[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 16 (Thursday, January 26, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E180]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                         UNDERSTANDING CONGRESS

                                 ______


                        HON. ANDREW JACOBS, JR.

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, January 25, 1995
  Mr. JACOBS. Mr. Speaker, ``Oh what gift to give us to see ourselves 
as others see us.''--Robert Burns.
  Following is an article from the Indianapolis Star.
      Partisan Spats Have Little to do With Real Work of the House

                         (By George Statuville)

       Washington.--Republicans and Democrats in Congress had been 
     handling each other with kid gloves until last week. Then 
     they dragged out the old battle-scarred partisan boxing 
     gloves left over from the last session, laced them up and 
     started duking it out.
       But a brawl had been brewing for a few days.
       Since the start of the session, Democrats had been using 
     their morning speeches on the floor to attack the 
     Republicans' Contract With America or complain about 
     Republicans cutting them out of legislation. It sounded like 
     old times--except Democrats are the chief winners now.
       Then on Wednesday, Rep. Carrie Meek, D-Fla., ignited the 
     melee with an innocuous comment about House Speaker Newt 
     Gingrich, R-Ga., and his potentially lucrative book deal. 
     Said Meek: ``Exactly who does this speaker really work for? 
     Is it the American people or his New York publishing house?''
       Wham! Rep. Bob Walker, R-Pa., one of the most incendiary 
     House members when his party was in the minority, demanded 
     that Meek's comment be stricken from the record. In Walker's 
     corner, acting Speaker Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., ruled Meek was 
     out of order.
       In minutes, representatives of both stripes cleared out of 
     their offices and committee meetings like baseball players 
     emptying the dugouts for a donnybrook over an umpire's call. 
     Then they put the issue to a vote and, on strict party lines, 
     217-178, the Republican majority prevailed.
       It was a nasty moment. It got plenty of play in newspapers 
     and on radio and TV.
       But it wasn't indicative of what really happened in 
     Congress.
       To understand Congress, you must see the House chambers as 
     political theater. Removed from political reality, the floor 
     is where actor/politicians deliver ideological soliloquies; 
     where actor/politicians engage in witty and well-planned 
     dialogue; where actor/politicians play for hometown audiences 
     with homespun stories; where actor/politicians put their egos 
     on display.
       The floor's voting consoles are its only practical use. 
     Almost no work is done there.


                         where business is done

       To understand Congress, you must look at the subcommittee 
     politics.
       There weren't too many stories Wednesday about Rep. John 
     Myers' first day as chairman of the House Appropriations 
     subcommittee on energy and water.
       Here, courtesy, congeniality and collegiality prevailed on 
     a panel that controls about $20 billion in federal spending. 
     That's $20 BILLION for water control and energy programs.
       Instead of the contentiousness that spilled on the House 
     floor, you saw Myers receive a gracious introduction from the 
     former chairman, Rep. Tom Bevill, D-Ala.
       Handing Myers the gavel, Bevill joked that he would have to 
     get used to sitting in the smaller chair instead of the high-
     backed chairman's seat he had used for 18 years.
       Myers jokingly replied that he had sold the chair, which 
     got a laugh from Bevill.
       The truth is that Myers, out of respect for Bevill, had the 
     chair removed from the room altogether. Bevill had previously 
     mentioned to Myers that he would miss the comfort of the big 
     chair during interminable hearings.
       So Myers got rid of it and took a small chair himself.
       Myers' act carried deep symbolism, and it didn't go 
     unnoticed by Bevill.
       In subcommittees, members of Congress get to know each 
     other. It's where most of the unglamorous legislative work 
     gets done. Subcommittee politics are local, and a member's 
     standing with his or her subcommittee is far more important 
     than the bluster of the floor.
       And in Myers' subcommittee, bipartisanship occupies the 
     biggest chair.


     

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