A Juggling Act In The First 100 Days Of The New Congress, Representative George Nethercutt Found Out Time Was The Most Precious Commodity And Every Day He Had To Perform

What’s it really like to become a Member of Congress in today’s America, a Congress controlled by the Republican Party for the first time in 40 years?

After more than 100 days in office, my new title as U.S. Representative has special meaning to me and our 5th District, a meaning rooted in the noble history of Congress and America, and in a change of our representative in Congress for the first time in 30 years. I was 20 years old when my predecessor, Mr. Foley, was elected and don’t remember much about the news clippings describing the transition he undertook. So, I hope what follows will provide some insight.

I was assigned an office, 1527 Longworth House Office Building, by the luck of the draw: number 26 out of 85 possible lottery picks. When your number is called, you pick an available office of your choice, and then that office is struck from the list. We have a fine office, 1,145 square feet total, windows looking west, a 16-by-12-foot member’s office, two offices for nine staff members and one intern, and government-issue furniture. None of it fancy, all of it adequate. The phones, fax, and computers work, and our systems management functions smoothly.

A major transition problem for a new member? We couldn’t move in until Jan. 3, the day before I took the oath of office.

Swearing-in day, Jan. 4, is most memorable. I was surrounded by family and friends, loyalists who came from far and near to witness this change of “power” from one majority party to the other - peacefully, with great respect and tradition, without violence or fear. A remarkable transition, an American tradition.

That first official day, accompanied by my son, Elliott, on the House floor, with my wife, Mary Beth and my daughter, Meredith in the gallery, gave me a chance to fully observe the House with all members, but no assigned seats. The Republicans by tradition are to the Speaker’s left and Democrats are on the Speaker’s right. Bills are managed from two long tables near the front of the chamber, with microphones at each table, and another set of microphones directly in front of the Speaker’s chair where members walk down to address the House. On Jan. 4, I managed the debate on term limits for the speaker and for committee and subcommittee chairs, and it passed 355-78; a great way to start this job.

From Jan. 4 to April 7, I had more than 350 meetings in my office with more than 650 people. I have cast more than 300 votes, and except for a few votes, been on the winning side each time - not unusual when you’re in the majority party. I have participated in more than 30 day-long appropriations hearings. I’ve examined more than 150 witnesses, not the least of whom were Charleton Heston, William Bennett, Defense Secretary Perry, General Shalikashvili, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, Forest Service Chief Jack Ward Thomas, and our own Jim Walesby, of the Washington Wheat Commission. I have made the 10 minute walk to and from the House floor for votes and meetings more than 400 times.

My work hours are usually 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. The House adjourned at about 1:30 a.m. after its first day of operation. In January I missed my only vote (approving the House Journal of Proceedings for the prior day) because I was with military base-closure staff at a meeting in Arlington, Va.

I have signed, personally, more than 3,000 letters to constituents who have written from the 5th District. We receive mail four times a day, totaling an average of over 400 letters daily.

Our full Washington state delegation has met several times and the Republican delegation has met regularly to talk about matters of mutual concern. I have given more than 25 print media interviews and appeared on equally as many radio and television shows.

I receive about 100 invitations a week to attend breakfasts, dinners, and receptions from organizations eager to become acquainted with the new Congress. I have attended about 35 such events, usually at the request of my constituents and related to work I’ll be doing on the Agriculture, Interior, and National Security Appropriations subcommittees.

Hearings started Feb. 9 on budget requests from federal agencies under my subcommittee jurisdictions. The learning curve for this work has been very steep, requiring extensive reading and preparation.

The Republican ban on proxy voting requires that all members personally attend and vote at subcommittee meetings. Therefore the 100-day Contract with America schedule commitment brought added pressure to all members to study more, work longer, be home less, and make better informed judgements on votes and debates in the new Congress. Time is a premium commodity in this job.

With 94 days into the record books, we passed 9 out of 10 provisions of the Contract. That impressive list includes the Congressional Accountability Act, which means Congress will live under the same laws that apply to all Americans. The House passed the Balanced Budget Amendment and legislation to give the President the power of the lineitem veto. Crime control has also been a major legislative achievement.

Congress took the meat from last year’s crime bill, gave it more strength and trimmed the waste and fat. unfunded mandates reform was another measure that won approval, and will relieve a great deal of the burden the federal government places on states. Add to the list our National Security Revitalization Act, which will guarantee that we rebuild and maintain the strong, common-sense national defense plans that have made this country great. Although term limits failed, tax reform and legal reform measures passed the House.

This month starts the process that will be most difficult - focusing priority on government spending. What I learned in the first 100 days is that in order to achieve the goal of common-sense fiscal sanity in Congress, there will have to be a number of very difficult cuts. The first order of business for me as a member of the Appropriations Committee has been to use my time to learn about as many of the numerous programs that make up the federal budget and try to prioritize many of the items that are being considered for possible cuts.

For too long Congress has said yes to spending increase after spending increase. In an ideal world it would be great if government could spend as much as Congress wanted to spend. However, we’ve finally come to realize that Congress has finite resources and budget constraints and it must prioritize and only spend money on the most vital programs. We must balance the federal budget so that America does not go bankrupt.

One thing is certain. For every program there are good people on both sides offering impassioned pleas for why dollars should be spent or cut. Some of the more controversial cuts being offered are in funding for the National Endowment for the Arts and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. While I have listened carefully to people on both sides of the argument for funding these two entities, the reality is that at a time when Congress has made very serious changes in welfare, it is very hard to justify appropriating millions of dollars for federal agencies which can be privately funded.

I knew from the start that decisions I make collectively with my fellow committee members will be difficult. It’s important to note that despite the high emotion surrounding many of these debates, we need to make these decisions not by wielding a wild machete, but rather by scrutinizing each decision under a microscope and cutting with a scalpel.

What sets this Congress apart from all others is that our nation faces dire fiscal problems. The challenge to this Congress is to change our national perception of government and make it work in the most competitive world market ever known to mankind. The same process of change that thousands of large and small companies have faced in the last two decades is now being faced by government at all levels. We cannot shrink in the face of this awesome challenge.

I am honored each day I put on my pin as a Member of Congress. To be a part of this institution at such a critical time and to serve on a committee that carries so much of the burden of the voters’ mandate for change, offers an incomparable opportunity to rebuild our nation’s government and to realize the vision of our founding fathers in reestablishing a government of, by and for the people.

MEMO: George Nethercutt, of Spokane, represents Washington state’s 5th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. He wrote this article at the request of the Spokesman-Review.