In this post-Sept. 11 society, where sometimes it seems sacrilegious to criticize the Executive Office, outspoken political opponents to President George W. Bush are difficult to find.
It is a phenomenon that has sent news editors and the Sunday-morning political roundtables scouring Washington for a contrary opinion — like those held by Second District U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah.
The congressman’s opposite stance to Bush on most issues is not contrived. It would be far-fetched to imagine a Republican oil tycoon from Texas and a liberal Philadelphia Democrat — the son of a South Philly High grad — actually agreeing on anything.
Early next year Fattah begins his fifth term in office, and he will preside over a newly expanded district.
The 2000 census numbers resulted in Pennsylvania dropping from 21 to 19 members in the House of Representatives. Congressional redistricting stretched Fattah’s territory in Philadelphia, as well as U.S. Rep. Bob Brady’s First District, while squeezing out Third District U.S. Rep. Robert Borski.
Effectively, Philadelphia dropped from three congressional members to about two-and-a-half, with 13th District Congressman Joe Hoeffel representing Northeast Philly and Montgomery County.
"It is unfortunate, but it is just part of the reality," Fattah said. "As the population has shifted to California and Texas, they are growing in influence."
It is not just Philadelphia that is shrinking. Pennsylvania’s population as a whole is growing at a snail’s pace compared to every other state.
As a result, Fattah, a ranking Democrat on the powerful House Appropriations Committee, is gaining ground in South Philly west of Broad Street. Fattah soon will represent the entire 30th Ward, which previously had fallen outside his district. In the 36th and 48th wards, he will represent the areas east to Broad Street, and add the neighborhoods north of Penrose, Moyamensing and Oregon avenues in the 26th Ward.
On Monday, the 46-year-old congressman met for breakfast with community media members from around his district at a Mount Airy diner. Over a plate of pancakes, he discussed a range of issues from homeland security to working in a Republican-controlled Capitol to his changing district.
Fattah agrees with Gov.-elect Ed Rendell that one way to boost Pennsylvania’s population is to lure high-tech industries to the state. While mayor, Rendell described the city’s propensity to lose its young, educated individuals to other areas of the country as the "brain drain."
Fattah sees the same thing happening statewide.
"Pennsylvania needs to get more on the cutting edge," he said. "We don’t need to be the last region of the country coming to high tech or whatever the next fad is."
Fattah sponsored legislation earlier this year that would provide federal funding to states encouraging the development of nanotechnology — the field of science through which materials are manipulated on the atomic or molecular scale to build high-tech devices.
He has helped traditional manufacturing industries as well. The congressman also authored legislation called the American Cities Investment Act, which permits cities to borrow federal funds to spur economic development.
Philadelphia, which lost more than 70,000 manufacturing jobs during the last 20 years, has received more money through the program than any city in the country, Fattah said.
"Because of this opportunity," he said, "we’ve seen a net increase of jobs in Philadelphia over the last five years."
Fattah is best known for his educational initiatives.
In 1998, then-President Clinton signed Fattah’s bill creating the national Gear Up college tuition program. Since then, 1.5 million students have had the opportunity to attend college tuition-free courtesy of $1 billion in federal grants.
Gear Up provides funding to schools partnered with local colleges. The money goes toward paying each student’s college tuition.
In October, Fattah and Sen. Arlen Specter worked to secure another grant that enrolled another 14,000 sixth-graders in Gear Up.
"The real idea of the program is to get these young people comfortable with the idea they can go to college," Fattah said, "[to] eliminate any concern they might have about being able to pay to go to college."
With the Republicans taking control of the House and Senate, it will be considerably more difficult to get similar Democratic initiatives passed, and nearly impossible to stop those introduced by Republicans.
"There are a lot of questions about what the Republicans’ agenda is going to be," Fattah said. "I think that the most unfortunate likelihood is they are going to keep doing what they have been doing, and they are going to be able to do it more efficiently without any opposition from Democrats."
The GOP already has announced its desire to ease clean-air regulations, remove forestry restrictions, increase defense spending and cut social programs. This all despite last week’s Congressional Budget Office report that showed the United States will face a $900-billion deficit in eight years if Bush’s tax cuts remain in place, Fattah pointed out.
"[The president] wants to have more tax cuts for the wealthy because he is somehow convinced that those dollars are going to be reinvested," the legislator added.
Fattah voted against the recent bill to establish the Office of Homeland Security. He opposed it for a number of reasons, he said — one being the White House’s last-minute request to remove part of the legislation that called for an independent investigation of any government knowledge of the Sept. 11 attacks. (The omitted portion of the bill was later added to another piece of legislation.)
Fattah said the new Cabinet position also fails to coordinate the nation’s various security agencies. The leaders of both parties in Congress were expected to announce the creation of an "all-in-one intelligence agency" this week, he said.
The congressman has had firsthand experience dealing with tighter levels of security in Washington. Fattah is the second-ranking Democrat on the House Administration Committee — an internal congressional committee that oversees campaign reporting, member travel, mail delivery and Capitol security.
The government has made a considerable investment in security in and around the nation’s capital, Fattah said. Roads have been blocked, truck drivers face new restrictions, and since last year’s anthrax contamination, mail is now scanned and irradiated off-site before it arrives to congressional offices, and goes through other security measures that Fattah cannot discuss.
"If someone in South Philadelphia writes me a letter in Washington, that letter is not coming [directly] to me," he said. "That letter is going to be routed through a whole system of places off campus to be checked."
Fattah hopes to keep his seat in Congress for years to come, and aims to become the highest-ranking Democrat of the Appropriations Committee. As the youngest of the 13 ranking members of his party, chances are that will happen if he hangs around long enough. That could mean millions more in federal funds headed in Philadelphia’s direction.
"The extent of my political ambitions is to serve in the Congress," Fattah said. "I will not be a candidate for president, U.S. senator, mayor or any other political office."
