WASHINGTON - Ken Bentsen arrived at the House Banking Committee this year with a high-powered name and a low-status seat.
The Texas lawmaker is at the bottom of the pecking order - he's the committee's lowest-ranking Democrat in a Congress where Republicans are the top dogs.
But his last name resounds with influence and power in this town. His uncle is former senator and retired Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen. And the respected Washington powerhouse was responsible for handing down more than his last name to his nephew.
Rep. Bentsen, who is 35, was only a 10-year-old kid stuffing envelopes during his uncle's 1970 Senate campaign, but that brush with politics helped influence the boy to set his sights on the citadels of power.
"That was the first campaign I was ever really involved with to any extent," Rep. Bentsen said. "Although I was fairly young, I think that was what has always caused me to have an interest in politics."
Regarding his bottom ranking on the House Banking Committee's roster of Democrats, Rep. Bentsen has only one complaint.
"The biggest drawback I see is that my turn to ask questions arrives about an hour and a half after witnesses give their testimony," the lawmaker said during a recent interview. "By then most of the good questions have been asked, so you have to get creative."
Rep. Bentsen possesses some attributes that differentiate him from a lot of the freshman Republicans on the committee, many of whom have little or no experience with banking or financial issues.
As a former investment banker working primarily in municipal and housing finance, Rep. Bentsen brings with him a detailed knowledge of some of the inner workings of the financial world.
"He's obviously got a strong background," said Edward L. Yingling, director for government relations at the American Bankers Association. "He comes to nearly all the hearings and has asked very, very intelligent questions.
"He could eventually be a very important player on the committee," Mr. Yingling added.
And Rep. Bentsen's congressional post is not his first stint on Capitol Hill.
From 1983 until 1987, the lawmaker was a legislative assistant to Rep. Ronald D. Coleman, D-Tex. Rep. Bentsen had spent the two previous years on the House Appropriations Committee staff.
However, it is Rep. Bentsen's banking background that seems most to influence his attitudes toward the major issues facing the House Banking Committee.
The lawmaker said that he has not yet firmed up his position in the debate over financial industry modernization. However, he expressed concern that committee Chairman Jim Leach's bill may unfairly limit investment and securities firms.
Under the Iowa Republican's legislation, securities firms may acquire insured banks by becoming "financial service holding companies." However, such holding companies must divest any investments in commercial firms within 10 years.
"That to me does not appear to get to get a full two-way street, which I think is very important," Rep. Bentsen said.
While reluctant to let banks affiliate with commercial firms, Rep. Bentsen disagreed with Rep. Leach's argument that such combinations would lead to huge concentrations of economic power.
"I don't think that these massive conglomerations will occur, mainly because of the lower barriers to entry and the incredibly quick movement of capital," Rep. Bentsen said. "Once somebody tried to corner the market, everybody would turn on them, and they'd probably lose money."
Rep. Bentsen also said Congress will have to act soon to remedy the looming disparity between the bank and thrift insurance funds. He said freshman lawmakers probably have a decent grasp of the issue, considering that plenty of bank and thrift lobbyists have talked with him, the panel's lowest-ranking member.
"You'd figure if they've gone out of their way to see someone at the bottom of the ladder like me, then maybe they're seeing a few other people as well," Rep. Bentsen said.
