Bush Offers Morella a Ticket to Paris
White House to Nominate GOP Veteran for Economic Ambassador

By Brigid Schulte
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, July 12, 2003; Page B01
 

Constance A. Morella's 16 years in the House of Representatives ended on a bitter note last year -- her Montgomery County district carved up by Democrats in Annapolis, her seat lost in a narrow and expensive defeat to state Sen. Chris Van Hollen.

Yesterday, the White House handed the GOP veteran a job that may take some of the sting out of 2002. And it comes with an apartment in Paris. President Bush announced that he will nominate Morella to serve as ambassador to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Reached at her Bethesda home yesterday, where the phone number always has been listed, Morella was characteristically upbeat. She said she was "honored" by Bush's selection, which is subject to Senate confirmation.

"It is very exciting," said Morella, 72. "I have a lot of enthusiasm, energy and patriotism. I think this would be a wonderful opportunity to serve."

Less visible than its global economic counterparts such as the International Monetary Fund or the World Trade Organization, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development quietly grinds out mounds of statistics and reports for its 30 member countries. Its recent studies include "Gender Equity and Reconstruction in Afghanistan" -- a topic Morella sponsored legislation on while in Congress -- and "Reforms Could Boost China's Ability to Attract Foreign Investment."

The organization also provides a meeting place for civil servants from every sector of government -- save defense and foreign affairs -- who sit on 200 committees, discuss problems and share policies. Its motto: "Forty years of promoting better governance for a better world."

"We're a rather quiet organization," said Sandra Wilson, spokeswoman for the organization's Washington office. "We're not an organization with teeth. We can't issue sanctions. It's all advice. Government officials share problems and the policies to address them, and we distill lessons from that."

That Morella was awarded a plum -- few other Republicans who were defeated or retired last November have received such an offer -- may seem a bit of a mystery. One of a dwindling number of moderate Republicans in the House, she was among the party's least reliable votes.

Still, she gave the more conservative Republican leadership critical margins when they needed them, political analysts say. And her opposition, while it may have been uncomfortable at times, never cost them in the end.

To Thomas Mann, a political analyst at the Brookings Institution, the appointment is both low-risk for Bush and prestigious for Morella.

"What's nice about it, it's not in the line of fire, like, say, the ambassador to NATO or Germany or France," Mann said. "But it's a well-known, classy organization that does a lot of useful work, but it's not deeply or intensely political in any sense. It's not the kind of posting that's likely to engage her in domestic political battles back home."

If Morella's appointment is confirmed by the Senate, she would succeed Ambassador Jeanne Phillips, a Texas consultant and fundraiser and friend of first lady Laura Bush.

Meantime, the Morella family is getting into l'esprit Francais.

"Oui. Oui. Oui," said Morella's son, Paul, a local actor. "I'm getting out the old French textbooks from high school and wishing I had pursued it a little bit further than that."

© 2003 The Washington Post Company