THE TREMORS that shook the Democratic majority in the U.S. House of Representatives shortly after last November's election widened cracks that were already present in the Illinois delegation. For many years the Illinois Democrats operated as a cohesive bloc. The Chicago organization's designated leader served on the Ways and Means Committee that also controlled committee assignments for all the other Democratic members. Thus it was made easier for the regional "whip," Rep. Dan Rostenkowski of Chicago, to maintain discipline among independently inclined newcomers.
This year's arrival of an extraordinary number of impatient freshmen induced abrupt changes in the distribution of power. The Democratic caucus assumed policymaking functions that had been monopolized by a few elderly committee chairmen. Furthermore, the committee assignment authority was taken from the Ways and Means Committee and given to the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee. The two Illinois representatives on that committee are Rep. Melvin Price of East St. Louis and Rep. Ralph H. Metcaife of Chicago. Price has been in Congress since 1945, longer than any other Illinoisan. Metcaife, a Black, who was named to the committee by Speaker Carl Albert at the request of the congressional Black Caucus, split with the regular party organization in Chicago. Without consulting Rostenkowski (or Mayor Daley), the steering committee put Rep. Abner J. Mikva of Evanston on the Ways and Means Committee along with Rostenkowski.
Before being reapportioned out of his South Side Chicago district, Mikva was aligned with a faction of liberal reformer who are now using the party caucus to run the House. Mikva moved to the suburbs, ran once and lost, ran again and won. More important than his spot on the tax policy committee, however, is Mikva's privileged position on the side of the "New Power" in the House.
Subsequently, the Louisiana chairman of the Armed Services Committee was dethroned and Price became the first non-Southerner in many years at the head of the military committee in either house. Price has always been careful not to tread on the toes of the Cook County organization. Previous chairmen saw to it that military installations brought payrolls and procurement contracts into their districts. Price presumably could do the same for Southern Illinois, but the defense budget is being scrutinized closely these days, so that prospect isn't very likely.
Not enough seats
Generally, the ethnic tensions in the Cook County party characterized the relationships within the congressional delegation for a long time. There never are enough seats or enough titles to fully satisfy the Irish, Poles, Italians, Jews, Blacks and other constituent groups. Rep. Frank Annunzio is from Chicago, but he is closer to Price than to Rostenkowski. Annunzio is the new chairman of an important subcommittee, on consumer affairs legislation. Rep. Sidney R. Yates of Chicago has been in Congress almost as long as Price, but he dropped out to run for the Senate and lost his seniority standing when he returned, so Yates is only now taking over an appropriations subcommittee chairmanship.
The relative longevity of congressional Democrats is illustrated by the fact that Rostenkowski was first elected in 1958, and is outranked in seniority by 57 other Democrats. He has an opportunity finally to demonstrate his ability as a creative legislator, in his role as chairman of a new subcommittee of Ways and Means, on health insurance.
As a practical matter, the state's opportunities to obtain public works grants were damaged by the loss of two veteran subcommittee chairmen, through the death of John C. Kluczynski and the retirement of Kenneth J. Gray. Gray's successor in the Southern Illinois district. Rep. Paul Simon of Carbondale, chose a major "software" committee. Education and Labor. Simon, therefore, will not have as easy access to the pork barrel, but he will be in a position to advance the interests of Southern Illinois University and the coal miners in his district.
Under the new order on Capitol Hill, Mikva and Rostenkowski will almost certainly be rivals for influence — running on different tracks, of course. However, this all depends on the reelection of Mikva and a substantial portion of the Democratic freshmen. The defeat of these freshmen would leave the representatives of solidly Democratic districts (like Rostenkowski) in control of the next caucus. The two men are about the same age and served together in the Illinois General Assembly, but their styles are as unlike as they could possibly be. Mikva is a media politician, a brilliantly articulate advocate, a reformer who believes the clumsy legislative institution can be made to work. Rostenkowski is an organization politician, a Democratic ward committeeman in Chicago, who operates best behind the scenes and was comfortable with the seniority system. It is ironic, in view of the present power of the caucus, that he used big-city alliances to become chairman of the caucus — the third-ranking leadership position — from 1967 until 1971, only to be ambushed by Speaker Albert and the Texas delegation, defenders of the established system.
June 1975/Illinois Issues/191