The Freshman Class

A year ago, newly elected U.S. Rep. James E. Rogan, a Republican from Glendale, rolled into the nation’s capital in a mud-covered van, only to be confronted by a cop who mistook the former Municipal Court judge for a “bum.”

From that inauspicious start, Rogan has tried to distinguish himself in Washington, where he is still considered a rookie, despite his four years as a judge and two years in the California Assembly.

Mostly, he has tried to achieve something that he can bring back to his constituents as proof that he is working on their behalf.

“In Congress, we deal with things on a national scope, and the struggle is to find a little piece in your district that you can use federal funds to pay for,” he said.

Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks), the other freshmen representative from the area, knows the feeling. But he believes he has it tougher because he is a freshmen from the minority party.

“I think I got more laws passed in Sacramento [as a member of the State Board of Equalization] than I have here,” Sherman said.

Unlike the California Legislature, where term limits have thrust rookie lawmakers into positions of influence, in Washington freshmen are treated like, well, freshmen.

Key committee leadership posts in Congress are usually given to lawmakers with years, often decades, of experience. And if a freshman wants to question legislation moving through one of those panels, he must wait until senior lawmakers have voiced their queries.

Rogan was given a much-coveted appointment to the prestigious Commerce Committee, due in part to the efforts of his predecessor, Carlos Moorhead. Sherman, meanwhile, holds a seat on the International Relations Committee.

Still, Sherman and Rogan pride themselves on benefiting their constituents.

Rogan, for example, cites as his biggest achievement a little-known budget amendment that would protect broadcast spectrum used for police and fire communications from being auctioned off by the Federal Communications Commission for use by television and radio stations.

He teamed up with two Democratic representatives, Henry Waxman, who represents parts of the San Fernando Valley, and Jane Harman of Torrance, to push the amendment, despite opposition from the chairman of the House Budget Committee.

“It doesn’t mean much to those people in the streets, but it means a lot for sheriffs and other emergency personnel,” Rogan said.

He also takes pride in leading a fight to preserve nearly $7 million in funding to refurbish and overhaul a Marine Corps reserve center in Pasadena, despite President Clinton’s veto of funding for that and other military spending. Clinton is expected to reverse that veto in the next few days.

“It was tough, because I had to justify it in the face of hundreds if not thousands of other projects,” he said.

Sherman cites one major achievement in his first year in office. He calls it “probably the most important thing I’ve done in public life.”

The so-called “Sherman amendment” to the budget freed up $700 million to buy environmentally sensitive parcels for use as national parkland.

“The level of funding we achieved . . . far exceeds my own expectations and the expectations of the environmental community,” he said.

Already, both lawmakers have outlined legislative agendas for next year that--if successful--are likely to put both in the spotlight.

Rogan, a former federal prosecutor, is prepared to introduce legislation that would impose mandatory minimum incarceration for people who use a gun while smuggling illegal immigrants across the border.

Too often, said Rogan, smugglers promise to take immigrants across the border, only to rob and rape them, leaving them for dead in the desert.

“We want to discourage these people,” he said. “And if we catch them, we want them to serve hard time.”

Sherman, meanwhile, plans to press for a law to create a national hotline to inform residents if a registered sex offender has moved into their neighborhood.

The bill is a follow-up to the so-called “Megan’s Law,” which requires states to notify communities when a convicted molester moves into an area after being released from prison.

Sherman’s bill has already been endorsed by more than 40 lawmakers, including Reps. Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-Santa Clarita) and Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley).

“It’s a bill to try to keep our children safe from sexual predators,” he said.