House Leaders Meet Democratic Freshmen in L.A.

Democratic congressional leaders met with 20 newly elected members of their party from California and other Western states Sunday, agreeing to take swift action on an economic package, health care and deficit reduction when the 103rd Congress convenes in January.

Speaker Thomas S. Foley (D-Wash.) promised that for the first time in recent memory the new House would complete its reorganization by mid-January to “hit the ground running” as soon as President-elect Bill Clinton is inaugurated on Jan. 20.

The newly elected House members expressed delight that Foley and his top lieutenants had come to Los Angeles instead of waiting to meet them as a group when they arrive in the nation’s capital for orientation sessions in early December.

“We wish to forge a partnership with Gov. Clinton,” Foley told reporters afterward. “We are determined to end gridlock.”

The same theme was sounded by many incoming legislators.

Foley said there will be 65 freshmen Democrats among the 110 new members of Congress, by far the largest class of newcomers since 1948. The leadership team said that it wants to listen to the concerns of the new members, but Foley and other aides also sought their cooperation on proposed changes in House operating rules.

Several of the newcomers indicated that they would try to form their own rank-and-file organization to get greater leverage in the House establishment for freshmen members.