January 1999 Vol. 220 No. 1  Washington

Charles D. Matthews,  Contributing Editor

Here we go again – the 106th Congress is underway

Significant new faces have taken over the Republican leadership of the House of Representatives as the 106th Congress begins its two-year march toward the new millennium. But, on the other side of the Hill, the Senate Republican Conference voted complete confidence in its existing leaders from the 105th Congress by returning each of them to their former positions.

The biggest surprise in Congress was the resignation of Newt Gingrich as Leader of the House, and from his recently re-elected House seat from Georgia. Gingrich’s announcement came after the Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. Bob Livingston, Louisiana, announced he would challenge Gingrich in the race for the Leadership position in the new Congress. That development precipitated serious challenges for the other leadership positions, indicating widespread restlessness across Republican ranks. When the smoke cleared in the Republican caucus room, three of the five leadership positions had been filled by new faces.

The new House GOP leadership

House Speaker: Rep. Bob Livingston, Louisiana; third highest constitutional officer after the President and Vice President; presides over other House members and ultimately shapes legislative agenda.

Majority Leader: Rep. Richard Armey, Texas, re-elected; presides over House floor operations, determining when votes occur and which bills are considered when chambers are in session.

Majority Whip: Rep. Tom DeLay, Texas, re-elected; makes sure party members support leadership during key votes; is key intelligence officer to tell leadership which bills will pass.

Conference Chairman: New face, Rep. J. C. Watts, Oklahoma; will help steer party message; runs weekly closed meetings in which lawmakers debate most pressing legislative issues; also focuses on member services.

House Republican Congressional Committee Chairman: New face, Rep. Thomas M. Davis, Virginia; will be principally a fund-raiser to assure Republicans have money to run campaigns; also consults closely with Speaker on election strategy.

Four of five House leaders are from oil-producing states. Thus the majority leadership will begin with some basic understanding of the petroleum industry and its problems. Hopefully, this will not have negative effects on the domestic oil/gas industry in years to come — too often in the past, industry’s friends in high places bent over backward excessively to prevent any appearance of favoring the industry. However, considering the very small Republican majority in the House, and with campaigning for the year-2000 national elections already underway, it may be difficult to make significant progress in getting major legislative programs through the 106th Congress.

Babbitt’s got another important oil issue to "demagogue" (his word). Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt has made it known that he will not back off from Interior’s final proposed oil royalty rule, even though Congress has prohibited his department from issuing that rule before June 1999. Michael G. Gauldin, a spokesman for Babbitt, said the Secretary views the congressional delay as an opportunity for the department to demagogue the issue for another year. The statement appeared in Washington’s Federal Lands publication, and was confirmed to the Independent Petroleum Association by Interior’s A. B. Wade.

Gauldin’s comments differ significantly from those of major MMS officials, who have said nothing on this issue since the measure passed in the last days of the 105th Congress. A member of Energy Secretary Bill Richardson’s staff told some public interest groups late in October that Richardson supports Interior’s position on the rule. However, this same report indicated Richardson has not discussed this issue since Congress adjourned.

Deepwater E&P cost analysis. The New Orleans meeting between MMS and industry to continue discussions on costs associated with deepwater E&P will be held after Jan. 15, 1999. Participants of the meeting will attempt to narrow the number of categories that have been identified by MMS as requiring further cost analysis. MMS will share with industry a summary of the computer model now being used to calculate royalty relief, with special emphasis on the cost components. MMS is also preparing a summary of the written comments received following the June 29 workshop on deepwater royalty policy.

MMS names Tom Kitsos Deputy Director. Interior’s recent news release said Thomas R. Kitsos, PhD, will be responsible for reviewing MMS policies and program development; and he will help provide management decisions that involve offshore oil and gas activities and collection of royalties from mineral production on federal lands. That’s one of the most important portfolios affecting oil and gas issues in the Department of the Interior.

Many oil/gas company representatives have worked with Kitsos since he came to Washington in the mid-1970s to work for the House of Representatives’ Select Committee on the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, and later Merchant Marine and Fisheries, and MMS.

Points worth pondering. As quoted from Robert B. Stewart, president of the National Ocean Industries Association at the DOI’s OCS Policy Committee Meeting, Oct. 20, 1998: "The latest (DOI) Comprehensive Energy Strategy ... seeks to arrest the decline in domestic oil production by the year 2005. It also seeks to increase domestic production of natural gas by as much as 6 Tcf per year by the year 2010. Contrast those objectives with President Clinton’s executive order of June 12, 1998, in which he withdrew, from consideration for future leasing, in excess of 80% of the nation’s outer continental shelf until June 30, 2012."

Charles D. Matthews is president of Charles Matthews & Co., consultants and advocates on government relations, Arlington, Virginia.

Copyright © 1999 World Oil
Copyright © 1999 Gulf Publishing Company