The Lugar Program
The Lugar Program Newsletter: September 2007
Updates from Professor Emmett H. Buell, Jr., Program Director
Former Congressmen to Visit Denison Sept.17-18
The Lugar Programwelcomes the Sept. 16-17 visits of former House members Jim Bates (D-CA) and Nick Smith (R-MI) to Denison.They follow a path trod by fifteen others, most hosted in conjunction with the Stennis Center for Public Policy and the Former Members of Congress association (see the table on page 2).As always, we will honor our guests at a dinner, where the Provost will speak briefly on behalf of the college and our guests will remark on the importance of public service. The agenda for their time at Denison includes joint appearances in my Congress class on Monday, Sept. 17 (11:30 AM to 1:20 PM), and in Professor Boehme’s American political thought course on Tuesday (10-11:20 AM).Preceded by a reception at 5:30 on Monday, the dinner will start at 6.The reception and dinner will take place at Sigma Chi.All students enrolled in both tracks of the Lugar Program are cordially urged to attend the dinner, which also is open to those thinking about enrolling in track one or two.The dress is business casual.Please RSVP to Christy Trager (trager@denison.edu) by Thursday, Sept. 13, to give us an accurate head count.Bates and Smith bring to seventeen the number of former House members to visit Denison since the Lugar Program began in 1995.
Elected in 1982 as the first representative of California’s newly created 44th congressional district, Rep. Bates of San Diego served four terms in the House as a member of the committees on Energy and Commerce, House Administration, and Government Operations.He won recognition as an expert in environmental law, authoring the Stratospheric Ozone Protection Act, modeled on the International Montreal Protocols and passed by the House in 1990.Congressional Quarterly listed Mr. Bates as one of 1983’s outstanding freshmen, owing to his leadership on deficit reduction and reducing the procurement of MX missiles from 100 to 50.In 1982 Mr. Bates ran as a liberal in favor of public financing of abortions for indigents and a bilateral freeze on nuclear weapons.A Congressional Quarterly summary of his recorded votes in 1988 further illuminates the stands he took while in Congress: against aid for the Nicaraguan contras, against killing a 60-day notification of plant closings to employees, against the death penalty for drug-related murders, against barring federal funds for abortions in case of rape or incest, and against defeating a seven-day waiting period prior to purchasing a handgun.Likewise, he voted to override Reagan vetoes of civil rights and trade legislation.Students who have taken the Politics of Congress course are familiar with my composite rating of member liberalism-conservatism as reflected in recorded votes.It is calculated by subtracting a member’s rating by the Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) from his or her rating by the American Conservative Union (ACU) for the same year.A negative score indicates more liberal than conservative and the magnitude of that result indicates the degree of liberalism.Conversely, a positive score signifies more conservative than liberal.A +100 score represents a totally conservative voting record for the year in question, while a -100 signifies a totally liberal record.Such scores hardly tell the whole story of how members voted, and they reveal little if anything of why a member voted liberal or conservative.Still, they serve as a rough indicator of where members fall along the left-right continuum.Congressman Bates’s scores ranged from -51 to -90 on this measure from 1983 to 1988, with a mean of -80.2.
Congressman Bates lost his 1990 bid for reelection to Duke Cunningham by a single percentage point.Before his election to the U.S. House, he served three years on the San Diego City Council, seven years with the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, and ran unsuccessfully in 1980 for the seat in California’s old 41st Congressional District.Before entering politics, Mr. Bates served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1959 to 1963.While employed as a loan officer with Bank of America, he attended night classes at San Diego State University, majoring in political science and earning his B.A. in 1964.He now works as a consultant in San Diego and Washington, D.C.Recently he helped establish the San Diego Voter Forum.
