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Young: fed up, but not quick to quit

By BILL ADAIR
Published May 18, 2006

WASHINGTON - Three weeks ago, Rep. C.W. Bill Young almost walked away from Congress.

After 36 years in the House, the Indian Shores Republican was so fed up with scandals and partisanship that he nearly retired. He had been approached about a job that would pay more than $300,000 - twice his congressional salary - and for a few hours, he pondered whether to take it.

He was tempted to leave. He has been increasingly unhappy with congressional leaders who put partisanship ahead of the public good, and he is disgusted by the scandals that have engulfed some of his House colleagues.

"I'm just not really happy with the way things are going in the Congress," Young said this week. "I thought, 'I've been here long enough. Why don't I just walk away from this mess?' "

He dislikes how both parties use the legislative branch to jockey for political advantage instead of doing the public's business. When he chaired the Appropriations Committee a post he left two years ago because of term limits, Republican leaders sometimes asked him to cut the political pork for Democratic members so a Republican challenger could then attack the Democratic incumbent for not bringing home enough bacon. Young refused.

Likewise, he balked when Republican leaders pressured him to raise campaign money. They twisted his arm until he started a political action committee, but he made a half-hearted effort and his PAC has been a flop. It has only $26,000, a pittance by Washington standards.

Young said he is saddened that the Capitol "has become very, very partisan. I've had to tell some of my dear friends in both parties that this is not a political convention. This is the United States Congress."

The ethics scandals have appalled him. He has not been linked to any of them - in fact, watchdog groups generally speak highly of him - but he has been angered because the scandals involve colleagues he trusted and admired, such as Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham. Young said the revelations about Cunningham taking bribes "really hit me hard."

Now, every day seems to bring a new allegation about yet another House member.

"That's just 1 percent of the total House," Young said, "but it doesn't look good for anybody."

So, this was an opportune time to leave. Young won't reveal much about the job, except to say it was "not related to the government, not related to politics and not related to anything I do."

It did, however, come with a fat salary. Young said he would have doubled his congressional pay, which is $165,200 a year.

The money would have been nice. The Youngs always have lived modestly in a suburb about 30 miles from the Capitol. Young's wife, Beverly, said they have to live far away because "he doesn't take bribes like all the others."

But as Young weighed his options, he decided the money wasn't important and that he wasn't ready to walk away from Congress.

"This is going to sound self-serving," he said, "but I thought if everybody who believes in civility in the process walks away, there won't be any civility."

As he told me this, Young was talking on a cell phone from outside the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. where he had just presented wounded Marines with Purple Hearts. He and Beverly spend hours at the hospital every week, acting as surrogate parents to the wounded.

Last week, Beverly bought Mother's Day gifts for some of the bedridden Marines to give to their moms. One was so touched by the Youngs' generosity that he started to cry.

I've accompanied the Youngs at the hospital and have come to realize that this is where they get their inspiration. As Congress has become a sandbox for partisan games, they have retreated to the hospital and found new energy.

Truth be told, Young, chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, learns more from visiting the wounded in hospitals than from congressional hearings or visits to Iraq. There are no four-star generals scripting his bedside sessions with the wounded. He hears frank assessments about what soldiers and Marines need in combat. And he always is amazed at their willingness to go back and fight again.

And so, Young decided to run for another term. He is unhappy with "the mess" but says he will do his part to make it less messy.

He is 75 but says he still has lots of energy. He gets refueled every time he visits the wounded and sees how they have sacrificed for their country.

"That," he said, "is worth more to me than money."

Washington bureau chief Bill Adair can be reached at adair@sptimes.com or (202) 463-0575.

[Last modified May 18, 2006, 07:43:23]