House Members More Liberal, ADA Says

The House of Representatives was more liberal than ever in 1988, signaling good prospects this year for improving long-neglected social programs, Americans for Democratic Action said Monday.

While the Senate became more conservative in President Ronald Reagan’s final year in office, liberal voting records were not a handicap for senators seeking reelection, and a high-ranking liberal, Sen. George J. Mitchell (D-Me.), was chosen to be majority leader, the independent political organization said.

The ADA score card on 20 key issues showed that the House had a record-high “liberal quotient” of 52% last year, up by a single percentage point from 1987, while the Senate’s rating dropped from 53% in 1987 to 48% in 1988.

‘Figures Bode Well’

“The prospects for holding President Bush accountable on his campaign pledge to create a ‘kinder, gentler nation’ appear excellent,” said Marc Pearl, ADA national director. “The figures bode well for positive action on the critical issues that even President Bush raised during the campaign: child care, education and the environment.”

Pearl criticized the last Congress for not acting on campaign finance reform, a minimum wage increase, handgun restrictions, parental leave and further sanctions against South Africa.

“A new Congress and a new President have the responsibility to restore the social and economic balance that was so severely shredded during the Reagan years,” Pearl said at a news conference.

“Given the results for 1988, we are optimistic that the 101st Congress will have the muscle to do it,” he added.

Perfect Records

The ADA said that 24 members of the House and two senators--Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) and Claiborne Pell (D-R.I.)--had perfect 100% voting records last year. Mitchell earned a 95.

In contrast, 25 Republicans in the House received zero ratings, including Jack Kemp, secretary-designate of housing and urban development. In the Senate, 11 members got a zero from the ADA, including Vice President Dan Quayle.

Overall, the ADA said that Democrats averaged 75% in the House and 72% in the Senate, compared to 20% scores for Republicans in both chambers.

Issued Since 1947

The ADA, founded by a group of anti-Communist liberals including Eleanor Roosevelt and the late Sen. Hubert H. Humphrey of Minnesota, has been issuing its congressional score card since 1947. It covers a wide range of issues from civil rights to foreign policy and is one of the oldest and best-known of interest-group ratings of liberal and conservative voting patterns.

Rep. Don Edwards (D-San Jose), who has compiled a 100% ADA voting record in every year since 1982, said that he expects Bush to follow moderate Republican policies of the kind once championed by the late Nelson A. Rockefeller.

“George Bush’s inaugural speech was a Democratic speech,” Edwards said in an interview. “In a quarter-century here, I’ve never been more encouraged about world peace, disengaging from the Soviet Union and finding money for these starving social programs. The Cold War’s over.”