The Political Pause; At Press Salute, Congress Sidesteps Raise Issue
It's not clear what bright soul at the Washington Press Club Foundation chose "The Political Circus" as the theme for last night's Salute to the 101st Congress, but it couldn't have been more apt. As a few dozen clowns hired from Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circulated, doing pratfalls and stilt acts, the subjects of the salute stood grimly about in black tie, conjecturing, pontificating, obfuscating about the event in the center ring: the congressional pay raise.</br></br>"I just shouldn't comment," ran a typical response from Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), who added with unaccustomed modesty, "There are so many of my colleagues more knowledgeable than I" about the issue.</br></br>If members were buzzing privately about Wright's plans to hold an eventual vote on a smaller raise, they weren't commenting publicly. "Who knows" how the raise issue will come out, said Rep. Bill Gray (D-Pa.). "Only the Shadow knows." "I have no idea" how the issue will be resolved, said House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dan Rostenkowski (D-Ill.), a longtime and vocal supporter of pay hikes for Congress. He turned to greet Budget Director Richard Darman, who, long known for his negotiating skills, nodded toward Rostenkowski and remarked, "He and I could settle this in no time." Asked for his own impressions of how the issue would be resolved, Darman smiled seraphically and responded, "Perfectly."</br></br>The annual Press Club Foundation Dinner-which will long be remembered as the scene of Redskins John Riggins' famous nap at the knee of Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor-is a chance for press and pols in Washington to sit down together and do the big schmooze. This year, as one of the first major social events of the Bush presidency, the dinner gave the Grand Hyatt an air of electricity that has been absent from Washington for months.</br></br>Amid the crowd of senators and congressmen were powers of the new administration: White House Chief of Staff John Sununu, in white tie and tails, as this was just one of the parties he was called to last night, patiently answering question after question about the presidential throat (Bush's voice is still "brittle," he said). Treasury Secretary Nicholas Brady in solemn conclave with Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan ("Fine. Wonderful. Very exciting," said Brady about the administration's first 10 days, which have seen him heavily criticized for the proposal of a fee on savings and loan deposits). Bush speechwriter Peggy Noonan, and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Jack Kemp. Republican National Committee Chairman Lee Atwater, and his future Democratic counterpart, Washington lawyer Ron Brown, working the room.