Detroit powerhouse.

DETROIT POWERHOUSE

ASK WASHINGTON POLS about RepresentativeJohn Dingell, Democrat from Michigan, and you'll get an earful. An imperious SOB. Power hungry. A blue-collar rep. Tough, but fair. A man of his word.

Since 1955, Dingell has pugnaciouslyrepresented Michigan's 16th district, a blue-collar salient in suburban Detroit. Wholly absorbed by the concerns of his auto- and steelworker constituents over the last 31 years, Dingell has moved from a 29-year-old novice taking over his deceased father's seat to chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee--arguably the most influential committee in the House, making Dingell one of the three most powerful members of that body. His driving personality and his political skill have made enemies of men like Dan Rostenkowski (D., Ill.), chairman of Ways and Means, Henry Waxman (D., Calif.), chairman of Dingell's Health and Environment subcommittee, and Don Bonker (D., Wash.), chairman of the Foreign Affairs subcommittee on International Economic Policy and Trade.

Dingell's chairmanship alone makeshim a big deal on the Hill. Depending on the year, Energy and Commerce reviews between 40 and 60 per cent of all House legislation in areas ranging from deregulation, telecommunications, and health to environment, trade, and energy. Dingell makes a point of having his hand in every issue that comes up in this octopus. Indeed, since he began chairing the committee in 1981, Dingell has strong-armed fellow committee members with rules of procedure long forgotten or spurned, giving him nearly total control over the legislation. "If you let me write the procedure, and I let you write the substance," Dingell told the Rules Committee five years ago, "I'll screw you every time."

Dingell's positions on issues are tailoredto his blue-collarism. A lifetime member of the National rifle Association, Dingell opposes all forms of gun control, including prohibitions on private ownership of machine guns: "A guy who has a machine-gun permit," Dingell tole me, "is one of the most law-abiding fellows you can find." Although he is a conservationist on issues like wildlife-habitat and federal-park preservation, Dingell opposes clean-air and clean-water measures, plus certain health and safety regulations (like air-bags), measures that he thinks would unduly tax steel and auto manufacturers and, hence, burden workers. Dingell also supports catastrophic-illness coverage (his father sponsored an early national-health-insurance bill) and oil-import fees (helpful to automakers).

Dingell claims to be basically a free-trader,yet he sponsored the Made in America Act, an initiative limiting foreign-auto imports, and backed domestic content, which puts ceilings on American car parts that can be manufactured overseas. Further, Dingell supports retaliation against unfair trade practices abroad, stating, a propos of elaborate Japanese inspection procedures, that "turnabout is fair play."

AS HE HEADS into the 100th Congress,Dingell is in the catbird seat not onlt because of his finger-in-every-pie chairmanship but also for his controversial, much-analyzed friendship with the new House Speaker, Jim Wright (D., Tex.). "It's a perfect match," says one Hill insider. "They're both egotistical, and they both share an unrivaled thirst for power." The public first saw the potential in this friendship when Dingell got three allies on environmental questions appointed to his committee. Dingell, who is outspokenly opposed to acid-rain legislation (which would require a reduction in toxic emissions from factories and motor vehicles), filled his three empty committee seats with Jim Cooper (D., Tenn.), Rick Boucher (D., Va.), and Terry Bruce (D., Ill.), all from heavy coal-mining districts and all equally opposed to acid-rain legislation. The key to Dingell's gaining these three placements was--you guessed it --Jim Wright. Odds are now strongly against passage of an acid-rain bill.

The evolving longer-term repercussionsof this Wright/Dingell alliance will most strongly hit Representative Dan Rostenkowski, the third member of the House power troika. Hill insiders see the Wright/Dingell friendship partly as a response to the strength Rostenkowski built up through years of being backed by ex-Speaker Tip O'Neill, and as an effort to neutralize the Illinois congressman's power. A weaker Rostenkowski would benefit both Dingell and Wright. Dingell wants more clout on the hot 1987 trade issue and can use Wright's help in getting approval for an international-trade subcommittee in Energy and Commerce. Such a panel would wrest a major part of the trade jurisdiction from Rostenkowski, who currently oversees most trade legislation at Ways and Means. Wright, whose style and objectives differ radically from Rostenkowski's, has been a loggerheads with Rostenkowski ever since the Ways and Means chairman leaped onto the tax-reform bandwagon. Not only did Wright oppose the tax legislation, but he saw Rostenkowski's activity as a move for the Speakership. In his new post, Wright needs the support of a powerhouse like Dingell to establish control of the House. This new Hill friendship won't crush Rostenkowski--he is too clever for that--but his days won't be as halcyon as under O'Neill.

This type of maneuvering is all in aday's work for Dingell. "I'm just a simple Polish lawyer from Michigan," he says with a grin. Oh Yeah? If you want to know what this 100th Congress is likely to enact in the days ahead, watch John Dingell.