his office.
U.S. Rep. William Natcher, a Democrat from Bowling Green, served 14,851 days before his death in March 1994. Natcher was still in office at the time.
Rogers had served as commonwealth’s attorney for Pulaski and Rockcastle counties and run unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in 1979 before Dr. Tim Lee Carter, a Monroe County Republican who had held the 5th District seat for more than 15 years, decided not to seek reelection in 1980.
Rogers bested a crowded primary field to win the seat and was sworn in Jan. 3, 1981. He has since won 20 more terms by comfortable margins, even after the district was realigned in the early 1990s to include several majority-Democrat counties.
The district now has 30 counties. Rogers has announced plans to run for a 22nd term in 2022.
“I’ve got more work to do,” Rogers said Thursday during an event to mark the milestone. “More promises to keep. More people in need.”
State Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, and House Speaker David Osborne, R-Prospect, hosted a ceremony Thursday in the Kentucky Senate chamber to honor Rogers.
Speakers lauded Rogers for his efforts, which include bringing hundreds of millions in federal funding to the district for a range of projects, including flood control along the Cumberland and other rivers; water and sewer service; health care; drug-abuse treatment and prevention; and economic development.
“His legacy has touched, and more importantly will continue to impact, generations of Kentuckians,” said University of Kentucky President Eli Capilouto.
Rogers staved off efforts by more than one president, most recently President Donald Trump, to gut the Appalachian Regional Commission, which funds a variety of work in the region.
Rogers has worked to try to curb the debilitating problem of drug abuse in his district and the nation, helping establish the Congressional Caucus on Prescription Drug Abuse.
In 2003, he set up Operation UNITE, which provides money for substance-abuse treatment, prevention and law enforcement in his district, and UNITE launched the annual National Rx Drug Abuse and Heroin Summit, the largest event in the country addressing the opioid epidemic.
He also helped start the Shaping Our Appalachian Region, or SOAR, initiative to try to diversify and improve the economy of Eastern Kentucky, which has suffered from a downturn in coal jobs.
Businessman Jim Host said Rogers’ idea to develop high-speed internet service led to the KentuckyWired project, putting the state ahead of the nation in providing broadband.
State Sen. Robin Webb, a Democrat from Grayson, said Rogers has always been willing to reach across the aisle to get the job done and has been a tireless advocate for his district and its people.
“Nobody does that better than Congressman Hal Rogers,” she said.
This story was originally published September 2, 2021 at 3:54 PM.
