And Now . . . John Hall!

Announcing a semiregular segment of this blog. . . .

John Hall - The First One Hundred Days!

From now until early April, this blog will track the goings-on of America's first rock star congressman, John Hall: singer, songwriter, guitarist, bandleader, antinuclear activist, Iraq War critic, and now the honorable gentleman from the Nineteenth District of the great state of New York!

Why not Keith Ellison of Minnesota, America's first Muslim congressman? No glamour in it.

Below, a story from today's Poughkeepsie Journal on Hall's first day in the House, courtesy of Susan Elan and my copy-and-paste function. :-D

Hall to be seated with today's ceremony
WASHINGTON — John Hall, who becomes District 19's congressman during a swearing-in ceremony scheduled for this afternoon, described his first moments in his office here Wednesday as "thrilling and a little surreal.

"Seeing my name on a plaque outside the door makes this real in another way," said Hall, who was still behaving as a guest as he sat in a visitor's chair opposite his desk at the Longworth House Office Building.

He arrived Wednesday with his wife, Pamela, from their home in Dover Plains to join the first Democratic congressional majority in 12 years.

As he spoke to reporters about the war in Iraq, civil liberties, House ethics reform and a plan to reduce drug costs for senior citizens, Hall's new staff scampered to prepare the four-room suite for its official opening today.

"I'm excited to get to work voting to make positive change in the way government has been functioning," Hall said. "That's why I ran and that's why a bunch of us got sent here.

Of the 435 seats in the House of Representatives, 233 are now held by Democrats and 202 by Republicans. There are 31 new Democrats in the House after 30 Republicans and one Independent lost their seats. Hall won the seat held by six-term Republican incumbent Sue Kelly of Katonah in a district that covers all of Putnam County and portions of Westchester, Rockland, Dutchess and Orange counties.

The early accomplishments Hall said he expects of the 110th Congress include House ethics reforms on lobbying, the repeal of tax breaks for oil and gas companies, and legislation requiring Medicare to negotiate the best prices with drug companies.

"We're going to do the simple ones first," he said. "We'd like to pass some things with relative unanimity." Finding common ground on how to end the war in Iraq, the issue Hall believes clinched his election, appears more challenging, he said.

Turning down the Bush administration's expected supplemental funding request to pay for military action in Iraq and Afghanistan may be the best option, Hall said.
"Ultimately, it's the only power the House of Representatives has," he said. "I would have to see a much more convincing plan than anything I have seen so far to vote for any more funding for Iraq."

At a send-off party in Cortlandt last week, Hall recalled many supporters, including veterans and parents of soldiers, had urged him to work to bring the troops home promptly, reminding him it was part of his election mandate.

Hall said he would work vigorously to defend civil liberties and oppose the use of torture as a tool in the war on terrorism.

"We are a nation that should be respecting civil rights and civil liberties and international law, and any chance I get to reinforce those principals, I will take," he said.

In his new assignment to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Hall said he plans to work vigorously to improve roads and bridges, including the Tappan Zee.

Then he was off to the first full Democratic Caucus of the 110th Congress. As Hall entered the meeting room in the Cannon Building, Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., the caucus chairman, began a news conference outlining ethics reforms proposed by Democrats. . . .