Posted on 12/04/2004 4:00:56 PM PST by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON (AP) - A Southern California congressman is a leading candidate for one of the most powerful jobs on Capitol Hill - chairman of the House committee that determines government spending.
Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Redlands, won't talk publicly about his bid to lead the House Appropriations Committee, and there are no candidate debates or attack ads in this race.
But behind the scenes Lewis is campaigning hard for the post, donating about $1.3 million to Republican candidates and causes and making pitches to fellow House members, individually and in groups.
To demonstrate his fitness for the job to Republican leaders eager to hold down spending, Lewis even sent out a reproduction of a campaign flyer from his first House race, in 1978, that shows a bloated Uncle Sam with the tag line "Uncle needs a diet."
"Jerry Lewis is determined to focus on this issue of spending, because we as Republicans feel passionately about the need to rein in the reach of the federal government, and obviously the spending is a very big part of that," said Rep. David Dreier, R-San Dimas, a supporter. "I think he gets kudos for that."
Lewis' opponents are Republican Reps. Ralph Regula of Ohio and Hal Rogers of Kentucky. Rep. Bill Young, R-Fla., is stepping down from the top spot due to Republican rules limiting committee chairmanships to six years.
A group of about 30 Republican House leaders who make up the House Republican Steering Committee will vote on the candidates in early January.
The Appropriations Committee is among the two or three most powerful in Congress because it writes the 13 annual spending bills that fund federal agencies. Lewis, 70, a former insurance agent and state assemblyman who has served in Congress for 26 years, is now chairman of the Appropriations subcommittee that writes the Defense spending bill.
He's used the position in part to steer funding to his inland California district, corralling $48 million worth of projects, from a city pool to a highway interchange, in the massive spending bill Congress approved last month. Lewis' expertise at obtaining the funding critics call pork has earned him the nickname "the nutty appropriator" from the watchdog group Citizens Against Government Waste.
But Lewis has also helped protect California's interests in ways that benefit the whole state, including working with Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein last year to block a measure that would have prevented California from regulating pollution from lawn mowers.
If Lewis is elevated to chairman of the full Appropriations Committee he would be in position to do even more for the state, including potentially helping keep California's military bases open during an upcoming round of closures. There has never been an Appropriations Committee chairman from California.
"California has been and to some degree still remains such a leader in defense, and clearly is a leader in high-tech," said Rep. John Doolittle, R-Rocklin. "Having a Californian as chairman of that committee would be very, very significant in those two areas."
Regula is the most senior of the three members competing for the top job, followed by Lewis. However, Republican leaders have shown a willingness to overlook seniority when assigning chairmanships.
That happened in recent years when Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Tracy, leapfrogged over more senior members and took the reins of the Resources Committee, and when Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Bakersfield, was chosen to head the Ways and Means Committee.
But California can already claim five committee chairmen in the Republican-led House - Pombo, Thomas, Dreier at the head of the Rules Committee and the leaders of Homeland Security and Armed Services. Although term limits will topple those leaders in coming years, Lewis' supporters have had to battle the perception that California doesn't need yet another committee chairman.
"Of course there's those who may say that California has an abundance of chairmen," said Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Corona.
But "today's abundance should not be held against us, because very soon there's going to be a situation, because of the (term) limitations we put upon ourselves, that California will have no chairmanships," he said.
ACU Ratings for Representative LEWIS:
http://acuratings.com/acu.cgi?ACT=1&USER_ID=3346&YEAR=2003
Year 2003 80
Year 2002 88
Lifetime 82
Oy, nice lady, with the taxing and the spending, ng'hey....
I went to high school and church with Jerry's daughter in the '70s. Don't think I've ever met Jerry but have interacted with his staff on various issues. I've considered Jerry a tad on the too-moderate side for my preferences however I'm pleasantly surprised at the ACU ranking which was news to me. This last summer, Jerry did write a strongly-worded letter to the 'Save The Cross" campaign condemning the ACLU for trying to get the cross off the City of Redlands official seal. His stock went up a notch for that.... As noted above his home office is in Redlands.
BTW, Pacific Justice Institute committed pro-bono representation to the City in fighting the ACLU but there is still the risk factor re: what if the City loses the case--and the ACLU gets its blood money legal fees 'estimated' at $150,000.
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