Hastert Elected Speaker of the House

On January 6, the House of Representatives elected J. Dennis “Denny” Hastert, a Republican from Illinois’ 14th district, to the House Speakership. Hastert, who is beginning his seventh term, is considered an honorable and pragmatic legislator, solid rather than flashy, who believes in conservative principles but is willing to work hard to find compromises.

In the past, Hastert has been active behind the scenes in the Republican leadership. He has served for the past four years as Chief Deputy Whip, the second-in-command to Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tx.) In this role, Hastert earned a reputation for convincing members to vote the party line, but with subtlety and persuasion rather than arm-twisting. Although he worked side-by- side with the more partisan DeLay, Hastert’s amiable style is thought to be reminiscent of his old mentor, former Minority Leader Robert Michel (R-Il.)

An Illinois native, Hastert represents a suburban and rural district outside of Chicago. His district includes DOE’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, of which he has been a strong advocate. Other major technology-related employers in the 14th district include AT&T Corp./AT&T Bell Laboratories, Matsushita Electric Corp./Panasonic Industrial Company, and numerous hospitals and medical centers. The institutions of higher learning are: Aurora University, Elgin Community College, Judson College, Kishwaukee College, Northern Illinois University, Sauk Valley Community College, and Waubonsee Community College.

For 16 years, Hastert taught high school history and government, and was a wrestling and football coach. His early career gave him strong views on K-12 education. As a member of the Illinois General Assembly from 1981 to 1986, he supported the effort to create the Illinois Math and Science Academy to improve education in those fields. Recently, he has opposed national education testing and backed the “Dollars to the Classroom” bill (H.R. 3248) in the House, which would send 95 cents of every federal education dollar to the states in block grants to be used as the states see fit. In debate on the bill, Hastert stated, “One of the central problems with education funding today is where this funding goes.... [M]ore than a third of the $15.4 billion spent by the Department of Education on elementary and secondary education programs never reaches the all important classroom; instead it is lost in a sea of bureaucracy.” The bill would eliminate the Eisenhower Professional Development program for improving science and math education. The American Institute of Physics and six of its Member Societies, along with other scientific and educational organizations, have opposed block- granting the funds that now go to the Eisenhower program (see FYI #128, 1998 .)

As Hastert has never been much in the public eye, there is little indication of the strength of his support for science-related programs. He has been a proponent of Illinois’s Fermilab (he was active in pushing for funding upgrades to Fermilab’s Tevatron) and Argonne National Laboratory, and a director, since 1994, of the Illinois Coalition. The coalition, an organization of the state’s top scientific and technological leaders in academia, business and government, views Hastert as a supporter of science and technology issues. In 1995 he opposed an amendment to cut NSF and NASA appropriations, and in 1996 he signed a letter to appropriators recommending that NSF be fully funded during a time when government shutdowns had left the appropriations process in disarray. He did not sign a 1996 letter to the Administration calling for a strong budget for DOE fusion funding. In up-or- down votes on the space station in 1993 and 1994, Hastert voted to terminate the project. He has parted somewhat from the conservative line by endorsing funding for energy efficiency programs.

As he looks toward the first session of the 106th Congress, Hastert has called Social Security reform “the number one priority” for Congress. In his January 6 acceptance speech, he emphasized “four big challenges:" Social Security and Medicare reform; economic security through tax relief and leaner, more efficient government; stronger national defense; and improved K- 12 education. Hastert has also suggested that while some of the budget surplus should go toward Social Security, part of it might be used to fund tax cuts and enhance defense spending.

In the 105th session of Congress, Hastert served on the House Commerce Committee and chaired a subcommittee of the Government Reform and Oversight Committee. He has sponsored stronger anti- drug legislation and led a GOP effort to develop a patients’ rights bill. He voted for legislation to abolish the tax code and Constitutional amendments to balance the budget and ban flag- burning. He has spoken out strongly against the use of sampling in the 2000 Census.

According to voting records and interest group ratings compiled by Congressional Quarterly, Hastert has voted with the Republican Party line 95 percent of the time in each of the last three years. Over the same period, his voting record has coincided with the Conservative Coalition position 98 percent of the time. Last year he supported President Clinton’s position in 21 percent of votes.

Hastert has received a 100 percent rating in each of the last three years from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for his pro- business, anti-regulatory votes. The American Conservative Union gave him a score of 88 percent last year, and has scored him at 100 percent in some preceding years. Hastert has earned a zero rating from the AFL-CIO for all four of the past years, and a zero in three of those years from the Americans for Democratic Action.

Since Hastert was named a potential candidate for Speaker in December, he has repeatedly stressed the importance of cooperation between the parties. "[T]o my Democratic colleagues I will say I will meet you halfway maybe more so on occasion,” he said in his acceptance speech. But in addition to cooperation with Democrats, Hastert has a challenge just achieving agreement among his fellow Republicans. With Republicans holding only a six-seat majority in the House, party unity will be crucial to passing any initiatives.

There are concerns that the rancor and partisanship of the impeachment process will diminish chances of cooperation between the parties in the coming year. The following FYI will explore the outlook for 1999 both on Capitol Hill and in the White House.