Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: House blacks seek strength in numbers Date: Sat, 7 Nov 92 19:23:58 EST Message-ID: \SE A;NATION;THE CLINTON TRANSITION \SS (WS) \HD House blacks seek strength in numbers \BY Ben Johnson \CR ST. PETERSBURG TIMES Black power will take on a new look when the 103rd Congress convenes in January. Twenty-two years after it was founded, the Congressional Black Caucus will have the potential to be a powerful bloc. The House of Representatives will have 38 voting black members, 8.7 percent of the membership of 435. And the Senate will include its first black woman, Carol Moseley Braun, Illinois Democrat. The number of Hispanic representatives will increase from 10 to 17. Together, blacks and Hispanics will hold 12.6 percent of the House seats. Although the black and Hispanic groups have not been strong allies in the past, they might be next year. New York Democrat Jose Serrano, a likely choice to be elected chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, has said he wants to forge a better working relationship with black congressmen. Rita Elizondo, the Hispanic caucus' executive, said: "We are hopeful that the Hispanic caucus will be able to forge a coalition with the black caucus to be able to wield more influence in Congress. We could vote as a bloc to get more legislation through that will benefit minorities." Such an alliance bodes well for issues that concern minorities, said David Bositis, senior research associate at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies in Washington. The center is the nation's best-known black think tank. "If women and Hispanics and African-Americans acted as a bloc in the Democratic Party, they almost have enough numbers to elect a speaker if they wanted to," he said. Any issues the three groups want to tackle will take on added weight because of their numbers: They will make up 23 percent of the House. Mr. Bositis said the new black members of Congress will have more pragmatic concerns than the 13 congressmen who formed the Congressional Black Caucus in 1970 had. They likely will focus more on domestic issues, especially the economy, than international ones, he said. And because most will have had experience in elective office at the state or local level, they may know from the start how to use their new positions effectively. The increased numbers and experience of black and Hispanic members should mean more attention for issues that concern the nation's minorities, said Democrat Corrine Brown, who won a House seat from Florida. She named housing, jobs, education, crime, drugs and international trade among these issues. New members of Congress generally wield less clout because of their lack of seniority. But with many senior members of Congress departing, there will be vacancies on key committees. "It means that the major issues that America needs to address, the change issues, we will be very involved in," Miss Brown said. "When America has a cold, our community has pneumonia. We need to get the economy moving. We need to get [our] segment of the community involved in that economy." * Distributed by Scripps Howard. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM