(The following article by Lucy Kafanov was posted on the Environment and Energy Daily website on November 8.)
WASHINGTON — A Democratic takeover of the House will not result in a significant shakeup in the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, except for perhaps a greater focus on environmental issues and an increase in the frequency of hearings, several analysts said.
Regardless of which party takes control of the House next year, one change is certain: Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) will no longer chair the powerful committee. Thanks to a 1995 rule in which House Republicans set six-year term limits on committee chairmen, Young will have to relinquish the post to one of three subcommittee chairmen now vying to replace him.
On the GOP side, competing for the committee’s top spot are: Highways, Transit and Pipelines Subcommittee Chairman Tom Petri (R-Wis.), Transportation Water and Environment Subcommittee Chairman John Duncan (R-Tenn.), and Aviation Subcommittee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.).
Republican Party leaders can choose committee chairmen without any consideration of seniority, but Democrats still adhere to the seniority system. That means if House Democrats score a victory tonight, ranking member James Oberstar (D-Minn.) is guaranteed to take the helm of T&I.
The T&I panel differs from many other House committees in its traditionally bipartisan nature, according to political analysts and committee staff. As the saying goes, there is no such thing as a Democratic bridge or a Republican highway.
“It’s such a nonpartisan jurisdiction that we have here unlike some of the other committees where issues are a little more defined by party,” said committee spokesman Justin Harclerode. “Obviously there are some things that the Democrats would find more important than we would, but I think the overall priorities would probably be the same.”
Jim Berard, director of communications for the Democrats on the T&I Committee, said the focus would remain on more or less the same issues if the GOP lost control of the House. “We’re not coming with a big, long laundry list ‘Contract With America’ sort of thing,” Berard said. “I don’t know of any new initiatives that I can tell you about at this point.
“I would doubt that the actual functioning of the committee would be any different,” added Berard. “We work together well and we have similar goals, but there are things that make us Democrats and make them Republicans.”
Philosophical differences between T&I Committee Republican and Democratic lawmakers exist but are on the margin, said C. Randal Mullett, who lobbies Congress on transportation issues on behalf of Con-Way Transportation Services.
“The Democratic leadership has traditionally been a little more aligned with labor and a little more aligned with environmental concerns and with safety advocates,” Mullett said. “All of those things [affect] heavily the workings of the T&I Committee … but is it going to be some dramatic ‘woe is me’ moment if it’s flipped? I don’t think so.”
But some analysts said action on certain environmental water-related issues would drastically change under an Oberstar-led T&I panel.
Joan Mulhern, attorney for the advocacy group Earthjustice, said that at a minimum she expects Oberstar to hold some Clean Water Act oversight hearings. Unlike the Safe Drinking Water Act, which was reauthorized in 1996, the Clean Water Act has not been amended in 15 years, and some say it is in need of modernization.
“The difference between having Rep. Oberstar versus Rep. Young as chair of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is going to be like night and day,” Mulhern said. “I think the committee generally tries to work things out together on issues like [the Water Resources Development Act] in a bipartisan manner, but when it comes to the Clean Water Act, chairman Young has not been a supporter and Oberstar is.”
Others see organizational changes as more likely, especially when it comes to oversight. “The focus will change to some extent but more in nuances, for example more concentration on some of the environmental issues,” said Steve Ellis of Taxpayers for Common Sense. “I also think that Don Young is allergic to hearings, whereas Oberstar really relishes in that type of thing, so I think there will be more hearings and more oversight.
“Simply because it would be a Democratic House with a Republican executive branch, there will probably be more vigorous oversight and scrutiny than there might have been otherwise,” added Ellis.
Among other things, the 75-member committee oversees civil aviation, construction of roads, maritime safety, regulation of railroads as well as water conservation, pollution control, infrastructure, and hazardous waste cleanup. The Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee has jurisdiction over the Clean Water Act, while the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit has jurisdiction over the Transportation Department, and some provisions of the Clean Air Act.
While nearly every member of the committee is facing a re-election campaign, only five lawmakers are involved in races where the outcome remains unclear. Most members expect to be safely re-elected by their districts, and no subcommittee chairmen or ranking member is at risk of losing his or her seat. Oberstar
Oberstar is seeking a 17th term in Congress. Since his first election in 1974, he has received less than 60 percent of the vote only once, in 1992.
The 72-year-old has roamed the Hill since the early 1960s, first working as chief staff assistant to former Minnesota Democratic Rep. John Blatnik and later serving as a staff member on the T&I Committee, then known as the House Public Works Committee.
Oberstar has a good working relationship with Young, as well as his predecessor Rep. “Bud” Shuster (R-Pa.), analysts said. If the Republicans retain control of the Senate, political analysts said they expect Oberstar to get along with Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman James Inhofe (R-Okla.).
“Oberstar and Inhofe used to be colleagues on this committee when Inhofe was in the House, so they have known each other for a long time,” Berard said. “Oberstar would work well with Inhofe. He would work with whoever is chairman on that committee because that’s just the way he is.”
Environmentalists agree that Oberstar is likely to make water issues a top priority. As chairman, Oberstar could also try to push forward a congressional fix to the Supreme Court’s recent split-decision regarding the scope of the federal government’s power to regulate wetlands.
“He has a career-long interest and dedication to the Clean Water Act and drinking water issues,” Mulhern said. “On clean water issues, the nation couldn’t have a better chairman than Mr. Oberstar.”
Because of Minnesota’s proximity to the Great Lakes, analysts said Oberstar is expected to try to push forward legislation and hearings on the cleanup of that watershed.
As for other issues, Oberstar has said he would want to see more money in the next transportation bill for inner-city transit, including subways, streetcars and light rail. He has also repeatedly called for tougher security measures at the nation’s ports.
Worth Hager, president of the National Waterways Conference, said that Oberstar has talked about increasing container-on-barge transportation, especially on the Great Lakes.
“That’s one of his visions. I’ve been there when he has talked to some of the Great Lakes folks about it,” Hager said. “It’s a way to ease congestion, it’s a much more efficient way of moving goods, and it’s also the most environmentally friendly way of moving goods.” Subcommittees
If the Democrats take over the House, committee staff said that control of the subcommittees is likely to flip but warned that several “wildcards” remain.
For example, Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) would be in line to head the Highways, Transit and Pipelines panel but with Congress poised to consider FAA reauthorization legislation next year, he could chose to go for the Aviation Subcommittee instead. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas) would be in the position to take over as chair of the Water Resources panel.
Lisa Kelley, director of public policy for the National Corn Growers Association, said that she does not expect a drastic change in priorities on the Water Resources Subcommittee if the Democrats win.
“They are pretty bipartisan. They work very well together and move through the legislation, whatever that legislation may be,” Kelley said. “I think there would be different leanings on major waterways policy like [Army Corps of Engineers] reform.”