Rep. Beilenson: An Appetite for the Big Issues

The congressman from West Los Angeles seemed insulted when a reporter asked him over lunch to assess some California problems.

“To be honest with you, I don’t think about California’s problems very much,” replied Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson.

Was that on the record?

“You want to put it on the record?” Beilenson shot back. “Fine, do it. And why don’t you write a headline that says, ‘Tony Beilenson doesn’t care about California’s problems.’ ”

Although Beilenson’s burst of candor is rare for a member of the House, his attitude is not, according to veteran Congress watchers.

The 56-year-old Democrat is a classic type: the representative who goes off to Washington and becomes swept up in weighty issues that touch only in a general way on the district back home.

But the detachment this can lead to has no political consequences for well-entrenched incumbents such as Beilenson who enjoy the safety of tailor-made districts. In the 1986 and 1988 elections, 98% of the representatives were returned to Congress.

And Beilenson freely admits that he enjoys this kind of political insulation in full measure--at least until after the 1990 Census, when new districts will be drawn.

In a more reflective moment, however, he apologized for proclaiming a lack of interest in his home state’s problems.

Leaning on his elbows at his desk, looking across the debris of a normal congressional day--phone messages, briefings from his staff, reports from the Government Accounting Office--he said he should not have seemed so indifferent to California problems.

“I was stupid in how I answered that question and you don’t know how embarrassed I am,” he said. “It was a stupid, arrogant thing to say and I apologize.”

That arrogance is something Beilenson tries especially hard to keep a lid on at his town meetings, which he holds once a month for constituents.

But it is a struggle for this type of congressman. His committee work gives him access to so much privileged information that he becomes impatient with people not as well-informed and with those looking for easy solutions.

At a meeting with constituents in Beverly Hills recently, the explosion could be seen coming as Beilenson argued that it is wiser to raise taxes than to borrow to meet each year’s budget deficit.

One man in the audience countered that there is nothing wrong with the U.S. economy.

“We created more jobs in the U.S. than the whole Western world put together,” he said to Beilenson.

“You’re saying borrowing is better than taxing, is that it?” asked Beilenson, growing visibly irritated.

Constituent: “No, I say cut the spending.”

Beilenson: “Tell me where, sir.”

Constituent: Let me put it this way. . . .”

Suddenly Beilenson shouted, “No. Answer the question, goddamn it!”

A titter swept the small crowd--and then a giggle. It was a classic Beilenson outburst.

There was no discussion at the meeting of such California problems as traffic jams and skyrocketing housing prices, for the simple reason that those issues do not interest Beilenson much, by his own admission.

“No, I don’t think in those terms,” Beilenson said in the interview in his office.

Wants to Make a Difference

“And maybe it is wrong for me to say that, but that is how I feel. I think in terms of making a difference here. I tend not to think in local terms, which may or may not be good.

“I also feel on the whole that, with some exceptions, the people in my part of California are doing OK. There are some specific things wrong, I guess, but they are hard, frankly, for me to come up with right now. I guess mass transit is one.”

Besides, he added, “That’s what local government is for.”

But what about using his influence as a congressman to prod local officials?

“I’ve tried to get more involved in transportation,” Beilenson replied. “I’ve testified for the first time on this in the last couple of years on behalf of Metro Rail and whatever else.

“I’m sorry, in a sense, that because of my own responsibilities that I am not able to provide an awful lot of help. Everything we deal with here--even though you have less input--is much bigger.”

On Rules Committee

Beilenson sits on the prestigious House Rules Committee, which determines the fate of all bills; he is an expert on the federal budget and is currently chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, which oversees spending on top-secret espionage activities.

He is, in fact, the model of the institutional congressman, according to Michael Barone, author of “The Almanac of American Politics.”

“Many congressmen have national interests, but Beilenson is certainly at the end of that continuum,” Barone said in a telephone interview. “And he has the advantage of a district that not only leans toward his party but is also relatively affluent and not in need of immediate federal bailing out.”

Barone contrasted Beilenson with another California congressman, Democratic Rep. Glenn M. Anderson of Harbor City.

“Anderson is building ports,” Barone said, referring to the congressman’s aggressive efforts to expand the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

Many of Anderson’s constituents are engaged in manufacturing jobs and struggling to buy their first homes.

Wealthy District

Beilenson, on the other hand, represents one of the wealthiest congressional districts in the country. In addition to West Los Angeles, it includes Beverly Hills, Westwood, Bel-Air, Malibu, Pacific Palisades and parts of the San Fernando Valley.

“Tony Beilenson’s constituents are a fancy lot--world travelers, very sophisticated people,” said an aide to another congressman, who asked not to be named. “They like the fact that Tony went to prep school and Harvard College and that he doesn’t bore them with local crap.”

