Opinion

Endorsement: Jenkins earns a second term in Congress

An editorial from The Register-Herald

BECKLEY, W.Va. — Given ample evidence of his workaholic nature, given his fierce and unrelenting defense of the coal industry, given his valuable seat on the Appropriations Committee that keeps its hands on the nation’s purse strings, given his depth of experience with policymaking in the state legislature and given his personal and emotional investment in the care of babies born to drug addicted mothers, we would like to see how another term for Rep. Evan Jenkins works out in D.C.

Voters in the 3rd Congressional District have an interesting choice to make between Jenkins and his impressive but inexperienced opponent, Democrat Matt Detch.

A West Virginia native and resident of Greenbrier County who served in our nation’s Secret Service during two different administrations, Detch is new to politics. He represents the educated, skilled and passionate young adult that our state is having a difficult time retaining.

While so many others his age left the state, Detch came home – and he seems genuinely intent on finding a way forward for all of us.

We fully appreciate his take on the state’s ailing economy that has for too long been overly dependent on coal. He sees promise in a diversified economy with greater efforts aimed at agriculture, tourism and infrastructure.

While noting – accurately – that coal has been in decline for some time and refusing to blame the Obama administration and the EPA, he steers away from trying to make political hay out of the issue, instead flipping the conversation back to economics and market forces – gas, solar and wind, “things we should be looking into” – that have played a hand in coal’s slow bleed.

Yes, that is a refreshingly honest take – and a courageous and admirable one for a political candidate from coal country.

We think Detch needs some seasoning – perhaps in the statehouse where his honesty, clarity of reason and intense focus would be a welcome breath of fresh air.

Jenkins, on the other hand, has been a consistent voice and a thorn in the administration’s side on all matters related to EPA regulations.

There is hardly a week that goes by that the expression “war on coal” does not pass his lips.

But it’s not entirely easy to pigeonhole Jenkins – and that is a good thing.

A former Democrat when he served in the state legislature, he is anti-abortion, favors defunding Planned Parenthood and co-sponsored the Life at Conception Act.

But he also co-sponsored Jessie’s Law in the fight against opioid drug prescriptions and the Quality Care for Moms and Babies Act .

Most significantly and a bit of a lonely star on his list of legislative successes, Jenkins sponsored the NAS (neonatal abstinence syndrome) Healthy Babies Act which was later signed into law by President Barak Obama as the Protecting Our Infants Act.

That dovetails nicely with Jenkins’ work for and on behalf of with Lily’s Place in Jenkins’ hometown of Huntington. The facility provides much needed care for innocent babies born with drugs coursing through their veins. Jenkins showed his compassionate side on this one – and we liked it.

That kind of success, however, has been rare in Jenkins’ first term. Too often, he seems a little too eager to tote the party line, engage in political posturing, show up for photo ops and take credit for any federal dollar that finds its way to the Mountain State.

He voted time and again (some 60 votes, in total) to repeal the Affordable Care Act. With Obama in the White House, it was valuable time wasted on a political stunt – repeatedly.

We wish Jenkins would stay focused on the nitty-gritty of policy work. For instance, what is the Republican alternative to the ACA? Or, conversely, what can be done to fix problems with the current law? You can’t just kick some 18 million people off health care and pat yourself on the back for a job well done. That won’t fly.

Can Jenkins work across the aisle and across chambers to build consensus, to embrace compromise and forge agreements that result in laws that move our country forward and build a legacy? Can he be an effective legislative leader?

And, that, in a nutshell, is where we are with Jenkins.

We believe Jenkins has done enough in his first term to warrant a second. And we hope he uses the opportunity to promote the will of the people for the good of all people and start working towards healing the scars in our body politic.

See more from The Register-Herald. 

 

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