BERMAN SUCCEEDS IN SILENCE HOLLYWOOD'S ALLY IN D.C. STAYS OUT OF THE LIMELIGHT.

Byline: Bill Hillburg Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON - Among California House Democrats, veteran Rep. Howard Berman, D-Mission Hills, is the man to see on issues ranging from movie and music copyrights to immigration and Middle East peace.

But don't look for Berman in the limelight amid talking TV heads or colleagues bobbing for sound bites at press conferences. He prefers to remain sight unseen.

``I'm elected to produce,'' said Berman, 60, who has represented the eastern San Fernando Valley in Congress since 1983. ``I prefer to see myself as the workhorse and not the show horse. There are too many lawmakers who spend way too much time trying to get overblown credit for either worthless or minor accomplishments.''

Berman, who spent a decade in the California Assembly - including five years as majority leader - before going to Congress, said he has focused on a limited number of key issues and built relationships with both fellow Democrats and Republicans.

``With a little bit of focus, you can get a lot done around here,'' he said.

Berman is Hollywood's leading man on Capitol Hill, specializing in copyright and patent protections for films, music and technology. Berman, who leads Democrats in seniority on the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property, is currently pushing the Justice Department to step up enforcement of copyrights and to crack down on Internet piracy and other infringements.

``Without protections, these industries will lose their impetus to create,'' Berman said. ``The Internet was created with patented systems from companies like Intel, Cisco and Quaalcom. But unless we have protections and effective enforcement, the Internet can be used to destroy the value of those innovations.''

The industry appreciates having a go-to guy in Berman.

Hollywood's champion

``There is no greater champion of the protection of intellectual property than Howard Berman and no greater expert on these issues,'' said Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Association of America and Tinseltown's top Washington lobbyist.

During the 2000 campaign, the entertainment industry was his largest campaign contributor, chipping in $154,048 to a total war chest of $887,309.

Another of Berman's judicial initiatives was the False Claims Act Amendments of 1986, which offered new incentives for whistle-blowers to report corruption by government contractors.

Berman's measure, modeled after a law enacted during the Civil War to root out contract abuses, authorizes whistle-blowers to receive a portion of the money recovered in fraud cases. Since 1986, individuals reporting fraud have helped the government retrieve more than $3 billion.

Berman faced no GOP opposition for re-election last year and received 84 percent of the votes cast, even though his district has become increasingly Latino over the years.

Berman's brother Michael, a veteran Democratic consultant, is playing a key role in the California Legislature's reapportionment effort, which will reshape congressional districts statewide and make room for a 53rd House seat. The congressman's district is likely to move south and west of its current lines.

Rep. Sam Farr, D-Salinas, leader of California's Democratic House delegation, said Berman has always been adept at working both sides of the aisle in Congress.

``Howard is the insider's insider, but he also knows how to get along with Republicans,'' Farr said. ``He's totally respected by the other side.''

Farr noted that Berman has taken a key role in immigration reform, meeting with diverse interests to forge compromises on issues ranging from amnesty for immigrants caught up in bureaucracy and legal dilemmas to temporary visas for high-tech professionals and farm laborers.

``Mr. Berman has all of the qualities I value, including sincerity, honesty, integrity and intelligence,'' said Rep. Howard P. ``Buck'' McKeon, R-Santa Clarita. ``We disagree on many issues, but we also come together on common interests.''

McKeon said he and Berman plan to co-sponsor a bill that would allow people seeking second careers as educators to join teacher retirement programs without jeopardizing previously earned Social Security benefits.

``We need more teachers, but we're not going to be able to attract good second-career people if we continue to penalize them on Social Security,'' said McKeon.

Thinking man's congressman

``I think of Howard as one of the best thinkers in Congress,'' said Tim Ransdell, a Reseda native and director of the California Institute, a Washington-based think tank that specializes in Golden State issues. ``He's a behind-the scenes, go-to guy who is on top of Hollywood issues and other topics. But he also has great integrity. He's not a mouthpiece for any one industry.''

``He's the conscience and the dad of the delegation,'' said Sherry Greenberg, Washington lobbyist for the California Assembly and Speaker Bob Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys.

``In this era of term limits and turnover, Howard Berman is the constant,'' Greenberg added. ``He has a vast institutional knowledge of issues in both Congress and the Legislature that is rare these days.

``He's a fixture and has been since I was a Valley girl growing up in Woodland Hills.''

Berman's few critics focus on his actions rather than his personal traits. He has come under heavy criticism from advocates of information freedom, including Internet innovators and librarians. They argue that increased copyright protections will stifle intellectual endeavors and curb public access to information.

Gary Ruskin, director of the Congressional Accountability Project, a Washington watchdog group founded by Ralph Nader, is critical of Berman's successful 1997 move to reorganize the ethics committee, officially known as the House Standards of Official Conduct Committee.

``His major flaw was to bar persons other than members of Congress from bringing charges against members for serious violations of campaign finance laws and other ethics rules,'' said Ruskin. ``Since then, the watchdogs have gone to sleep in Congress. We've had several serious cases and virtually no consequences.''

Berman defended the changes, noting that the committee had become a focal point for partisan witch hunts conducted by both parties and their lobbyist allies.

Loathe to issue self-aggrandizing press releases, Berman has also quietly seen to the specific needs of the Valley. He pushed hard for $8.6 billion in federal aid in the wake of the 1994 Northridge Earthquake, sought grants to put more police on the beat in Los Angeles and has secured more than $30 million in defense contracts for local firms.

Thanks to teacher

Berman credits the late Blanche Bettington, his civics and history teacher at Los Angeles Hamilton High School, with first piquing his interest in policy and politics.

``My parents weren't political, so she was the person who moved me to challenge assumptions and to debate issues,'' said Berman.

While attending University of California, Los Angeles, where he began a career-long friendship and political alliance with Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Los Angeles, Berman caught the legislative bug during a law school internship in Sacramento.

``I was assigned to the Assembly Agriculture Committee. It was dealing with farm labor issues and Cesar Chavez's (United Farm Workers) movement,'' he recalled. ``From then on, I was hooked.''

Veteran aide Gene Smith, who doubles as Berman's chief of staff and seldom-used press release writer, said her employer's shunning of the limelight may have hit a peak in 1999, when the House Judiciary Committee was dealing with the impeachment of President Clinton.

Smith recalled that Berman ``had a standing invitation for every talk and news show on television.

``But he turned them all down. He felt there was enough partisan rhetoric and he preferred to work on solutions.''

``I have an adverse reaction to the self-promotion that goes on in politics,'' said Berman. ``It's a personal price that's too high. This is my 19th year in Congress and I've discovered that, somehow, the word still gets out on how I'm doing.''

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Photo:

Rep. Howard Berman, D-Mission Hills, shown here handling his duties on the House Judiciary Committee, generally tries to work out of the limelight.

Khue Bui/Associated Press