A new generation of U.S. representatives entered the Congress in January. The 110 new faces — more than a quarter of the House — remake the possibilities for changes in both policy and power. How is the Illinois delegation positioned to serve the state as the Clinton era unfolds?

The bad news is that the state lost two seats to reapportionment, going from 22 to 20 members. Illinois will still have major clout because the influx of newcomers also pushed this state's veteran members to higher levels of influence in the seniority-driven committee and political systems of the U.S. House. Four of Illinois' new U.S. representatives are freshmen.

Here is the Illinois lineup in the pecking order of the U.S. House. Among the Democratic majority are 12 Illinoisans: three senior members in high ranking spots, half a dozen mid-career members first elected during the 1980s and three newcomers. Illinois' eight Republicans include three senior members, three elected during the 1980s and two in the 1990s. To understand these members' influence, one must see them in the work environment of the House.

Members of the Illinois delegation have made conscious efforts to get good committee assignments and to place members where they can benefit the state. Each party makes its own assignments. Two of the delegation wheel-horses have pushed Illinois members for good committee slots. Robert H. Michel (R-18, Peoria), the Republican minority leader, has a major say in Republican assignments. Dan Rostenkowski (D-5, Chicago), chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, has played a similar role in Democratic assignments. Members report that both have worked aggressively over the years to get good committee placements for their fellow Illinois partisans.

Committees as well as committee assignments have a pecking order. The prestige committees are Appropriations, Ways and Means, Rules and Budget. Other committees that make major policies are Energy and Commerce, Banking, Education and Labor, Government Operations, Foreign Affairs, Judiciary, and Science, Space and Technology. The constituency committees are the ones that let members provide particular services, favors and pork to their states and districts: Agriculture, Armed Services, Natural Resources (formerly Interior), Merchant Marine, Public Works and Small Business. The least desirable assignments are Post Office and Civil Service, Veterans' Affairs, House Administration, District of Columbia, and Standards of Official Conduct.

The Democrats, as the majority party in the U.S. House, hold a monopoly on chairmanships for committees and subcommittees. Rostenkowski is the only Illinoisan to chair a committee. His Ways and Means Committee has jurisdiction over key bills on President Clinton's agenda: tax breaks for economic stimulus, an energy tax increase to achieve deficit reduction, health care and welfare reform. Rostenkowski will have a major role in specifying the details of Clinton's domestic policy.

The most senior Illinois Democrats after Rostenkowski are Sidney R. Yates

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(D-9, Chicago) and Cardiss Collins (D-7, Chicago).

Yates, 83, is the fourth ranking Democrat on the prestigious Appropriations Committee. He has long served as one of the "college of cardinals," as chair of one of Appropriations' 13 subcommittees. Every year each subcommittee prepares one of the 13 appropriation bills that fund the operations of national government.

Collins, 61, is the sixth ranking Democrat on the highly active Energy and Commerce Committee, chaired by the imperious presence, John Dingell (D-Michigan 16). Collins ranks second on Government Operations to chairman John Conyers (D-Michigan 14) who, like Collins, is a long time member of the House black caucus.

The future leaders of the Illinois Democrats will come from the group of six that entered the House in the 1980s. The three who entered the House in 1982 and have achieved a great deal in a decade are Richard J. Durbin (D-20, Springfield), Lane A. Evans (D-17, Rock Island) and William O. Lipinski (D-3, Chicago).

Durbin, despite standing only 17th on Appropriations, was elected chairman of its agriculture subcommittee, putting him into a significant leadership position as the newest of the "cardinals." The subcommittee chairmanship allows him to shape and be the spokesman for an appropriations bill that last year totaled $60 billion. As a cardinal he has a role in the collective decisions on the entire federal budget.

Evans, now the fourth ranking Democrat on Veterans' Affairs, challenged G.V. "Sonny" Montgomery (D-Mississippi 1), the committee's longtime chairman, when the 103rd Congress organized itself in December. Evans made a strong showing, losing by only four votes, 123 to 127, to an old line conservative southerner whose base of support is among veterans of World War II and Korea. Evans' support is from Vietnam veterans who have growing clout. Evans is the likely future successor to Montgomery's chairmanship. On Evans' more important and complementary committee assignment, Armed Services, he vaulted from 25th to 15th out of 33 Democrats. A former Marine who opposes large weapon systems, Evans will not mind having a hand in cutting back the defense budget while preserving veterans' benefits.

