Stumbling to a Showdown

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The record turnover in congressional membership is striking. Fully 55 of the 100 Senators are in their first term, and 207 of the 435 members of the House have been there less than six years. A decade ago, there were 35 freshman Senators and 141 Representatives who had served three terms or fewer. Many of the newcomers have neither the respect for Congress nor the experience in shaping legislation that can be acquired only through years of service. There is considerable tension, in fact, between the oldtimers and the freshmen. "The intellectual and educational level of Congress has increased," says Democratic House Leader Jim Wright. "But the moral stamina in terms of basic integrity and guts has declined. Members are now more concerned about image and less about substance."

The old hands see sectarian differences among the newcomers. The Republican rookies tend to feel a greater loyalty to their party than do the Democrats because the Republican National Committee has more computer-collected campaign funds to distribute. But the younger Republicans also tend to be more rigidly ideological and militant on issues than their predecessors. Arizona Congressman John Rhodes gave up his post as Minority Leader two years ago, largely because he got fed up with the daily grind of trying to reason with unreasonable newcomers. By contrast, many recently elected Democrats ignored local party organizations, made it to Congress on their own, and thus have little sense of loyalty or obligation to their ostensible leaders in Washington. Tip O'Neill, who does not enjoy having to meet regularly with the Democratic freshmen, complains about their shifting values. "The old liberals are concerned about the poor, the senior citizens and the indigent—people," he says a bit nostalgically. The "new liberals are concerned about clean air, clean water—issues."

The institutional reforms passed in the mid-1970s did more than overhaul the budgetmaking process. They were designed to break the stranglehold on legislation held by powerful committee chairmen, often crusty autocrats and disproportionately Southern conservatives who attained power by virtue of seniority, not skill. One not wholly unexpected result has been that even relative newcomers now wield considerable power. Eager to make their mark, but lacking expertise, they tend to produce sloppily drafted laws. Example: an energy bill produced by the Senate Finance Committee was intended to assist Northerners earning below the poverty line in paying their heating bills but ended up subsidizing Southerners in running their air conditioners.

One reform, intended to undermine the veto power formerly held by committee chairmen, was to give subcommittees funding and staffing independent of their parent committees, especially in the House. In the Senate, 16 new Republicans were elected in 1980, and every one of them chairs at least one and more often two influential subcommittees. New York Republican Alfonse D'Amato, who is considered something of a legislative featherweight by congressional observers, chairs three subcommittees: Urban and Rural Development, Securities, and District of Columbia.