Interest Groups Profile 4 Valley Lawmakers by Recent Voting Records

Reflecting their reputations, Democratic Reps. Howard L. Berman and Henry A. Waxman staked out liberal voting records in the 102nd Congress, Republican Rep. Carlos J. Moorhead took a bedrock conservative stance and Democratic Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson tended to be moderate on fiscal issues and liberal on most other matters.

These profiles of the four veteran San Fernando Valley-area lawmakers are reflected in an assessment of their key votes during the past two years by eight major interest groups spanning a spectrum of ideologies.

The groups range from the American Conservative Union and the National Taxpayers Union on the right to Americans for Democratic Action and the American Civil Liberties Union on the left. Business is represented by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, organized labor by the AFL-CIO.

The American Security Council assessed votes on national security issues and the League of Conservation Voters on environmental matters. And the National Journal rated the relative liberalism and conservatism lawmakers demonstrated on economic, social and foreign policy issues.

The Security Council ratings assessed votes cast in 1991-92 and the League of Conservation Voters scored 1992 votes; the other group’s most recent compilations covered only 1991.

The least predictable record belonged to Beilenson (D-Los Angeles), who faces a tough reelection race against conservative Assemblyman Tom McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks) in a newly drawn 24th Congressional District that includes parts of the Valley, Thousand Oaks and Malibu.

“I’ve become more conservative on fiscal issues and more conservative on crime-related issues, to pick two obvious examples,” Beilenson said in a recent interview. “Who hasn’t? It’s been a slow evolution with me. So it may well be that some positions I took with respect to those two areas 20 or 25 years ago are different from what my positions would be today.”

The National Journal, a weekly publication that compiles annual voting ratings, found that the Los Angeles lawmaker ranked in the middle of the House on economic issues--more liberal than 56% of his colleagues. He was further left on social issues--more liberal than 78% of his colleagues. On foreign policy issues, he was more liberal than 92% of lawmakers.

The Journal’s ratings were based on 49 votes in 1991 that were ideologically polarized. This included 18 economic, 18 social and 13 foreign policy votes on such gut issues as abortion, gun control, the death penalty, the exclusionary rule, the Persian Gulf War, the MX missile, extended unemployment benefits and family leave.

The other three Valley-area representatives are expected to win reelection.

Berman (D-Panorama City), who is seeking a sixth term in the 26th District in the East Valley, was more liberal than his colleagues on 83% of economic issues, 88% of social issues and 74% of foreign policy issues. Waxman (D-Los Angeles), whose new Westside-based 29th District spills over into the south Valley, was more liberal on 79% of economic issues, 83% of social matters and 87% of foreign policy votes.

Moorhead (R-Glendale), meanwhile, tied for the least liberal voting record in each of the three areas. He was more conservative than 96% of his colleagues on economic issues, 84% on social issues and 88% on foreign affairs. Overall, he joined five colleagues as the most conservative members--the second year in a row he achieved the rank.

Nevertheless, Moorhead is less vociferous in his views than his more flamboyant Orange County counterparts. The respected Almanac of American Politics said in its 1992 edition that the Glendale Republican “is not divisive or abrasive in his pursuits.”

Moorhead received a 100% rating from the American Conservative Union. He agreed with the group’s position on 18 of 19 votes on such issues as backing Desert Storm, opposing gun control, funding and deploying the Strategic Defense Initiative and eliminating money for the National Endowment for the Arts. (He was absent for the 19th vote.)

Berman received an 11% rating from the conservative organization; his point of agreement was voting for the Gulf War. Waxman and Beilenson, both of whom opposed the war and the rest of the organization’s agenda, got zeros.

Beilenson was rated in the top 35% (the upper end of “average”) by the National Taxpayers Union, which based its assessment on 179 votes related to federal spending. The group opposes any votes that would result in increasing the size of government.

On this scale, Moorhead was in the top 71% (“taxpayers’ friend”), while Waxman was in the bottom 15%, and Berman the bottom 12% (both ranked in the “big spender” category). Moorhead had the 17th highest score in the House; Berman was tied for 10th lowest.

On the other side of the political spectrum, the liberal Americans for Democratic Action gave Waxman a 90% rating, Berman 85%, and Beilenson 80% for their votes on 20 issues. The ADA supported abortion rights, a waiting period for handgun purchases, the 1991 Civil Rights Act and increased spending for Head Start and other federal programs.

Moorhead’s ADA rating was 5%; his one point of agreement was his vote to make most-favored-nation trade status for China conditional on improvements in human rights.

Berman agreed with the ACLU on all 13 votes that the group monitored on civil rights, crime, abortion, free speech and privacy. Waxman voted with the ACLU nine times and missed or did not cast four other votes. Moorhead did not agree with the group on any issue.

Beilenson concurred with ACLU positions 11 times. He differed when he voted against an amendment to a crime bill that would have substituted mandatory life imprisonment for the death penalty for certain heinous crimes and against another amendment that would have removed the death penalty for drug kingpins from the 1991 Omnibus Crimes bill.

“I’m now quite ambivalent about it,” Beilenson said of the death penalty. “It may be helpful. Some people certainly deserve to be put to death, I believe. I no longer have the moral objections I think I had 20 years ago. But I’m afraid it doesn’t do an awful lot to help solve the crime problem.”

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce rated Moorhead’s voting record on 10 key business-related issues at 90%, Beilenson’s at 30%, Berman’s at 22% and Waxman’s at 10%.

Moorhead’s only difference with the chamber was his vote against extending most-favored-nation trade status to the Soviet Union. Conversely, this was the only time that Waxman concurred with the chamber--which supported the extension for its trade benefits.

On the AFL-CIO voting scale, Waxman scored 83%, Berman 82%, Beilenson 67%, and Moorhead 8%. The ratings were based on eight major labor issues and four others relating to workers. These included extending unemployment benefits and adopting a family and medical leave bill.

Berman, Beilenson and Moorhead all opposed labor by voting to give the President “fast track” authority to pursue a free trade agreement with Mexico and Canada. Beilenson also supported a bill to water down the Davis-Bacon Act, which stipulates that workers on federal construction projects receive the local prevailing wage.

On the 1992 National Security Council Voting index, Moorhead received 100%, Berman 50%, Beilenson 40%, and Waxman 30%. The tally included 10 votes on such issues as the Persian Gulf War, funds for SDI and the B-2 bomber, increased aid to the former republics of the Soviet Union, and funding to help U.S. high-technology firms compete overseas.

On environmental issues, the League of Conservation Voters gave Beilenson, Berman and Waxman perfect 100% ratings on the basis of 16 votes. On the other hand, Moorhead rated 13%.

The conservation group looked at measures intended to reduce global warming, preserve ancient forests, protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from oil drilling, reauthorize and strengthen the Endangered Species Act, protect wetlands and increase funding to curb worldwide population growth.

Moorhead joined the environmentalists by supporting a bill to set national performance standards for plumbing fixtures to encourage energy efficiency and opposing a measure that would weaken wetland protections in the Clean Water Act. He opposed the Conservation League’s positions on 14 other issues.