Retirements leave business without key advocates

When Ralph Regula helped found the steel caucus, the ethics scandal roiling Washington was Watergate.

For the next 30-plus years, through five presidential administrations and numerous other examples of bad inside-the-Beltway behavior, Regula (R-Ohio) has been a constant advocate for the industry.

{mosads}He eventually rose through the ranks to become an appropriations cardinal, a position from which he earmarked millions of dollars to a research and development program that led to new lightweight steel used in cars and trucks. He also was a major proponent of new steel tariffs on imports.

After 36 years, however, Regula has joined more than a dozen other members of Congress in calling it a career.

“It’s very sad for us,” said Jennifer Diggins, a lobbyist for the American Iron and Steel Institute. “Through the years, Mr. Regula has been an absolute champion for the industry.”

The election to decide who will run Congress and the White House is over a year away. But the announced retirements of members who have long histories on Capitol Hill already make it clear that the 111th Congress will look much different look than the one today.

Several businesses, like the steel producers, are losing some of their strongest allies.

With the Los Alamos nuclear research laboratory in his home state of New Mexico, Sen. Pete Domenici (R) has been among the biggest backers of nuclear power, even in its dark years after the Three Mile Island reactor accident.

From his perch as chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Domenici helped craft a broad energy bill in 2005 that provided billions of dollars in new incentives for nuclear research and development. The industry even began predicting a renaissance.

Now in the minority, Domenici is still proving to be an effective champion. Domenici, who wrote a book on nuclear power, threatened to hold up Jim Nussle’s nomination to become director of the Office of Management and Budget unless the Energy Department promised to raise the level of federal loan guarantees for nuclear energy construction.

In the House, Rep. David Hobson (R-Ohio), another appropriations cardinal, has also been a key nuclear-power advocate.

Sen. John Warner (R-Va.), meanwhile, has fought for shipbuilders like Northrop Grumman Newport News, using his perch as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee when Republicans controlled the Senate and now a senior member on the panel. The company builds Virginia-class submarines and aircraft carriers like the new CVN-21.

As these examples show, pet projects are usually dictated by district demographics.

Regula’s 16th district includes six steel facilities. There are 21 other steel plants across Ohio, according to the Iron and Steel Institute. So it’s likely the person who replaces Regula will be a steel supporter, too.

But the person won’t have Regula’s three decades of seniority or his expertise on steel issues.

“It’s a huge loss, period, anytime you lose someone of his stature and his seniority,” Diggins said.

The fuel cell industry is also gaining importance in Regula’s district. The congressman secured at least $3.8 million in earmarks to advance fuel cell technologies in House appropriations bills this year.

Retirements can have broader impacts than just on targeted appropriations, however. Businesses can lose friends with like-minded political philosophies.  

Rep. Deborah Pryce, another Ohio Republican who is retiring after surviving a close election in 2006, is a senior member of the Financial Services Committee, which handles a variety of critical business issues, from trade to monetary policy to insurance.

After the Dubai Ports World controversy, when Congress considered toughening rules for foreign companies to buy U.S. firms that performed critical tasks, Pryce led an effort to craft a compromise that would not crimp foreign investment in the U.S., said Nancy McLernon, senior vice president of the Organization for International Investment (OFII).

“She is definitely a member of Congress who gets it in terms of in-sourcing,” McLernon said, using the word that foreign companies use to counter complaints regarding the outsourcing of U.S. jobs overseas,

McLernon said that 4.5 percent of private employment in Ohio is in businesses headquartered overseas.

“The hope is that whoever comes in realizes how important foreign investment is to the U.S. economy,” she said.

Caterpillar, a Peoria, Ill.-based company, has long had strong allies in Congress, including former Senate Minority Leader Everett Dirksen (R-Ill.) and ex-House Republican leader Bob Michel (R-Ill.).

Bill Lane, Caterpillar’s director of government relations, said the company has been “blessed” by its congressional supporters, whom he noted also include present-day Sens. Dick Durbin (D), the majority whip, and Sen. Barack Obama (D), a presidential candidate.

But the company is losing two big advocates in former Speaker Dennis Hastert (R) and Rep. Ray LaHood (R), Lane said.

Some of Caterpillar’s managers and floor workers were taught by Hastert himself, either in his civics class or on the football field or wrestling mat, Lane said. As Speaker, Hastert helped ease the blow for Caterpillar and other manufacturers when Congress restructured the foreign services corporation tax to comply with global trade rules. The bill Congress ultimately approved included another 3 percent tax break for manufacturers.

Both Hastert and LaHood have supported free trade, a big issue for Caterpillar. With many new members expressing wariness, if not outright opposition, to free trade, Lane and other business lobbyists are worried Congress is growing more protectionist, a trend that could exacerbate worries about retirements.

“We are concerned that Congress is drifting in that direction,” Lane said.

Not surprisingly, retirements are creating more havoc for Republicans. Because parties are more likely to lose races for open seats than seats defended by incumbents, retirements likely will make it harder for the GOP to win back the majority. 

But many Republicans are finding life in the minority isn’t nearly as fun as it had been in the majority. A dozen House Republicans have announced their retirements, while Reps. Heather Wilson and Steve Pearce, New Mexico Republicans, say they plan to run for the Senate.

In the Senate, Domenici, Warner, Wayne Allard (R-Colo.) and Larry Craig (R-Idaho) have announced plans to retire.

The retirement list grew Sunday night with Tom Tancredo’s announcement that he will not seek reelection to his House seat in 2008. Tancredo, a Republican from Colorado, is running for the GOP presidential nomination by stressing his opposition to liberal immigration policies. That puts him in opposition with much of big business. As such, Tancredo’s departure may be one of the few that industry advocates are not sweating.