Lame duck Armey becomes Bush critic
By EDWARD EPSTEIN
San Francisco Chronicle
Aug 19, 2002, 8:12am
House Majority Leader Dick Armey, a pillar of partisan Republican conservatism, is leaving Congress after November's election, and he admits his pending retirement has had a wondrous effect on his frankness.
Armey, a country music fan always quick with a colorful quip, is going out with a bang by slamming some of President Bush's major initiatives. Quoting singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett's "Migration," Armey recently explained his new outspokenness: "You've just got to learn from the wrong things you've done. "
Armey's candid comments may have a lasting effect, Washington analysts say.
The nine-term House veteran of a libertarian bent has roiled the waters in Washington in recent weeks by speaking out against Bush, his fellow Republican and Texan, on such issues as the administration's apparent desire to invade Iraq and its plan to turn millions of Americans into the eyes and ears of the domestic war on terrorism.
Armey also opposed the four-decade-old embargo against Cuba. And in pushing through Bush's plan for a Homeland Security Department, he got the House to vote for a one-year delay in the Dec. 31 deadline to screen all baggage at U.S. airports for explosives, pointing out that the Transportation Department couldn't have met the deadline anyway.
"It's one of the most interesting developments in politics in Washington in the last few months," said Thomas Mann, who studies Congress at the Brookings Institution. "It's kind of refreshing to see a man reborn to his roots and being daringly politically incorrect."
As the No. 2 House Republican, Armey felt compelled to follow the party line. "But he's using his opportunity now not just to stick it to the president, but to articulate positions I'm sure resonate with members on both sides of the aisle," Mann said.
While other Republican leaders are backing Bush's repeated assertion that Saddam Hussein must go, Armey's recent comments against military action are likely to help fuel a national debate, Mann said.
In remarks in Iowa for GOP congressional candidates, Armey diverged from Bush, who says Hussein is developing weapons of mass destruction that threaten Iraq's neighbors and America.
"My own view would be to let (Hussein) bluster, let him rant and rave all he wants, and let that be a matter between he and his own country. As long as he behaves himself within his own borders, we should not be addressing any attack or resources against him," Armey said.
If Bush wants to launch a military strike against Iraq, it is considered likely that he will ask Congress for a resolution sanctioning his action, as he did in September in going into Afghanistan. Members of the Senate already have talked about scheduling hearings on the possible use of force against Iraq, and Armey's view is likely to buttress those who oppose the action.
In his comments on Cuba, Armey admitted that he long supported the embargo as a favor to his two GOP House colleagues from southern Florida, Ileana Ros- Lehtinen and Lincoln Diaz-Balart.
"What you see in the House of Representatives and what you see by way of individual votes - my own is an example - is loyalties to your friends," he said last week in Kansas on his GOP campaign swing.
Armey said he didn't think the economic sanctions against Cuba would last another year. But Bush is a firm supporter of the embargo, which is backed by his brother, Florida GOP Gov. Jeb Bush, and Miami's Cuban exile community. Bush has threatened to veto any legislation calling for easing up on the regime of Fidel Castro.
Michael Franc of the conservative Heritage Foundation said Armey's comments about Iraq and Cuba will spark internal debates within the conservative movement, between natural small-government libertarians such as Armey and those who favor a bigger role for government in foreign policy.
"I think Armey is saying that Congress should be consulted, especially on going to war with Iraq," said Franc, who was Armey's press secretary in 1996- 97.
Domestically, Armey struck a chord in the House when he slammed the Bush Justice Department's plan for Operations TIPS - the Terrorism Information and Prevention System. Originally, the plan called for millions of volunteers - truck drivers, mail carriers, utility meter readers - to report on suspicious activity they see on the streets or in people's homes.
But Armey, who chaired the House's select Homeland Security Committee, which drafted legislation creating the new Cabinet department to run the domestic war against terrorism, pushed through a provision banning such programs. It passed the panel unanimously, and Armey drew praise from his colleagues.
As for airport security, Armey said the Dec. 31 deadline, set in legislation passed last fall after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, was unreasonable but that nobody in Congress would admit it. "This Congress is too damned stubborn to admit it made a mistake," he said.
The House adopted a one-year delay in implementation as part of the homeland security bill, but the idea faces an uncertain future when the Senate returns after Labor Day.
In pushing the delay, Armey admitted he felt liberated by his looming retirement.
"I have found the most comforting words in the English language are, 'Dang it, I'm not running again. I'll do the right thing.' "
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