Rep. Ron Dellums was among the first people the FBI called for help when newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst was kidnapped on Feb. 4, 1974.
As Dellums tells it, the FBI figured the black congressman had contacts in the underground who could help them locate Hearst, a captive of the fringe Symbionese Liberation Army. He didn't, but the call crystallized his public identity as a radical lawmaker.Nearly twenty years later, Dellums, 57, is a 22-year veteran of the House, a seasoned legislator and honest broker - and poised to take over the chairmanship of the powerful Armed Services Committee.
His ascension on the panel overseeing the nation's military establishment is a formality away, with the House Democratic caucus expected to soon replace Les Aspin, sworn in Wednesday as secretary of defense.
Year after year, Dellums has worked in committee to see the passage of a defense budget, only to vote against final approval because he believes in spending far less on the military.
His practice raises questions, unlikely to be answered for several months, about how the Armed Services chairman could shepherd a defense bill through the House and then vote against it.
The prospect of Dellums as Armed Services chairman may send chills through some in the military, but Republicans and Democrats who have worked with him harbor hope rather than fear.