Knoxville News Sentinel - New Faces From E. Tenn. in D.C.: Fleishmann, DesJarlais sworn in as U.S. representatives

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First there was the campaign. After the campaign and the election came the transition. After the transition from candidate to congressman-elect, there was just one more thing Scott DesJarlais had to do to make everything official.

So Wednesday afternoon, the Jasper physician stood on the floor of the U.S. House, raised his right hand, recited a 71-word oath and finally became the new representative from Tennessee's 4th Congressional District.

'It was kind of surreal this week, getting up here and getting into the office,' DesJarlais said shortly after he was sworn in. 'And it was very humbling being in the chamber today with all of the old members and new members.'

Chattanooga attorney Chuck Fleischmann, who became the new congressman from Tennessee's 3rd Congressional District, walked away with a similar feeling.

'It was a tremendous day, a very emotional day -- in a positive sense,' he said.

DesJarlais, Fleischmann and two other Tennessee Republicans -- Diane Black of Gallatin and Stephen Fincher of Frog Jump -- enter their freshman year in Congress just as the GOP is returning to power in the House, but with Democrats still controlling the Senate and the White House.

Republicans may be locked into a power-sharing arrangement with Democrats, but the new GOP majority in the House already is promising to do whatever it can to thwart President Barack Obama at every turn.

One of the first things on the GOP agenda: A vote next week to repeal the sweeping health care reform law passed last year by what was then a Democratic-controlled Congress.

DesJarlais and Fleischmann both plan to support the health care repeal, even though they recognize it will almost certainly be blocked in the Senate.

'It was a bad bill from its inception,' said DesJarlais, who defeated four-term incumbent Democrat Lincoln Davis in last November's election. 'It was a bill the people didn't want and didn't ask for. … It's a funnel into socialized medicine, and it will fail, because it can't be funded.'

Fleischmann, who takes over the seat held by Republican Zach Wamp, who retired last year, called the health care bill unconstitutional and said it was slammed down the throats of Americans against their will.

'Even on the Senate side, there are a number of Democrats who are in opposition to this bill,' Fleischmann said. 'We hope that some Democrats would listen and, ultimately, I would hope the president would listen and learn from this bad bill.'

DesJarlais is poised to be at the center of a number of fights with the Obama administration. He has landed a spot on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which is the chamber's main investigative panel.

The committee's incoming chairman, U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., already has said he will hold hearings on everything from the role of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the foreclosure crisis to the release of secret diplomatic cables to the website Wikileaks.

'I think it's what the American people sent us here for,' DesJarlais said of the committee's work. 'There's a lot of fraud, waste and abuse in our government, and it's up to us to make it efficient and effective.'

Democrats fear Republicans will try to use the committee to score political points and embarrass the Obama administration. But DesJarlais, who met with Issa on Tuesday to discuss the committee's agenda, insisted: 'It's not about a witch hunt in any fashion.'

Besides the government oversight committee, DesJarlais also will serve on the House Education and Workforce Committee and the House Agriculture Committee, which he said would benefit his largely rural district.

Fleischmann will sit on the House Small Business Committee and the House Natural Resources Committee. And, though nothing is final yet, Fleischmann said he also might land a spot on the House Science and Technology Committee, which he said would enable him to be a strong advocate for Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Republicans hold a new 242-193 majority in the House, an advantage that should make it relatively easy for them to pursue their conservative agenda. Still, DesJarlais and Fleischmann held out hope that Democrats and Republicans could find common ground.

'There is a faction of people on the far right and a faction of people on the far left -- they're never going to get along,' DesJarlais said. 'It's the folks in the middle that are going to get things done, and that's the way we need to approach it.'

Fleischmann said, 'Ultimately, members of both parties will have to respond to the will of the people, or they will be voted out.'

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