He has been a supporter of the Secure Border Initiative that aims to stem illegal immigration along the Mexican border with a combination of patrols and physical barriers, but has been skeptical about the building of a "virtual fence," which has been dogged by delays. In March 2009, Rogers said our "patience is running thin" in the Boeing prototype that the government had already poured $600 million into, but has yet to function properly.

Rogers has been accused of promoting government contracts for homeland-security firms that have donated to his campaigns. In 2001, The Washington Post reported explosive-detection machine makers Reveal Imaging Technologies Inc. received a TSA contract worth up to $463 million after Rogers received $122,111 in political donations and a pledge from the company that $15 million worth of work would occur in his district.

Local Spending

In 1998, a $5.2-million plant was built in Corbin, Ky., housing the government's production of tamper-proof green cards. When a specialized identity card for TSA workers was proposed in 2002, Rogers asked for a study to be done on a Corbin plant to see if it met the requirements for this specific project. The study ultimately concluded the plant wasn't capable of producing the technology recommended and thus the plant did not produce the TSA identity cards. Accused of delaying essential security measures, Rogers said the program languished because of constantly changing leadership at the TSA, not because he was trying to steer work to Kentucky.

In 2009, Rogers voted against the $410 billion omnibus appropriations bill, later sending out eight press releases praising local projects he helped put in the bill. According to his office, Rogers requested over $466.6 million in earmarks for the year. That includes $40 million for programs at the Center for Rural Development, a multi-purpose facility in Rogers' hometown of Somerset that was built with government funding.

The Economy

In fall 2008, Rogers voted twice in favor of a $700-billion bill that sought to bailout out the country's financial system, claiming he was "unwilling to gamble on my people's future" though he disapproved of the plan.

Rogers, like every other House Republican, voted against the February 2009 $787-billion economic stimulus bill that passed, calling it "an ill-conceived, wrongheaded, misdirected spending spree."

Rogers is a major advocate of the $7 billion Interstate-66 project that would traverse southern Kentucky, arguing that it's essential to long-term economic development. As of the end of 2009, more than $90 million in federal funds have been invested in I-66 and construction is now underway in different segments.

Health Care

Rogers voted against the House Democrats health-care bill in November 2009 because "it puts a Washington bureaucrat between you and your doctor, it adds to our enormous debt in Washington, and, even more frightening, it will limit health care availability in rural regions like southern and eastern Kentucky."

But Rogers does acknowledge that "health care costs are too high and that we need to open up access for more Americans."

"That being said, we need to pass a bill that actually cuts costs and increases access rather than a government-run takeover of your health care," he said.

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