Lawmakers Offer Bleak Assessment of Congress’ First Year Under Bush : Legislation: Ethics turmoil and an unclear agenda resulted in a meager record. The President and Congress will be under pressure to do more in 1990.

“We’ve been through the darkest times,” said Rep. Vic Fazio (D-Sacramento), a normally ebullient liberal lawmaker.

“We’ve lost a year,” declared Rep. Vin Weber (R-Minn.), a conservative activist.

Despite their divergent philosophies, Fazio and Weber agreed on the seemingly dismal record of the first session of the 101st Congress, which ground to a halt in the pre-dawn hours Wednesday without giving either congressional leaders or President Bush much to crow about.

With Bush off to a far more passive start than his predecessor, Ronald Reagan, and Congress hobbled by turmoil over ethics, the legislative record is more meager than usual for a new President’s first year in office. As a result, Bush and Congress will be under pressure to do more in 1990.

In an unexpectedly confrontational style, Bush six times used a powerful White House weapon--the veto--primarily to underscore his unyielding opposition to abortion and to trim back an increase in the federal minimum wage.

Yet he failed to achieve his top objective of reducing the capital gains tax and recently lamented that Congress was attempting to block “everything I do.” His critics on both sides of the aisle, however, said he failed to make clear what he really wanted.

“The agenda is moving, and Bush is not part of it,” said Stuart Butler, an analyst with the conservative Heritage Foundation.

“We’re having a little difficulty finding what his vision is,” agreed the liberal Rep. William H. Gray III (D-Pa.), the House majority whip.

Congress, however, took its own licks this year.

Succumbing to a firestorm of pressure from older voters, lawmakers permanently scrapped the catastrophic health insurance program that was approved with great fanfare only 16 months earlier. Despite his support for the bill when it first passed, the President stood on the sidelines as the battle raged.

“We pass something with enthusiasm, and we kill it with even more enthusiasm,” acknowledged Rep. Henry J. Hyde (R-Ill.) as the repeal of the catastrophic program was approved on the eve of adjournment.

Squabbles between rival Democratic plans for child care legislation prevented any proposal from receiving final congressional approval this year, although separate versions were passed in the Senate and the House.

And permeating nearly every issue was the relentless pressure for spending restraint, despite demands for new programs to deal with the drug problem and natural disasters such as Hurricane Hugo and the San Francisco earthquake. In what amounts to an acknowledgment of failure to make choices, Congress decided to continue automatic budget cuts totaling $4.5 billion in a bill that went through in the wee hours Wednesday.

Bush held the line against new taxes, but his critics said the need for additional federal resources to finance needed programs and reduce the deficit would become more obvious with each passing year.

Democratic leaders of the Senate and House examined their work and found much to praise. “This is going to be a very solid record of accomplishment,” claimed Speaker Thomas S. Foley (D-Wash.). Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell (D-Me.) said Congress had “laid the groundwork” for a very productive session next year and Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) added: “Congress is far from perfect, but . . . the Senate has indeed accomplished much.”

Only House Minority Leader Robert H. Michel (R-Ill.) took note of the absence of major public policy advances during the 101st Congress. He listed last week’s joint session of the House and Senate to hear a speech by Polish Solidarity leader Lech Walesa as one of the year’s main accomplishments.

The year’s chief legislative achievement was a bill to end the crisis in the savings and loan industry and bail out depositors of failed institutions, at a cost now estimated at more than $150 billion.

And for the first time in nine years, Congress and the President approved an increase in the federal minimum wage, raising it from $3.35 to $4.25 an hour for America’s working poor. California already has a higher minimum wage.

Lawmakers also responded to the rise of democratic forces in Eastern Europe by authorizing nearly $1 billion in assistance to Poland and Hungary and appropriating nearly $533 million as a first installment on that pledge.

And, acting to overcome an unpopular Supreme Court decision, Congress passed legislation to make flag-burning a federal crime, while the Senate spurned Bush’s bid to approve a constitutional amendment to override the high court’s ruling.

Despite 1989’s seemingly lackluster legacy, there were optimistic forecasts that Congress would recover lost momentum next year and approve legislation dealing with child care, clean air standards, oil spill liability and aid to the disabled.

The success of Foley in healing the open wounds left by the fall of his predecessor, Jim Wright (D-Tex.), was hailed by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.

Indeed, Foley listed “creating a mood of comity” between Democrats and Republicans as his main accomplishment of the year.

Addressing skeptical reporters who asked if many members were not disappointed by the results of the first session, Foley said: “If you assess the mood as depressed or downcast, you haven’t been talking to the members I have. We’re leaving in good spirits.”

Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Redlands) characterized the first two-thirds of the session as a “disaster” but he credited Foley with restoring harmony. “We could have a sensational year (in 1990) in terms of bipartisan cooperation and working with the White House,” he said.

Weber, a rising star among House Republicans, said that it will be crucial whether Bush’s next State of the Union message will declare an Administration agenda in a bold, aggressive way.

But skeptical Democrats complained that the President acted more like he was campaigning for office than performing as chief executive during his first year in the White House.

“The personal George Bush and the political George Bush are so different,” Fazio said. “He’s still reacting to the primaries he lost. . . . He wants to shore up the right. He’s not being presidential.”

Some Republicans argued, however, that Bush lacked Reagan’s ability to make sweeping changes when he took office in 1981 with inflation, interest rates and unemployment at unacceptable levels. Rather than making modest proposals, Reagan and his allies in Congress pushed through a huge tax cut and major budget reductions.

“Bush didn’t come on with the same mandate,” said Weber, noting that the economy was in good shape when he ascended to the presidency after eight years as Reagan’s No. 2 man.

Lewis said he thinks Bush understands Congress better than Reagan did and has used the veto much more effectively to bolster Republican minorities in the House and Senate.

But veteran Rep. Joe Moakley (D-Mass.), new chairman of the House Rules Committee, saw an even bigger distinction.

“In the first couple of years, if you stood up to Reagan, he’d just blow you right over,” Moakley said. “Bush doesn’t have that magic. The good feeling for him is wearing thin now. We think he’s still campaigning.”

HIGHER MEDICAL COSTS--The repeal of catastrophic care will force millions to pay more for medical insurance. A28