Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 13, 1992 TAG: 9202130043
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
MASS EXODUS TO CHANGE FACE OF CONGRESS
More than 100 fresh faces are expected in Congress next year in the largest turnover since World War II, a change brought on by factors ranging from an aging crop of lawmakers to revised ethics rules.With the current session of Congress barely two weeks old, 29 incumbent lawmakers, including Rep. Jim Olin, D-Roanoke, have announced they will not be back in 1993.
"It should be a refreshing breeze for the institution," said Rep. Dennis Eckart, a 41-year-old Ohio Democrat elected in 1980 and departing after the November election.
Precisely how the breeze would blow is unpredictable. The so-called Watergate class swept into office in 1975, producing a series of reforms and ousting some long-entrenched committee chairmen.
Reasons why lawmakers are leaving include:
Redistricting that has carved up the home turf of some incumbents, mostly in the Northeast and Midwest. A few sitting lawmakers must either retire or fight each other for survival. Many would have to run on less friendly territory.
Low public esteem for Congress, fanned by mini-scandals involving the House's internal management. Lawmakers are subjected to constant criticism back home, and more may retire if the ethics committee releases a list of those who bounced checks at the House bank.
An ethics law that allows members elected before 1980 to keep for personal use any leftover campaign funds, but only if they retire this year.
The House is getting older. Fully 105 of its 435 members are over 60, and 33 are in their 70s or 80s.
Over the past four decades, average turnover in the House every two years has been about 62, ranging from a low of 36 in 1969 to a peak of 86 in 1975. Retirements alone have accounted for anywhere from 21 seats in 1956 to 49 in 1978.
Ironically, the big turnover comes at a time when critics say Congress has become a lifetime sinecure and that limiting the number of terms lawmakers may serve is the only way to oust incumbents.
In years past, lawmakers such as Eckart would have been just settling in for long Capitol Hill careers. He had acquired a reputation as a thoughtful and articulate lawmaker with a bright future in Congress.
But times have changed. "It's very clear there is a loss of stature at home, to say you're a member of Congress," he said.
And those who came to Washington to pursue idealistic goals have been stymied by budget constraints and polarization between the Republican White House and the Democratic Congress.
Burnout is a factor. The wearing cycle of travel between Washington and home, election campaigns and endless fund raising takes its toll.
Rep. John Miller, R-Wash., said he was leaving Congress at age 53 because he wanted to spend more time with his wife and son. And he added: "I also feel less creative and energetic than in my first year."
Twenty-two of those retiring are Democrats, seven Republicans. Some are running for the Senate or governor but many are going elsewhere.
Rep. Lindsay Thomas, 48, a 10-year House member, is leaving to take an executive job with the Atlanta committee that is organizing for the city's hosting of the summer Olympics in 1996.
Committee chairmen also are among those leaving.
They include Walter Jones, D-N.C., chairman of the Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee; Frank Annunzio, D-Ill., chairman of the Banking subcommittee on financial institutions; Edward Roybal, D-Calif., chairman of the Appropriations Treasury subcommittee; Gus Yatron, D-Pa., chairman of the Foreign Affairs human rights subcommittee, and Mervyn Dymally, D-Calif., chairman of the Foreign Affairs Africa subcommittee.
Long term, though, The retirement of those senior lawmakers could be less important in the House than the departure of some of those who might have advanced.
"The interesting pattern is not the older ones. It's the Eckarts and the Lindsay Thomases, the guys in their 40s," said political analyst and newsletter publisher Charles Cook.
"They came wanting to do something, found the institution paralyzed, and then they go home and get dumped on by constituents," said Cook. "I'm thinking there could be as many as 50 to 60 retirements this year."