What was Congress like in 1991? Meet the men who represented SLO County 30 years ago
No matter which party won the U.S. House of Representatives majority in the most recent election, the majority leader was going to be a Californian.
The choice was between Republican Kevin McCarthy and Democrat Nancy Pelosi.
Anyone trying to pigeonhole California’s political makeup needs to account for both Devin Nunes and Katie Porter as representatives.
Sometimes, even splits within each party have been hard to bridge.
In recent years, a new kind of candidate has emerged, posing new challenges for leadership.
This type of politician builds a brand by relentless outrage farming via posting political hot takes on social media, and often solicits funding by whacking populist notes like a kid’s xylophone.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene rose to prominence on a string of incendiary public comments. She advocated violence against Pelosi and embraced unfounded conspiracy theories shared by the violent invaders who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
This week the House of Representatives voted to remove Greene, a freshman congresswoman who represents Georgia’s 14th congressional district, from committee assignments.
After being voted off committees, she tweeted that “Oh this is going to be fun!” — now that she has more time for hot takes.
There was no mention of working for her constituents.
Greene was shielded by House minority leader Kevin McCarthy, who offered tepid critiques of the congresswoman without public consequence.
At the same time, he shielded Liz Cheney from the ire of Republicans angered by her vote to impeach former President Donald Trump. A potential vote of leadership no confidence was done via secret ballot, giving her a comfortable victory.
On Jan. 6, hours after the violent invasion of the Capitol that resulted in the death of five people, including Capitol Police Officer Brian D. Sicknick, McCarthy voted against a timely count of every legal electoral ballot cast.
The minority leader’s mentor, former congressman Bill Thomas said, “There was no fraud. The election was the cleanest election in history. Trump lost. Biden won. Let’s get to work.”
In 1991, San Luis Obispo County was represented by two very different congressmen: Democrat Leon Panetta and Republican Bill Thomas.
Panetta would become a key staffer in the presidential administrations of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. Thomas, after retiring, would be replaced by one of his staff, Kevin McCarthy.
Reporter Jan Greene wrote a profile of Panetta and Thomas that was published April 12, 1991, in the Telegram-Tribune. It’s edited here for length.
16-hour day the norm in Congress
WASHINGTON — The best way to observe Rep. Bill Thomas is in his native habitat: the proverbial smoke-filled room.
The Bakersfield Republican is in his element when he’s wheeling and dealing. This time in a small congressional committee room nestled in a far-off corner of the Capitol building, accessible only by climbing two obscure, unmarked spiral staircases.
Today Thomas, the head Republican on the House Administration Committee, is busy lobbying his colleagues on one of the stickier political issues on Capitol Hill: how much money each committee chairman gets to run his or her staff.
The room, with its crystal chandeliers, marble mantelpiece and huge oil landscapes, is one of the old meeting places in the Capitol. It is about a 10th the size of the modern hearing rooms in the newer House office buildings where all the congressmen have their offices.
“This is the way it used to be done,” a staffer whispers.
Thomas stops by a moment to chat with the hometown reporter. He sits down, relaxing in a heavy leather chair, but his eyes constantly scan the room.
Suddenly, cutting himself off mid-sentence, the 49-year-old congressman leaps up to grab his Democratic counterpart on the panel, Committee Chairman Charles Rose of North Carolina. The two confer about a last-minute compromise Thomas has just fashioned.
“It doesn’t always look pretty when it’s happening,” the former college professor and state assemblyman continued. “It was hard-fought, but ultimately” compromise won out.
“A lot of people don’t like this kind of work,” Thomas comments. “But I’m interested in the institution, the process, the rules of the game.”
Soon he is pulled back into it, as Rose orders the room cleared of staff and press.
The impromptu panel conference wipes out chances for a longer interview that day. Thomas’ schedule is full of meetings, constituent visits and other activity, a staff member explains.
Time is the currency of Capitol Hill.
Getting a few minutes with “the member” is considered by harried staff members as the highest privilege a visitor can earn. And it isn’t easy.
Both of this county’s representatives are busy people. Rep Leon Panetta, a prominent Democrat who represents San Luis Obispo and the county’s coastal communities as far south as Avila Beach; and Thomas, who represents the rest of the county, each sit on three committees, an unusually big load.
Panetta, as chairman of the House Budget Committee, is immersed in the nation’s finances, while Thomas, as top Republican on the House Administration Committee, spends more time on campaign finance and redistricting issues.
Both men have been serving in the House for more than 13 years and each wins his district with practically no campaigning at all.
But there the similarities end.
From their political beliefs to their working styles, San Luis Obispo County’s men on Capitol Hill are two different animals.
Leon Panetta is having his usual Tuesday: He got off the red-eye from San Francisco early that morning and went straight to his office at about 8 a.m. The action won’t stop until late in the night.
But by mid-afternoon, Panetta shows no signs of fatigue as he bursts out of his office to greet a group of Monterey city officials in town for a League of Cities convention. Panetta, smiling and ebullient, clearly loves this part of his job.
Panetta manages to carve out 45 minutes for a reporter toward the end of the day.
Right now he’s overwhelmed with developing a budget plan for fiscal 1992: “My days are filled with it, everything relates to the budget.”
Much of his time this day is spent negotiating to get a Democratic budget plan that all his allies will agree to. But its hard to describe how he does it because it all happens behind closed doors. In the budget process the only part of the iceberg that’s visible is the partisan sniping that goes on in press conferences and floor debate.
There’s no time for lunch so the 52-year-old congressman grabs a hot dog and eats it on the 10-minute walk back to his office from a vote in the Capitol building.
He carries 3-by-5 cards with his typed schedule, and pencils changes throughout the day.
As an attorney, Panetta started his political carer as a Republican. He served as head of the Civil Rights Office of the Health, Education and Welfare Department under Richard Nixon until he was fired over political differences.
After that he quit the GOP and ran for Congress as a Democrat.
Heading the Budget Committee is an influential job, but Panetta recognizes his limitations. For instance, peace activists in Santa Cruz and San Luis Obispo criticized him for not doing more to stop the war in the Persian Gulf.
“There’s this sense that as chairman of the Budget Committee you can do it,” Panetta says with a rueful smile. “People think you’re more powerful than you are.”
Thomas also has a busy day, starting around 9 a.m. with a conference of Republicans on the House Administration Committee to talk about an upcoming vote, a 10 a.m. committee meeting and vote that lasts an hour, then a private meeting with key panel members that lasts through lunch. That lengthy meeting means a Bakersfield trucking company representative in town to lobby on some bill will see a staff member instead of the congressman himself.
The afternoon is filled with meetings with Republicans from the California delegation, then an appearance at a hearing on taxes, a meeting with three cable company representatives from Lancaster, and a conference with the president of McDonnell Douglas Corp. to talk about trade with China.
