Posted on 11/10/2004 8:22:44 AM PST by FrontPageMag.com
The following tribute to two decent Congressmen is posted in FrontPageMag.com's "War Blog" today.
TWO CONGRESSMEN I'LL MISS by Ben Johnson FrontPage Magazine
In the aftermath of the presidential election, two significant Congressional races have gone unnoticed. Last Tuesday, America lost two representatives who have served their districts and their nation honorably: Charlie Stenholm of Texas and Phil Crane of Illinois.
Rep. Charlie Stenholm, D-TX, earned a reputation as one of his party's most responsible moderates. Representing the interests of west Texas, he became the ranking member of the House Agriculture Committee. During his 25-year tenure, he displayed his mainstream values by voting to allow residents of Washington, D.C., to carry handguns; to support the Pledge of Allegiance; oppose Partial Birth Abortion; and shield gun manufacturers from nuisance lawsuits (the sort that Bill Clinton threatened to file in his second term). Stenholm continues to serve as a federal advisor to Democrats for Life. He gained national fame as one of only five Democrats to vote for three of four impeachment articles against President Clinton in 1998. Of these five Congressmen, only three remain in the House, and only one of those – Gene Taylor of Mississippi – is still a Democrat. Since President Bush took office, he has supported President Bush's agenda 60 percent of the time. Yet unlike his fellow Democratic defectors, Stenholm was done in, not by party in-fighting but by Tom Delay's Congressional reapportionment, which forced to run against fellow incumbent Republican Rep. Randy Neugebauer...a Republican only marginally more conservative than he is. At a time when the Democratic Party seems out of touch on social and morality issues, Stenholm's thoughtful counsel would have proven most instructive in re-establishing them as a national party. His voice in his party will be sorely missed.
Rep. Phil Crane also lost his race last Tuesday to Democratic challenger Melissa Bean just one day before his 74th birthday. The longest-serving Republican in the House, who served 35 years in the seat formerly held by Donald Rumsfeld, actually ran for president in 1980. A former chairman of the American Conservative Union, Crane was one of the few Congressmen to have a near-perfect ACU lifetime voting record. Throughout his years in the House, Crane became his party’s most dependable advocate for slashing tax rates, rolling back trade barriers, and trimming unnecessary federal bureaucracy. (Every year, he introduced a bill to defund the National Endowment for the Arts.) In 2000, as Speaker Dennis Hastert turned aside his bid to serve as chair of the Ways and Means Committee, Crane acknowledged he had developed "an increased dependence on alcohol." (He successfully sought rehabilitation.) Republicans, too, should heed the message Phil Crane brought to his colleagues: cut spending, lighten government intrusions into the market, and reign in the growth of government. Without remembering their small government, fiscally responsible roots, Republicans will continue to lose credibility on an issue they used to own.
Goodbye, Congressmen. Thank you for your service. Your nation will miss you.
-- Ben Johnson, Managing Editor, FrontPage Magazine
Was this the Rep. Crane who was involved in a intern sex scandal a few decades ago?
Any political party that would have john kerry as a MEMBER, much less a candidate,
DESERVES TO HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO ROLE IN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
Sleep with filthy, traitorous, aristocratic cowards and wake up FIRED ! ! ! ! !
Stenhom should have switched parties when he had the chance. He would have been welcomed with open arms. But if he's gonna keep voting for Nancy Pelosi for Speaker, he's fair game.
No, that was his brother, Dan Crane.
Stenholm lost or retired? He would have been a good VP candidate for a moderate Dem nominee like Bayh.
Charles Stenholm was a Republican in Democrats clothing, but I suspect he felt some loyalty to the party for what it did for him, and also felt an obligation to do what he could to be a small voice of reason within it. He should've changed parties when Rick Perry, the current TX govonor, did. Those two grew up within 10 miles of each other. Charles is a good man and a much better "Republican" than DeLay, in my opinion. Certainly much less abrasive. It's just a terrible shame he didn't switch. But since he didn't, I'm GLAD HE'S OUT.
bump
We don't need Stenholm - we've already got the likes of Arlen Specter, Olympia Snowe, Lincoln Chaffee...
Why would we want any more liberals?
Check out his voting record before you flame me on this:
While he was certainly the most conservative member of the Texas Dimocratic delegation, he would have been far and away the most liberal if he'd been in the GOP.
After all, "most conservative Dimocrat:" isn't that something like "most-decorated French soldier?"
These days, yes, but Charlie goes way back to when there weren't any Republicans in Texas just "Southern Democrats" (conservatives).
I agree with those that say Charlie should have switched parties so he didn't have to choose between getting power by supporting his party's leadership and doing what's right for West Texas.
He would have made a good Republican.
Stenholm has remained a Democrat just as Zell Miller has. I don't see much criticism in Miller's direction. Stenholm was a decent guy, all the more spectacular given the party he belonged to.
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