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'''Ralph Moody Hall''' (born May 3, 1923) is an American politician who served as the [[United States Representative]] for {{ushr|Texas|4|}} from 1981 to 2015. He was first elected in [[United States House elections, 1980|1980]], and was the chairman of the [[United States House Committee on Science, Space and Technology|House Committee on Science, Space and Technology]] from 2011 to 2013. He was also a member of the [[United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce|Committee on Energy and Commerce]]. In 2004, he switched to the [[Republican Party (US)|Republican Party]] after having been a member of the [[Democratic Party (US)|Democratic Party]] for more than 50 years.
At 91, he was the oldest serving member of [[United States Congress|Congress]] at the end of his last term in office, the oldest person to ever serve in the House of Representatives, the oldest person ever elected to a House term and the oldest House member ever to cast a vote, and the last member of Congress from the [[G.I. Generation]]. He and Michigan Congressman [[John Dingell]]<ref>{{cite news |last=Finley |first=Nolan |title=Michigan's Dingell won't seek re-election to Congress |url=http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140224/POLITICS02/302240051 |newspaper=The Detroit News |date=February 24, 2014 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140321083954/http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140224/POLITICS02/302240051 |archivedate=March 21, 2014 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> were the last two [[Surviving U.S. veterans of World War II|World War II veterans]] serving in Congress.<ref>{{cite news | first = Chris | last = Good | publisher = [[ABC News]] | url = http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/06/frank-lautenberg-and-senate-link-to-ww-ii-laid-to-rest/ | title = Frank Lautenberg and Senate Link to WW II Laid to Rest | date = June 7, 2013 | accessdate = June 7, 2013 }}</ref>
On March 6, 2014, Hall was challenged in the Republican primary by five other Republicans.<ref name="TXObs03122014"/><ref name= "TXSecState03062014"/> Hall received 45.42% of the vote, which was under 50%, the amount required to avoid a runoff election.<ref name= "TXObs03122014"/><ref name="TXSecState03062014"/> In the runoff, Hall faced former [[United States Attorney|U.S. Attorney]] [[John Ratcliffe (American politician)|John Ratcliffe]], who finished second in the primary with 28.77% of the vote.<ref name= "TXObs03122014">Hooks, Christopher. [http://www.texasobserver.org/ralph-halls-primary-challenge-sign-changing-times/ Texas Congressman Ralph Hall, 34 Year Incumbent, Hits a Rough Patch], ''[[Texas Observer]]'', March 12, 2014.</ref><ref name="TXSecState03062014">[https://team1.sos.state.tx.us/enr/results/mar04_169_state.htm?x=0&y=0&id=189 Office of the Secretary of State, 2014 Republican Party Primary Election, Election Night Returns], March 6, 2014</ref> On May 27, 2014, Ratcliffe defeated Hall in the runoff election, 53% to 47%.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2014/05/u-s-rep-ralph-hall-91-battles-john-ratcliffe-for-final-term.html/ |title=Oldest congressman, Ralph Hall, 91, ousted by John Ratcliffe |publisher=The Dallas Morning News |accessdate=May 27, 2014}}</ref>
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In May 2013, announced his bid for an 18th term in the U.S. House.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://blog.chron.com/txpotomac/2013/05/90-year-old-rep-ralph-hall-seeks-another-term-to-help-elect-the-next-republican-president/ | title=90-year-old Rep. Ralph Hall seeks another term to ‘help elect the next Republican president’ | work=Houston Chronicle | date=May 8, 2013 | accessdate=May 9, 2013 | author=Sullivan, Alison}}</ref> On December 20, 2013, Hall said that the 2014 campaign would be his last, regardless of the result.<ref>{{cite web|author=Anonymous |url=http://www.rockwallheraldbanner.com/local/x1956136864/Hall-announces-final-re-election-bid |title=Hall announces final re-election bid » Local News » Rockwall Herald-Banner (Texas) |publisher=Rockwall Herald-Banner |date= |accessdate=December 26, 2013}}</ref>
In the March 4, 2014 Republican primary, Hall led a six-candidate field with 29,815 votes (45.4%). Because he did not obtain a majority of the ballots cast, Hall was forced to enter the May 27, 2014 [[runoff election]] with the runner-up, former U. S. Attorney [[John Ratcliffe (American politician)|John Lee Ratcliffe]] of [[Heath, Texas|Heath]] who received 18,891 votes (28.8%).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://team1.sos.state.tx.us/enr/results/mar04_169_state.htm?x=0&y=218&id=176|title=Republican primary election returns, March 4, 2014|publisher=enr.sos.state.tx.us|accessdate=March 5, 2014|deadurl=yes|archiveurl=https://archive.is/20140305180619/https://team1.sos.state.tx.us/enr/results/mar04_169_state.htm?x=0&y=218&id=176|archivedate=March 5, 2014|df=mdy-all}}</ref>
Ratcliffe defeated Hall in the March 21 runoff. With the loss, Hall became the only sitting Republican U.S. representative from Texas to unsuccessfully seek renomination to his or her seat out of 257 attempts since statehood.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://editions.lib.umn.edu/smartpolitics/2014/05/28/hall-makes-history-1st-texas-g/ |title= Hall Makes History: 1st Texas GOP US Rep to Lose Renomination Bid |work=Smart Politics |first=Eric |last=Ostermeier |date= May 28, 2014}}</ref> No Democrat even filed, meaning that the runoff was the real contest for the seat. Accordingly, Ratcliffe was elected unopposed, and assumed office on January 3, 2015.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2014/05/u-s-rep-ralph-hall-91-battles-john-ratcliffe-for-final-term.html/ |title=Oldest congressman, Ralph Hall, 91, ousted by John Ratcliffe |publisher=The Dallas Morning News |accessdate=May 28, 2014}}</ref>
