John Hall (New York)

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John Hall

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 19th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 4, 2007–
Preceded by	Sue Kelly
Succeeded by	Incumbent

Born	July 23, 1948 (age 58) Baltimore, Maryland
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Pamela Hall
Religion	Roman Catholic

For other people named John Hall, see John Hall.

John Hall (born July 23, 1948) is currently the Congressman for New York's 19th congressional district in the United States. He was a rock musician who co-founded the 1970s band Orleans.

1 Musical career
2 Political career
3 Issues and positions
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Musical career

Waking and Dreaming, featuring the band Orleans with Hall at center

Hall was a student at the University of Notre Dame when he quit to devote himself to music. Songwriting and session time with such artists as Janis Joplin, Seals & Crofts and Bonnie Raitt preceded his founding of Orleans in January 1972 in Ulster County, New York with Wells Kelly and Larry Hoppen. Lance Hoppen, Larry's brother, joined the band later in that year.

The band's work included an album, Waking and Dreaming, with a cover on which all the band members, including Hall, posed stripped to the waist.

In 1977, Hall left to begin a solo career and became active in the anti-nuclear movement, co-founding Musicians United for Safe Energy. Another group, the John Hall Band, released two albums, but disbanded after limited chart success. Hall spent the next few decades writing songs for other artists and reunited with Orleans in 1990, 1996, and 2000. In 2005, he released the album Rock Me on the Water, an album of songs inspired by an extensive sailing trip that took him from Kingston, New York to Havana, Cuba, the Florida Keys, Martha's Vineyard, Cuttyhunk and Annapolis, Maryland. He also formed Gulf Stream Night with longtime Orleans drummer Peter O'Brien, percussionist Joakim Lartey, bassist Bobby MacDougal and wife Pamela Melanie Hall on second guitar.

[edit] Political career

In late October 2004, Hall publicly commented that the presidential campaign of George W. Bush never received permission to use the Orleans song "Still the One" at campaign events. The campaign later dropped the song from their playlist.

He has been involved with Mid-Hudson Nuclear Opponents, who successfully fought the siting of a nuclear power plant on the Hudson River in Greene County, New York. While living in Saugerties, New York, Hall co-founded Saugerties Concerned Citizens, and helped write the town's first zoning law. When Ulster County announced plans for a 200-acre solid waste dump on the historic Winston Farm, Hall led the opposition. This effort culminated in his 1989 election to the Ulster County Legislature. In the late 1990s, after three successive school budgets were rejected by the voters, John ran for, and was elected twice to, the Saugerties Board of Education. His fellow trustees elected him president, and budgets were passed each year of Hall's tenure.^[1]

Signs for Hall and Sue Kelly during the competitive 2006 election

Hall ran in the September 2006 primary race as a Democrat in New York's 19th congressional district. He won the primary, with a commanding 48% in a 4-way race, and faced incumbent Sue W. Kelly in the November election. Hall defeated Kelly with 51% of the vote, losing to Kelly in Putnam, Dutchess, Orange and Rockland counties, but carrying the incumbent's home county of Westchester to pull off the upset. He was assisted in this bid by the $500,000 donated by Adam Rose, an openly gay real-estate developer who inherited his fortune from his father, to an independent left-wing group called Majority Action. This group ran negative advertisements against Sue Kelly. Rose described his motivation as revenge for Kelly's support for the Federal Marriage Amendment, which would ban same-sex marriage, though not civil unions. (John Hall supports legalizing gay marriage.)^{[citation needed]} Hall also received support from the village of Kiryas Joel, which was normally Republican, but was unhappy that Kelly didn't support their controversial water pipeline project.^[2]

According to an article in the Hudson Valley newspaper, the Middletown Times Herald-Record, two days after his primary victory, Hall, in an online chat with the progressive blog Firedoglake, was asked about his position on a possible impeachment of President George W. Bush. Hall stopped short of endorsing impeachment "before hearing evidence", but added that "Whether impeachment or censure, some action must be taken to circumscribe the powers of the presidency." When pressed on the issue, "he candidly reminded the probing blogger, 'I'm trying to get elected in a historically Republican district.'"^[3]

Hall was interviewed by Comedy Central-based satirist Stephen Colbert on October 19, 2006 for a "Better Know a District" segment of his popular comedy show, The Colbert Report. Sue Kelly turned down the opportunity to be interviewed. As the centerpiece of the interview, Colbert eventually convinced Hall to harmonize with him on the Orleans song "Dance with Me". He made a brief encore appearance on The Colbert Report the day after his election, November 8, joining Colbert in a harmonized rendition of the The Star-Spangled Banner.

[edit] Issues and positions

As a newcomer to Congress, it is uncertain what Hall's ideological position is. In the beginning of 110th Congress, Hall voted to raise minimum wage and federal funding of stem cell research.^[4]^[5]

Prior to his election, or even his victory in the primary, Hall expressed interest in drug policy reform. At SUNY New Paltz, during a March 11, 2006 audio interview with Justin Holmes, who was Chair of the Student Senate and actively involved with Students for Sensible Drug Policy at the time, he said that drug prohibition had "failed" and that he agreed with Maurice Hinchey on the need for reform on Plan Colombia, Medical Marijuana, and a provision of the Higher Education Act which denies financial aid to students with drug offenses. As a result of the interview and Sue Kelly's reputation as a supporter of drug prohibition, Holmes would later volunteer for Hall's campaign.

During his campaign, Hall also repeated his call for the closure of the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant.

Hall was assigned to serve on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and is chairman of the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs of the Veterans Affairs Committee in the 110th Congress.

John Hall, as of February 12, 2007, is listed as a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, a group of liberal Democrats in Congress.^[6]^[7] A full list of all members of the CPC is available from the group's website within the official U.S. House of Representative's website.^[8]

[edit] References

^ from campaign bio
^ McKenna, Chris. "Kiryas Joel's votes played key role in Hall's win", recordonline.com, Times-Herald Record, November 9, 2006. Retrieved on March 16, 2007.
^ Brendan Scott, Democrat John Hall tiptoes around presidential impeachment stance, Times Herald-Record (Hudson Valley and Catskills), September 16, 2006 (retrieved 11/8/06).
^ "Final Vote Results for Roll Call 18". U.S. House of Representatives Office of the Clerk (2007-01-10). Retrieved on March 16, 2007.
^ "Final Vote Results for Roll Call 20". U.S. House of Representatives Office of the Clerk (2007-01-11). Retrieved on March 16, 2007.
^ Nichols, John. "The Crowded Progressive Caucus", The Online Beat, The Nation, 12 November 2006. Retrieved on March 16, 2007.
^ "PDA Candidate John Hall Elected as New Yorkers Vote for Change", Progressive Democrats of America, November 9, 2006. Retrieved on March 16, 2007.
^ "Caucus Members & Contact Information". Congressional Progressive Caucus. Retrieved on March 16, 2007.

[edit] External links

U.S. Congressman John Hall official House site
Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
Federal Election Commission - John Joseph Hall campaign finance reports and data
On the Issues - John Hall issue positions and quotes
OpenSecrets.org - John Hall campaign contributions
Project Vote Smart - Representative John Hall (NY) profile
SourceWatch Congresspedia - John Hall profile
Washington Post - Congress Votes Database: John Hall voting record

Preceded by Sue W. Kelly	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 19th congressional district 2007–present	Succeeded by Incumbent