The future leaders of the Illinois Democrats will come from the group of six that entered the House in the 1980s

In 1992, Bill Lipinski survived redistricting and defeated fellow incumbent Democrat Marty Russo on Chicago's southwest side. It is no surprise to find Lipinski well established on two constituency committees: Merchant Marine and Public Works. Ranking fifth on Merchant Marine and already a subcommittee chairman, his challenge is to get what he can for the Great Lakes, especially Lake Michigan. He is the eighth ranking Democrat and senior Illinoisan on Public Works, ranking near the top of the subcommittees on aviation and surface transportation. As Illinois looks for a third airport and a better highway infrastructure with federal support. Mayor Richard M.

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Daley's good friend Bill Lipinski will be looking out for the city and state interests.

Democrats first elected in 1988 are Jerry F. Costello (D-12, Belleville), George E. Sangmeister (D-l 1, Mokena) and Glenn Poshard (D-l9, Carterville). All three have seats on Public Works, providing the state with a substantial presence on a premier pork committee. Costello got a new assignment this year to the prestigious Budget Committee. It is the only committee with term limits (three); as Durbin departed, Costello moved in. Two of the three have a policy committee: Costello on Science and Technology and Sangmeister on Judiciary. Poshard is on Small Business, an apt choice for one representing the many small towns of southeastern Illinois. An Army veteran who served in Korea in the early 1960s, he is ninth on Veterans' Affairs.

. . . with good prospects for future reelection, these mid-career Republicans are positioned to gain leverage . .

Illinois has three freshman Democrats in the House: Mel Reynolds (D-2, Chicago), Luis Gutierrez (D-4, Chicago) and Bobby L. Rush (D-l, Chicago). Each won election under the new congressional map. Reynolds, a Rhodes scholar and a lawyer, defeated the incumbent, temperamental and embarrassing Gus Savage, in the Democratic primary election. Reynolds is one of three African Americans in the delegation, along with Rush and Collins. Of the newcomers, Reynolds got the best committee assignment: Ways and Means. He is the only one of the 110 newcomers to the House to be appointed to that prestigious committee. Reynolds provides a perspective on tax policies that supports private investment in inner city housing and business.

Illinois' first Hispanic representative, Luis Gutierrez, joined 18 other Hispanics in the House. His committees are Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs and Veterans' Affairs. Although he lost out on a bid to get on Ways and Means, his early assignment to Banking gives him a leg up on most other freshman, getting a rank of 18th among the 30 Democrats.

Rush is also on the Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs committee, ranking 19th. Once a Black Panther, later a Chicago alderman and supporter of Harold Washington, Rush became an ally of Mayor Daley. A thoughtful and soft-spoken advocate of an urban agenda, his committee assignment eventually will give him significant policy leverage. He also serves on Government Operations.

Of the eight Republicans in the Illinois delegation, Michel tops the Republican pecking order as House minority leader and as the longest serving Republican — first elected in 1956. He has been minority leader since initially chosen by his Republican colleagues after the 1980 election. Many observers expect Michel to retire from Congress when his current term expires. If and when he does retire, the Illinois delegation and the Republican members in particular will lose an influential advocate. But Michel has hinted that he may run again in 1994. The prospects for future Republican freshmen from Illinois hang on his decision.

The next most senior Illinois Republicans are Philip M. Crane (R-8, Mount Prospect) and Henry J. Hyde (R-6, Bensenville). Crane ran briefly and unsuccessfully for the presidential nomination in 1980, but he couldn't communicate the conservative line as well as Ronald Reagan. Despite his seniority rank on Ways and Means, he seems to wield little influence. He is a vocal free-trade proponent and a "no new taxes" conservative, but he is thought to be more show horse than work horse.

