Just An Average Joe: Class of '94

In 1994, the Republican Party had an amazing electoral victory in the Congress. This sweeping defeat of the Democratic Party opened an era of conservative rule ushering in the “Contract with America” led, by then elected Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich. Many of this Class of ’94 remain in political office today. Some are members of a group that, thru scandal, may be bringing the GOP to its knees. This group resides in a church at the Fellowship Foundation residence at 133 C Street SE in Washington. Also, referred to as “The Family”, this group of individuals are some of the GOP members, whose old style thinking is slowly isolating the party from mainstream America.

The following is a brief history about C-Street and “The Family”;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Family_(Christian_political_organization)
The house on C Street
Until 1994, the Fellowship operated out of "Fellowship House," a large mansion located at 2817 Woodland Drive in Washington, D.C., currently owned by the Ourisman family. The Fellowship now maintains a three-story, 7,914-square-foot (735.2 m2) red brick townhouse at 133 C Street in Washington, D.C., near the United States Capitol, called the C Street Center. The townhouse formerly was used as a convent for nearby St. Peters Catholic Church. As noted above, several United States Senators and Representatives have lived at the C Street Center as resident members of the Fellowship at below-market rents. The property is exempt from real property taxes because it is classified as a "special purpose" use. District of Columbia law exempts from taxation "buildings belonging to religious corporations or societies primarily and regularly used for religious worship, study, training, and missionary activities" and "buildings belonging to organizations which are charged with the administration, coordination, or unification of activities, locally or otherwise, of institutions or organizations entitled to exemption."

The following is an excerpt from a radio interview of Jeff Sharlet. Mr. Sharlet is a contributing editor to Harper’s and Rolling Stone magazines. Last year, through HarperCollins, he published his book entitled “The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power”. This interview was conducted by Dave Berns on public radio in Nevada;
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/jul/19/behind-closed-doors-c-street/
Dave Berns: Scandals involving John Ensign and South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford placed a spotlight on The Family. The group’s town house in Washington is a former convent with a chapel and, according to federal tax records, is registered as a church. Tenants pay below market rent.
We asked Sharlet which is the bigger story: the sex scandals, or the public conversation about The Family.
Jeff Sharlet: The story begins with these scandals. The question is, do you make the bigger connection? The real issue is not who Ensign or Sanford sleep with, but the organizations with which they pursue their policies and the sources to which they turn for moral and religious authority.
I think that is starting to come out, particularly with Ensign, because we see the role The Family plays in the cover-up. Doug Hampton said The Family had a role in moving money around for the affair, which I think a lot of outsiders look at as hypocritical. Knowing The Family, I understand that that’s not hypocritical from its perspective — that it’s actually a form of doing God’s work.
Berns: Talk about the relationship between members of The Family — they are men, not women — and the role they play as a larger group.
Sharlet: The Family began with this idea that God does not work through churches but rather through those whom The Family calls the “New Chosen.” They believe they’re chosen by God. They can’t be expected to pray with the rest of us. They need to pray in private with people of equal status.
When you join one of these prayer groups, you give these men veto power over your life, over every aspect of your life. Wives involved with The Family have said, “In my husband’s life, his brothers come first, I come second.”
I urge you to click on this link and read the interview. If there was ever a group who has elevated themselves to a level of entitlement it is “The Family”.

Even though, there are a few people who are an influence on the residents of C-Street, no one seems to carry as much influence as Douglas Coe. To be honest with you, I felt like I was reading about Charles Manson, as I searched different articles about this man and his connections with leaders of all branches of government. I have always believed in a separation of church and state. But, after researching this article, I am not so sure we are as religious free as we think we are.

The following is a summary of election results in 1994 taken from the website; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Revolution
The 1994 elections ushered in a great number of Republican freshmen. For example, of the 230 Republican House members of the 104th Congress, almost a third (73; 32%) were new to the House.[2] In the Senate, 11 of 54 (20%) Republicans were freshmen.[2]
Many current leaders in the Republican Party and other notables were first elected to national or state office as part of the Republican Revolution:
George W. Bush - Bush defeated incumbent Texas Governor Ann Richards, a Democrat. He was re-elected as Governor in 1998, and elected to the presidency of the United States in 2000 and in 2004.
Bill Frist - Formerly Senate Majority Leader, Frist was the Senior Senator from Tennessee, first elected in 1994 when he defeated incumbent Democrat Jim Sasser. He retired in 2007, after deciding not to seek reelection.
John Shadegg - Former chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee, Shadegg was first elected to the House in 1994 to represent Arizona's fourth district, replacing Republican Jon Kyl, who was elected to the Senate in 1994 to replace retiring Democrat Dennis DeConcini. Shadegg is the only member of the 1994 freshman class currently in the House Republican leadership.
Saxby Chambliss - Now the Senior Senator from Georgia, Chambliss was first elected to the House in 1994 to represent Georgia's eighth district, replacing retiring Democrat J. Roy Rowland.
Sam Brownback - Now the Senior Senator from Kansas, Brownback was first elected to the House in 1994 to represent Kansas' second district, replacing Democrat Jim Slattery, who was running for Governor.
Robert Ehrlich - The Former Governor of Maryland, Ehrlich was first elected to the House in 1994 to represent Maryland's second district, replacing retiring Republican Helen Delich Bentley. Ran for re-election for Governor in 2006, defeated.
John Ensign - Now the junior Senator from Nevada, Ensign was first elected to the House in 1994 to represent Nevada's first district, defeating three-term incumbent Democrat James Bilbray.
George Pataki - Pataki was elected Governor of New York in 1994, defeating three-term incumbent Mario Cuomo. He was the longest-serving Governor in the United States when he decided not to run for reelection in 2006.
Tom Coburn - Now the Junior Senator from Oklahoma, Coburn was first elected to the House in 1994 to represent Oklahoma's second district, replacing Democrat Mike Synar (who was defeated in the Democratic primary). Coburn's Senate companion, James Inhofe, was first elected to the Senate in 1994, replacing resigned Democrat David L. Boren.
Mark Sanford - Now Governor of South Carolina, Sanford was first elected to the House in 1994 to represent South Carolina's first district, replacing outgoing Democrat James H. Hodges.
Lindsey Graham - Now the Senior Senator from South Carolina, Graham was first elected to the House in 1994 to represent South Carolina's third district, replacing outgoing Democrat Butler Derrick.
Joe Scarborough - Now the host of Morning Joe on MSNBC, Scarborough was first elected to the House in 1994 to represent Florida's first district. Scarborough served in the House for three terms before retiring.
Fred Thompson - Thompson was elected to finish the remaining two years of Al Gore's unexpired Senate term. Thompson went on to win the 1996 Senate election. He chose not to seek another term in 2002 and was a candidate for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination.
It has been extremely difficult to obtain a confirmed list of C-Street residents. However, John Ensign, Mark Sanford. Tom Coburn, Sam Brownback and not mentioned above Chip Pickering and Steve Largent, all lived or are in contact with “The Family.”