THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, September 18, 1995 TAG: 9509160013
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A8 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 44 lines
The Republican Revolution and the Packwood resignation have put Virginia legislators into positions of unaccustomed clout in Congress. Rep. Thomas Bliley is head of the powerful House Commerce Committee. Sen. John Warner has now become head of the not-so-powerful Senate Rules Committee.
Warner was slighted earlier when the less senior Sen. Ted Stevens got the job, but the Packwood resignation has shuffled jobs and Warner winds up running Rules after all.
The committee is a very low-profile affair chiefly concerned with election issues and Senate housekeeping chores. Warren will be involved in upgrading Senate technology, for instance. Under the Democrats, it was run by the nearly invisible Sen. Wendell Ford.
Rules does deal with several ticklish issues including election laws and campaign finance. Reform legislation affecting how campaigns are funded ought to be a priority for the 104th Congress, but Republicans aren't pushing it.
Still, Warner's reputation for probity should suit him for the position. Since Rules also has an oversight role when it comes to the budgets of other Senate committees, Warner's clout with his colleagues should be increased.
Warner is also second in rank on the Armed Services Committee to Sen. Strom Thurmond. It is there that he has devoted most of his attention, a sensible specialization given Virginia's huge reliance on defense.
There are arguments against a system that allocates power on the basis of seniority, but that's how Congress operates and Warner has now been around long enough to acquire his share. He's the first Virginian to win a committee chairmanship since 1966.
Conservative Republicans make no secret of their desire to give their state party's nomination to a challenger in 1996. Warner won their enmity by refusing to back Oliver North's Senate bid. But they will have to factor Warner's growing clout into the equation. They risk gaining ideological purity at the expense of less potent representation on the Armed Services Committee that well serves the state's vital interests. by CNB