Cox chooses homeland security over policy

REP. CHRIS COX

After 10 years as a member of the House Republican leadership, Rep.

Chris Cox will step down to become chairman of the House Homeland

Security Committee.

Cox has chaired the committee since it was formed in 2002 as a

select committee, but as a member of the Republican leadership he

can’t chair a permanent standing committee.

The House on Wednesday voted to make the committee permanent, its

status written into House rules and defining its reach and

jurisdiction. Other such committees include Ways and Means, Judiciary

and Armed Services.

Because he wants to stay head of the Homeland Security Committee,

Cox will give up his leadership position as chairman of the House

Policy Committee.

But the job he’s keeping is one President Bush and House Speaker

Dennis Hastert consider vitally important, Cox said.

“They both made it clear that homeland security is our No. 1

national security priority in the 21st century,” he said.

“The department will succeed or fail in its mission largely as a

function of the way Congress fulfills its responsibility.”

As a member of the Republican leadership, chairman of two

committees and a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Cox

said he was trying to do too many things.

And he doesn’t lose clout with the change, he added.

“To the contrary, chairing a major standing committee in the

Congress is an extraordinary opportunity,” he said.

With its permanent status, the committee will be made over with

new members, who have yet to be chosen, and new responsibilities. The

homeland security committee’s jurisdiction formerly came from 79

other House committees, and turf battles weren’t uncommon.

“We performed a coordinating role and had very limited legislative

authority,” Cox said.

“It is a dramatic change from the previous situation.”

Cox is still expected to fight hard for Orange County issues

regardless of his changing position.

He’s highly respected by Republicans and Democrats, and he has

proven himself an advocate of local issues, Newport Beach Mayor Steve

Bromberg said.

“He has not said no to us yet, other than the El Toro airport,”

Bromberg said.

“I have every good reason to believe that we’re not going to be

impacted, and he will still have the kind of clout that he will need

to get the job done.”

It’s possibly too early to say what kind of a job Cox has done in

his previous two years as Homeland Security Committee chairman, UC

Irvine political scientist Mark Petracca said.

While Cox hasn’t always operated with the traditional political

motivations of reelection or personal advancement, there’s at least

one obvious reason why he would give up his ranking to head a new

committee, Petracca said.

“He’s the chairman of the committee that is the focal point of

America’s mass anxiety,”

Petracca said. “What could be more important?

“No one cares who the Policy Committee chair is.”

* ALICIA ROBINSON covers government and politics. She may be

reached at (714) 966-4626 or by e-mail at

[email protected].