Hot Tip, Smart Byrd And A Gush of Good Will

THE CONGRESS Hot Tip, Smart Byrd And A Gush of Good Will

"He will be the greatest one-term Speaker that the House has ever had," said Republican Leader John Rhodes with a sly twinkle. A roar of laughter rolled through an abnormally cheery House chamber. Just elected the 48th Speaker of the House on a straight party-line vote of 290 to 142, Democratic Congressman Thomas ("Tip") O'Neill replied with a good-natured dig of his own. "My colleague well knows I understand that he has his eye on the Speaker's seat," said O'Neill. "I am sure that is all he has on it." More laughter.

Cozy Chatter. In a gush of good will, the 95th Congress convened amid clinking glasses, receptions that stumbled on into the evening hours and cozy chatter about a new comradeship between Capitol Hill and the White House. Nearly 200 children of all ages gamboled about the House floor as all but one of the 435 Representatives (Illinois' Morgan Murphy was absent for a funeral) attended the opening ceremonies, many bringing their families. In the Senate, Vice President Nelson Rockefeller presided over the opening rituals as one of his final official acts in the fading Republican Administration. In both chambers, Democrats looked forward with a mixture of eagerness and uneasiness to having one of their own in the White House after eight long years. Confessed one junior Democratic Senator: "I don't know how to act being with a winner."

Beneath the opening week's gaiety were barely submerged apprehensions and tensions. Reflecting the worry that Jimmy Carter may take Congress for granted, Speaker O'Neill warned that "common sense and the Constitution demand that Pennsylvania Avenue remain a two-way street." Liberal Democrats are already restive over Carter's apparent intention to place budget-balancing goals above the need for such programs as welfare reform and national health insurance. Many Democrats, too, favor a larger jobs program than they expect Carter to recommend. Neither do Republicans expect to sit idly by while Carter and congressional Democratic leaders work out a legislative agenda. Said Rhodes: "I promise you that when we are in opposition--and we may be from time to time--we will be as vigorous as we can, but we will not oppose for the sake of opposition alone."

Even within the two parties, there was dissension as they chose their congressional leaders. In the Senate, Democrat Hubert Humphrey at the last minute withdrew his challenge to West Virginia's Robert Byrd for Majority Leader, replacing the retired Mike Mansfield. Humphrey bowed out because he knew he did not have the votes to win, but some Senators were a bit irritated with him. Said one: "Hubert has always been a genius at climbing out on a limb, then jumping back just before it breaks off. He always leaves a number of his friends stuck out there." Yet the entire Senate showed its deep affection for Hubert in a rousing ovation when he signed the register as a re-elected member. Barry Goldwater warmly embraced his longtime political foe in a Senate aisle. The Democratic caucus compensated Humphrey, whose once-dyed hair is now gray and who has visibly aged in his struggle against cancer, for passing him over in favor of Byrd. It created for him the new post of Deputy President pro tern of the Senate, with an extra office, four-person staff, limousine, driver, the right to attend leaders' conferences with the President and a $52,000 salary ($7,400 more than normal Senate pay).

Byrd, 59, a conservative four-term Senator who has shown no flair for formulating policy but great skill as a legislative tactician (TIME, Jan. 10), should mesh neatly with Carter, who seems determined to push broad legislative policies and priorities of his own. Democratic liberals are attempting to strip Byrd of the power to name members of the Democratic Steering Committee. The move is far from academic, since the Steering Committee controls all Democratic committee assignments.

Reform Plan. A more sweeping reform plan also awaits action by the Senate. Drawn up last fall by a select committee headed by Illinois' Adlai Stevenson, the plan recommends that the Senate's 31 committees be slashed to 15, its 176 subcommittees to 100, and that Senators serve on no more than eight committees or subcommittees. (The current average is 18.) As hearings opened on the proposal, some junior Senators opposed it on grounds that it would limit their impact on legislation. Moreover, committees that will probably be axed have supporters who will object strenuously. The Senate's attempts to reorganize may prove almost as complicated as Carter's expected effort to reorganize the Executive Branch. Senate Republicans showed themselves far more divided over their leadership decisions than were the Democrats. In a surprising 19-to-18 vote, Tennessee's Howard Baker, 51, was chosen Senate Minority Leader over the favored Robert Griffin, 53, of Michigan. Even on the morning of the Republican caucus, Baker was not certain he would pursue his challenge. "I thought I didn't have enough votes to get elected," he told reporters, "but there were too many votes to throw away," When he saw "the same look of anguish and terror on Griffin's face, I decided to go ahead."

Contrasting Positions. In a sense, the Senate leadership choices of both parties reflected their contrasting political positions. With Carter in the Oval Office, the Democrats chose in Byrd a man well equipped to push the Administration's programs. Elected without opposition as the majority whip, California's Alan Cranston, 62, brings similar parliamentary savvy to his job. As the opposition party, the Republicans passed up Griffin, a shrewd legislative manipulator but a ponderous speaker, in favor of the more articulate Baker, who should prove an able party spokesman. What is more, the spotlight should further the youthful-looking Baker's presidential ambitions. Baker rose to national prominence as a smooth, if often tediously verbose, Watergate inquisitor, and he has been chosen partly to symbolize the party's break with its blemished past. Ironically, Baker is sharply criticized by the Watergate Committee's Chief Counsel Samuel Dash in his new book (Chief Counsel) for working in closed committee meetings to weaken the case against Richard Nixon.

Even as the Republican Party was trying to throw off all remnants of Watergate, congressional Democrats were worrying about the potential impact of the looming investigations into influence peddling by the South Korean government. The Justice Department is continuing its probe into allegations that members of Congress accepted cash bribes to promote legislation favoring President Park Chung Hee's regime, and the House Ethics Committee plans to begin its own probe this month. Thus, more than mere public relations was involved in O'Neill's announcement last week that he will create a special House committee, headed by North Carolina Democrat Richardson Preyer, to draft a tough new code of ethics for House members.

Beyond these concerns, the new Congress must prepare to act quickly on such urgent problems as the economy, energy, Carter's Executive reorganization plans and defense spending. It must also face the stigma of almost certainly becoming the first billion-dollar-a-year Congress in U.S. history. The Congress this year will have spent $943,500,485 on its own operations, including such items as $137,895,200 to run the Library of Congress, $140,827,400 for the Government Printing Office, $150,580,000 for the General Accounting Office and even $1,164,900 for the Botanic Garden. Inflation alone will push the new Congress over the billion-dollar milestone next year. With its public esteem still low, the national legislature will be hard-pressed to prove it is worth that much money.

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