In a Capital Full of Egos, a Tearful Mea Culpa

Given the self-assurance and ego generally required of politicians, standing up and publicly admitting a mistake is something most members of Congress would find difficult.

That proved especially so for Rep. Bill Thomas, the combative chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee who on Wednesday choked back tears as he admitted using “poor judgment” in calling the police last week to break up a meeting of Democrats.

The Bakersfield Republican, while widely respected for his expertise on complex issues, is also considered arrogant and imperious, even by Washington standards. Indeed, just hours after his apology, his abrasive manner was back on display after a White House meeting on Medicare legislation.

Still, Thomas’ emotional mea culpa from the well of the House was an unexpected and dramatic moment that brought the chamber to a standstill.

“I learned a very painful lesson,” Thomas said. “Because of my poor judgment, those outside the House who want to trivialize, marginalize and debase this institution were given an opportunity to do so. Because of my poor judgment, the stewardship of my party ... has been unfairly criticized.”

Acknowledging his intense temperament, he added: “As my mother would have put it, ‘When they were passing out moderation, you were hiding behind the door.’ ”

His remarks were meant to put an end to the partisan nastiness -- and political soap opera -- that had preoccupied the closely divided House since last week’s flap. But the furor appeared far from over.

Democrats, while applauding his comments, continued to challenge his version of the dispute.

And it was clear that more time -- and further gestures of goodwill -- would be needed to dissipate their anger.

“One statement does not comity make,” said House Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.).

But Hoyer agreed that the apology must have been hard for Thomas.

“All of us who have dealt with Mr. Thomas share his mother’s view,” he said.

Last week’s brouhaha erupted after Thomas scheduled a Friday morning committee vote on a complicated pension reform bill that Democrats had not seen until shortly before midnight Thursday.

To protest the hastily arranged vote, most of the panel’s Democrats walked out of Friday’s committee meeting and met in a back room to plot strategy.

They left behind Rep. Pete Stark (D-Hayward) to try to delay the Republicans from voting on the 91-page bill; he insisted that it be read word for word.

According to Democrats, Thomas asked his staff to summon the Capitol police to remove them from the back room.

But the Democrats refused to budge, and they called reporters to protest Thomas’ action. No arrests were made, and the Democrats eventually left the room.

Thomas also called the House’s sergeant at arms into the committee room after a harsh exchange between Stark and Rep. Scott McInnis (R-Colo.).

Stark had called McInnis a “wimp” and a “fruitcake,” and according to Republican committee members, appeared ready to exchange blows with the Colorado lawmaker.

Stark said he made the comments after McInnis told him to “shut up,” and he ridiculed suggestions that a fight was about to erupt.

Thomas had been publicly silent about the contentious incidents until Wednesday. In his remarks, he defended his decision to call the sergeant at arms, saying the official was needed to deal with a “breakdown of order and decorum.” But he termed “just plain stupid” his decision to summon the police to oust Democrats from their meeting

“You deserve better,” he told his colleagues, his voice shaking. “Moderation is required.”

After Thomas finished, Rep. Charles B. Rangel of New York, the committee’s top Democrat, went to the microphone on the GOP side of the chamber to respond.

“It is always difficult, especially as politicians, to say publicly that we made a mistake,” Rangel said.

He urged a new modicum of civility in the House. “Let’s see if every committee and every member can say that ... we can respect each other no matter how much we differ,” he said.

But House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), while saying Thomas “should be respected” for admitting a mistake, added that she was “put off” by his assertion that he needed the sergeant at arms to restore order in the committee room.

As a further sign of the bad feelings sparked by Friday’s fracas, McInnis on Wednesday suggested that Stark needed “professional help.”

GOP colleagues said Thomas made the decision to apologize on his own, without pressure from Republican leaders.

Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) said Thomas realized that “in order to stop the bloodletting, he had to step to the plate.... He took the bullet for the team.”

Foley also said that although Thomas is widely viewed “as a bully and a mean person ... he’s really a lot kinder than people give him credit for.”

Thomas, 61, is a former political science professor at Bakersfield Community College who first won his House seat in 1978. As chairman of the Ways and Means committee, he is one of the House’s most influential members -- the panel hammers out the details of an array of key legislation, including tax bills.

Thomas often acknowledges his prickly personality, but he prides himself on his committee’s productivity.

“He’s even said at [Republican] meetings ... ‘You guys may not like me, but you like what my gavel produces,’ ” said a senior GOP leadership aide.

Rep. Jim McCrery (R-La.) said of Thomas’s temperament: “He’s not only aware of it, but over the last few years has tried to work on it.”

But just hours after his remorseful remarks on the House floor, Thomas left no doubt that his hard-edged style was alive and well.

After the White House meeting on efforts to craft a final bill that would provide prescription drug benefits under Medicare, Thomas broadly accused some of his colleagues of signing letters laying out nonnegotiable demands. Thomas closed by saying, “You have to practice bipartisanship all the time, not just in front of the cameras.”

Sen. John B. Breaux of Louisiana, a centrist Democrat, said the letters had no significance.

“The letters are posturing,” he said. “I’ve been here 31 years; that’s part of the process. So, hello. You’ve got offsetting, dueling letters.”

Getting into his car, Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) said of dealing with Thomas: “Grin and bear it.”