He helped draft a resolution that urged "all parties to protect innocent life and civilian infrastructure." Rahall was one of only 8 House members to vote against a resolution supporting Israel's right to defend itself, which was supported by 410 House members. Rahall was the only member of the House to oppose the 1993 resolution urging Arab states to end their Arab boycott of Israel. He also pressed the State Department to end a ban on travel to Lebanon; the ban was lifted in 1997. Rahall was the most senior of five Arab American lawmakers on Capitol Hill. In 2008, Rahall endorsed Barack Obama, saying Obama understands the needs and aspirations of West Virginians. He was also Chair of the Arab Americans for Obama group. Explaining his position, Rahall cited Senator Byrd, who said "I work for no President. I work with Presidents." In an interview with Keith Olbermann, Rahall said that Obama had the courage and conviction to win the presidency, and that the then-senator was a true agent for change. In 2004, the "Los Angeles Times" ran an article about Rahall and his sister, lobbyist Tanya Rahall. They reported that she made $15,000 per month as a lobbyist for Qatar, and that "the person she frequently lobbies is ... her older brother and one of Qatar's biggest champions in Washington." Rahall said "our paths cross professionally, but not across any lines appropriately established by law or House rules." In May 2003, a year after his sister took on Qatar as a client, Rahall sponsored a resolution praising Qatar's "years of democratic reform"; according to one academic study from 2011, "For over three years, the country [Qatar] virtually had its own congressman in Washington, Nick Rahall (D-WV)". In February 2005, Rahall used Congressional stationery to write a letter to a Fairfax County judge, David Stitt, asking for leniency for his son, Nick Rahall III, who was facing felony robbery charges. According to the House ethics manual: "Official stationery ... may be used only for official purposes." Rahall acknowledged that he should not have used Congressional stationery for his letter, but said it was not the same type that he uses for official or committee business. Rahall added he may have drawn the wrong paper "[i]n the emotions", and that he would reimburse the Treasury Department for the cost of the paper. The United States House Committee on Ethics did not launch an inquiry into the incident. Rahall was one of seven Democrats and twelve Republicans listed by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington in its annual "Most Corrupt Members of Congress Report" in 2011.