Robert Livingston: Next Speaker of the House
Replacing Newt Gingrich (R-GA) as Speaker in the 106th Congress will be Rep. Bob Livingston (R-LA). The former Appropriations Committee Chairman will be starting his 11th full term representing Louisiana’s first district, less than a year after he considered retiring from Congress. Although Livingston was a Gingrich loyalist, dissatisfaction with the election results - in which the Republicans lost five House seats - caused him to challenge the incumbent Speaker. Once Gingrich resigned, Livingston was unanimously picked to be Speaker by his fellow Republicans, and will be formally elected in January.
The incoming Speaker is often described as a series of contradictions: He believes in Republican principles yet will compromise with Democrats in order to get bills passed. “I’m not one who thinks compromise is a bad or dirty word,” he has said. He is a conservative who will resist conservative policy add-ons to appropriations bills to avoid a veto. He is a budget hawk who oversaw more than $50 billion in spending cuts as appropriations chair, yet has guided over $1 billion to a shipbuilding yard in his district. He is a courteous gentleman who can work well with the other party, yet he possesses a fiery temper. “We will never, never, never give in,” he bellowed on the House floor during the 1995 government shutdown.
Livingston is a defense hawk who has fought for increased DOD funding, but also a budget hawk who believes in a smaller, less intrusive federal government. He has supported a national missile defense, expanded anti-abortion language, and limits on international family planning funds, while opposing national education testing and use of sampling in the 2000 Census. Legislation co-sponsored by Livingston in recent years includes a bill to abolish the tax code by 2000, a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution, and bills to abolish the Departments of Energy and Commerce. Congressional Quarterly’s analysis of voting records shows that Livingston concurred with the Republican party position on 88 percent of votes in 1997. He voted with the Conservative Coalition 91 percent of the time in 1997, and with President Clinton’s position 32 percent of the time. The Chamber of Commerce gave him a 100 percent rating last year; the American Conservative Union rated him at 76 percent, and the AFL-CIO gave him 25 percent.
Livingston’s record on support for science and technology issues is mixed; he generally supports NASA and NSF, while urging elimination of the Energy and Commerce Departments. He has voted for the space station and the SSC, but has called NIST’s Advanced Technology Program “of questionable worth.” He has raised questions about DOE efforts, including U.S. participation in CERN’s Large Hadron Collider, the new Spallation Neutron Source, and renewable energy programs, and he has expressed skepticism on the science behind global climate change. Budgetary considerations temper all his views: Debating an amendment to shift NSF and NASA funds to veterans’ programs in the FY 1996 appropriations bill, Livingston said, “There are conflicting interests, all of which are necessary and vital. We pit NASA against housing; housing against veterans’ benefits. There is no one in this Chamber that wants to cut any of these things unless it is absolutely necessary. And it is absolutely necessary to cut these things to get to a balanced budget by the year 2002.”
Louisiana’s first district includes part of New Orleans and the primarily white, affluent suburbs such as Livingston’s home of Metairie. Much of the rest of the district is rural, producing strawberries, watermelons, bell peppers and poultry. There is little in the way of high-tech industry. Institutions of higher education in the district are: Lasalle University, Delgado Community College, Loyola University in New Orleans, Southeastern Louisiana University, and Grantham College of Engineering.
After serving in the Navy, Livingston earned a law degree at Tulane University and worked his way from private law practice to assistant Louisiana state attorney general. He was elected to Congress in a special election in 1977, becoming the first Republican to represent his district in 102 years. When the Republicans gained the majority in 1994, Livingston was hand-picked by Gingrich to chair the Appropriations Committee, over several more senior Republicans. Gingrich felt Livingston would be more likely to resist the porkbarrel culture and battle the budget deficit. During his chairmanship, Livingston claims to have cut over $50 billion and over 300 government programs.
In a joint statement with incoming Appropriations Chairman Bill Young (R-FL), Livingston indicated some areas of emphasis for next year’s Congress. “We have a team committed to holding the line on spending and shrinking the size and scope of government...while preserving such important priorities as defense, medical research, education, and the national parks.” He has also highlighted Social Security, schools, and adequate health care. Since his nomination as Speaker, other than the reference to medical research, he has not publicly emphasized science and technology as areas of high priority.
In contrast to Gingrich, Livingston is expected to concentrate more on the day-to-day running of the House."I think I have good political instincts and understand politics is the art of the possible,” he said recently. “I deal well with people of opposite views and opposite parties.” However, Livingston has his work cut out for him to gain compromise, not only across the parties, but within his own party, which will have only 12 seats more than Democrats.
For all his talk about reaching out to Democrats, Livingston has already won their ire in the impeachment debate, by refusing to allow a censure resolution on the House floor this week. It remains to be seen how this will affect relations with Democrats and the operations of the House in the upcoming 106th Congress.
