Sympathy but caution for Fossella

House Republicans are biding their time before deciding how to handle Rep. Vito Fossella’s (R-N.Y.) arrest on drunken driving charges, waiting to see the precise shape of the scandal and how big the story gets.

Fossella has become fodder for the New York tabloids since his arrest late Friday in Alexandria, Va., with the story going beyond his failed sobriety test to allege that the six-term GOP member has an illegitimate child.

{mosads}The scandal has Republicans mostly in a “wait and see” mode, according to a senior House GOP leadership aide. In the meantime, members of Congress from both parties who have suffered from substance abuse are doing anything but waiting.

“I just called his cell phone and left him an encouraging message,” said Rep. Zach Wamp (R-Tenn.), who battled an addiction to cocaine and alcohol before coming to Congress in 1994, and who has been sober for “24 years and three months.”

“I do plan to put my arm around him and offer my encouragement, help and guidance, and whatever else he needs,” Wamp said. “And that’s the most important thing, that we deal with Vito Fossella the man first before we start talking about dealing with the congressman.”

Fossella’s political future remains uncertain. He was absent from the House chamber Wednesday.

The New York Daily News reported Wednesday morning that Fossella told the arresting officers that he was racing home to see “my sick kid,” speculating that the married Fossella was referring to an illegitimate 3-year-old child he allegedly fathered with Air Force Col. Laura Fay.

Fay, 45, bailed Fossella out of jail following his arrest, the newspaper reported.

Fossella seemed poised to join the small caucus of lawmakers whose abuse of and struggles with alcohol have so suddenly and so stunningly become public.

And for those other members, the pain associated with their own pasts registered heavily on their faces when talking about Fossella.

Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) has already reached out. His own battle with alcohol and prescription drugs became public after he crashed his car into a U.S. Capitol Police barricade in May 2006. That led to a guilty plea to impaired driving and a rehab stint at the Mayo Clinic. Kennedy spoke slowly and delicately when talking Wednesday about Fossella.

“I’d prefer to keep my conversations with Vito private,” Kennedy said. “But I have spoken to him. I certainly told him that I can relate to feelings he’s having right now in terms of feeling overwhelmed by the media and the set of circumstances he’s dealing with.”

Kennedy then paused for a few moments before continuing.

“I’m sure there are a lot of my colleagues who are pulling for him, as I am,” he said.

Kennedy’s recent accident and subsequent drug treatment led him to Rep. Jim Ramstad (R-Minn.), an admitted recovering alcoholic who began his recovery in 1981.

Ramstad was with Kennedy when he entered his guilty plea, is his Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) sponsor, and is — along with Kennedy — the co-chairman of the House’s bipartisan Addiction, Treatment and Recovery Caucus.

Ramstad’s sponsorship of Kennedy’s recovery has been acknowledged by both men, even though anonymity is a cornerstone of AA and other recovery programs.

Ramstad on Wednesday said he could not comment at all on whether he had spoken with Fossella.

“It’s absolutely not appropriate for me to comment on that because of the confidentiality of my recovery program,” the Minnesota lawmaker said.

As of Wednesday, no one in Congress had called on Fossella to step down. In fact, many were waiting for Fossella to speak publicly about his arrest, which was rumored could happen as early as Wednesday night.

Wamp, for one, wants his colleague to remain in the House.

Wamp said the “Type A” personalities that dominate Congress are just as capable of great pitfalls as they are of great successes, calling the phenomenon the “double-edged sword” that haunts many great leaders, past and present.

“And you don’t want to give up on anybody, especially the ones with such extraordinary potential for greatness,” he said.

“I don’t know where Vito is,” Wamp continued, “but I do know that the sun will come up tomorrow, and I know that if he decides to go to bed early and get up early the next day, then he’s capable of fulfilling all of his potential."