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The [[Northern Mariana Islands]] are a U.S. commonwealth in the [[Pacific Ocean|Pacific]] with a large garment industry. Billing records of [[Preston Gates|Preston Gates Ellis and Rouvelas Meeds]], an international law firm employed by the CNMI, the government of the islands, show numerous contacts between the law firm and Hall's office. He said his dealings with the law firm were with Lloyd Meeds, a partner with the firm, which at the time listed 36 attorneys on staff, not with [[Jack Abramoff]], the firm's representative for the CNMI contract. In 2006, he said of the Northern Marianas, "They were good allies, and I believed their government should handle their affairs and not have us impose labor laws on them."<ref name="TPN-10-01-06">Mary Madewell, [http://theparisnews.com/mobile/mobilestory.lasso?ewcd=fa13afebfa7e1d78 "Democrat: Hall had ties to jailed lobbyist"], ''The Paris News'' (Texas), October 1, 2006</ref><ref>[http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/docs/abramoff-cnmi-billings/?resultpage=1& Letter from Preston Gates Ellis to CNMI, May 6, 1997] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090305184217/http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/docs/abramoff-cnmi-billings/?resultpage=1& |date=March 5, 2009 }}</ref>
In December 1996, Hall and E.K. Slaughter, a friend,<ref>[http://www.opensecrets.org/pfds/pfd1997/N00005645_1997.pdf#search=%22%22E.K.%20Slaughter%22%22 Ralph Hall, financial disclosure statement for calendar year 1997, showing loan of between $50,000 and $100,000 by Hall to E.K. Slaughter], opensecrets.org, accessed September 27, 2006</ref> and their wives visited the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The trip was arranged by the National Security Caucus Foundation (NSCF), which told him that the trip would be paid for by that group.<ref name="TPN-10-01-06"/> Greg Hilton, the director of the now-defunct NCSF, had no funding for such trips; he only arranged them with CNMI officials. Hilton said he was led to believe by officials of Preston Gates that the CNMI would pay the expenses and be reimbursed by the private sector. In fact, Preston Gates paid the expenses for such trips and billed the CNMI for reimbursement.<ref>[http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/05/03/politics/main692643.shtml "Dollar Trail From D.C. To Islands"], ''Associated Press'', May 3, 2005</ref> For the trip of Hall, Slaughter and their wives, Abramoff billed the CNMI $12,800.<ref>[http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/docs/abramoff-cnmi-billings/?resultpage=1& Letter from Preston Gates Ellis to CNMI, May 6, 1997]<!--- link is temporarily down — database error — Google cache is here as of October 12, 2006: {{
In September 1997, Democratic Representative [[Neil Abercrombie]] placed remarks in the [[Congressional Record]] describing a teenager described as <!-- Katrina was her stage name, and was used by news outlets to protect her identity --> "Katrina", whose story had been widely publicized, stating that an "employer had lured her to the CNMI under false pretenses" and that "she was also forced into service as a prostitute."<ref>[http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getpage.cgi?dbname=1997_record&page=E1883&position=all Statement by Neil Abercrombie, September 26, 1997], ''Congressional Record''</ref>
Abramoff's staff contacted Hall's office fifteen times in the two months following Abercrombie's remarks.<ref>[http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/docs/katrina-billing/ Invoice, Preston Gates Ellis, for work on 10/17/97 including "telephone conversation with <nowiki>G[race]</nowiki> Warren (Hall) regarding Katrina insert"]</ref><ref>Paul Kiel, [http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/001591.php "For Abramoff, Lawmaker Slandered Teen Sex Slave"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061016092205/http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/001591.php |date=October 16, 2006 }}, TPMMuckracker.com, September 25, 2006</ref> In November 1997, he entered into the Congressional Record a statement saying that upon reviewing those remarks, he had "felt that Congressman Abercrombie had relied on an erroneous and misleading article published by the Reader's Digest some months ago." The article, according to Hall, said that the teenager "was forced to perform lewd sex acts with customers before a video camera." He quoted a report by the acting attorney general of the CNMI in response: "in fact...she wanted to do nude dancing...to support her family."<ref name="CR">[http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getpage.cgi?dbname=1997_record&page=E2383&position=all Statement by Ralph Hall, November 13, 1997], ''Congressional Record</ref> The remarks by Abercrombie did not cite that source, and the Reader’s Digest June 1997 story by Henry Hurt, "Shame on American Soil," does not refer to a child named Katrina.<ref name="HD-10-19-06">Kathy Williams, [http://www.heralddemocrat.com/articles/2006/10/19/local_news/news01.txt 10. "Accusations Denied"] Sherman Herald-Democrat, October 19, 2006</ref>
In his remarks, he also said "I intend to seek further information on matters as reported by the ''Reader's Digest'' author—and I would hope that a fair minded person like Congressman Abercrombie would accompany me early next year if, and when, we can both work a visit into our schedule—a visit that would not involve the expenditure of any American tax dollars.<ref name="CR"/>
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