Part I
The Changing Nature
of the Speakership
The Cannon Centenary Conference
Introduction
Introduction
Mr. MULHOLLAN. I'm Dan Mulhollan, Director of the Congressional
Research Service, and it is my distinct pleasure to welcome all of you
to this first-ever conference on the changing nature of the speakership.
I say first-ever because never before has there been a conference at
which all living former Speakers--Jim Wright, Tom Foley and Newt
Gingrich--have participated with the current Speaker, Dennis Hastert, to
discuss their role as Speaker of the House of Representatives.
In addition, I am pleased to welcome the other important presenters
at this conference: the former House Members who will serve as
commentators on the various speakerships, the four moderators for each
speakership period, and, of course, Jack Farrell of the Denver Post, who
will start things off with an examination of the O'Neill speakership.
Professor Robert Remini, one of our Nation's most distinguished
historians, will present his views on the evolving speakership. I
believe all of us are in for a unique and historic opportunity. We will
listen to several of the most knowledgeable people in our Nation discuss
the variety of elements necessary to lead such a large and complex
institution as the House of Representatives.
This conference has been organized to commemorate the election on
November 9--3 days ago, but also 100 years ago, in 1903--of
Representative Joseph Cannon, Republican of Illinois, as Speaker of the
House. How fitting it is that we convene this conference in the Cannon
Caucus Room, after whom this entire building is named. Joe Cannon, the
first person ever to grace the cover of Time magazine, was one of the
most powerful and controversial Speakers in the entire history of the
House. When Cannon neared retirement from the House in 1922 after nearly
50 years of service, he modestly said, ``A hundred years from now people
will say it does appear that there was a man from Illinois by the name
of Cannon, but I don't know much about him.'' But we are here more than
100 years later and if ``Uncle Joe,'' as he was fondly called by some,
was still around he would find many books, articles, and Ph.D.
dissertations written about his long career and impact on the House.
This conference on the contemporary speakership is another reminder
that people still remember Speaker Cannon's significant influence on the
House and the course of the country at the dawn of the 20th century. To
expand upon this welcome I'd like to introduce Gary Copeland, director
of the Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center at the
University of Oklahoma with whom CRS is fortunate to be able to co-
sponsor this event.
Mr. COPELAND. Thank you, Dan. I'm pleased to be with you today
representing the Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center
at the University of Oklahoma, which is a co-sponsor of this important
conference on the changing nature of the House speakership. It is
appropriate that we use the centennial of the Cannon speakership as the
occasion to hold this conference because his service reflects the
dynamic relationship between the Speaker and his colleagues in the
House.
The Speaker, as we know, must possess and utilize enough authority
to effectively lead a body of 435 individuals who are formal equals, yet
he must exercise that authority with enough discretion that Members
accept it as in the best interest of the Nation, the body, and
themselves.
As we look over the last 100 years, we see a constant shift on where
that balance is comfortably found. The balance will be affected by the
personality of the Speaker, the formal powers given to him at the time,
the character of the membership of the body, and the social and
political culture of the time. There is no magic point that guarantees
both effectiveness and widespread support. The Speakers we will consider
today each approached the office in his own way and each reflected the
times in which he served as well as dramatically affecting those times.
Understanding the changing nature of the speakership puts the records of
previous Speakers in appropriate historical perspective but also
provides guidance as we move forward into the future.
The Carl Albert Center is very pleased to serve as a co-sponsor of
this conference with the widely respected Congressional Research Service
[CRS]. CRS is, of course, uniquely qualified to put together a
conference of this sort and to contribute their expertise on the
changing nature of the speakership. On this topic, the partnership
between the CRS and the Carl Albert Center seems particularly
appropriate and Dan Mulhollan has allowed me to elaborate a little bit
on that.
The Carl Albert Center, named for the 46th Speaker of the House, has
played a role in the academic understanding of the House generally and
the speakership specifically for almost 25 years. The Carl Albert Center
was founded and directed for over 20 years by the leading scholar of the
speakership, Ron Peters. Ron's major work, The American Speakership, is
the foremost book on the topic, providing a thorough analysis and
interpretation of the speakership in historical perspective. Professor
Peters has published numerous other works on the topic, and he is with
us today contributing a paper to this conference.
Beyond the speakership, the Carl Albert Center faculty and graduate
students have researched a variety of other topics including campaign
finance, committees, the seniority system, and so forth. But the center
has multiple missions, which I will briefly mention to you, in addition
to the research function. We offer unique academic programs at both the
graduate and undergraduate level, including a congressional fellowship
for graduate students that includes a year working on the Hill in
affiliation with the Congressional Fellowship Program of the American
Political Science Association. And we have an undergraduate program that
matches our students one-to-one with faculty members to develop a
mentoring relationship. Many of those students have become partners in
the research projects with which they were originally assisting and have
gone on to present their research findings at professional meetings.
