By Roger Estlack, Clarendon Enterprise
Congressman Mac Thornberry will make history next week.
On Tuesday, January 6, he will be sworn in for his eleventh term in the US House of Representatives, and then the passage of a resolution will make the boy from Clarendon the first Texan to lead the House Armed Services Committee.
Enterprise Photo / Roger Estlack
Thornberry never expected to be in Congress this long when he was first elected with the Republican revolution in 1994, but his longevity has led him to a position of influence that few Americans will ever realize.
“You feel a certain weight to do the most you can with the job,” Thornberry told the Enterprise last week. “It is only because of the support of people at home that you can rise in seniority.”
Thornberry’s long road to the armed services chairmanship began in Donley County, where he grew up listening to his grandfather, Bill Thornberry, talk about what the government would and wouldn’t let him do as a rancher.
“It dawned on me early on that decisions were being made that affected us in Clarendon,” he said.
That interest in politics soon refined to an interest in national security and foreign policy. And by the time he was a student at Texas Tech University, Thornberry would maneuver every debate topic to something related to national security.
Later with nothing but a law degree and the urging of fellow Donley County native and attorney Broadus Spivey, Thornberry moved to Washington determined to work for a congressman with an interest in national security. He landed a job with Central Texas Republican Tom Loeffler, worked his way up to become former Lubbock congressman Larry Combest’s chief of staff, and then spent some time in the state department during the last year of the Reagan administration. He then came back to Texas to practice law before defeating Democrat Bill Sarpalius to represent the 13th congressional district.
Winning that first election then and now taking on an even bigger role, Thornberry says his past helps keep him grounded.
“It’s moments like this – when I take on new responsibilities – that I remember the people who got me where I am. It is because of my family, my community, Mrs. [Claudine] Todd’s English class, and Mrs. Stave’s [Jean Stavenhagen] speech class that I am able to do this,” he said. “I have had the tremendous benefit of growing up when and where I did.”
The world today is different than when Thornberry was a student and even different than when he took office 20 years ago. The congressman says Washington is more partisan than ever, and he sees the advent of the 24-hour news cycle, the rise of social media, and the phenomenon of people just trying to make a name for themselves as elements that make it harder to get things done.
“There were lots of disagreements with President Clinton, but at the end of the day you thought he was trying to do the right thing for the country,” Thornberry says. “I’ve been very disappointed with President Obama who shows no indication of wanting to work together on anything. He has made us more divided than ever. It will be a big job for the next president to heal those wounds.”
Another change in the last two decades has been Congress’ approval rating with the American public. Gallop polling shows congressional approval has dropped from 33 percent in January 1995 to 15 percent in November 2014; and while 15 percent of people had no opinion of Congress in 1995, that number is now only six percent.
“This is an unusually frustrating period,” Thornberry says. “Republicans and conservatives are frustrated with the Senate, and liberals and Democrats are frustrated because the House won’t pass Obama’s agenda. I also worry about expectations now that Republicans control the House and the Senate. We’ve got to pass something and not hold out for perfection on everything.”
Since taking office, Thornberry has worked to make government smaller and more efficient; and while he says there have been some successes, he likens the fight to shrink government to trench warfare. The Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, is one issue the new Congress will have to deal with and decide whether to try to just improve the law or attempt to replace it.
But it will be national security and defense that are at the top of Thornberry’s concerns when he returns to Washington. The Armed Services Committee he will chair oversees the policy, military operations, funding, and reform and organization of the Department of Defense; the nuclear weapons aspects of the Department of Energy; and several other matters such as counter drug programs and detainee affairs and policy.
A primary objective will be passage of the Defense Authorization Bill, which funds the military. For 53 straight years, the bill passed out of the Armed Services Committee has been approved by Congress and signed into law by the president.
“I don’t want to just keep that streak going but to reform how we do things while still supporting our military,” Thornberry says.
The usual order of things is to have hearings where the Secretary of Defense speaks on behalf of the president’s budget request followed by supporting testimony from the heads of each branch of the military. Thornberry wants to have hearings on the threats facing the United States and then have the Secretary of Defense testify as to how the president’s budget request addresses those threats.
It sounds simple and logical; but Thornberry says if he’s able to get that done, it will be “revolutionary” in Washington. And to add to the complexity of the committee’s job, sequestration being the law of the land will mean that less money will be available to meet the nation’s defense needs.
Thornberry’s committee will also have to help guide the nation in a world that is becoming ever more dangerous.
“There will always be trouble in the world,” Thornberry says. “It’s a fallen world, and the United States has a responsibility to provide some leadership and stability. Right now we’re dealing with the results of a perceived withdrawal by the US. Our allies don’t know if they can count on us.”
He says the threat of terrorism is evolving with Al Qaeda urging attacks inside the US and concerns of biological terrorism are growing. Addressing the dangers of anthrax and other bio-threats require the cooperation of the military and the Department of Health & Human Services – two departments that Thornberry says live in entirely different worlds.
One emerging threat is cyberterrorism by which states around the globe can impact the lives of Americans by tampering with systems used by business and individuals for everything from banking to entertainment.
“We have to decide what we expect the government to do and what do we expect business to do,” Thornberry says. “Cyber security is something every person and business has to take responsibility for, but no business can protect themselves from state sponsored cyberterrorism. Right now we’re asking the military to defend military network, and everyone else is on their own.”
It’s a lot of work for the incoming chairman, and he doesn’t have long to make reforms. Congressional term limits, which were a party goal in 1994, never passed, but Republicans were successful in placing six-year term limits on committee chairmanships. January 6 will therefore start the clock ticking on Mac Thornberry’s legacy in that role.
Thornberry says that he hopes his best work lies ahead in Congress and that he has tried to serve in an honorable way.
“I hope that one thing I’ve done is to give people in our area some confidence that someone is working for them and in the best interest of the country,” Thornberry says. “I’ve tried to stay anchored in the land and the community. The part of me that will last is here in Donley County.”
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