Washington

By ROBERT MACKAY

DEMOCRAT Harold Washington of Chicago, one of the three new members of the Illinois congressional delegation, was "shocked" to discover a major similarity between Congress and the Illinois General Assembly when he arrived in Washington in January. "The level of the Democratic leadership here is as bad as it is in the Illinois assembly," Washington declared. "That distubs me very much."

Recalling that 63 Democrats voted for President Reagan's budget proposal in the House rather than for a Democratic plan, Washington said, "There was no rallying of troops. They [Democratic leaders] were like marshmallows. It was atrocious."

Washington, 59, was a member of the Illinois House from 1965-76 and served in the state Senate from 1976-80. In November, he was elected to represent the 1st Congressional District, which encompasses a large part of Chicago's South Side. The other freshman members of the U.S. House from Illinois are Republican Lynn Martin of Rockford, who represents the 16th District in the northwest part of the state, and Democrat Gus Savage of Chicago, who serves the 2nd District on the city's South Side.

All three of them like the job well enough that they've already decided to seek reelection in 1982, but there are also some complaints and surprises they have discovered about the Congress.

Along with the "inept Democratic leadership" that is "very similar" to that in the General Assembly, Washington found what he believes to be racist tendencies in the House. He noted some Democrats who opposed the Reagan budget voted for all of the liberal Democratic alternatives except the one proposed by the Black Congressional Caucus. Among the Democrats on the Illinois delegation, Washington said John Fary (5th) and Dan Rostenkowski (8th), both of Chicago, voted against the caucus' budget proposal. "That strikes me as a very racist attitude," Washington said. "There seems to be a racist tendency here."

Despite those complaints, Washington said he has found a major difference between Congress and the Illinois legislature that he enjoys — the tools and resources provided to members of Congress. "This is a wonderful place to work. It has to be the best shop in the world to work in," Washington said, noting he has access to modern computers and helpful research assistants. "If there's any problem, it's that you get too much information."

Washington, who is divorced, rents an apartment on the Hill about eight blocks from the Capitol. He has "no time for the Washington social life" and returns to his home district nearly every weekend. After going "through the learning process" for the first few months, he planned to introduce legislation later that deals with education and unemployment.

Martin, 41, also with experience in the Illinois General Assembly, serving in the House from 1977-79 and in the Senate from 1979-80, replaced John Anderson, who ran for president rather than for reelection.

"It has its good moments," she said of her job in Congress. "It's more time intensive than even I supposed. I have three homes — one in Rockford, one in Washington and one is the seat of a 727 [airliner]. I still don't have my time alloted properly. You almost have to schedule in your own free time," noting she has seen very little of the historic sites and monuments in Washington.

Her biggest surprise, she said, was the high prices of homes in Washington. Martin bought a "handyman's special" townhouse on the Hill, about two blocks from the Capitol. "You know the best thing about the job? I get two springs. There's about a three week difference between the changes of seasons here and back home."

Martin said she and her staff are "still feeling our way" around the Capitol, and one of her biggest problems is telling the other members of Congress apart. "Most members are the same height and wear pinstriped suits. But people have been extraordinarily kind to me. New members can make an awful lot of mistakes, and people have prevented me from making mistakes."

Martin said she has not detected blatant male chauvinism among her colleagues, although Congress is nearly an all-male club. She noted she can't get into some golf clubs or racquetball leagues, but added, "I wouldn't play golf if I could and I prefer napping to racquetball. I'm not saying that's right [barring women from clubs], but I think there are more important fights to fight. I get the feeling they're [her colleagues] willing to judge you on your ability and confidence. If there are those that have caveats about women, the voting board takes care of that."

The hardest chore for Martin is flying ("I hate it"), and she wishes Congress would start work earlier in the day. She has yet to introduce any legislation. "I am probably the greatest non-introducer of legislation," she said. "I don't think the overwhelming demand in my district is for more laws. I'm going to work on making the present ones work. I'm just not going to go the route of introducing multiple bills and I probably never will."

Savage, 55, was editor-publisher of Citizens Community Newspapers in Chicago from 1965-79. In May, Savage introduced a bill that would provide transit fare assistance to job seekers. He also plans to introduce additional bills to "help the poor and the unemployed."

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Savage has been involved in some controversy already, despite his short time in Washington. A couple of months after arriving, police stopped his son and arrested him for driving without a license. Savage said his son had been harassed by a "racist" District of Columbia Police Department. He demanded an apology from police and announced he would no longer support the D.C. Voting Rights Amendment, which threw the local media and politicians into a tizzy. Savage later retracted his statement, though he never received an apology from the police.

Savage said he doesn't see his new position as a "job" but as a "public service" and that he doesn't care whether he is paid for it or not. During an interview, he refused to give his impressions of Congress or his new position. He contended the questions were too general for him to answer. □

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