Young Becomes House’s Top Appropriator
As the House Republican leadership turns over for the 106th Congress, members do not expect great changes in the running of the Appropriations Committee. As Rep. Bob Livingston (R-LA) ascends to the Speakership of the House, his position as chair of the Appropriations Committee will be filled by Rep. C. W. “Bill” Young (R-FL). Young is an experienced legislator, having spent almost 30 years representing Florida’s 10th district in the House. First elected in 1970, he ran unopposed for his 15th term in November’s elections.
Young was near the top of the line to chair the appropriations committee when the 1994 elections brought the Republicans to power, but Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) passed over Young and several other senior Republicans to install Livingston as chairman. Despite this, the incoming and outgoing chairmen are reported to be friends and have a good working relationship.
Young comes to the chair of the full committee from heading the National Security subcommittee, where he regularly pushed for increased defense funding. He is known for his concern that the military is shortchanging soldiers on simple quality-of-life issues, which he routinely demonstrates by unrolling a large scroll listing shortages of items such as boots, tents, and spare parts.
In the 105th Congress, Young also served on the Labor, HHS and Legislative Branch appropriations subcommittees, and the Select Intelligence Committee, and was a member of the Republican leadership’s Steering Committee. In addition to his emphasis on military readiness, Young has fought for DOD funding for bone marrow transplants, even before becoming aware that such a transplant would be necessary to cure his daughter’s leukemia. He has also directed federal dollars to the state, protecting the MacDill Air Force Base from closure, and providing funding for a criminal justice program at St. Petersburg Junior College and a Brain Institute at the University of Florida.
Young came to politics from the insurance business. Although conservative, he is less so than many of his colleagues in this Congress. He has fought to preserve a moratorium on offshore oil and gas drilling, voted against limiting EPA authority, and supported an assault-weapons ban, a handgun waiting period, and an increase in the minimum wage.
His Florida district, which includes St. Petersburg, voted for Clinton in both 1992 and 1996. Higher education institutions in the 10th district include Stetson University, Eckerd College, St. Petersburg Junior College, and Pinellas Technical Education Center. The district boasts a number of medical centers, as well as high-tech industries such as AT&T Paradyne Corp., Honeywell Inc./ Space Systems Division, Martin Marietta Technologies/ Neutron Devices Department, Hercules Defense Electronic Systems, and Raytheon E-Systems.
In a voting analysis by Congressional Quarterly, Young’s annual percentage of votes in accordance with the Republican party position usually falls in the 80s, and his concurrence with the Christian Coalition has rarely topped 90 percent. His support of President Clinton’s position has ranged from a high of 54 percent in 1994 to a low of 19 percent in 1995. The American Conservative Union consistently gives Young a rating in the 70s or 80s, while the Chamber of Commerce scored him at 100 percent in 1995 and 1997. The AFL-CIO has given him several 0s, but rated him at 38 percent for last year.
In addition to his support for strong defense spending, Young has been a consistent proponent of the space station -- not surprising, since he represents a Florida district. Other than these issues, there is little evidence of the strength of his support for science and technology. Young did not sign onto letters that circulated in 1996 urging strong funding for NSF or for DOE fusion research. (It should be noted that appropriators are usually the intended recipients, rather than the initiators, of this type of letter).
Although he adheres to the conservative line less consistently than Livingston, Young is expected to run the appropriations committee much the same as the outgoing chairman did, tempering conservatism with pragmatism. Asked what differences the committee would feel with the new leadership, Labor, HHS subcommittee chairman John Porter (R-IL) responded, “What differences?” He added that Livingston and Young “are on the same wavelength on processes and priorities.” An obvious priority for the committee in the 106th Congress will be getting all thirteen funding bills passed before the start of the new fiscal year. It is thought that Young, like Livingston, will try to resist policy riders that might prevent bipartisan agreement.
In 1995, Young announced plans to retire in 2000. But his promotion to Appropriations Chairman, he now says, “changes the equation considerably.”