Third, and perhaps of interest to many of you in this room, is that
the Carl Albert Center serves as an important resource on the history of
Congress, primarily through our congressional archives, a collection of
20th century papers. We hold the papers of notable Oklahoma lawmakers
such as Speaker Albert, Representatives Mike Synar and Mickey Edwards,
and Senator Robert S. Kerr, as well as some out-of-state Members, such
as Representatives Millicent Fenwick and Helen Gahagan Douglas. Our most
recent additions include the important papers of two retired Republican
leaders: Congressman J.C. Watts and Majority Leader Dick Armey.
Finally, the center fosters a variety of programs to provide
outreach to the community at large. We are pleased to sponsor the Julian
J. Rothbaum Distinguished Lecture in Representative Government, and we
also frequently host speakers from Washington, including current and
former Members of Congress. The center is actively engaged in programs
aimed at students and young people, including being a partner in the
Project 540 Grant which some of you should be familiar with. We've
worked with the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers
University to develop a leadership program aimed at encouraging women to
become involved in politics. We've worked with the Close-up Foundation
on their Great American Cities Project to encourage teenagers in
effective citizenship skills and participation in political life.
Everything we do is aimed at reflecting the quality of life and
leadership practiced by our namesake, Carl Albert.
As we'll understand better as a result of this conference, Speakers
are unique and special individuals who have perhaps the toughest task in
our political system. Just as Speaker Albert led the House in a critical
period of change, each of his successors that we will discuss today had
unique circumstances and unique gifts. The Carl Albert Center is pleased
to present this conference with the CRS with the hope of promoting
better understanding of each of the Speakers and the special challenges
and opportunities of their position. I thank all of you for being here
today and, like the rest of you, I look forward to the proceedings.
Mr. MULHOLLAN. Thank you, Gary. Many people on Capitol Hill assisted
CRS in initiating and organizing this conference, including the joint
leadership of the House Administration Committee: Chairman Bob Ney and
Ranking Member John Larson, who just came in. John, thank you very much.
Thanks go as well to the leadership of the House Rules Committee. But I
especially want to thank Speaker Hastert and Democratic Leader Nancy
Pelosi for endorsing the organization of this conference. And last, but
certainly not least, I must acknowledge the critical support not only of
the Carl Albert Center but also the McCormick Tribune Foundation without
whose support this conference would not have taken place. John Sirek is
representing McCormick Tribune. Thank you, John, very much.
Now to some logistics. It's our plan that CRS will use the videotape
of this conference for the benefit of Members of Congress and their
staff. In addition, we expect that the transcript of today's
proceedings, along with several reports on various aspects of the
speakership, will be published and made available to Members of
Congress. One of these reports is by Professor Ron Peters, who was just
mentioned by Gary Copeland. Professor Peters is the noted scholar on the
speakership. His paper is available as a handout to everyone who is
attending this conference. At this point, in an effort to minimize
distraction in today's program, please turn off your cell phones. Should
today's program be preempted by an emergency or test alarm, all
occupants should exit the building and proceed to designated assembly
areas. If you don't know where your assembly area is, just ask a helpful
police officer in an orange vest.
Please direct any questions or concerns regarding today's program to
any CRS staff member wearing a tag. Further, most of today's panelists
will be available for questions following their presentations. A
wireless microphone will be circulating the room so if you have
questions, please raise your hand and we'll try to accommodate you. At
this point, before we begin, I must turn to the person who is the
originator, the conceiver, and implementer of this whole conference,
Walter Oleszek, a senior specialist in American National Government at
CRS.
Mr. OLESZEK. Thanks very much, Dan, for those kind remarks, but
there are a lot of people who helped put this conference together. Dan,
I'm sure, will highlight them at a later point. My job is to introduce
the moderators so we can get under way with the program at hand. Not
only do we have a whole group of wonderfully knowledgeable people about
the House of Representatives who we're all anxious to hear from, but we
also have a terrifically talented crew of moderators. I want to
introduce the moderator for this panel right now. He is Gary Hymel, whom
many of you may know from his time on the Hill. He served for 8 years as
administrative assistant to Majority Whip and Majority Leader Hale
Boggs. He also served for 8 years as administrative assistant to Speaker
Tip O'Neill. Mr. Hymel co-authored a book with Tip O'Neill called All
Politics is Local, a classic statement for which Speaker O'Neill is
famous. Currently, Mr. Hymel is senior vice president at Hill &
Knowlton. Gary, take it away.