Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 28, 1993 TAG: 9303280017
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
The freshmen in Congress are still settling in after 11 weeks. Eager to tackle their work, they're not always pleased with what they've found.
"Where I come from, Democrats and Republicans worked together," marveled Rep. Mac Collins, R-Ga., a former state legislator. "This place is the Hatfields and McCoys every day."
"There's a you-do-this-to-me so I'll-do-this-to-you attitude," concurred Rep. Pat Danner, a Missouri Democrat. "It's disappointing," she added, saying Democrats don't hesitate to use their majority to overwhelm Republican amendments and the GOP responds with time-consuming roll calls on procedural matters.
Since taking the oath of office in January, Collins, Danner and their 108 first-term colleagues - the largest freshman class in decades - helped eliminate four House committees as a cost-cutting gesture. They split largely along party lines on President Clinton's budget and jobs program.
Several of the newcomers, in interviews, expressed wonderment at how subcommittee meetings get stacked up simultaneously, making it impossible for lawmakers to do a conscientious job.
"It's embarrassing," Danner said. "You've got these experts in for a hearing, you might actually learn something, then you have to get up and leave to go vote. I don't think it serves the public well."
Rep. Jim Talent, R-Mo., said he's been struck by "how strongly the system runs on deception, on not letting people know what's really going on." He adds that both parties use parliamentary moves to dodge tough votes and debate.
"So then you can go back home and say, oh, well, gee, I would have voted for that if it had been on the floor," Talent said. And the committees the House voted to eliminate - the money just went into other committees, he said.
Despite their grumbling, most freshmen say Byrne they're impressed with the caliber of their colleagues, and were surprised at how hard-working everyone is. Most freshmen really want to change things for the better, said Rep. Leslie Byrne, D-Va., noting that more than 70 percent of the first-term class came from state and local governments.
"They aren't here to be bomb throwers. They're here to improve the process, not destroy it," she said.
Congress has moved with extraordinary swiftness on the new president's economic plan. But to the newcomers, it seems slow. In the Virginia General Assembly, lawmakers would go through 2,000 bills in two months, Byrne recalls.
And in Congress, lawmakers don't hang out on the floor during debate. There's too much else to do, like go to hearings or meet with constituents.
"We're all tethered to the floor action by television," Byrne said. "If we don't have a part in that debate, we watch it on TV. In state legislatures, you're part of every debate."
Some say they're still a little awestruck. Danner recalled something House Speaker Tom Foley told freshmen when they got here.
"The speaker said if you look up at that lit dome and your heart doesn't skip a beat, you've been here too long. . . . I do feel blessed," she said.
by CNB