Copyright 2002 The Omaha World-Herald Company Omaha
World Herald (Nebraska)
October 29, 2002, Tuesday MIDLANDS
EDITION
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 1a;
LENGTH: 975 words
HEADLINE:
Party loyalist Lee Terry is a man of few surprises
BYLINE: By Matt Kelley
SOURCE:
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU
DATELINE: Washington
BODY: U.S. Rep. Lee Terry is a reliable
Republican, a devout tax cutter and an almost always dependable vote for GOP
leaders and President Bush.
He supports Bush's policy
on confronting Iraq, building a national missile defense system and drilling for
oil in the Alaskan wilds.
A confirmed skeptic of
government largess, Terry opposed federalization of airport security screeners
and voted with GOP leaders to use insurance companies, rather than Medicare, to
help American seniors buy prescription drugs.
"He's
been pretty predictable," said James B. Johnson, chairman of the political
science department at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. "His record is not
one that really flashes before your eyes."
After
nearly four years in the House, Terry is campaigning for re-election in familiar
form - a faithful Republican with a well-known name and a traditional,
conservative voting record.
Johnson said Terry's record
and family history - his father, Lee Terry Sr., was a television newscaster and
unsuccessful House candidate - plays to a Nebraska electorate that occasionally
elects a maverick but more often sticks by "comfortable" candidates.
"He's a careful politician," Johnson said of Terry. "I
think he enjoys adding a vote to the Republican majority."
According to Vote Smart, a nonpartisan public interest group, Terry
voted with the Republican leaders 95 percent of the time in 2001. The American
Conservative Union rated Terry at 96 percent on its most recent congressional
vote ratings, while the League of Conservation Voters scored him at zero.
Terry said many of his votes are driven most by a desire
to cut federal spending and drive down taxes. Those priorities mesh well with
many Nebraskans and GOP leaders, Terry argues, not to mention his own natural
tendency to avoid in-your-face political fights.
"I see
myself as a philosophical Republican - a conservative," Terry said.
The results can be glimpsed by Terry's stance on
prescription drugs, perhaps the most potent domestic issue of 2002.
In June, Terry joined most fellow House Republicans and a
few Democrats to push ahead with a prescription drug plan that seniors would buy
through private insurance companies rather than Medicare.
The plan, which never became law, would have provided roughly $ 350
billion over a decade to subsidize insurers who provide coverage to seniors.
Seniors would have paid a $ 33 monthly premium, a $ 250 annual deductible and 15
percent to 20 percent of drug costs.
Competing
Democratic plans - delivered through Medicare - would have provided a
significantly more generous benefit, along with a price tag nearing $ 1 trillion
over a decade. Critics castigated the House plan for providing too little help,
while depending on insurers that might not cover all states.
Terry and House Republicans argued that the GOP plan would use the free
market to keep down costs, rather than depending upon a new government
program.
"I am a free-market person," Terry said last
week in explaining his position. "I am a limited-government person."
The debate over prescription drugs ended in stalemate this
fall when the Democrat-controlled Senate failed to agree on an alternative to
the House plan.
On the rare occasion that Terry defies
Republican leaders, the issue usually relates to federal spending.
In May, he voted against sending roughly $ 1 billion to
the American-backed government in Afghanistan to help rebuild roads and
infrastructure devastated by a U.S.-supported war against Taliban extremists.
The measure won wide approval in the House.
Terry's
opponent in this year's campaign, Democrat Jim Simon, has seized on the vote,
accusing Terry of opposing legislation designed to solidify American interests
abroad. Terry said the bill contained too few specifics regarding how Bush would
spend the funding.
"It seemed to me to be a blank
check," he said.
At times, Terry seems to struggle for
a legislative identity in Washington.
Among the
campaign commercials this year is an ad celebrating Terry for introducing a
resolution that "protected" Veteran's Day from a movement "to take away that
special day." In reality, Terry's nonbinding resolution was symbolism, a
rhetorical jab at an already-defunct idea to boost voter turnout by combining
Veterans Day with national election day.
No one in the
House voted against Terry's measure.
Terry has dug into
more meaty issues, most of them dealing with federally funded projects back home
or national energy policy.
Like most successful members
of Congress, Terry remains glued to issues that might bring more funding back
home. Each year, he pushes and prods for federal projects such as a fire and
rescue station at Offutt Air Force Base in Bellevue, and he serves as watchdog
over financial assistance to schools that serve Offutt's military families.
Terry also used his seat on the influential House Energy
and Commerce Committee to help write legislation expanding tax credits for
energy-efficient windows and heating and cooling systems. He also briefly
proposed a 25 percent improvement in fuel efficiency standards
for new sport utility vehicles and minivans. By cutting gasoline consumption, he
argued, the United States could cut its reliance on foreign oil, while also
helping the environment.
Terry later struck a
compromise with House leaders, agreeing to a much smaller increase in fuel
standards. Environmental groups called the compromise meaningless, though Terry
argued it was the only proposal with a chance to pass.
"That, by far, was my most important accomplishment," Terry said.
The House energy bill remains bogged down in partisan
strife over issues unrelated to Terry's fuel-efficiency proposal.
GRAPHIC: Color Mugs/2/1m
Kent Sievers/1 Phil Johnson/1 Terry; Kent Sievers/World-Herald/1sf Phil
Johnson/World-Herald/1sf
Document 44 of 739. 