Mary Beth Polley | Fall 2000 Headlines

Markey up for Committee Chairmanships

By Mary Beth Polley

Congressman Edward J. Markey (D-7th), who is running unopposed for his 13th term, could have an embarrassment of chairmanship riches to choose from if the Democrats win enough seats in the November election to regain control of the House of Representatives.

As the highest-ranking Democrat on the Commerce Committee's Telecommunications, Trade and Consumer Protection subcommittee, Rep. Markey stands to regain the subcommittee chairmanship he lost when Republicans took control of Congress in 1995.

However, because of a retirement and shuffling of positions by other House members, Markey could also be the top candidate to head the full House Resources Committee. He left the Resources Committee in 1999 to take a temporary seat on the Budget Committee but kept his seniority rights on the Resource Committee.

"It's an incredible opportunity," Rep. Markey said. "I am very fortunate to have reached a point in my career to have two excellent options to choose from."

Rep. Markey, however, said he has not decided what he would do should he have a choice of chairmanships and is focusing instead on finishing this session of Congress and putting a Democratic majority back in the House.

"Right now I am focusing on winning the majority for the Democrats in the House of Representatives and then I will think about which committee would be best for me to chair," Rep. Markey said. "Otherwise I might waste a lot of time."

"I will be on both (committees) either way," Rep. Markey said. "I have been on both committees for 24 years. Telecommunications and the environment have been the two principal issues of my career."

The Democratic leadership is not pressuring Rep. Markey to make a decision either way, said Sue Harvey, a spokeswoman for Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt (D-MO), who confirmed that Rep. Markey is next in line for the two positions but cannot chair both panels. "It's completely up to him, "Harvey said.

As Resource Committee chairman Rep. Markey would have control over all legislation regarding national parks and pubic lands, energy resources, wildlife conservation efforts and U.S. fisheries. As a committee chairman he would control the entire committee's legislative agenda, funding and staff.

"Running a full committee is a major responsibility no matter what the subject. It's a rather larger operation with a significant budget," said David Moulton, Rep. Markey's chief of staff. "The Resource Committee oversees all the public land in the United States, the merchant marines, oil and gas royalties, the Alaska wildlife bill. It has sweeping national jurisdiction. The Resource Committee is quite central to the concerns of the environmental community and a variety of business interests."

"I can't think of a more delightful pro-environment scenario," said Betsy Loyless, political director of the League of Conservation Voters, about the possibility of Rep. Markey taking over the Resource Committee. "There's really not another committee that touches that deeply into the fate of our parks and public lands that is more important than this committee."

Rep. Markey has a 100 percent approval rating on the 1999 LCV National Environmental Scorecard. The current Resource Committee chairman, Don Young, a conservative Republican from Alaska, has a six percent rating.

"When we look there is just an enormous gap between the present chairman and Markey," said Loyless. "Those numbers over long periods of time give you a real sense of how often these members are voting on the pro-environment side, voting for the public interest over special interest."

As chairman of the Telecommunications, Trade and Consumer Protection subcommittee, Rep. Markey would oversee legislation on such topics as Internet privacy, consumer affairs, motor vehicle safety and wireless telecommunications. As a subcommittee chairman, he would be able to schedule hearings on proposed legislation and mark-up bills but he would still have to report to the entire Commerce Committee and its chairman.

"On a subcommittee, you don't command the same resources and staff," Moulton said. "Nevertheless, telecommunications involves subject matter that is central to the new economy of the United States and Rep. Markey has built up considerable expertise on the subject over the years. It's a difficult choice for him."

Rep. Markey has been a member of the Commerce Committee and the Telecommunications subcommittee since he joined Congress in 1977. He helped author the 1996 Telecommunications Act which deregulated the telecommunications industry allowing for competition between local and national telephone and cable providers. Rep. Markey, who heads the Congressional Privacy Caucus, also authored legislation on internet privacy, children's programming and the V-Chip, which allows parents to control the programming which can be viewed on their televisions.