William Proxmire, the Giant Killer

PROPOSALS for Government funding of an American supersonic transport date back ten years--the same amount of time Senator William Proxmire has spent opposing it. From 1961 to 1969, Proxmire engaged in five losing campaigns against SST appropriations. He has filibustered and conducted hearings, hammering away in a personal crusade against the "perfectly trivial purpose of developing an SST, seeing how rapidly we can already fly people overseas." It was the kind of tenacity that has made Proxmire the bane of defense contractors, pork-barreling colleagues and consumer frauds.

He is a loner and a maverick who disdains the Senate "club" way of conducting business, and as a result, his effectiveness as a legislator has been uneven. Proxmire came to the Senate in 1957 after winning a special election to fill the seat vacated by Joseph McCarthy's death. His committee assignments included Banking and Currency, Post Office and Civil Service, which he used to help shape his reputation as one of the chief watchdogs of Government waste.

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An early run-in with Senate tradition came in 1959 when he attacked Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson for his autocratic rule of the Senate. Proxmire's popularity with insiders was further eroded by his penchant for paring fat Government work projects dear to the Senate's patronage heart.

Until the late '60s he was considered a scattershot Senator, but during the past several years, he has homed in on some major issues. In 1967 he pushed a truth-in-lending bill through the Senate that had languished for four terms. He uncovered the $2 billion cost overrun on the C-5A and defense contractors' hiring of former high-ranking military officers. Finally, he is close to success in his fight against the SST.

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His staff was treated to clear evidence of his delight with the House defeat of funds for the big plane: from inside his suite in the New Senate Office Building could be heard the voice of the usually taciturn Proxmire singing Bill from the old musical Show Boat. His office reflects his personal style--sparsely furnished, its green walls completely devoid of pictures or decorations. The only homey touch is the hot plate used to make his breakfast at the office after his 4.8-mile run--not a jog--to the office and 200 pushups. At 55, Proxmire is nearly as fit as he was as an undergraduate boxer and football player at Yale.

As the SST fight goes down to its final stage, Proxmire's groundwork is largely done. Testimony of economists and environmentalists is already in, and the body of information he has developed against the plane over the years is well known to his colleagues. He does not wring votes from fellow Senators with deals and high-pressure promises, as members of the club would do, but he relishes the upcoming battle for the final handful of votes: "It's going to be a goddam interesting week."

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