European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 30, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse The Senate s Point man1 by Steven v. Roberts new York times president Carter ran into heavy opposition in Congress when he proposed eliminating water projects dear to the hearts of Power Ful legislators. But two years ago sen. William Proxmire actually killed the construction of a $50-million dam in his Home state Wisconsin on the ground that it wasted taxpayers Money. That tells a lot about Proxmire the latest in a Long line of Senate Mavericks who have not been afraid to stand alone on unpopular Issue and even relished their isolation. In a body where the favorite Maxim is to get along go along Proxmire goes alone. A member of the world s most exclusive club for 20 years he remains an outsider. He seems to agree with Groucho Marx s crack any club that would accept me i Don t want to belong Proxmire was the Only senator to vote against the confirmation of Bert Lance As budget director charging that he lacked the experience to do a competent Job. The senator remarked that Lance s three years As Highway commissioner in Georgia simply did not qualify As preparation for handling the budget office. As chairman of the Senate commit tee on banking housing and Urban affairs he is zeroing in on banking practices spotlighted by the Lance controversy. We ought to have a system As just and As equitable As possible the senator said in a recent interview. But these Bankers Are getting All sorts of unfair Loans insider Loans. We want to try to Stop recently Proxmire conducted hearing son another subject gaining attention be cause of the Lance affair the conflicting agencies that regulate the banking Busi Ness. In the next three months the senator has scheduled More than 30 Days of hear Ings on a variety of Bills. Even Proxmire s critics and he has Many agree that he is one of the most intelligent most thorough and hardest work ing senators on Capitol Hill. They Admire his courage and honesty and Marvel at his popularity Back Home. In winning his fourth full term last year Wisconsin s senior senator won 73 per cent of the vote while refusing All Campaign contributions. But these critics including Many fellow William Proxmire Public defender or headline Hunter democrats also consider him a stubborn self entered bully who plays to the grandstand and puts his own prominence above All other concerns. According to staff members of the Bank ing committee he Seldom consults other senators or makes compromises and often winds up destroying his own effectiveness. By his own reckoning his major Legisla Tive achievement has been a negative one stopping the funds for supersonic trans port the set. Proxmire loves being in the Senate and he works hard at it but i Don t think he s a great builder one Veteran Senate aide said. He added he s not going to come up with a bold creative piece of legislation like Hubert Proxmire has Little tolerance for those who say he lacks a heart. It s very stupid when you Don t have the courage to face facts he snapped. Take the Issue of health. It s a very emotional Issue and people say we can t spend too much on cancer but we re wasting a lot of Money on an ascetic Proxmire jogs five Miles to the office from his Home in fashionable Cleveland Park. To him the height of wickedness is eating a pint of ice Cream and one staff member is chided regularly for munching chocolate covered dough nuts at his desk. An aide at the joint economic commit tee where Proxmire was once chairman mused about a Friend s child who made a pilgrimage to the Himalaya mountains. Proxmire could do that he has that sense of spiritual adventure said the aide. Sometimes i get the feeling he s Martian he s so son of a wealthy physician in Lake Forest 111., Young Bill Proxmire started running Long before those daily jogs to the Capitol. After graduating from Yale University and Harvard business school and serving in military intelligence in world War ii he chose Wisconsin As a promising state moved there and started Campaign ing for office. After three losing tries at the governor ship he won a special election in 1957 for the Senate seat left vacant by the death of Joseph Mccarthy. Proxmire likes the image of himself As a watchdog a Lone defender of the Public in Terest and his personal heroes include two of the Senate s greatest Mavericks Robert la Follette and Wayne Morse. I Don t shrink from controversy As Many Sena tors do he said. We could t have a Senate full of prox mires one of his aides said. It would be anarchy. But we need a handful of them to help the rest toe the line make fights publicize who gets what crack Down on labels As conservative or Liberal do not really apply to Proxmire another aide said. He s basically a populist but a Harvard business school the senator Calls himself an Eclectic and says i Don t think fixed ideological approaches Are he gets the highest rating from Ralph Nader on consumer votes 92 per cent but says i try to make the free Market work instead of just throwing Public Money at the sharpest Senate foe of Mil a joining garbage collection Crew to learn problems of working people. Itary spending he believes in a Strong de sense and supported the Vietnam War Long after his Wisconsin colleague sen. Gay lord Nelson had turned against it. In his crusade against military waste Proxmire has denounced everything from Cost overruns on thec5a cargo plane to the general who ordered a special flight to retrieve his Golf shoes. Leaks about waste now pour into his office from disgruntled underlings and his aides talk about the Proxmire fear Factor the deterrent effect of possible disclosure. Since becoming chairman of the banking committee in 1975, he has concentrated his efforts on such issues As truth in lending and opening the Federal Reserve system to Public scrutiny. In a recent article he summed up his approach by saying Sun Light remains the world s Best disinfect critics Call him a headline Hunter but the senator explains most members of Congress will not read a committee report even if it comes out of their committees under their own names. But they pay at Tention if something is on the front Page of the new York times or the Washington Post or on the Walter Cronkite sometimes he conducts committee business in an efficient and expeditious Way said sen. John Tower of Texas a leading Republican on the banking com Mittee. But often he fails to adequately consult other members of the committee and perhaps he gets into fights that could be privately committee staff Mem Bers Are much More critical of the Proxmire style. He s not a states Man one said. He does t follow the rules of the game and that make sit difficult for other senators. He throws egg in their in four years William Proxmire will have served longer than any other senator from Wisconsin. At the age of 61, he looks 10 years younger and As if he could go on indefinitely. While he has managed to annoy just about every one of has col leagues in the last 20 years most of them Are glad he is there. Log rolling and Back scratching is the role of a Good legislator said one Senate Veteran. Proxmire is not like that he s the classic Point Man. But you need both in a legislative Friday september 30, 1977 the stars and stripes Page 13
