Foley Becomes House Speaker, Calls for Truce

In an unprecedented change of command, House Majority Leader Thomas S. Foley (D-Wash.) became House Speaker in mid-term of the congressional session Tuesday and immediately appealed for an end to recriminations stemming from predecessor Jim Wright’s dramatic resignation from the post.

Foley, picking up the gavel that symbolizes the enormous power of the presiding officer of the House, made his plea for a truce in political warfare even before taking the oath of office in the chamber.

“It is time to put divisiveness behind us, to reach out and address the issues of national policy that members of both parties are eager to consider,” Foley said.

The selection of Foley to the third-highest post in the nation came six days after Wright stepped down in the face of ethics charges over his financial affairs. Wright left still protesting his innocence but denouncing a spirit of “mindless cannibalism” that he contended was rampant in the chamber.

Foley, a 24-year lawmaker from Spokane, Wash., faces a House sharply divided over standards of conduct and Republican attacks on leading Democrats. But members of both parties cheered his election on a party-line vote of 251 to 164 over the pro forma challenge by House GOP leader Robert H. Michel of Illinois.

“I do not believe we can successfully undertake our public responsibility by tearing down this House, by abusing its institutions,” the new Speaker added. “We cannot allow political differences to become foils for personal antagonism.”

Bad Blood Remains

Although many members hailed his message, it was clear that bad blood remains.

Michel, though praising Foley in presenting him to the House, also aired some tough judgments on Democratic dominance of the House since the last period of Republican control ended in 1954.

“Thirty-five years of uninterrupted power can act like a corrosive acid upon the restraints of civility and comity,” Michel said, addressing Democrats in a scolding tone.

“Those who have been kings of the Hill for so long may forget that majority status is not a divine right--and minority status is not a permanent condition,” he added.

Michel specifically rejected Wright’s contention that he was a victim of “mindless cannibalism,” noting that even though a Republican requested the investigation of Wright, six Democrats were on the 12-member ethics panel that voted to bring the charges against him.

“I am all for putting an end to bitterness,” the GOP leader said. “I am all in favor of putting our House in order--but we don’t do so by sweeping things under the rug.”

Wright sat rigidly in his seat on the floor during Michel’s address and there was a distinct hiss from the Democratic side when Michel alluded to the blighting effect of “unprecedented crises, personal and institutional” in the year Congress turned 200 years old.

Foley, responding to the rising concern over ethics and campaign financing, said in his speech that he favors House action this year on proposals in both areas from bipartisan task forces already at work on these issues.

Compliments Wright

While he may have criticized Wright’s brusque treatment of the GOP minority by implication, Foley complimented the former Speaker as one of his models and mentors.

“The accomplishments of the 100th Congress will remain forever a monument to your leadership,” Foley said, addressing Wright directly and touching off a standing ovation to the departing Texan.

There were other signs, as well, that sharp attacks have not been abandoned in the fight for political advantage.

Democrats and leading Republicans denounced a memo written by the Republican National Committee that labeled Foley a “liberal out of the closet” and compared his voting record to that of Massachusetts liberal Democrat Barney Frank, one of two avowed homosexuals in the House.

Foley brushed aside questions about the memo, which was sent to GOP members and carried the name of Mark Goodin, director of the committee’s communications division. Foley said he had not read it and was not going to reply to attacks by political campaign committees that were designed to get publicity.

But Frank accused the GOP committee members of being “sleaze peddlers.” Former Speaker Wright described it as “abominable.” Michel also criticized the memo’s unsubstantiated innuendo and Rep. Newt Gingrich of Georgia, the House GOP whip, termed it “ill-advised.”

“It’s absolutely despicable,” said Rep. Pat Schroeder (D-Colo.), who blamed Republican National Chairman Lee Atwater for the tactics.

Goodin said he selected Frank for comparison because he has one of the most liberal voting records in the House, adding: “Anyone who draws any other conclusion is the victim of an overactive imagination.”

Will Hear Complaints

At his first news conference, Foley said it would take time for the highly charged atmosphere to return to normal, but he promised to be attentive to Republican complaints that Wright often ran roughshod over their privileges.

“I am Speaker of the whole House, not of one party, but to each and every member of the House, undivided by the center aisle,” the 60-year-old Foley said.

“Politics involves the clash of ideas, and we will inevitably have disagreements,” he added. “We must be careful that our desire for comity and bipartisanship does not deter us from considering contentious issues and debating them vigorously. . . .

“Let us debate and decide with intensity, even passionate intensity, but let us debate and decide with respect, not rancor,” Foley told the House.

Democratic Whip Tony Coelho of Merced, who announced recently that he will resign amid an investigation of his finances, told the party caucus that unanimously nominated Foley that other lawmakers might have to take a tougher approach than Foley does.

“Tom has a deserved reputation for being a statesman: a velvet glove,” Coelho told his fellow Democrats in his nomination speech. “You must be the iron fist.

“Take on this Administration with enthusiasm on the Alaskan oil spill, on the threat of ‘stagflation,’ on the President’s wimpish reaction to the Chinese massacre,” he added.

Shortly later, however, Foley said he fully supports President Bush’s decision to suspend military sales to China as a show of protest to the repression of pro-democracy forces in Beijing.

Pays Tribute to Wife

During his address, Foley paid special tribute to his wife, Heather, who was watching from a front-row gallery seat.

“My wife, Heather, who has been my loving companion and friend for 24 years,” he said, then immediately corrected himself to say they had been married only 21 years, “but it will be 24.”

Heather Foley, who has been her husband’s unpaid chief of staff, “absolutely” will continue in that position during his Speakership, Foley told reporters.