Beilenson’s constituents reelect him every two years by big margins.

Last year, he worried briefly about a challenge in the Democratic primary from an articulate advertising man from West Hollywood.

But when he won the primary with 84% of the vote, Beilenson relaxed. So sure was he of winning in the general election that he spent no money against a nominal Republican opponent and did not even campaign

Could he ever lose? he was asked.

‘Happens to Be True’

“No,” Beilenson said. “I don’t mean to overstate it but it just happens to be true. One of the things I wanted to do last year by not spending any money in the general election was to prove to my colleagues that, you know, nobody is paying much attention and you may not be able to do this every year but you could probably spend nothing and win.

“Most of these chaps don’t need to spend $300,000 or $400,000 to win.”

And not having to spend that kind of money, he argued, would free the lawmakers from the kind of money-seeking that many believe has compromised Congress.

Beilenson is one of the few House members who accepts no campaign contributions from special-interest political action committees.

He also is one of the very few who refuses honorariums for speeches, money that, under the rules, congressmen are allowed to spend personally rather than put into their campaigns.

“I’m lucky,” Beilenson said. “Because I have some family money, I don’t need the speaking fees.”

Founded Publishing House

His parents founded Peter Pauper Press of White Plains, N.Y., in 1928. It began by publishing classics and expanded into other books.

When his mother died eight years ago, Beilenson said, her bequest to him finally made him financially comfortable after he and his wife had scraped for years to educate their three children.

“I invest my own money in the stock market and I must say I’ve done pretty well,” Beilenson said.

Not that you would know it. He favors simple blazers and button-down shirts. He drives a 1982 Dodge, socializes only occasionally and prefers spending his time gardening at his Maryland home.

Mortgage payments on that house and a condominium in his district total $2,000 a month, he said.

“Tony is an honest public servant,” said former Republican Rep. Dan Lungren, who represented part of Long Beach for 10 years and was often on the opposite side from Beilenson on issues.

Called a Man of Integrity

“Those of us on the Republican side of the House always knew that Tony was a straight shooter. He’s full of integrity.”

Which does not mean that the Republicans will not go after Beilenson again next year.

More significantly, they will watch closely when his district is redrawn to reflect population changes after the 1990 Census.

That is because Beilenson’s aloofness has not won him many friends with the consulting firm that will probably draw up the new district lines.

BAD Campaigns of Los Angeles, run by Michael Berman and Carl D’Agostino, infuriated Beilenson when they drew up the district lines after the 1980 Census.

He wanted a district with at least 60% of the constituents registered Democratic. What he got was more like 57% Democratic as BAD Campaigns juggled the demographics to make sure that there were three other Democratic districts in addition to Beilenson’s on the West Side of Los Angeles.

Outrage Told

“Tony howled and howled,” said a Democratic consultant who asked not to be identified.

Beilenson said of Michael Berman and his brother, Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Panorama City): “There was some bad blood for a while, but we’re all friends now. They are just more political than I am.”

Howard Berman praised Beilenson as “a very serious guy on policy, first rate.”

But one political strategist pointed out that the three other West Los Angeles congressional seats are held by the Waxman-Berman political organization. In addition to Rep. Berman there are Rep. Henry A. Waxman of Los Angeles and Rep. Mel Levine of Santa Monica.

“When it comes time to draw up the new districts in 1991,” the strategist said, “if Waxman-Berman needs Democratic voters for their districts, Tony’s turf is where they’ll go to get them.”

Beilenson said he will be ready to communicate strongly with his constituents, whoever they are. For, despite his preference for national issues, he has tackled some projects back home.

Scrambled for Money

His proudest accomplishment is his leadership role in creating the Santa Monica National Recreation Area 10 years ago. During the budget cuts under former President Ronald Reagan, he scrambled to find money to purchase land for that park before developers gobbled it up.

Asked to name other things Beilenson has done for his district in 10 years, aide Joan Shaffran came up with eight items.

These included building or expanding other parks, securing new post offices for Tarzana and Beverly Hills and getting the noise reduced at Van Nuys Airport.

This does not include ordinary casework to help constituents get Social Security checks, veterans benefits and the like--his Los Angeles staff gets high marks in this area from people contacted randomly in his district.

And then there are the potholders. Beilenson has given away thousands of them over the years to remind voters of his presence.

“Foolish potholders,” he said, rolling his eyes. “They cost a fortune. They’re kind of silly, I guess, but people like them. They keep them around.”

But will they keep him around?

“It’s not my whole life,” Beilenson said, “but I love being a member of Congress and I would really be sad if I were not.”