BLUEFIELD — U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., and Republican challenger Elliott “Spike” Maynard, clashed Tuesday over the future of coal, health care reform and jobs for southern West Virginia.

Both candidates agreed coal was under attack by Washington, but differed sharply on most other topics in the first of two 3rd Congressional District debates sponsored by the Bluefield Daily Telegraph, The Register-Herald in Beckley and WVVA in Bluefield.

“Mr. Rahall has been in Congress for 34 years,” Maynard, a former Supreme Court justice, said. “He’s a long-time Washington insider. He is a member of the team that is waging war on coal. Whether you like that or not the fact is Obama, Lisa Jackson and Nancy Pelosi are a member of the same team. I won’t be a member of the same team. If you send me to Washington, the first thing we will do is remove Nancy Pelosi as speaker of the House.”

“I’ve waged many a battles for coal, and I will continue to wage many a battles for coal,” Rahall said. “I’m not about to stop now. It’s a fight. Oh it’s a fight. You can count on me to continue fighting the good fight.”

When asked whether the perception by some that the Obama administration is waging a war on coal was real, Rahall said, “Oh it’s real  — no doubt about it. And what irks me the most is these political operatives who are suddenly waking up. Where have they been. Coal has always been under attack. It’s unfortunate, but it’s kind of like fighting terrorist attacks. When an attack doesn’t occur, you never know a threat was there to begin with.”

Rahall said the Environmental Protection Agency’s “indecision, slowness and unequal treatment” when it comes to West Virginia coal must stop.

“I’m shocked Mr. Rahall would say where have they been,” Maynard, a former Democrat who switched to the Republican Party, said. “Where have you been for the last 34 years. Mr. Rahall told the Beckley Register-Herald that the EPA is just doing its job when it is taking coal jobs.”

Maynard also questioned Rahall’s support of the Sierra Club. “You can’t serve the Sierra Club and be pro coal,” Maynard said. “You can’t serve two masters. The worst vote the congressman casts in Congress is the same every year — when he votes to make Nancy Pelosi speaker of the House.”

“Let me be clear — I don’t answer to anyone other than the people of West Virginia,” Rahall responded. “Nobody controls my strings. I reach across the aisle and I do work for both parties. I vote to protect the unborn, and I’m proud of my pro-life record in the U.S. Congress.”

Maynard said Rahall supported a $787 billion federal stimulus bill that created 2,000 wind turbine jobs in China, but failed to provide a single dollar for the King Coal Highway, the Coalfields Expressway and the Shawnee Parkway projects in southern West Virginia.

“We didn’t get a single dollar for the King Coal Highway, or the Coalfields Expressway,” Maynard said. “We got enough money to create 2,000 jobs in China to build windmills, but no money for southern West Virginia.”

Maynard said Bluefield — and not China — should have been the location of the wind turbine factory and the 2,000 jobs.

“There are empty buildings rights here in Bluefield — I can take you to them tonight — where you could build the windmills,” Maynard said. “I don’t mind building the windmills, but let’s build them in the 3rd District of West Virginia.”

Rahall said the stimulus package included millions for Mercer, McDowell, Wyoming and Raleigh counties, including funding for a new Mercer County Health Center and upgrades to the Mercer County Airport.

“I have been responsible for hundreds of millions of dollars for the King Coal Highway, the  Coalfields Expressway and the  Shawnee Parkway,” Rahall said. “These highways are important for transporting not only our people safely and our children, but they are also important for transporting our other most important natural resource — coal. Unfortunately, road building in a state like West Virginia is expensive.”

Rahall said the existing Highway Trust Fund is broke. He said the best solution for building new roads in West Virginia is a six-year reauthorization of the federal transportation bill. Rahall said he has requested $13.5 million for the city of Bluefield’s Colonial Intermodal Project, $60 million for the King Coal Highway in Mercer County and $40 million for the Coalfields Expressway in McDowell and Wyoming counties in the new highway transportation bill.

