Congressmen Given Duties Amid Decline in Seniority

By CLAUDIA LUTHER

Feb. 5, 1989 12 AM PT

Times Political Writer

The all-important business of congressional committee assignments was completed last week, thus shaping for the next 2 years--and probably well into the future--the influence that can be wielded by Orange County’s five Republican congressmen.

The assignments were made in the face of a huge net loss in seniority for the county’s congressional delegation that was a result of the retirement of Reps. Robert E. Badham (R-Newport Beach) and Daniel E. Lungren (R-Long Beach).

“The county delegation has lost 11 terms, between me and Lungren,” said Badham, who was ranking member of the procurement and military nuclear systems subcommittee of the important Armed Services Committee. “But time goes on, and someday every member of Congress is going to have gone, one at a time. So those things happen, and you must make it the best you can.”

Orange County’s two new members of Congress--C. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach), who replaced Badham, and Dana Rohrabacher (R-Lomita), who took Lungren’s place--are starting the slow climb through committee rankings in the House of Representatives. Long before they were sworn in on Jan. 3, both actively lobbied for spots on committees that not only deal with the important issues of their districts but also offer members of Congress a path to power.

The newcomers join the county’s three congressional veterans--William E. Dannemeyer (R-Fullerton), Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove) and Ron C. Packard (R-Carlsbad)--on the team that represents Orange County on such matters such as water, transportation, foreign affairs, education and energy. Legislation affecting these issues and others is molded in the House’s 21 standing and six select committees and 154 subcommittees before being taken up on the floor.

The best committee and subcommittee assignments, including all chairmanships, go to Democrats, who control the House. The best Orange County’s congressmen--all Republicans--can hope for is to earn enough seniority to become a “ranking member” or distinguish themselves in other ways that get them heard over and above their colleagues.

“Those who are most effective on committees,” said Henry A. Waxman, a powerful House Democrat from Los Angeles, “are those that get involved in legislation, who build up some expertise and show a willingness to really dig into the details of these complex legislative issues.”

Nothing gets to the House floor that is not first thought about, talked about, negotiated, refined and studied--sometimes ad nauseum-- at the subcommittee and committee level. And, while there is plenty of movement among committees, staying put on one panel helps stack up years of seniority that can get members of Congress added influence on issues of concern to them.

The weeks following an election, well into January, are devoted to lobbying for good committee spots. Assignments to full committees were made in the first week of January; reorganization of subcommittees will continue into next week.

Members of Congress generally look to the needs of their individual districts in requesting assignments. There is also much competition for such committees as Ways and Means, Appropriations and Rules, where important decisions are made about how money is spent and what legislation gets to the floor.

But often mentioned among the most important committees is Energy and Commerce, which has one Orange County congressmen, Dannemeyer, among its minority members. Dannemeyer is on the committee’s health and environment subcommittee, where he has promoted his sometimes extreme views on homosexuality and AIDS.

Since 1985, Dannemeyer has also been a member of the Judiciary Committee, where he champions conservative constitutional amendments.

This year, Dornan got the spot he has long wanted on the House Armed Services Committee.

But to do it, the 56-year-old former Air Force fighter pilot had to give up his memberships on the Foreign Affairs Committee (where he was 10th in seniority among 18 Republicans) and the Veterans Affairs Committee (where he was 11th of 13 Republicans).

“Dumping everything to go on Armed Services--to me, I wouldn’t have done it that way,” Badham said of Dornan’s move. “He must have a reason to do it, but I can’t see what it is.”

Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Panorama City), who won a tough battle this year to be appointed to the Budget Committee, defended Dornan’s action.

“On the Republican side, it’s a little bit different,” Berman said. “You’re in the minority. So it’s not like he was going to be a subcommittee chairman or something. Second of all, Dornan’s true love is defense issues.”

Dornan got the Armed Services Committee assignment after a year of lobbying that began when Badham announced he would not seek reelection. Badham occupied one of the Republicans’ two so-called “California seats” on the 52-member committee.

Within days of Badham’s announcement in January, 1988, Dornan was lining up a majority of the 18 votes allocated to Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Redlands) as California’s representative on the GOP’s Committee on Committees--the panel that decides which Republican spots on committees will go to whom.

