The Promise of an Unusual Coalition : Feinstein and Boxer vow powerful teamwork effort

With the largest congressional delegation of any state, California should have clout in Washington that’s beyond dispute. But despite the delegation’s size--it now numbers 54--California’s senators and representatives have too often been grateful for whatever scraps of federal largess came the state’s way rather than aggressively acting on behalf of the state’s best interests.

Now there is promise of clout to match our mountains. It comes from the first women whom California has sent to the Senate. The two new senators, Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, along with the other members of the 103th Congress, took office last week and have now received their committee assignments. Each has landed in a key spot. In their new assignments, Feinstein and Boxer have the opportunity to fulfill their campaign promises to better serve all Americans, regardless of gender or race. And, in particular, they are better positioned to work together to address the needs of this state than perhaps previous California senators have been.

Sens. Feinstein and Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois were selected last week to join the previously all-white, all-male Senate Judiciary Committee, which in addition to approving federal judicial appointments oversees the Department of Justice and writes legislation pertaining to criminal laws. The Feinstein and Braun appointments are yet another historic step for women in national politics. That committee’s response to Prof. Anita Hill’s 1991 testimony that Clarence Thomas, then a nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, had sexually harassed her angered many Americans and particularly many women. Now Judith Lichtman, president of the Women’s Legal Defense Fund, notes that “never again will the legal rights of women be considered only by white men.”

Of more significance for California is Feinstein’s appointment to the Committee on Appropriations and Boxer’s to the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. Both women sought these powerful posts specifically to help revive California’s ailing economy. The appropriations panel controls the Senate’s purse strings and traditionally steers lucrative federal projects to the home states of its members. The Banking Committee’s jurisdiction includes financial aid to commerce and industry, private and public housing programs, mass transit and export controls.

One early sign that California’s new senators may successfully meet their promises to work together for the state is their agreement last week to alternate recommending nominees for district court vacancies.

Traditionally, the state’s senior senator has the prerogative to make such selections. Feinstein has a slender claim to seniority because she took office shortly after the election, only about a month before Boxer was sworn in. Like the state’s economic revival, filling the six existing district court vacancies--each of the seats has been open for more than two years--demands immediate attention.

Feinstein and Boxer raised high expectations during their campaigns for change in Washington and recovery in California. Now comes the hard part--keeping the promise.