They are the quintessential political odd couple, brought together by a shared determination to make federal bureaucrats more accountable. Senate Governmental Affairs Committee chairman Fred D. Thompson, R-Tenn., whose imposing presence, folksy manner and camera-friendly mug landed him roles in nearly 20 motion pictures before he jumped into politics in 1994, has teamed up with liberal Democratic Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, who looks forever rumpled and professorial, with trademark granny glasses that slip down his nose.
Their proposal, which has attracted some bipartisan support, requires federal agencies to better justify major rules that they write. Agencies would have to weigh whether the benefits of their regulations make them worth the cost; determine publicly that the rules they choose are better than other alternatives; and assess how environmental, health and safety regulations would reduce risks to the public.
On the surface, the measure looks like an election-year winner. After all, what's the downside of getting tough on Washington rule makers? Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., himself has said he wants the Senate to spend one-third of its time on "oversight"--investigating whether laws work and how well agencies perform.
Thompson insists the legislation has nothing to do with scoring political points and everything to do with making government more open. "I don't consider requiring regulators to tell us what they are doing as beatin' up on them," he said in an interview. "What this does is pull back the curtain. It doesn't tell anybody what to do."
Levin, say sources on and off Capitol Hill, has long wanted to reform the regulatory process and is determined that conservatives with zealous antiregulatory agendas should not drive the effort.
Rules must be "sensible and cost-effective," Levin said on Feb. 4, when he and Thompson unveiled a slightly modified version of their bill, which they first introduced last June. The changes make clear that the bill does not override existing regulations and that it does not dictate regulators' decisions, but simply forces them to disclose some of their data.
Thompson's pitch is that the bill is really about letting people look over the federal government's shoulder and about lessening the burden that Uncle Sam puts on small businesses and local governments. But he knows that past campaigns to overhaul the regulatory process have sparked bitter brawls.
House GOP leaders had made the issue a key part of their Contract With America and pushed through a sweeping proposal in early 1995, only to watch it go up in smoke in the Senate. Then-Senate Majority Leader Robert Dole, R-Kan., also championed a comprehensive measure, but failed in three attempts to end Democratic filibusters. The Democrats blasted the GOP effort as an all-out assault on environmental laws and on safeguards to protect public health and safety.
Today Thompson is grappling with similar pressures, as environmental, labor and safety advocacy groups have lambasted the new proposal. "If people want to make this a grass-roots issue, we can win that battle," said David C. Vladeck, director of the Ralph Nader-founded Public Citizen Litigation Group. "I don't think people want to see the ability of the FDA [Food and Drug Administration] to regulate drugs, the ability of OSHA [Occupational Safety and Health Administration] to regulate workplace safety, and the ability of the EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] to protect our environment weakened--and this bill indisputably does that."
Karen Kerrigan, president of the Small Business Survival Committee, a Washington group that fights regulations on small businesses, counters that the bill is a "good, incremental step," but she still is braced for an assault from activists. "The likely suspects will be out there on TV and radio, running ads, saying it will be the end of mankind as we know it if this bill goes through," she said.
Thompson's agenda may also be complicated by lingering fallout from his committee's acrimonious hearings into fund-raising abuses in the last presidential campaign. The sniping is already in full swing over the report detailing the committee's findings.
When asked whether the panel had become a dysfunctional family, Thompson joked: "You mean my committee? No, we're not a family." The former trial lawyer who went on to become the Senate Watergate Committee's chief GOP counsel added that he didn't think his efforts would be hampered. "You have to get over things and move on," he said.
Still, Lott--who did not see eye to eye with Thompson over the fund-raising hearings, preferring a narrower focus on Democratic abuses--is a major wild card. A Lott spokeswoman denied that he harbors any ill will toward Thompson, adding that Lott "would look forward" to starting discussions with Thompson about regulatory reform.
The Thompson-Levin bill has attracted support from eight other Senators, including Governmental Affairs senior Democrat John Glenn of Ohio. But the sponsors' middle-of-the-road approach may have alienated some on both sides. Senate Majority Whip Don Nickles, R-Okla., a conservative stalwart in the regulatory reform wars, and Senate Minority Leader Thomas A. Daschle, D-S.D., so far are noncommittal about the bill. Last week a group of Democratic Senators wrote to Thompson urging him to take a go-slow approach to reform.
The Clinton Administration also is taking a wait-and-see attitude. "Before we embrace another comprehensive statute," said a senior Administration official, "we ought to make sure that we have road-tested other statutes," such as the 1993 Government Performance and Results Act.
In a truncated legislative session whose schedule is already bursting at the seams, Thompson and Levin will have to press hard to move their proposal. If they succeed, then the House, which has no companion bill, is likely to act, Thompson said. As he expresses optimism about the measure, the Tennessee lawmaker with presidential ambitions might well be talking about his own future when he says, "You know, timing is important."
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