Foley Says Gop Deserves Credit But Divisive Issues Threaten To Dissolve Conservatives’ Unity, Former Speaker Says

Citizen Tom Foley gives new House Speaker Newt Gingrich and his Republican majority good marks for their first three months.

He wonders if they can hold together on some of the more difficult issues - particularly spending cuts - that face the nation.

But from his new vantage point of interested observer, the former speaker refuses to criticize the new direction of the new Congress.

“I wish them well,” said Foley, who looks more rested than at any time in years. “To do less would be to not wish the country well.”

In an interview this week during his first visit to Spokane since leaving office, Foley reflected on the first Congress in which he has not served in 30 years.

He also offered cautionary words for those who are quick to strengthen laws in response to the Oklahoma City bombing: Don’t confuse unconventional politics with violent terrorism.

Groups that only are talking philosophically - however radically antigovernment - deserve constitutional protection, he said.

But if they’re talking about preparing explosives, massing arms or attacking the government, the FBI should be able to put them under close surveillance without waiting for some overt act.

“Conservatives are not responsible for people who go over the line and commit terrorist acts any more than progressives were responsible for people who went over the line during the Vietnam War and blew up buildings,” he said.

Now a partner in a Washington, D.C., law and lobbying firm, Foley has been in the Capitol building just once since the session began.

“There are days when I don’t miss it at all, … the arbitrating of disputes, the attention to internal matters,” he said.

Gingrich, he says, deserves credit for strengthening the office of the speakership - something Foley tried with limited success.

“He’s become a remarkable new figure in American politics,” Foley said. “He has demonstrated the capacity to be positive on a number of issues.”

The closest Foley will come to criticizing his successor is to echo Gingrich’s own assessment of being “a little quick on the draw” when commenting on unfamiliar issues.

“When you have great public attention, you have to be careful about that,” Foley said.

As one of dozens of Democrats ousted in November, Foley rejects the theory that the GOP’s “Contract With America” was the key to the election. Most voters didn’t have a clear idea of all the points of the contract, he said.

“What the election was was a rejection of Democrats - a very clear rejection,” he said.

But the contract served as a useful vehicle for mustering the nation’s frustration and gave the new Republican majority the chance to focus on shared values.

“It captivated daily press coverage. … It was almost achievement by numbers,” he said.

It also kept the Republicans unified.

“If the Democrats had shown that kind of leadership, I would have been criticized for exacting iron-collared loyalty and lock-stepped obedience,” Foley said.

The real question is whether the Republicans can hold that unity through the coming months, he said.

Issues such as abortion and the Endangered Species Act cause splits within both parties. Balancing the federal budget by the year 2002, which Republicans have said they will attempt, will require difficult cuts, possibly in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, Foley predicted.

Foley said he’s pleasantly surprised to find there is life after Congress. He lectures, travels and specializes in international law for a large law firm, Akin and Gump. The firm also is one of the nation’s largest lobbying organizations, but Foley says he has no plans to lobby Congress for any of the firm’s clients.

He’s philosophical, not bitter, about his defeat.

“I won 15 times and lost once,” he said. “There’s nothing about losing, in itself, that’s bad. It’s part of the process.”