“Anyone who thinks these roads will be built with someone else in office is living in la la land,” Rahall said.

Rahall also defended his support of the federal health care bill — a comment that generated a reaction — including some boos — from the large crowd in attendance at Bluefield High School Performing Arts Center.

“Let me say the health care bill is not the perfect bill,” Rahall said. “But let me say the cost of doing nothing is much more. Co-pays are going up. Coverage is going down. And now because of the passage of this health care bill our children can stay on their families coverage until age 26. And no longer can the health insurers cut you off when your annual limit is up.”

Maynard disagreed.

“The biggest thing that is wrong with Obamacare is that 67 percent of the American people don’t want it,” Maynard said. “I know the people in Washington don’t think this — but this is a democracy. The people are the boss. This bill allows for federal funding of abortions, and anyone who says it doesn’t is disingenuous.”

Maynard said the health care reform bill also cuts $500 billion from Medicare, which he said will hurt senior citizens in the Third Congressional District.

Rahall said senior citizens in southern West Virginia will benefit from the federal legislation because it closes the so-called donut hole for prescription drug coverage. Rahall said many seniors caught in the donut hole also are currently receiving $250 checks from Washington.

When asked about comments made by some in Bluefield who are suggesting that the future of the Colonial Intermodal Center project is contingent upon the re-election of Rahall, Maynard said he too supports the Colonial Intermodal Center.

“I support the intermodal facility for Bluefield just as I supported the one in Cabbell County years ago,” Maynard said.

Rahall said the $13.5 million in federal funds he is seeking for the downtown Bluefield project will create a transportation and economic hub for Bluefield similar to the Beckley Intermodal Project in Raleigh County.

Both candidates were able to agree on their support for mountaintop mining, and tougher enforcement measures on coal mines that are unsafe.

Rahall said he recently introduced legislation along with U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., that would  delay the implementation of new regulations governing green house gases, a measure often referred to as cap and trade. However, Maynard said the two-year reprieve provides no assurances to frightened families of coal miners,.

“They are worried about the future,” Maynard said. “They need to know if they can raise their families and make their house payments. Two years won’t do it.”

Rahall said efforts by lawmakers in Washington to ban mountaintop mining all together won’t happen without the approval from the Committee on Natural Resources, which he chairs, and the transportation committee, which he vice chairs.

“I strongly support the practice of mountaintop mining removal,” Maynard said. “We have shopping centers and jails and all of these types of developments on these sites. The people who oppose this nationally, it is just wrong. Mr. Rahall mentioned he is vice chairman of the roads and transportation (committee), but if I was vice chairman, we wouldn’t have the worse roads in West Virginia and the only toll road.”

Maynard said Washington must allow West Virginia to continue mining coal.

“But we need to mine that coal responsibly and safely,” Maynard said. “ If they are unsafe, and proven to be unsafe, you have to shut them down until they are safe.”

“These tragedies just beg out for justice and a response,” Rahall added. “And they cry out for stronger mine safety laws. Those who don’t should be punished, and their mines shut down. End of debate.”

Maynard said he left the Democratic Party, and became a member of the Republican Party, due to an illness.

“I got sick of Nancy Pelosi,” Maynard said. “Now Pelosi and Obama have declared war on coal. I think we should fire Nancy Pelosi instead. My opponent, Mr. Rahall, is on the Pelosi, Obama team. He votes with them 95.5 percent of the time.”

“To those who say we need change, I point out things are already changing,” Rahall said. “We’ve lost our beloved U. S. senior senator — Robert C. Byrd. But there is one thing I know for certain and that is we must never give up. I know how to forge alliances within political parties and across philosophical lines. I know how to build coalitions, and how to get things done for West Virginia regardless of who controls Congress. I’ve been fighting for coal, for coal miner jobs and their safety.”

A second debate between Rahall and Maynard will be held Tuesday, Oct. 26, at 7 p.m. at Carter Hall on the campus of Mountain State University in Beckley.

— Contact Charles Owens at cowens@bdtonline.com