Hyde is an outspoken conservative and excellent debater. Both in the Foreign Affairs Committee and on the floor, Hyde defended Reagan's Central America initiatives and fought against proponents of a nuclear freeze. He is best known for the "Hyde Amendment," which bans federal funding of abortions. So identified with the abortion issue, he cannot escape the related implications of that issue as a member of the Judiciary Committee. His mastery of details in debate has made him a forceful minority party figure. In the 103rd Congress he joined the party leadership as chair of its Policy Committee.

Illinois Republicans have three in mid-career, entering the U.S. House during the 1980s: John F. Porter (R-10, Wilmette), Harris W. Fawell (R-13, Naperville) and J. Dennis Hastert (R-14, Yorkville). Having served several terms and with good prospects for future reelection, these mid-career Republicans are positioned to gain leverage in future congresses.

This year Porter moved up to ranking subcommittee member for labor, health and human services and education, one of the 13 subcommittees of the Appropriations Committee. He will be a major player in shaping the annual human services appropriations bill. Last year that bill exceeded $200 billion, and in the Clinton administration the issues for this appropriation will be very controversial.

Fawell plays a respectable, if not popular, role as pork buster on Education and Labor and especially Science, Space and Technology. On the latter he is ranking minority member on the energy subcommittee. For Education and Labor he is the ranking minority member for the labor standards subcommittee. Fawell is a meticulous legislative craftsman, but his skepticism about the merits of government spending keeps him from easy camaraderie with the Democratic majority.

Hastert is about midway up the ladder on the Republican side of Energy and Commerce. He favors cutting state regulation of trucking, a deregulation approach with populist appeal. On Government Operations he is Reaganesque in his efforts to get government off the backs of the people. He has increased his influence there by winning the ranking

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Republican spot on the environment, energy and natural resources subcommittee. Hastert is a pragmatic politician who likes the electoral trail. He continues as a regional whip in the Republican leadership.

The two newest Republicans in the Illinois delegation are Thomas W. Ewing (R-15, Pontiac) and Donald Manzullo (R-16, Egan). Ewing has a jump on other newcomers. Taking office July 2, 1991, he replaced Ed Madigan who resigned to become Bush's secretary of agriculture. During the 102nd Congress Ewing got a seat on the Agriculture Committee, and now he ranks 12th among 18 Republicans. Ewing is the only Illinois Republican on Public Works, but he has four state allies on the Democratic side.

Manzullo, the Republican freshman who beat the first-term Democratic incumbent in the northern Illinois district, begins near the bottom on Foreign Affairs and Small Business. His free trade outlook and disdain for restrictive regulation of business will have its proper Republican place on both those committees.

Illinois retains clout in spite of losing two delegation members to reapportionment and six incumbents (Frank Annunzio, Terry Bruce, John Cox, Charles Hayes, Marty Russo and Gus Savage). Illinois has substantial representation on key committees, including seven positions on the prestige committees. Most of the other assignments are on constituency committees, those that can bring home benefits to the state. With five Illinoisans on the Public Works and Transportation committee, chances are very good that high speed rail will someday connect Chicago to Detroit and St. Louis and a third airport will rise in Chicagoland.

The prospects for turnover in the delegation are obvious. Talk about retirement is heard concerning Michel and Yates. If the House Post Office inquiry by federal prosecutors were to obtain an indictment of Rostenkowski, Democratic rules require that he forfeit his chairmanship of Ways and Means. That would mean the loss of the delegation's "most valuable player" on the Democratic side.

The coming strength of the delegation is in the nine mid-career members elected during the 1980s

The coming strength of the delegation is in the nine mid-career members elected during the 1980s. Already they have leverage in the prestige committees and they have strength in both constituency and policy committees. The five freshmen have partisanly safe districts in which to build seniority, and they have committees that fit their skills and constituency interests. The Illinois survivors of the rigorous 1992 election are well positioned for congressional careering. *

Jack R. Van Der Slik is the director of the Illinois Legislative Studies Center at Sangamon State University, Springfield, and editor of the Almanac of Illinois Politics — 1992. Support for research on the Illinois congressional delegation came from the Everett McKinley Dirksen Congressional Leadership Research Center in Pekin. Alex Paul, graduate assistant in the center provided research support for this article.

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