A fifth-generation dairy farmer, Mr. Smith retired in 2004 after representing Michigan’s solidly Republican 6th Congressional District for six consecutive terms.By stepping down, he honored a 1995 pledge to remain in the House no more than a dozen years.The district has remained in the Republican fold since, although party nominee Tim Walberg squeaked by in 2006 with just under 50% of the vote.Located in the southern part of the state, the district takes in small towns, farming communities, and a few midsize cities, the largest of which is Battle Creek.Leading industries include auto parts manufacture, corn, and soybeans, with Kellogg, the cereal giant, as a leading employer.Congressional Quarterly notes that even the district’s blue-collar Democrats hold conservative views on social issues.While in the House, Mr. Smith sat on the Agriculture, International Relations, and Science committees.As chairman of the Science Committee’s Research Subcommittee, Smith became a leading proponent of plant research and genetically engineered foods, as well as an advocate for improving math and science education.Acclaimed as a fiscal conservative by the National Taxpayer’s Union, Citizens Against Government Waste, Americans for Tax Reform, Watchdogs of the Treasury, the Concord Coalition, and other groups, he nonetheless called for large increases in the National Science Foundation’s budget.In the 107th Congress, he parted company with his party’s farm bill by proposing limits on subsidies and opposing a Midwest dairy compact.At the same time, he fought to retain legislation that permitted bankrupt family farmers to restructure their debt without losing their land.On the International Relations Committee, he served on subcommittees dealing with the Middle East and Central Asia, international terrorism, non-proliferation, and human rights.His score on the composite ADA-ACU measure ranged from +100 to +56, with a mean of +81.1.
Smith’s political career prior to winning his seat in 1992 consisted of four years on the board of trustees of Somerset Township, two years on the Hillsdale County board of supervisors, four years in the Michigan house of representatives, and a year in the Michigan senate -- his springboard for the U.S. House seat.Before holding public office, Mr. Smith served in the U.S. Air Force from 1959 to 1961.He was graduated from MichiganState with a B.A. in 1957 and earned a M.S. in agricultural economics from the University of Delaware in 1959.A wrestler in college, Mr. Smith holds a black belt in Tae-Kwon-Do.He continues to operate a 200-acre dairy and cash-crop farm, and works also as a consultant.
For the record, here is the list of previous visits to Denison by former members of Congress:
|
Former member |
Party-State |
Semester/Year |
|
Romano Mazzoli |
D-KY |
Spring 1996 |
|
Austin Murphy |
D-PA |
Fall 1996 |
|
John Rhodes III |
R-AZ |
Fall 1996 |
|
Glen Browder |
D-AL |
Spring 1998 |
|
Lou Frey |
R-FL |
Spring 1998 |
|
John Erlenborn |
R-IL |
Fall 1998 |
|
Larry LaRocco |
D-ID |
Fall 1998 |
|
William Clinger |
R-PA |
Spring 2000 |
|
William Roy |
D-KS |
Spring 2000 |
|
Beverly Byron |
D-MD |
Spring 2002 |
|
Robert Daniel |
R-VA |
Spring 2002 |
|
Arlen Erdahl |
R-MN |
Spring 2004 |
|
Robert Underwood (delegate) |
D-Guam |
Spring 2004 |
|
Andy Jacobs |
D-IN |
Fall 2005 |
|
Denny Smith |
R-OR |
Fall 2005 |
Twenty-One Students Signify Interest in the Lugar Program at Campus Activities Fair
Twenty-one students, mostly class of 2011, expressed interest in the program by signing up for more information at the recent campus activities fair.Joining is simple; just fill out the attached form and return it to me (Knapp 304) or Christy Trager, secretary of the Political Science Department.The program is open to students of any party or political persuasion.Track 1 is designed for persons interested in domestic politics and desirous of interning in a House or Senate office.Our recently created Track 2 is for students focused on international politics, foreign policy, and/or comparative politics desiring internships related to these interests.Sign-up forms for both tracks are posted next to my office, 304 Knapp Hall.
Lugar Program Polo Shirts Available
Each student enrolled in the program who also has completed two of our courses in either track are entitled to a red polo shirt proudly bearing in white letters the label “The Lugar Program, Denison University.”Sizes range from medium to extra-large.First come, first serve.If you already have one, please don’t ask for seconds.Act soon, the supply is limited.
Of Things to Come…
Likely events this academic year include a campus visit by Senator Lugar, probably to attend the October meeting of the Board of Trustees and the first of a new series of symposia on foreign policy next April.If the Senator’s schedule permits, I will announce a time to meet him and get his perspective on momentous events in Washington and the world.More on these and other developments in future newsletters.Meanwhile commit the following to memory or blackberry:5:30 reception for former Congressmen Bates and Smith followed by a 6 PM dinner at Sigma Chi on Monday, September 17.