by JENNIFER JACOBS
He’s not the most aggressive congressman, nor is he as visible as some lawmakers, but because of the power he’s able to wield, Tom Latham is considered very effective, congressional insiders said.
Those who control the money control the government — and Latham, 63, is the only Iowan on the House Appropriations Committee. He’s had a solid career in the House, insiders said, but being a buddy when John Boehner ascended to speaker has increased Latham’s influence.
The two truly like and trust each other and are known to finish each other’s sentences, said state Rep. Clel Baudler, R-Greenfield.
“There’s a difference between being ‘effective’ and ‘influential,’ ” said Chuck Todd, a political analyst and reporter for NBC News. “(Steve) King may be more well known, but Latham is tight with Boehner.”
Not so quick, Democrats counter. John Stone, chairman of the Cerro Gordo County Democrats, wants evidence that Latham’s connections with Boehner have translated into any benefit for Iowa.
“I haven’t seen it,” he said.
Where Latham can point to concrete evidence of accomplishment is in bringing home the bacon. He ranked 28th out of 435 members in 2010, joining with other members to lock in 54 earmarks that totaled $66 million, according to a Taxpayers for Common Sense database. That was more than any of Iowa’s other congressmen.
Latham doesn’t always vote with his party. He voted more liberal than 44 percent of House members on economic issues in 2011, and more liberal on social issues than 35 percent, according to a National Journal analysis of 2011 votes.
Lawmakers make a stand on issues by joining congressional caucuses, and Latham participates in no fewer than 33, from rare diseases to rural veterans, aviation and adult literacy.
Yet Latham’s work sometimes flies under the radar for most Americans, his aides said, such as a provision that cut through unintended government red tape on military death benefits. He led an effort to allow all Guard and Reserve members to purchase military health coverage for their families under the Tricare program on a continuous basis, not just when mobilized.
He authored new federal anti-meth laws and named his legislation in memory of Angie Fatino, a 15-year-old Des Moines girl who committed suicide in 1997 while she battled a meth addiction.
Latham also worked for months to get the Congressional Gold Medal, the nation’s highest civilian honor, for Norman Borlaug, an Iowan whose work in crop genetics is credited with saving a billion people from starvation.
And for six years, he worked to modernize the largest federal animal disease center in the United States, located in Ames, in his district. The center, which researches infectious agents like mad cow disease and salmonella, had fallen into disrepair, Latham said.
In interviews with insiders, one of the most frequent comments about Latham is that he’s accessible.
Latham sent 29,200 responses to Iowans in 2011, and his policy is to personally meet with any Iowa constituent who asks, aides said. Iowans could ask him any question they liked during 15 town hall meetings last year. Since he was elected in 1994, Latham said, he has visited 541 public town halls.
“He doesn’t make a lot of noise. He doesn’t blow his own horn,” Baudler said. “He does his job day to day. I like to see that.”
Accessible Latham flies under the radar (Des Moines Register)
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