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FD-35j (Rev. 10-19-77) (Mount Clipping in Space. Below) Eight Probe Targets Have Littie in By:Alan Ehrenhalt. Washington Star Staff Writer Common :Operation:Abscam has implicated a:diverse group-of legislators, in. Rep. Frank Thompson Jr., D-N.J. cluding House and Senate committee chairmen, a.Democratic member of wiry, irreverent and prorane, :the:House,ethics,committee, and a Frank Thompson has prided himself on the reputation:he has earned'as a (Indicate page, name of -fiercely,:conservative Republican. reformer in his i3.House,terms: newspaper, city and state.) Some have been.involved in past ,investigations; others-have served a He supported revision of labor laws early in his careerfand nar. squarter-century-in Congress without rowly escaped serious'injury when hint of scandal. thugs threw acid at him outside the .Profiles of the eight: Capitol in 1958. He fought 'closed House procedures and autocratic committee chairmen .in the 1960s, ... .More than any other U.S. senator, and challenged.Wayne Hays for con- JHarrison (Pete) Williams. has' "emerged in the past decade as organ- trol of the important House'Adminis- +ized iabor's.indispensable man on tration Committee in.1975. When Hays was finally forced out Capitol Hill.. in 1976, Thompson took over the Ten years-ago, a series of defeats committee and reorganized the loose :and:retirements made Williams the personal expense system that al- heir,apparent to the chairmanship iowed members to pocket large sums .Of,the Labor and Public Welfare Of cash without reporting them. Committee. Unions helped pull him Thompson has-devoted much of through an uphill re-election cam- his time to federal support for the paign that year, and helped again, in arts, and to creation of the National less dire circumstances, when he Endowment for theArts, But in re- was re-elected to his fourth term in cent years, most of his'legislative 1976. : work has been.with labor --as a During his first two Senate terms, loyalist, not a critic. Williamswas known for his work on It was Thompson who led the mass transit issues, his opposition to fights.in.1976 for common site pick- the Vietnam War, and for a stormy eting legislation and-in 1977 for 'personal life. He was censured by labor law revision. "I guess I'm :the New Jersey.NAACP in 1968 for generally thought of-as. the one Date: L~4 .:appearing.drunk'at a civil rights around'here who carries'the load'for Edition: breakfast. In the 1970 campaign, Wil- labor."he said."And I guess I do." :liams admitted having a drinking 'problem, said he had conquered it, Rep. John M. Murphy, D-N.Y. and.managed to avoid serious criti- An honors graduate of the U.S. Title: cism.. Military Academy, John Murphy is As chairman of:Labor,and Public viewed in the House as a man who Welfare (now the;Human Resources knows how to lead. He lias used the. (Committee), williams has been in- seemingly innocuous Merchant Ma. Character: I'strumental in passage of massive. rine and Fisheries Committee to .pension reform, health bills and or gain legislative leverage over a vari- other social welfare legislation. ety of policy areas. And he:was-the Classification: He is also chairman of-a Banking. principal power broker in the recent. Submitting Office: .subcommittee with control over the passage of Iegislation implementing securities industry, which. helped President Carter's Panama: Cana! him in his 1976campaign; financial treaties. But he has never managed institutions..provided: almost as . to break free of suspicion about his much money for him'in contribu- methods and his involvements. tions that year as did organized A close ally of themaritime indus... labora try, Murphy was criticized'in 1977 for receiving:nearly s1o,o00 from industry-officials at a fund raiser. -while, his committee.was.holding. hearings on cargo preference'legis. Iation that.was crucial to the th try.