Fall 2003
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Fall 2003 |
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By Bryan Taylor During his nine years in Congress, John Hostettler has tangled with the Speaker of the House and become embroiled in the latest immigration issues, but he cannot escape his past – he still looks like an engineer. At least that’s the assessment of a newspaper editorial in his district that described him during a recent speech as appearing “to be the tough, buttoned-down engineer.” That description serves the 1983 mechanical engineering graduate well in his work representing Indiana’s eighth congressional district, which includes Rose-Hulman and runs along the southwest edge of Indiana. Currently in the middle of his fifth term, Hostettler, a Republican, is one of only two licensed professional engineers sitting in the U.S. House of Representatives. The other is Rep. Joe Barton, a Republican representing Texas’ sixth district. While he is in a definite career minority in Congress, Hostettler believes his engineering background gives him an advantage as a U.S. Representative. “In engineering, you’re taught to be analytical and you’re always taught there is a right answer,” Hostettler said. “In politics and government, people are more concerned with a popular answer, not necessarily the right answer. Through proper analysis of an issue, you can know all of the facts and come to grips with the future ramifications of your decisions.” “People automatically assume I’m an attorney because I’m in Congress,” said Hostettler, a 1999 Rose-Hulman honorary degree recipient. “In politics, when people find out I’m an engineer, it removes a lot of questions they may have. Even if they fundamentally disagree with me, they give me the benefit of the doubt because they perceive I come to my decision from an engineering point of view as opposed to a partisan point of view.” In addition to helping him philosophically as a legislator, Hostettler’s background is a plus when technical matters come before the floor of the House. He has found it useful in consideration of missile defense systems and deregulation of our telecommunications system. He helps translate some of the tech talk for his colleagues “into language that is a little more palatable to the layman.” When Universes Collide If being an engineer is such a plus, one might think there would be more technical types in our federal legislature, but Hostettler believes the engineering traits that work for him in Congress keep others from becoming involved. “Engineers look at life very much in terms of black and white and probably feel intimidated by the lack of clarity in the political process. It doesn’t intimidate them in an intellectual capacity, but it’s something where they might see their time wasted. “The political universe is very different from the physical universe. The physical universe operates by set laws that govern the universe. As engineers, we tend to like that very predictable, understandable universe. Politics is just the opposite. It can be perceived as volatile, nonsensical and unpredictable; so engineers don’t see a need to become involved.” Controversy has spun out of the political universe for Hostettler. One case in point occurred during his first term when he clashed with then-speaker of the house Newt Gingrich. It was a political dust-up that brought some national attention to Hostettler. At that time, President Clinton had vetoed an appropriations bill that had cleared both the House and the Senate. The president’s veto left several federal agencies with no funds to operate. As a result, they closed down. After the veto, a new budget more to the president’s liking was passed in the Senate and the process fell to the House to adopt a budget. Speaker Gingrich asked for support of all representatives to get the budget passed. Hostettler balked (along with 10 other representatives) and said no because the bill meant increased spending and “that is not why I went to Congress.” Hostettler’s brush off of Gingrich cost the Indiana congressman fund-raising help from the speaker. “Prior to the budget vote, I had a fund-raiser scheduled with an appearance from the speaker,” Hostettler said. “After I voted no, his office contacted us and said he would not be attending that fund-raiser. He also cancelled similar visits with the other congressmen who did not follow his lead. It was understandable in terms of political machinations, and that happens and it’s okay.” The disagreement became national news and Gingrich began rescheduling the fundraisers. Again, Hostettler said no. “We did not reschedule the fundraiser with the speaker for the simple reason I did not want the perception that I had capitulated.” That was not the last time Hostettler disagreed with the speaker. Later in his career, he voted against Gingrich as speaker of the House because of allegations about the interrelationships of Gingrich’s campaign resources and outside organizations. “I thought Newt Gingrich was doing a great job, but he needed to step down until the allegations were cleared up.” Hostettler even had a 40-minute meeting with the speaker sharing his opinion. Speaking up against party leadership did not end at Capitol Hill for Hostettler. He also did not support use of force against Iraq under the leadership of President George W. Bush. Meetings, More Meetings and Then Some Controversial issues are part of the job, but not every day is a national newsmaker for the native of Southwestern Indiana’s Posey County. His typical day begins with