| Subject: Agenda since the attack Articles |
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Date Posted: 06:01:35 09/27/01 Thu
http://www.rollcall.com/pages/news/00/2001/09/news0927a.html
With Congress and the White House close to a deal on spending, lawmakers in both chambers are looking to the administration for guidance on how to complete a suddenly pared-down policy agenda.
On issues ranging from the appropriations endgame to an economic-stimulus package to trade and energy bills, Republicans stressed that President Bush must capitalize on his skyrocketing
public-approval ratings and make clear his list of priorities if Congress has any hope of completing its agenda quickly.
"Anytime you have presidential leadership, I think it helps you on Capitol Hill," said Senate Republican Conference Chairman Rick Santorum (Pa.). "Certainly, when you have a president with 90 percent popularity, it doesn't hurt if he says, 'These are the things I need to fight the war and strengthen the economy.'
"The President's leadership is important in articulating what he would like us to get done," Santorum added.
GOP leaders discussed the idea of tapping into Bush's surging popularity at a bicameral meeting Tuesday afternoon where they sketched out their goals and objectives for the end of the first half of the 107th Congress.
"The discussion was more about what to do and what we need to do in the aftermath of September 11," Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) said. "It was discussed and agreed that direction and leadership from the administration was critical and very important.
"It is called leadership, and that is what presidents do," Lott continued.
Both Lott and Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) emerged from Tuesday's meeting emphasizing that all forthcoming work would fall into three broad categories, ranked in order of importance.
The first includes finishing the appropriations bills and completing legislation directly related to the aftermath of the terrorist attacks, including aviation security and possibly an economic-stimulus package.
The second tier is composed of legislation thought to be important to national security and to Bush's ability to conduct foreign policy, including energy and trade-promotion-authority bills.
Relegated to the third tier are other bills that were pending before Sept. 11, such as education reform, the farm bill and a patients' bill of rights.
The size and scope of the end-of-session agenda depend on how quickly House and Senate leaders decide to adjourn and head back to their districts for the winter months, subject to the call of the chair.
"It's [Hastert's] belief that if we don't push hard for October 16th, then we won't be able to get out by the end of the month," said a senior House Republican lawmaker.
"It's smart for us to get out of here. Part of it is there's a belief that we're in the way and the administration doesn't need micromanaging. ... We can't have 535 secretaries of state and secretaries of Defense."
However, many Democrats don't feel that a quick adjournment is such an imperative.
"I don't think [my boss] shares the sense of urgency," said Erik Smith, communications director for House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.).
One House GOP leadership aide said that in the view of some Republicans, Gephardt and Senate Majority Leader Thomas Daschle (D-S.D.) "don't want to get out of town" because they fear completely ceding the spotlight - and the agenda - to Bush.
To that point, a Democratic aide responded, "You can make the same argument the other way. The Republicans want to get out of town because the longer they're in town the more they expose [their own differences] with Bush."
The key stumbling block to any adjournment plan has been the completion of the remaining appropriations bills. As of press time the White House and Hill appropriators were said to be extremely close to a deal on an overall fiscal 2002 spending level.
Although House conservative leaders such as Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Texas) and Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas) have reportedly signed off on a final number of $686 billion, the amount appropriators have been seeking, sources said many lawmakers remain angry over the Office of Management and Budget's negotiating tactics.
One GOP aide close to the negotiations said appropriators in both parties felt OMB had "bungled" the negotiations and that Wednesday's session had fallen apart after the White House had refused to agree to appropriators' request that it submit a formal budget amendment spelling out what the administration planned to do with the money. OMBdid not return a call seeking comment.
Wednesday's breakdown followed several days of mounting frustrations for appropriators, particularly on the Democratic side of the aisle.
"The White House is off the reservation," House Appropriations ranking member David Obey (D-Wis.) said angrily Tuesday. "A lot of people in the Senate think [the current number is] not high enough. I'm tired of trying to help a White House that doesn't help themselves."
On the Senate side, both leaders were cautious Wednesday morning not to disrupt the delicate negotiations taking place.
"I am going to let the appropriators resolve that matter at this point," said Daschle, when asked what spending level he supported. Lott would only say, "We are working on it."
Whatever the shape the final deal turns out to be, House Appropriations Chairman Bill Young (R-Fla.) expressed optimism Tuesday that an agreement on an overall number, and specifically on education funding, would smooth the way for a quick adjournment.
"If we can get the education package done quickly, I believe we can get the rest of the conferences done rather quickly," said Young. "If this package flies, I think we're looking not beyond October."
Senate Appropriations Chairman Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.), meanwhile, suggested that Congress could complete work on nine appropriations bills by the time the current continuing resolution runs out Oct. 17. Congress approved a CR that will go into effect Oct. 1 and allow the federal government to continue operating at fiscal 2001 funding levels as Congress finishes work on a spending plan for the new fiscal year.
Beyond the appropriations bills, lawmakers are waiting for the White House to give them more guidance on an economic stimulus package. The administration has urged Congress to wait a few weeks and get a better feel for the current outlook before putting a package together.
House Ways and Means Chairman Bill Thomas (R-Calif.) said he would go along with Bush's "wait-and-see" approach, though he also expressed some concern about "lagging indicators" and suggested that waiting a few weeks might be too long.
As is the case with other committees, Ways and Means has had to think about ways to narrow its focus and devise a realistic list of what it can accomplish before adjournment.
"If all we have to do is trade promotion authority, an economic stimulus package and a welfare bill, then yes, we could do it" by mid-October, said Rep. Jim McCrery (R-La.), a senior Ways and Means member.
Energy and Commerce Chairman Billy Tauzin (R-La.) said he has already committed to chairing a conference committee on the Patients' Bill of Rights.
While Tauzin said he awaited direction from the Speaker on which issues his panel should serve up in the coming weeks, he also admitted, "It depends a lot on what the Senate wants us to do."
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