MORGANTOWN – Rep. Alex Mooney talked with The Dominion Post this week about some of his legislation, his recent visit to Morgantown and his time on the campaign trail.
On July 27, Mooney introduced a House resolution to eliminate the House Office of Diversity and Inclusion, and 15 GOP colleagues have signed on.
“I’m very positive. I think it should pass,” he said.
Its summary is one sentence: “The Office of Diversity and Inclusion in the House of Representatives is hereby terminated.” It amends two House rules to accomplish its purpose.
As a House rules measure, Mooney said, it would take effect upon passage; the Senate wouldn’t be involved.
In announcing the resolution, he said, “As a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, I am opposed to liberal bureaucrats imposing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs. When House Democrats took back the majority from Republicans in 2019, they created the House Office of Diversity and Inclusion to inject cultural Marxism into Congress.”
Mooney told The Dominion Post he’s optimistic about the resolution’s chances because they’ve already done pretty much the same thing for other agencies.
In July, in amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), 219 members voted to eliminate all DEI programs at the Pentagon. “I noticed while we are eliminating it from other agencies, we still have it for ourselves,” he said.
House members are out of D.C. for a District Work Period and will return after Labor Day. Mooney took the time last week to visit the northern portion of his new 2nd District, which was the old 1st District before the 2021 redistricting.
His Morgantown visit included a tour of the new Hope Gas headquarters at the former Mylan plant, now WVU Innovation Corp.; a visit to Intermed Labs at Mon Health; and a roundtable on medical issues at Mon Health.
At Intermed, he said, he got to see how physicians are advancing patient care with inventions that are making a national impact – devices such as the SNAPS eye shield and Endolumik’s fluorescence-guided gastric calibration tube. “I was very impressed. They showed me how right here in West Virginia they invented new medical devices that are being used right now.”
When Congress returns to D.C. after Labor Day, the House and Senate will work on a compromise version of their respective NDAA bills. We asked Mooney his thoughts on how that will go.
“The topline spending is always an issue, we do have to stay within our budget,” he said. And he believes the House should hold its position that taxpayers shouldn’t pay for transgender surgeries.
But overall, “What I’m hoping for is positive this year. When it comes to supporting the military and funding, that’s something generally Republicans and Democrats agree on.”
He believes that’s why Speaker Kevin McCarthy made that the first appropriations bill to pass and go over. They can hammer out the few differences and send it to the president. “Get back to the appropriate way to spend taxpayer dollars,” he said. “I’m hoping this one won’t be controversial.”
The health care bill may be more controversial. “For now I hope we can agree.”
And a recent West Virginia Chamber of Commerce poll showed Justice with a comfortable lead – at the moment – over Mooney, who represents the northern half of the state in the U.S. House. The numbers were 56% for Justice and 19% for Mooney.
Mooney returned to the U.S. Senate race campaign trail in Bluefield on Tuesday. We asked him about a July West Virginia Chamber of Commerce poll that showed Gov. Jim Justice with a comfortable lead – at the moment – over Mooney. The numbers were 56% for Justice and 19% for Mooney. But the chamber attributed that to the difference in name recognition at this stage.
Mooney said, “Any polls at this point are basically meaningless. My goal is to tell my story to the voters of West Virginia.”
He’s running on his conservative voting record, he said. “A lot of people make promises and say what they’re going to do. I can tell them what I’ve actually voted for.”
He’s thankful he’s been elected five times, he said, and never lost a Republican primary.
“I’ve done exactly what I said I would do,” he said. “I haven’t switched my views, I’ve fought for conservative values on everything”
He’s 100% pro-life,he said, and lead sponsor of the Life at Conception Act. He’s also pro-Second Amendment, and lead sponsor of the Protecting the Second Amendment in Financial Services Act (to prohibit tracking and limiting guns sales through credit card transactions) and the Second Amendment Protection Act, to exempt state-legal medical cannabis patients from federal firearms restrictions.
And, he said, he’s voted against the Biden spending bills and the debt it created. “I think our country is in serious jeopardy with a $32 trillion and growing debt. I think that’s a huge threat to America.”
He said, “I’ve been attacked for my votes.” Both Democrats and Republicans have criticized him. “I vote against the spending bills even though there’s things in the bills I may like and support, but if we cant afford the overall bill, I vote against it. … I do believe I represent West Virginia voters and West Virginia values when I think we should balance our budget.”
email: dbeard@dominionpost.com
