WASHINGTON -- A defense industry executive and a consultant sat down to lunch in an Asian restaurant near Chevy Chase.
The executive was fuming. Earlier that morning of Oct. 13, Congress had finally passed a military spending bill for next year that included money for the F-22 fighter. But it had been a battle, all because Rep. Jerry Lewis of California blindsided the Pentagon with a plan to stop building the plane.
Dumping spicy chicken over steamed rice, the executive, who asked not to be identified, marveled that one congressman could wreak such havoc.
"He saw an easy budgetary target," the consultant replied, "and he's trying to make a name for himself."
Ever since Lewis went after the Air Force's top program, insiders have settled on "making a name" as the most likely explanation for his surprising behavior. After all, Lewis is a 65-year-old Republican whose campaigns are well-financed by big aerospace companies, including $6,000 this year from F-22 builder Lockheed Martin Corp.
Reporters, congressional staffers and scholars at think tanks have scrambled to identify this military critic who seemed to come from nowhere. Aircraft expert Bert Cooper of the Congressional Research Service faxed copies of a three-page Lewis biography around Washington.
"Everybody was saying, `Who is this guy Lewis and what does he stand for?' " Cooper said, adding that the question continues to reverberate. "The real mystery about this guy is not only where did he come from, but where is he going? Where is he going in the future with this?"
All of which proves that people in the Capitol have short memories. Just seven years ago, Lewis was the third highest-ranking Republican in the House. If not for a powerful enemy within his own party, Lewis today could be majority leader or even speaker.
It was Lewis' downfall from the party ranks that put him in position to mount the most audacious attack in recent times on a major Pentagon weapons program.
This year, Lewis assumed control of the House Appropriations subcommittee that oversees military spending. Any contractor or branch of the military that wants its share of the next multibillion-dollar defense budget has to go through Lewis to get it.
So the congressman wasn't making his name with the attack on the F-22. He was restoring it.
Name is always an issue when yours is Jerry Lewis. When he first ran for office in his hometown of San Bernardino, Lewis counted on his famous-sounding name for quick recognition.
