Posted on 01/12/2005 8:03:27 PM PST by BroncosFan
Give us more power, says GOP class of '94
By Alexander Bolton
The GOP freshman class of 1994 is growing restless and dissatisfied with being frozen out of leadership positions in the House.
Members of that revolutionary class, which came to Congress 74 strong 11 years ago, are talking among themselves about the need to become more outspoken and to take at least an informal leadership role within the Republican caucus.
They held a reunion last weekend in Scottsdale, Ariz., where they reminisced about their capture of nearly 50 Democratic seats a decade ago and the triumphs and disappointments of the intervening years. While discussions about the future hewed closely to policy, the underlying theme was the class desire to gain more political clout.
“I think there’s a general desire among … members of the class of ’94 that are still in the House to bring some of our members into the leadership,” said Rep. Zach Wamp (R-Tenn.), one of the insurgents, who did not attend the reunion.
“A lot of the future agenda has to be driven by the ideological perspective of the class of ’94. We have a lot of talent that, frankly, maybe is not being fully utilized for the Republican cause.” Although the class has shrunk to less than half its original size, it still has the potential to be a powerful force in Congress, Wamp said. Only 30 members of the class remain.
“Several of us need to step up and be a little more outspoken on the issues we care about,” he said, adding that his classmates have discussed how to do that. “Those conversations are definitely taking place.” Members of the class of ’94 are excited about the prospect of Rep. John Shadegg (R-Ariz.) being elected to the chairmanship of the Republican Policy Committee. Nearly 130 House Republicans — more than half the conference — have signed a Dear Colleague letter supporting Shadegg’s candidacy.
They have not had a classmate in the leadership since Rep. J.C. Watts (R-Okla.) stepped down as chairman of the Republican Conference. But even then Watts acted more as a team player than as a guardian of the spirit of 1994, which is what Shadegg is expected to be.
Shadegg is a former chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee. Rep. Dave Weldon (R-Fla.) said his classmates over the weekend discussed advancing a conservative Republican agenda.
“People couldn’t help coming back to the reality that we’re running a lot of debt and most of us ran on the platform of balancing the budget. “We got into some discussions on how to turn that around, particularly in context of Social Security reform.”
Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-Ariz.), who hosted the gathering in his district, said, “I think there’s a role to be played in a lot of different ways for the class, in terms of numbers and institutional memory.” Members of the class may shape the debate this year on immigration. It’s one of their primary concerns, and over the weekend key points of opposition to the Bush administration’s policy emerged, Hayworth said.
Members of the class, such as Hayworth and Reps. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.) and Jerry Weller (R-Ill.), have run unsuccessfully for leadership positions. Some blame their losses in part to a lack of class cohesion. "Some of us made attempts at running for the leadership and found it not possible,” LaHood said. “We couldn’t get support from some members of our own class.”
LaHood was disappointed last year when House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) picked Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.) as Intelligence Committee chairman. LaHood, who has more seniority on the panel than Hoekstra, subsequently voted against the House intelligence reform bill and the House-Senate conference report on intelligence reform.
Several members of the classes of ’94 and ’96 have discussed the benefits of wielding their clout as a group. Rep. Chip Pickering (R-Miss.), a ’96er, for example, has discussed improving cooperation between the classes.
Class members say they were elected in a similar political environment and share the same convictions. The Republican class of ’96 has 21 members, which would create a voting bloc of 51 lawmakers when added to the class of 1994.
Several Republican revolutionaries are disillusioned by recent Republican actions, such as the passage of a massive farm subsidy bill and the prescription-drug bill, which swells entitlement spending over the next 10 years by between $395 billion and $534 billion, according to two different government estimates. Some members of the class of ’94 said their revolutionary spirit has flagged over the years. “I don’t know if there are any reformers in the class any more,” LaHood said. “I think people have sort of melded in, sort of fit into the regular routine around here.”
Weldon acknowledged that members of his class have drifted from the Contract with America. “When we were elected in ’94, we were very focused on national issues and the Contract with America,” he said. “As time went on we became focused on the issues of our district and the issues important to the committees we’re on. That’s the nature of the system.
“I think we need to get back to a little more of” focusing on national issues. LaHood was critical of the proposed rules change that would have allowed leaders to stay in place if indicted.
“The vote [in November] to allow leadership people to stay in office even if they’re under indictment [stood] on its head the reform we were talking about when we were running,” he said. Hayworth said that opposition from his classmates prompted GOP leaders to reverse field last week and reinstate the rule, adding, “We were able to bring the leadership back to its moorings.”
They need to take more than an informal leadership role. They need to get down to brass tacks and legislate conservative agendas. I believe that's what Newt was a talkin' about.
You're right. We're waaaaaaaaaaaaay past due for the next step from the original Contract With America.
Yep. Now that our little detour with Clinton is completely over, it's time to legislate the real America, the conservative America.
I consider the committee system and structure to be the biggest threat to democracy in America. We elect them to represent us, but when they get to Washington, they either represent the leaders or they're gutted.
This statement speaks volumes, I would think. It says to me that the old bulls that have been in office way too long don't really want anything to change- not that I should be surprised by that, i guess.
It's almost inevitable, although it doesn't have to be all bad. You need to be a team player with friends and connections in order to be chosen for a leadership role. On the other hand, if you can't function as a team player and persuade others to go along with you, you won't be an effective leader. This is apart from issues of where you stand on the political spectrum.
We need leaders who are politically sound, but they also need to get things done. If they can't get themselves appointed, maybe there's a problem with their political skills.
It's yet another reason to wonder about Arlen Specter. The common report is that everybody hates him, Republican and Democrat alike. So how can he be an effective leader? We'll see.
I know little about him but: he's a co-founder of the congressional "Public Broadcasting" caucus, which makes him a RINO in my book.
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