Rep. Anthony Weiner is often compared to his predecessor and mentor Chuck Schumer.

It was a display of energy, determination and self-confidence worthy of his mentor and predecessor, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.). "He is a young man with contagious energy, always in a hurry," political consultant Hank Sheinkopf said. "He is sure of himself, and he gets things done. I would say though, that he is sure of himself to a fault." Elected to Congress in 1998 as a liberal Democrat to represent the New York’s 9th District, with widely separated parts of Queens and Brooklyn, Weiner quickly distinguished himself. In his first months in Congress he introduced and helped pass a measure that will provide $30 million over three years to reduce airport noise by encouraging aircraft manufacturers to make quieter engines. Weiner’s district borders JFK and LaGuardia airports.

Weiner feels the most important issues in his district are Medicare, Social Security and education. He supports President Clinton’s proposal for prescription drugs for all seniors, but believes that Clinton’s proposed funding for hospitals is woefully inadequate. "I am concerned that he [Clinton] does not see the way his plan will hurt New York hospitals. The president is giving with one hand and taking with the other."

David Rich, the Greater New York Hospital Association’s vice president for government affairs, is working with the lawmaker to pry more funds out of the administration.

"What we are hoping from Weiner and the rest of the New York delegation is that they will get the president to give hospitals, and specifically teaching hospitals, more money," Rich said.

Rich called Weiner: "Extremely articulate, committed and energetic. He has a bright future because he is very focused on the needs of his constituents, and that includes hospitals."

Weiner also is working for increased federal funding for schools. The 9th District has seen an enormous rise in the number of young children, he said, and has become one of the most overcrowded areas in the New York school system.

"We should set up a school construction program; the state and the locality will each put up 25 percent, and the federal government will chip in some money," he said.

Weiner’s district has one of the oldest populations in the state, according to Almanac America, and one of the oldest in the country, making Social Security an enormous concern. He disagrees with those who think the system is in imminent danger.

"As a party and a country we have exaggerated the dangers to Social Security," Weiner said. "We shouldn’t do concrete things that harm seniors today on the abstract idea that people of my generation are going to have problems later. My strategy on Social Security is to play defense."

Weiner has also introduced legislation this spring to create a "regional" Social Security cost of living adjustment (COLA). The legislation takes into account the rises in cost of living in different regions of the country, instead of relying on national numbers for every district. Because the consumer price index rises faster in New York City than most other places, seniors in the 9th District would receive higher Social Security payments if this legislation were passed.

"It is more expensive to live in New York City than in Butte, Montana," said Weiner. Yet, each year, New York’s seniors see the increases that better reflect the costs of housing, health care and food in Butte than in Brooklyn and Queens."

But Weiner is not just known in his district as just a younger Schumer. "It’s not a name people forget," Weiner said. "It served me well during the campaign, because people talked about it. ‘Who is this guy Weiner? What kind of a name is Anthony Weiner?’ That kind of thing."

Born and raised in Brooklyn, the son of a lawyer and a high school teacher, Weiner was the middle of three sons. After receiving his B.A. at the State University of New York, Plattsburgh, he began his political career as an intern in Schumer’s office. He quickly moved up to press secretary and then legislative assistant.

Rep. Weiner safely slides into home despite the best efforts of catcher/Rep. John Shimkus (R-Illinois).

"Anthony was bright and energetic and we could tell that right away," said Schumer.

At 27, Weiner became the youngest person ever elected to the New York City Council. Seven years later, he ran for the House, winning the Democratic nomination by less than 400 votes. He is one of the poorest members of the freshman class, listing no assets in his financial disclosure statement.

Nevertheless, at 34, Weiner is one of the Hill’s most eligible, Jewish bachelors. Despite the fact that he has a girlfriend who lives in Miami, the Jewish mothers of Queens and Brooklyn have not given up. "There isn’t a grandmother in the 9th District who hasn’t tried to set Weiner up with her granddaughter," said Lew Fiddler, Democratic state committeeman in New York’s 41st Assembly District, explaining that many grandmothers in the district act as his own. "He is from an old district and that is one of his charms."

As Schumer’s protégé, Weiner was often teased during the campaign with the nickname "Chuck Lite." Weiner said, "I don’t know if it’s a reference to my weight or my intellectual capacities," or, he added with a characteristic smile, "my touch."

As Weiner begins to make his own name, the nickname is now used fondly. And his daily existence often revolves around a frenetic pace. On a particularly muggy Thursday in June, the highly driven Weiner begins his day at 7 a.m. with congressional baseball practice in Bowie, MD. By 9 a.m., he has rushed back to the Cannon House Office Building for a meeting of the congressional Whips, of which he is one.

At 10 a.m. he’s now at the Judiciary Committee meeting, where he sits until his brief meeting with New York lobbyists at noon. He rushes into the small conference room, sits down at the head of the long table and smiles. "Gentlemen, I don’t have the money for you yet," he said.

Ten minutes later he is back in Judiciary to introduce his mentor, Schumer, to the committee. After a quick description of what Schumer has done for New York since his recent election, he added, "And, both the New York Knicks and the Albany Sabers are in the play-offs." He delivers the line well, and when he sits down the room is laughing.

In the afternoon he has a meeting on gun safety and then a Technology Subcommittee hearing. At 7 p.m. he will leave the office to fly back to his district.

During another frantically paced afternoon, he finds time to speak, briefly, with a reporter who phones in about a softball game his office team, Weiner’s Beaners, played.

"I had an in-the-park home run, but not much else. For the record," Weiner said to the reporter, "you can write that this congressman stunk up the field." His press secretary looks embarrassed, but amused. When asked about his Judiciary Committee appointment, he commented: "It’s a great responsibility, but it’s fun and interesting too. Its not like I’m Solomon splitting the baby."

When asked about his future, Weiner was momentarily annoyed. He rallied though, as he so often does, with humor:

"I got elected to Congress on a landslide of one percent," he said. "There is not exactly a national mandate for my service. My aspirations are to get reelected. I have peaked. Don’t think of me as Chuck Schumer; think of me as Manny Seller: They are taking me out of here stiff as a board."