Congress Loses Deep Legislative Experience
CongressNow Staff
Warner also worked with Sen. Joe Lieberman (ID-Conn.) to pass the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act that sought to control global warming through the establishment of a federal cap-and-trade scheme. The measure ultimately stalled, but it was widely seem as a precursor to future climate change legislation.
Other key GOP moderates also failed to win re-election.
Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.), who lost his bid for a third term, has worked across party lines on health care and energy legislation. He joined with Democrats in a failed bid to expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program and has sponsored legislation with Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) to expand federal hate-crime protections to gays.
Sen. John Sununu (N.H.), the chamber’s youngest GOP Member, lost his race for a second term. He often joined with Democrats on environmental issues and was among a handful of Republican Senators to vote in support of advancing the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act. Sununu also reached across party lines to work with Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) to push a regulatory overhaul of the insurance industry.
In the House, Rep. Christopher Shays (Conn.), the author of landmark campaign finance reform legislation in 2002, was defeated in bid for a 12th term. Shays was among the most moderate GOP Members, particularly on social issues, and was a frequent critic of the Bush administration. He was the lone Republican representing a New England state.
Also defeated was a top GOP appropriator, Rep. Joe Knollenberg (Mich.), ranking member of the Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies, a key slot given the automobile industry’s importance for his home state. He served as chairman for two years when the GOP controlled the House. Knollenberg opposed fuel-economy standards and free-trade agreements, and he has successfully zeroed out funding for the 1997 Kyoto treaty.
Several senior Republicans were defeated or opted to retire rather than seek re-election in the 111th Congress.
Rep. Jim McCrery (La.), the ranking member on the Ways and Means Committee, chose not to seek re-election after leapfrogging several Members in 2006 to take the panel’s minority gavel. McCrery has had a solid working relationship with Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) that helped them pass a package of small-business tax cuts. He also was a leading critic of the Democratic argument that the Internal Revenue Service is not doing enough to collect unpaid taxes.
Other key GOP retirees include: Rep. Duncan Hunter (Calif.), a former chairman of the Armed Services Committee and a staunch advocate of increased defense spending; Rep. Tom Reynolds (N.Y.), a Ways and Means member who led several efforts to delay the alternative minimum tax; Rep. Ray LaHood (Ill.), a centrist respected for his institutional knowledge; and Rep. Tom Tancredo (Colo.), an outspoken critic of illegal immigration.
No senior Democrats lost their bids for re-election.
Among the most significant Democrats leaving is Rep. Rahm Emanuel (Ill.), the tenacious House Democratic Caucus Chairman, who will become Obama’s White House chief of staff. Despite his hard-charging reputation, Emanuel has been a deal-maker in House and willing to work with Republicans to pass legislation.
Geof Koss, Vicki Needham and Stephen Langel contributed to this report.
Schumer Advocates for Many on Panel
Nov. 16, 12 a.m.
As Senate Majority Leader, Lyndon Johnson once said of the Joint Economic Committee, “It’s as useless as tits on a bull.” But as that panel’s chairman during the 110th Congress, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) seized the opportunity to elevate the traditionally low-profile post to the forefront of shaping policy. Read Full Article
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