Before he leaves, Cox has work to do

In the next few days, as the rest of his congressional colleagues are

settling into their summer breaks, Rep. Chris Cox will be taking

final exams, in a manner of speaking.

He has tons of letters to write and papers to sign before Tuesday

evening, when he’ll leave the office he’s held for 17 years.

“This is like finals week for me,” the Newport Beach congressman

said during a phone interview Saturday.

The Senate on Friday confirmed Cox as the new chairman of the

Securities and Exchange Commission.

He’ll officially resign at 6 p.m. Pacific time Tuesday, after

which Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has two weeks to call a special

election to fill the open U.S. House seat. If the election is called

immediately, a special primary election could be held Oct. 4, and if

no candidate wins more than 50% of the vote, a general election will

follow, possibly on Nov. 29.

Cox’s SEC appointment lasts for about 4 1/2 years. He will start

his new job Wednesday, but first he must respond to letters from his

constituents and sign paychecks for the Homeland Security

Department’s 80-person staff.

He’s looking forward to taking up the SEC post, where he’ll be

able to focus completely on one set of issues -- a change from the

job in the U.S. House, which required him to be a generalist, he

said.

The SEC is important because most Americans have a stake in the

country’s financial markets, whether they choose their own

investments or put their money in a savings account, which the bank

then invests, Cox said.

“The entire question of the safety and soundness of our markets is

the responsibility of the SEC,” he said.

One of the many things he’ll miss about his old job is meeting so

many people from around Orange County and getting to help them in

ways that matter, he said.

What he won’t miss, he said, is “having to negotiate with 534

other people in order to pass a law, or having to listen to sometimes

seemingly endless speeches about topics only faintly related to the

business at hand.”

Cox said passing legislation to get the Ronald Reagan Federal

Building and Courthouse built in Santa Ana was one of the high points

of his congressional career. Another unforgettable experience was

leading the congressional delegation to Mother Teresa’s funeral in

1997.

“It was striking to see presidents, prime ministers, kings and

queens intermingled with the people of Calcutta, and it was a

beautiful ceremony,” he said.

Cox may not be traveling the world so much as SEC chairman, but

he’ll still be a frequent flier between Washington, D.C., and

California -- and other states. The SEC has 11 regional offices, and

when he works out of its Los Angeles office, he’ll be sleeping in his

own bed in Newport Beach.

But he won’t have a presence in the political scene, and he won’t

be endorsing a replacement or even giving money to candidates, he

said.

“As the head of an independent regulatory agency, I am completely

removed from politics,” he said.

For now, he has no plans to run for elected office again -- though

he doesn’t know what he’ll be doing when his SEC term is up.

“It is nearly five years, and so it’s a little bit like asking

someone who’s starting high school this fall where they’re going to

college,” Cox said.

“I just really have no idea. I didn’t have any idea that I was

going to run for congress until the day I did it.”