Porter begins his freshman year as U.S. congressman

Benjamin Grove

Friday, Jan. 10, 2003 | 10:58 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- A rumble from the depths of the Earth echoed in the new office of Republican Jon Porter just as he sat down for an interview Monday.

The freshman congressman ignored it and kept talking. The 47-year-old former state senator has only been in his new digs on Capitol Hill a few days, and already he is used to the nearby Metro subway station. Porter didn't know trains regularly rattled this office when he chose the suite as his base for the next two years. But he doesn't care.

"I'm happy to serve," Porter says, smiling and talking over the rumble. "Just happy to be here. I assumed we were going to be in a basement corner somewhere, and that would have been fine, too."

After two elections, including a failed bid in 2000 to unseat incumbent Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., Porter seems genuinely pleased to have finally arrived as one of 54 freshman members of the House, despite the rattling office.

Porter, well groomed in a suit and a starched white shirt with suspenders, was sworn in with the rest of Congress on Tuesday.

Porter's wife, Laurie, children Chris, 24, and Nicole, 21, and his mother, Bette, 80, tagged along during his first official day, filled with stops at receptions and lots of hand-shaking.

Porter and the rest of Congress have their work cut out for them in a year when the nation stands of the brink of war with one nation, faces a nuclear standoff with another, and has a long domestic affairs to-do list.

Porter said he still clings to hope that war with Iraq is not inevitable and he urged caution in handling North Korea.

"What's important is that we continue to keep the lines of communication open," Porter said.

Still very much like a new kid in school, Porter seemed shy this week to stake out too many specific stances on issues, or even talk about personal legislative goals. When asked which issues he looks forward to working on most, Porter didn't offer details. He talks generally about how he is eager to discuss policy with his fellow GOP colleagues and party leaders, attend issue briefings and generally get a better handle on his new $150,000-a-year job.

It's never easy for freshman lawmakers because they have only two years to learn the ropes and make a name for themselves without stepping on any toes, said University of Nevada, Las Vegas, political science professor Ted Jelen.

"It can be a pretty tough position. I don't envy him," Jelen said of Porter. "He's got to make a record for himself for re-election. The Democrats know their best hope of defeating him is next time. Once he's in that seat, he's pretty hard to move."

Porter is eager to find out later this week which committees he has drawn. Those assignments will shape how Porter spends the next two years. His top choices were Transportation, Appropriations and Ways and Means.

Porter generally sides with President Bush on the issue dominating news cycles this week in Washington -- tax cuts and economic stimulus. Porter supported the extension of unemployment benefits that passed the House on Wednesday. Porter also backs Bush's efforts to make last year's massive eight-year tax cut permanent as well as the Bush push to eradicate taxes on dividends paid to stockholders.

Porter said he is looking for guidance in his first few weeks from Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., and Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., as well as Berkley.

Berkley defeated Porter in a 2000 race, but Porter said any bitterness stirred during the campaign has been long forgotten. Berkley and the former state senator have spoken several times since then, he said.

"It wasn't a difficult transition. It was very positive," Porter said.

Porter stopped by Berkley's office Tuesday to say hello.

"Jon and I were friends years ago and we're friends now, and we will work productively together on behalf of Nevadans," Berkley said. "Any conflicts we had were gone the day after the election."

Gibbons, a four-term veteran, said he had taken Porter under his wing. Having a third House member gives Nevada more presence on committees, Gibbons said.

"We're going to have another voice fighting for the people of Nevada," Gibbons said.

Porter has been through several orientation briefings, including one at the Pentagon. He attended a three-day seminar at Harvard University for freshman lawmakers that was a crash course on how to be an effective lawmaker. It covered everything from handling constituent services to the media.

This week Porter is focused on getting his office running, he said. Freshman lawmakers are issued desks and a bookcase. They have to scrounge other furniture from storage areas and the abandoned offices of retired or defeated members. Porter's aides celebrated one find this week: two padded black leather chairs, only slightly scuffed.

Porter has an annual budget of about $1 million for his office. Expenses include flights back to the state, salaries, and computers and office equipment.

Freshman lawmakers enter a lottery for office space. Porter was lucky; he picked No. 2 of 52. And despite the train rumblings, office No. 218 in the Cannon House Office Building is a well-lit, three-room suite, with a fresh coat of cream-colored paint and new navy blue carpet. Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, and Majority Whip Roy Blunt, and have suites just down the hall.

"It's good for Nevada to be in the neighborhood here," Porter said.

Porter frequently will fly back to his Southern Nevada district on weekends.

His wife, a retired librarian and school teacher, will split her time between Las Vegas and Washington. Porter's son, Chris, works in his father's insurance business in Las Vegas. Porter's daughter, Nicole, is a senior at the University of Nevada, Reno.

She said she was in awe of the Capitol and its history.

The fact that her husband is finally a congressman is still sinking in, she said.

"It's hard when you love someone and you hear unkind things about them," Laurie Porter said of the campaigns that finally led to Washington. "It's a wonderful feeling to know this is the end of a long road we were on."