Congressmen Rated by 10 Lobby Groups

Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles) is the most liberal lawmaker representing the San Fernando Valley area and Rep. Carlos J. Moorhead (R-Glendale) the most conservative, according to ratings by 10 national lobby groups based on the past legislative session.

Not surprisingly, the Valley area’s four Republican congressmen--Moorhead, Elton Gallegly of Simi Valley, William M. Thomas of Bakersfield and Jerry Lewis of Redlands--generally scored highest on the scales of five conservative-leaning interest groups.

And the three Democrats--Waxman, Howard L. Berman of Panorama City and Anthony C. Beilenson of Los Angeles--were rated higher by five liberal-leaning groups.

Overall, Democrat Beilenson and Republican Thomas were rated the most moderate of the seven representatives, although only slightly more so than their colleagues.

In general, the conservative lobby organizations are pro-business, pro-defense, and favor reducing taxes and government spending. The liberal organizations, in turn, are pro-labor and concerned with civil liberties, and environmental and consumer protection.

The 10 groups chosen by The Times for inclusion in an informal survey were those also used by the Almanac of American Politics. Each organization independently rates all House and Senate members annually or for each two-year legislative session based on their votes on issues of concern to the lobby group.

Some ratings are based on as few as 10 votes; others reflect dozens. Seven of the groups had ratings for 1989 only; two others provided tallies for 1990, and the pro-defense American Security Council supplied scores for 1989-90.

The ratings reflect the extent to which legislators represent different interest groups as well as the lawmakers’ general ideologies. The ratings reflect the percentage of selected votes on which the representative took the position espoused by the advocacy group.

The Times computed overall ideological ratings by adding up the scores of the five liberal-leaning groups and dividing by five and doing the same for the conservative-leaning organizations. On this basis, Waxman tallied 91.2% on the liberal scale and 17.4% on the conservative continuum; Moorhead rated 6.6% on the liberal ranking and 87.4% on the conservative scale.

Beilenson, meanwhile, received a 79.6% score on the liberal rating and 21.2% on the conservative; Thomas, whose 20th District includes much of the Antelope Valley, had a 19.2% tally on the liberal continuum and 77.6% on the conservative.

Nine of the 10 organizations produced ratings that were polarized between the Democrats and Republicans. The lone exception was the National Taxpayers Union, which seeks reductions in federal spending and taxes. Democrat Beilenson scored slightly higher than Republican Thomas, and no lawmaker rated above 57% or below 34%.

“Many liberals make up a lot of lost ground because they vote against many defense bills,” said Pete Sepp, spokesman for the National Taxpayers Union. “Many conservatives make up lost ground because they vote against many social spending bills.”

The liberal-leaning organizations included in the survey were Americans for Democratic Action, which monitors a broad spectrum of defense, civil liberties and human rights issues; the American Civil Liberties Union; the Committee on Political Education of the AFL-CIO; the Consumer Federation of America and the pro-environmental League of Conservation Voters.

In addition to the American Security Council and the National Taxpayers Union, the conservative-leaning groups were the American Conservative Union, which bases its ratings on a mix of foreign policy, social and budgetary issues; the Chamber of Commerce of the United States, and the Competitive Enterprise Institute, which advocates free enterprise and limited government.

RATING THE CONGRESSMEN Rated on a scale of 100. All ratings are for 1989 except for League of Conservation Voters, which is for 1990. LIBERAL GROUPS

American League of for Democratic Conservation ACLU Action AFL-CIO Voters Anthony C. Beilenson 69 85 74 88 (D-Los Angeles) Howard L. Berman 100 95 89 63 (D-Panorama City) Elton Gallegly 0 5 15 38 (R-Simi Valley) Jerry Lewis 8 10 15 0 (Redlands) Carlos J. Moorhead 0 0 7 13 (R-Glendale) William M. Thomas 38 15 13 13 (R-Bakersfield) Henry A. Waxman 92 100 89 88 (D-Los Angeles)

Consumer Federation of America Anthony C. Beilenson 82 (D-Los Angeles) Howard L. Berman 86 (D-Panorama City) Elton Gallegly 24 (R-Simi Valley) Jerry Lewis 15 (Redlands) Carlos J. Moorhead 13 (R-Glendale) William M. Thomas 17 (R-Bakersfield) Henry A. Waxman 87 (D-Los Angeles)

CONERSVATIVE GROUPS

American American Competitive National Conservative Security Enterprise Taxpayers Union Council Institute Union Anthony C. Beilenson 8 10 19 42 (D-Los Angeles) Howard L. Berman 4 0 11 34 (D-Panorama City) Elton Gallegly 95 100 82 50 (R-Simi Valley) Jerry Lewis 90 100 63 39 (Redlands) Carlos J. Moorhead 96 100 84 57 (R-Glendale) William M. Thomas 78 100 69 41 (R-Bakersfield) Henry A. Waxman 0 22 9 34 (D-Los Angeles)