William Frenzel | Former congressman, 86

William "Bill" Frenzel, 86, who served in the U.S. House for 20 years and was on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, died Monday at his home in McLean, Va.

Spokeswoman D.J. Nordquist of the Brookings Institution said Mr. Frenzel, who had been a guest scholar at the institution since 1991, had been battling with cancer.

Mr. Frenzel, a moderate Minnesota Republican, was elected in 1970 to represent the state's Third Congressional District in the western Minneapolis suburbs. He won reelection nine times before deciding not to run again in 1990.

Known for his crusade to balance the budget, Mr. Frenzel was ranking minority member on the House Budget Committee and was the House's principal Republican economic spokesman. - AP