By John Miller

March 24, 2019 - We have long extolled the virtues of First District Congressman David McKinley, a Republican from Wheeling, West Virginia who has held his post since 2011.

McKinley, who also served 15 years in the state House of Delegates and was the state’s Republican Party chair from 1990-94, always likes to say that he’s an engineer, not a politician.

David McKinley (left) confers with WVU President E. Gordon Gee prior to a forum on self-driving cars Wednesday.

Photo by Charles Young

And it’s true. McKinley is a highly talented and successful engineer and brings about a scientific and prudent approach in his decision-making process.

But make no mistake, he understands politics and has demonstrated the ability to get things accomplished, whether it was during his time in Charleston at the state Capitol or now in Washington, D.C., at the nation’s capital.

But while McKinley holds strong to Republican principles in many regards, he is a pragmatist, perhaps stemming from his scientific approach. There is no question he is rooted in the real world, looking for solutions to problems and ways forward for those he serves in West Virginia.

So it doesn’t surprise us to see him rated as 11th on the Lugar Center Bipartisanship Rankings for members of the House of Representatives.

For those who don’t know about the Lugar Center, it is under the leadership of former United States Sen. Richard G. Lugar, and serves “as a platform for an informed debate on global issues,” according to its website.

“The Center has become a prominent voice on issues that framed much of Senator Lugar’s career — nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction, global food security, foreign assistance effectiveness and global development, energy security, and enhancing bipartisan governance. The Center brings together expert sources and sponsors research to improve the quality of debate and bridge ideological divides around these important issues.”

The Lugar Center works in conjunction with Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy to develop the non-partisan ranking. It considers voting record, but also the number of bipartisan co-sponsorships “and other metrics when calculating the award,” according to a press release from McKinley’s office.

During his time in Washington, McKinley has looked for and — more importantly — found ways towards solutions, calling upon his fellow House members for support, regardless of political affiliation.

Naturally, he uses his growing influence to tackle issues important to West Virginia and the First District, and has had success in addressing the following issues, according to the release:

— Miners’ health care with The HELP for Coal Miners Healthcare Act, which addressed the threat of over 22,000 miners and family members losing their health-care coverage.

— The state’s opioid epidemic problems, with legislation developing programs that “aim to reduce repeat overdoses, encourage alternatives to opioids, expand access to safe drug disposal programs, and improve information sharing about patients’ addiction history between health-care providers and family members.”

— The state’s many former industrial sites, by reauthorizing and enhancing funding through the Brownfields Program, which “is designed to empower states, communities, and other stakeholders in economic redevelopment to work together in a timely manner to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields.”

McKinley has championed these efforts, and many more, introducing 128 bills and resolutions during his time in Congress. Almost all of these bills and resolutions had bipartisan sponsorship, a real testimony to McKinley’s ability to communicate real-world problems and foster cooperation toward real-world solutions.

In late 2015, NCWV Media honored McKinley as its Statesman of the Year for his efforts to protect coal as a national fuel source and his willingness to go the extra mile for the people of West Virginia.

We wrote at the time:

“While McKinley’s fight against efforts to curb coal use is his trademark, it is far from representative of the totality of his legislative efforts for the people of the First District, as well as all of the Mountain State.

“He has protected the National Energy Technology Laboratory in Morgantown, keeping it from merging with a similar facility in Pittsburgh. And he has worked earnestly to help high-technology businesses located along Interstate 79 in Morgantown, Fairmont and Clarksburg.

“Remarkably, despite keeping a full schedule in Washington, D.C., McKinley has been highly visible and active in the First District.”

Those efforts — and his success — have only increased since that time and his emergence as a pragmatic voice in Congress continues to send a clarion call on what good government should look like and be about: The people.

Rep. David McKinley has been right for West Virginia and the United States since day one of service because he looks at all people equally, listens to their concerns and then looks for solutions. He may have an “R” next to his name, signifying his party affiliation, but first and foremost, he is a public servant.