Familiar Faces Exiting House
Several of the House's more prominent and colorful members, including GOP leader Dick Armey and Democratic stalwart David Bonior, are leaving office with the close of this Congress. Some are taking the short walk down the Capitol hallway to the Senate. One took a longer trip to a Pennsylvania jail.
Among those who will not be around when the 108th session of Congress begins in January are Rep. Bob Barr, R-Ga., perhaps the most relentless among those trying to impeach President Clinton, and Rep. Gary Condit, D-Calif., a low-key congressman undone by his relationship with an intern killed in a Washington, D.C., park.
In all, 37 House members are retiring at the end of this session. Eight, including Barr and Condit, were defeated in primary races; eight more lost in the general election.
Five people died, including 15-term Democrat Joseph Moakley, a much-loved Boston Irish politician, and Patsy Mink, D-Hawaii, a 24-year veteran and champion of women's rights. Mink, who died at the end of September, was re-elected posthumously; a special election to fill her seat will be held in January.
Republicans are losing top leaders Armey and J.C. Watts of Oklahoma. Armey, famed for his knowledge of country music, fishing stories and free-market conservatism, finished his 18-year congressional career on a high note, leading the effort to pass a Homeland Security Department bill. The Texan also created the independent process for closing military bases and was a main author of the Contract With America, the legislative bible for the House GOP when Republicans became the majority in 1994.
"We would not be a majority if it was not for Dick Armey," House Budget Committee Chairman Jim Nussle, R-Iowa, said in a tribute.
Watts, a former star quarterback for the University of Oklahoma, was the fourth-ranked House Republican and the only black Republican in Congress.
Watts, 45, said in a retirement announcement that serving in Congress was "one of the most exhilarating experiences in my life," but that after eight years in Washington "it is time to return home, to go on with other things in my life."
Bonior, D-Mich., was in Congress for 26 years, serving as whip, the No. 2 party position, for 10 years until he ceded that position this year to Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., so he could concentrate on an unsuccessful run for governor. A seminarian and college football player in his youth, Bonior, 57, was a champion of liberal causes such as defending labor rights and opposing the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Several current and former committee chairmen are also leaving.
Rep. James Hansen, R-Utah, who as chairman of the Resources Committee worked to keep Western lands open for mining and ranching, is stepping down after 22 years. Rep. Bob Stump, R-Ariz., the Armed Services Committee chairman, was in the House for 26 years.
Rep. Ben Gilman, R-N.Y., who next month marks his 80th birthday and is the oldest member of the House, retires after 30 years in Congress, including six as chairman of the International Relations Committee.
Gilman's spokeswoman, Pam Day, said the congressman was considering his options, but was not ready to retire. "He's not planning on sitting in a rocking chair."
Bonior and Armey are both considering new careers in academia, although neither has made a decision, their offices said. Watts is expected to pick up a little money on the speaking circuit before he decides his next career move.
Among those who do have a job lined up is Rep. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., filling the Senate seat of retiring Strom Thurmond. Reps. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., and John Sununu, R-N.H. are also moving over to the Senate.
The unwilling departees include Rep. Jim Traficant of Ohio, a blue-collar Democrat known for his flamboyant speeches and unkempt hairpiece. Traficant was expelled from the House in July after he was convicted of bribery and racketeering. He ran unsuccessfully for re-election from the minimum-security prison in Pennsylvania where he is serving an eight-year sentence.
The House will also miss the outspoken views of Democrat Carrie Meek, who in 1992, along with two others, became the first black to represent Florida in Congress since Reconstruction. In one of her last appearances as a congresswoman, she publicly chastised Florida Gov. Jeb Bush for his policy toward Haitian refugees.