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print thisDemocrats name Clyburn whip
House lawmakers unanimous in selecting S.C. congressman for leadership position
By JAMES ROSEN
jrosen@mcclatchydc.com
WASHINGTON — Democratic lawmakers unanimously chose U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn as their majority whip Thursday, making the S.C. congressman the No. 3 leader of the House and the floor general charged with moving legislation through the chamber.
Democrats who gained control of Congress in the Nov. 7 elections also selected:
• Nancy Pelosi of California as House speaker
• Steny Hoyer of Maryland as majority leader
• Rahm Emanuel of Illinois as caucus chairman, the post Clyburn has held since January
Appearing before at least 100 reporters, photographers and TV crew members, the normally even-keel Clyburn showed evident emotion as he recalled his late mother.
“She always told me about her dreams for her son,” Clyburn, 66, said. “She never lived to see any of them come true. What this caucus did today in electing me majority whip is one more chapter in my life of trying to make sure that my mother’s prayers and her dreams did not go unheralded.”
When the new Congress convenes in January, Clyburn will become the House’s second black majority whip, following former Rep. William Gray of Philadelphia.
Despite an internal battle that saw Hoyer defeat Pelosi’s choice for majority leader, Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., the new House leaders clasped hands and raised their arms in a show of unity.
The son of a Pentecostal minister, Clyburn cited the Bible in his remarks to colleagues.
“I quoted from the book of Ecclesiastes, the third chapter, where the preacher tells us that there’s a time to throw stones and there’s a time to gather stones,” Clyburn said. “In the elections, a lot of stones were thrown, but that is behind us. Today, it’s time to gather stones, and together we are going to make this country a better place for all those who are destined to come after us.”
In the only contested leadership race, Hoyer defeated Murtha by a 149-86 margin. Murtha, a steel-country conservative and ex-Marine, is a longtime Pelosi loyalist, but that was not enough Thursday. The vote was a show of loyalty to Hoyer, who has spent years recruiting Democratic candidates and building bridges across the ideological spectrum.
“I think he’s earned the office in multiple roles,” said U.S. Rep. John Spratt, D-S.C., who voted for Hoyer. “He’s been an excellent whip, and he’s someone who has labored in the vineyards for years and years.”
Clyburn would not say who he voted for, but he indicated his choice was Hoyer by saying several times that the current leadership team had been properly rewarded for helping deliver the election win last week.
“We promoted the team that was in place that gave us this victory,” Clyburn said.
Pelosi defeated Hoyer for the minority whip spot in 2000, but Hoyer gained the post in 2002 when Pelosi moved up to minority leader. Pelosi and Murtha are longtime allies; she credited him Thursday with having helped Democrats win back the House with his early opposition to President Bush’s handling of the Iraq war.
Rosen covers Washington for McClatchy newspapers in South Carolina.
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