caucus and committee meetings in the morning. Running parallel to those gatherings is constant activity on the House floor where he may be called for a vote or where a bill he has a vested interest in is under debate. Conferences and caucuses close down around 5 p.m., but the job continues into the evening with paperwork and continued activity on the House floor. Member offices have closed-circuit televisions that broadcast proceedings on the House floor. Work on some evenings can run to 10 or 11 p.m. Hostettler serves on the Armed Services Committee and the Judiciary Committee. The Armed Services Committee has a special place in Hostettler’s heart as the 4,000-employee Crane Naval Surface Warfare resides in his district. He also enjoys service on that committee because, he said, most Congressional powers emanating from the Constitution deal with national security. “The Constitution is the blueprint, the schematic, for government,” Hostettler said. “If that spec says the federal government should be mostly involved in issues regarding national defense, then that’s where the action should be and that’s where I want to be.” Legislative work for Hostettler also includes the Judiciary Committee that deals with several controversial issues. Hostettler cited issues such as right to life, the second amendment and religious liberties. Of special interest to Hostettler is immigration, which he calls a “big issue.” He serves as chairman of the Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee for Immigration, Border Security and Claims. The topic capturing his subcommittee’s attention at the moment is the issuing of identification cards by foreign consulates to aliens. The cards allow their recipients, in some cases, to open bank accounts or to get a driver’s license. “The only people who really need to use consular cards are illegal aliens,” Hostettler said. “If you are here legally as an alien, you have a visa or a passport. These cards can and have facilitated various crimes.” The best part of the job is “being able to interact with people as part of the legislative process,” Hostettler said. “This job is not done in a vacuum and the positive aspect is coming back into the district and talking about the legislative process and the important issues so people can educate me and I can educate them.” Education is a part of Hostettler’s conversations as he is a student of the Constitution. During a discussion of his legislative duties, he quotes various portions of the Constitution to back up his arguments, and he also uses the Federalist Papers as source. From Power Plant to Power Politics Most of Hostettler’s political education has been of the on-the-job variety. In January of 1994, he announced he would run for the Indiana Eighth Congressional seat held by the late Frank McCloskey, a six-term incumbent. At that time, Hostettler was a power plant performance engineer with Southern Indiana Gas & Electric Co. at its Warrick (Indiana) Power Plant. He had no political experience and no name recognition, but he won in a six-person Republican primary, and then went on to defeat the incumbent. “I’m not sure I initially believed that I could win and was more qualified for the office,” Hostettler recalled. “I just believed things were not going the right way in our country and I had solutions. As long as someone would listen to what I had to say, I’d talk to whoever and how many ever wanted to listen.” “In early 1993, some decisions were being made in Congress that were totally antithetical to the belief system that I was raised to understand and was inculcated in me by my parents,” Hostettler said. “I needed to become more involved in the political process than ever before ; so that’s why I decided to run for Congress.” Issues affecting the country at that time that drew Hostettler into politics included:
Some observers have noted that you may not agree with Hostettler on every issue, but you do know where he stands. He is a self-proclaimed conservative who says the most “important thing in my life is my relationship with Jesus Christ and that means that I do my best to emulate His life so that it has a part in changing other lives. The most important issue is my family.” Hostettler and his wife, Beth, have four children: Matthew, Amanda, Jaclyn and Jared. The intersection of Congressional work and family provides the only real pressure in Hostettler’s life. “Policy decisions are not that great a pressure for me, but time constraints are probably the greatest pressure I have. There are decisions that must be made as to what football game I might not be able to make or what volleyball game I must go to and therefore a constituent request for a meeting has to be turned down. Or vice versa. “The biggest pain in the neck part of the job for me is that the job is in Washington, D.C., and I have to leave my family almost every week. My family stays back home in Posey County.” Hostettler hopes the commute will continue, however, as he plans to run for another term in 2004. Democrats already are grooming a candidate to work at capturing the seat back for their party. Meanwhile, Hostettler will carry the engineering banner into the halls of Congress espousing the philosophy: “engineers should come into politics applying the same principles that they learned in their engineering education and that is there is a right answer and that right answer is achievable, you can reach that answer and it’s not impossible.” And don’t forget to follow that schematic called the Constitution.
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