Daniel Akaka:
“Deeply concerned about the negative effect
the campaign fund-raising controversy may have
on Asian-Pacific Americans' participation
in our political process.”

Hawaii's junior senator, generally regarded as one of the best-liked but least-known lawmakers here, has found himself on the hottest committee in Congress.

Akaka is one of seven Democrats on the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, which will investigate the campaign financing scandals swirling around the White House and the Democratic National Committee.

Pundits and political junkies already are suggesting that the investigation could propel the panel's chairman, Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., all the way to the White House in 2000.

While no one is predicting the same fate for Akaka, his participation in what the authoritative Congressional Quarterly has dubbed "the highest profile panel proceedings of the year" is almost sure to give Akaka more national exposure than he has seen in two decades in Congress.

"There's going to be a lot of exposure to go around, and everybody on Governmental Affairs will probably get a little piece of it," said Christopher Deering, a congressional expert and political science professor at George Washington University here.

More specifically, Asian-Pacific American groups, dismayed with the focus on Asian-American contributions, already are calling for Akaka, the only Asian-Pacific American on the committee, to take the lead in defending them against unfair attacks and scrutiny.

"The treatment of Asian-Pacific Americans so far has lumped everyone together, whether Asian American or Asians," said Raynor Tsuneyoshi, a former Hawaii resident who is chairman of the Asian American Government Executives Network. "Sen. Akaka has always been supportive of our causes, and we hope he will be something of a watchdog for us."

Akaka, asked about his role on the committee, issued a statement last week saying he was "deeply concerned about the negative effect the campaign fund-raising controversy may have on Asian-Pacific Americans' participation in our political process."

Akaka added: "Although I strongly condemn illegal fund-raising, I also denounce attempts by politicians or the media to tarnish an entire minority community. It is important that the politicians and the media ensure their actions and statements are fair and unbiased."

As for the investigation in general, Akaka said it was impossible to say how much attention it will attract "until we get further along in our work."

The brightest spotlight won't shine on the committee until hearings begin, probably in two or three months. But even the panel's early moves have attracted enormous attention.

Last week, when the committee held an hour-long meeting to decide on subpoenas, the crowd in the packed meeting room included about 30 reporters and film crews from the three major television networks.

"It's been incredible, the interest in this," said Paul Clark, the committee's communications director. "It's almost overwhelming. And it's just beginning."

Observers say the amount of attention paid individual senators like Akaka will depend on what the panel finds and how active the member is.

"Based on his track record, you wouldn't expect Akaka to emerge on this, but you can never tell," said Deering.

"If he remains quiet and low profile, he won't get much exposure," said a Senate source close to the committee. "But if he speaks up and shows some independence from the party line, it could be a different story."

In any event, he added, with cable TV networks like C-SPAN planning gavel-to-gavel coverage and the major networks and daily newspapers covering the hearings in detail, "Akaka's role is going to be very visible, whether he wants to or not."

Akaka's most visible role may be as defender of Asian Americans. With its focus so far on Asian contributions and fund-raisers like John Huang and Charles Yah Lin Trie, the campaign financing scandal has provoked an outcry from Asian Americans, who say they are being unfairly singled out.

"We feel very fortunate to have Sen. Akaka on the committee," said Francey Lim Youngberg, executive director of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Institute.

"Sen. Akaka, being a Pacific Islander, is very well aware of the stereotyping that's happening," said Youngberg.

"We're looking to him to educate his fellow members on the Asian-American perspective."

Indeed, it happens once a decade.

In the 1970s the nation's top political scandal was Watergate, and one of the seven senators named to the Senate Watergate committee was Sen. Daniel Inouye.

Inouye's "low-keyed dignity and clear skepticism," as the Almanac of American Politics describes his participation, made him something of a national figure.

For the 1980s the top political scandal was Iran-Contra. Again the Senate committee appointed to investigate included Inouye, this time as chairman. His measured approach as chairman won him additional national exposure.

Observers agree it is too early to tell if this year's campaign fund-raising probe in the Senate will prove as noteworthy as Iran-Contra, let alone Watergate. But most agree it has the potential to be just as significant, and thus the potential to make household names of participants, as past investigations did for Sam Ervin, Oliver North and, to a lesser extent, Dan Inouye.

This year's investigation differs in that the job is being done by an existing Senate committee, not a special committee.

Inouye and the other members of the Watergate and Iran-Contra panels were appointed by Senate leaders.

The 16-member Governmental Affairs Committee is a regular, standing committee whose jurisdiction includes such usually mundane matters as the federal civil service, congressional organization and government efficiency. Akaka has been a member since he was first elected to the Senate in 1990.