Months went by. When Rohrabacher and Cox were elected in November, they pledged their support to Dornan, giving him the 10 votes he needed to secure Lewis’ block of 18 California votes. Then Dornan began lobbying the selection committee’s members from other states.

“Then I just waited,” Dornan said.

Late in the evening on Jan. 3, Dornan got a phone call at home from Arlene Willis, Lewis’ wife and administrative assistant.

“She said, ‘You have Armed Services,’ ” Dornan related. “I said, ‘Arlene, I’m very, very, very happy.’ ”

For Dornan, the assignment is a chance to have his say on such issues as military base closings and the Strategic Defense Initiative and other weapons systems. It also gives Dornan a link to the Southern California defense and high-technology industries.

As Dornan’s chief of staff, Brian Bennett, pointed out, Dornan’s influence could go well beyond his seniority. Now in his sixth term--three of which were served in a West Los Angeles district before it was gerrymandered out of existence--Dornan can well articulate certain conservative positions on defense.

“On the face of it, his ranking is low,” Bennett said. “But . . . his influence is far greater than his ranking would have it appear.”

Dornan, however, began his service on the Armed Services Committee in a down-to-earth fashion. His first act was to propose legislation that would allow Orange County to purchase land from the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station to extend Alton Parkway.

Packard, 58, a measured man who is viewed as a consensus-builder rather than an ideologue, is entering his fourth term and thus finally is gaining the seniority he has longed for to give him more of a say in legislation. He is the eighth most senior of 19 Republicans on the Science, Space and Technology Committee and ranking member on the international scientific cooperation subcommittee. He also is a member of the Public Works Committee, where this term he jumped in ranking from 12th to ninth.

“I sat on that committee for 3 years and moved only one spot,” Packard said of Public Works. “Then all of a sudden I moved three spots this year, and that made me much more of a role-player. That’s the frustration of waiting your turn: You know you have good ideas, good legislation to promote. But you can’t do it because you don’t have the standing.”

Once again, Packard will sit on the aviation; surface transportation, and public works and water resources subcommittees.

Rohrabacher, 41, whose district includes portions of northwestern Orange County, was looking both to his district and to his own interests when he requested a spot on the Science, Space and Technology Committee--a good one for someone from an area with many high-technology and aerospace firms.

Rohrabacher got that one but struck out on his secondary committee assignment, getting his last choice: the District of Columbia Committee. As some small compensation, by virtue of the fact that there are few members who stay on the committee for long, Rohrabacher immediately became ranking member on its judiciary and education subcommittee.

Cox, 36, lobbied hard--and against the odds for a freshman--to get on the Budget Committee, where the national deficit will be debated in coming years. Cox instead got his second choice, Public Works. This, however, is considered an important committee for Orange County, and his position on it will put Cox in a position to begin to influence decisions on transportation and water projects, such as the long delayed Santa Ana River Flood Control Project.

“It’s a good pork barrel committee,” Rep. Don Edwards (D-San Jose), the dean of California’s 45-member House delegation, said in an interview. “You’re there where the bacon is being passed out.”

Cox’s secondary committee is Government Operations. Although a lawyer, and thus a candidate for the Judiciary Committee, Cox pointedly avoided it.

“I did not want to get pigeon-holed as a lawyer,” Cox said.

Cox said he intends to dip into other legislative areas on other committees of interest to him. During his first weeks on the job, for example, he asked if he could participate in some of the work of the Foreign Affairs Committee. He said he was told members would welcome him if he assisted in their work and did not “showboat” or “try to bask in their reflected glories.”

Many in Orange County expect the newcomers to quickly come up to speed on issues before Congress. Both Rohrabacher and Cox worked in the Reagan White House--Rohrabacher as a speech writer and Cox as a lawyer--and are familiar with Washington.

But while expressing such confidence, Orange County’s Washington lobbyist, James F. McConnell, commented, “Nonetheless, a freshman is a freshman, and the only cure for that is time.”

CONGRESSMEN’S SUBCOMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS

Rep. William E. Dannemeyer (R-Fullerton):

Energy and Commerce Committee

* Commerce, Consumer Protection and Competitiveness

* Energy and Power

* Health and the Environment

* Judiciary Committee

* Civil and Constitutional Rights

* Monopolies and Commercial Law.

Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove):

Armed Services Committee

* Research and Development