Isle delegation
most cohesive
in Congress

Their decades-long ties are
reflected in the similarities
in their voting patterns

By Pete Pichaske
Star-Bulletin

WASHINGTON -- When Gov. Ben Cayetano's economic revitalization task force issued its long-awaited recommendations several weeks ago, Hawaii's congressional delegation swung into action.

One of the recommendations was for the University of Hawaii to explore taking over the East-West Center, and the delegation was concerned that congressional critics of federal funding for the center would use the suggestion to advance their cause.

At a hastily arranged meeting in a Senate office building, the four veteran Democratic lawmakers hammered out a position.

And the day after the recommendations were made, the four issued a joint statement praising the task force for its willingness to support the East-West Center "should federal funds no longer be available" but vowing to continue the fight for federal funding.

That the Hawaii congressional delegation could come up with a joint position so quickly surprised no one, either here or in Hawaii.

The four lawmakers, who have worked together for seven years and known each other for decades, might be the tightest, most cohesive delegation in Congress.

They meet as a group monthly, talk almost daily, and their staffs are in near-constant communication. While other delegations are notorious hotbeds of bickering, backbiting and clashing ambitions, the four Hawaii lawmakers campaign together, choose committee assignments with each other in mind and are liked -- and disliked -- by all the same special interest groups.

And to a remarkable degree, they vote together.

Proud of their unity

An analysis of the nearly 600 non-procedural House votes during 1997 found Reps. Neil Abercrombie and Patsy Mink voted together 93 percent of the time.

In the Senate, Daniel Akaka and Daniel Inouye voted together 91 percent of the time on the nearly 300 votes taken.

The cohesive label is not one that any of the four dispute. Quite the contrary. They constantly portray themselves as part of a united, smooth-running team working for the common good of tiny, geographically isolated Hawaii.

"You're talking about four distinct personalities, but we've done very well working in unity," said Inouye, the dean of the delegation.

"That's the big reason why, pound for pound, our small delegation has been more effective than many larger states in pushing our agenda."

"We try to work closely together as much as possible," said Mink. "We're a small delegation, so it's relatively easy to do. But because we're small, we can't afford to be divided. If we have differences, we try to work them out."

Mink said she talked to Abercrombie virtually every day and to the senators only slightly less often.

"We make a deliberate, concerted effort to support each others' programs," she said.

"There are really very few differences that I know of."

Ties go back decades

According to Akaka, the delegation is cooperative and cohesive in part because such traits are valued in Hawaii, perhaps more so than elsewhere. Moreover, all four are seasoned lawmakers who know that compromise is often the best way to get something done.

In addition, the four have shared roots that extend back for decades. Inouye and Mink have been active in Hawaii politics since before Hawaii was a state.

Abercrombie met both as a student in the late 1950s. Akaka has been an elected official since 1976 and was active in politics before that. "Not too many people can say they're in a delegation where they've known each other for nearly 40 years," said Abercrombie.

Minority positioning hurts

But one man's smooth-running team working for the greater good is another man's pack of lemmings plunging blindly into the sea.

"A united delegation can be quite useful, and Hawaii's delegation is certainly known as being united. But the problem with Hawaii's delegation is they're in the minority -- and in the minority of the minority," said Ken Weinstein, director of the Government Relations Project for the Heritage Foundation, a leading conservative think tank here.

Because all four lawmakers are generally liberal Democrats, said Weinstein, they have no ties to the conservative Republican majority now running Congress, especially in the House. And thus, their power is limited.

"In the minority like that, you just don't get to call the shots unless you're working with the president," he said.

"Hawaii doesn't have enough electoral votes to make presidents pay it that much attention . . . . It would be better to have a more varied group."

Dissenting voice needed?

Republican Orson Swindle, who tried to crack the four Democrats' stranglehold on Congress with two unsuccessful challenges to Abercrombie (and who is expected to move here soon as a member of the Federal Trade Commission), said the delegation suffers from the lack of a dissenting voice.

"If they're always agreeing with each other, who's to know when they're doing the wrong thing?" said Swindle.

"Hawaii would be so much better off with balanced politics. Everyone preaching from the same script gets you nowhere."

The delegation rejects such criticism as partisan carping.

"What do they mean by a dissenting voice? What project that we got don't they want?" said Abercrombie. "If someone would show they can do a better job, they'd get the opportunity."