Passage of sponsored bills belies power of House freshmen
— -- The freshman class that swept Republicans into control of the House has sponsored more than 400 pieces of legislation since January, ranging from bills that would dismantle President Obama's health care law to minting coins to honor mothers and the National Basketball Association.
Only a handful have become law. They include a measure that praises the nation's intelligence community for "bringing Osama bin Laden to justice" and another that aims to protect trains and subways from terrorist attacks.
Freshman members of Congress often spend their initial years learning the process and slowly working their way up to positions of influence. About 65% of all bills passed through Congress are sponsored by chairmen of committees and subcommittees, so it's hard for regular legislators, let alone freshman just establishing themselves, to pass legislation, said John Wilkerson, a political science professor at the University of Washington.
But freshman groups that have stormed into Congress in waves — such as the "Watergate babies" of 1974 that sent Democrats into the House following President Nixon's resignation and the "Republican Revolution" — of 1994 have had more success in other ways.
Analysts note that the current crop of first-timers, made up of 82 Republicans and 11 Democrats, already has made its influence known when Tea Party-inspired freshmen held enough votes and influence to force the debt ceiling deal that may cut the deficit by up to $2.4 trillion.
"They might not have a lot of bills or a lot of victories, but they have one big one and that was the major issue for a lot of them coming in," said Julian Zelizer, a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University. "House Speaker John Boehner had his feet to the fire because of them. That's a sea change from where politics was just six months ago."
A review of bills shows Republican freshmen have hit themes they sounded on the campaign trail: At least 10 bills chip away at Obama's healthcare law, and several legislators have tried to peel back pieces of the Wall Street financial regulations passed last year. Others want to clamp down on environmental protection legislation they say hurt industry and cost jobs. Other bills would trim federally backed mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and transfer money from foreign aid programs to domestic ones.
For their part, Democrats have crafted bills that resonate with their party faithful, such as limiting domestic oil and gas exploration and increasing federal aid to students, veterans and others.
The freshmen also have sponsored bills that are standard fare for both parties: 11 measures to rename post offices and parks.
Four bills focus on the coins of the realm. Rep. Richard Hanna, R-N.Y., wants the Treasury Department to mint coins in recognition of the NBA Hall of Fame, Rep. David McKinley, R-W.Va., wants coins honoring the establishment of Mother's Day. Republican Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark., wants coins commemorating the 225th anniversary of the founding of the U.S. Marshals Service.
Meanwhile, Rep. Kevin Yoder, R-Kan., wants to suspend the issuance of $1 coins, since there is a surplus of 1.2 billion of them sitting in Federal Reserve banks. "If every single member of Congress was able to find an inefficient program or statute like this to fix, then collectively we could remedy a big chunk of government waste," Yoder aide Jordan Austin said.
