Frustrations Linger as Congress Draws to Close : Capitol: Scandal, gridlock mark session. As lawmakers head home, anti-incumbent sentiment breeds anxiety.

Above the portal of the now-defunct House bank, these words are etched in stone: “We Have Built No Temple But the Capitol.”

Originally a reminder that the aim of public service is the public good, the words seem now more like a reproachful admonition of how far Congress has strayed, at least in the public’s mind, from the spirit of the inscription. As the 102nd Congress drew to a close and lawmakers went home to face a disillusioned and angry electorate, the words also stood as a sobering reminder that 1992 was the year in which the temple walls came tumbling down.

Voter resentment of congressional perks, stoked by fears about the economy and frustration with government gridlock, combined with redistricting to place many anxious incumbents in unexpectedly tight reelection races. With retirements and primary defeats, the House already is assured of 91 new faces next year--the largest turnover in congressional seats since World War II.

At the same time, inside the walls on Capitol Hill, there was on the eve of adjournment something quite close to a siege mentality. Institutional tensions brought on by the House banking and post office scandals combined with growing partisan rancor to bring 12 years of political frustration with divided government to a boiling point.

“This has been the most traumatic session of Congress in all the years I’ve been here,” said Rep. Leon E. Panetta, an eight-term Democrat from Carmel Valley, Calif. “The combination of the institutional crisis and the gridlock between the President and Congress in dealing with the issues has created a lot of frustration, and the public shares it.”

On the face of it, Democrats ought to be smiling. Despite the turnover, they seem certain to retain control of the House and the Senate come Nov. 3--and may even increase their control of the Senate to the 60 seats needed to thwart Republican filibusters. And, notwithstanding the uncertainty that the on-again, off-again candidacy of Ross Perot has injected into the race, they also stand their best chance in 12 years of recapturing the White House.

But as they rushed to complete work on major tax and energy legislation, as well as a bevy of spending bills, the prospect of victory by Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton in November seemed of little solace to members anxious about their own election chances and frustrated by the year’s relatively meager legislative achievements.

“We are all running with one big negative this year,” explained Rep. Robin Tallon (D-S.C.). “And it’s not the ‘D’ or the ‘R’ beside the name but the ‘I’ for incumbent.”

“There is a huge unpredictability out there this year and nothing makes politicians more anxious than unpredictability,” agreed Panetta. “Democrats want to feel better about where Clinton is . . . but they are also concerned about the volatility of the voters. They want to think it will play to their advantage, but they just don’t know. The bottom line is anxiety.”

Hoping to salvage something of Congress’ reputation, Democratic leaders sought to accentuate the positive on the eve of adjournment by pointing out that the two-year legislative session did have some notable achievements: passage of civil rights, disabilities and transportation legislation in 1991 and bills on higher education, cable television and energy policy in 1992. The energy bill is to come to a vote in the Senate today but is all but certain to be approved.

But many more initiatives to deal with the economy or to legislate on such emotional issues as gun control, abortion and fetal tissue research fell by the wayside, the victims of election year politics or of one of the 36 vetoes that President Bush has cast. In the end, Congress was able to override only one of those vetoes--that which re-regulates rates and service in the cable television industry.

Of the relatively few accomplishments, most came too early in the session to be remembered in an election year or too late to correct the popular impression that this was one of the most contentious, “do nothing” Congresses on record.

“It’s certainly fair to call it the most partisan Congress in recent times,” said University of Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato. “Despite its real achievements, it will be remembered . . . chiefly as the Congress that burst the bubble on incumbency and set into motion the movement for term limits.”

For many members, their finest moment came at the start of the 102nd Congress, when patriotism overcame partisanship in the historic, although now all but forgotten, debate to authorize the war in the Persian Gulf.

Momentous changes reordered the world in the months that followed and Congress eventually responded by cutting the defense budget, approving a nuclear test ban, passing a Russian aid package and ratifying in the Senate an arms reduction treaty that formally drew down the curtain on the Cold War.

But as the nation’s attention refocused on domestic priorities and the battleground shifted from the sands of Kuwait to the streets of South Los Angeles, the clashing agendas of a Democratic Congress and a Republican White House combined with election-year politics to produce legislative gridlock over such key issues as urban aid, abortion, taxes and the budget deficit.

“The inability of Congress to do anything effective in response to the Los Angeles riots stands as a monument to its ineffectiveness this year,” said William Schneider, a political analyst with the American Enterprise Institute. Instead of spurring them to work together, the deterioration of the economy, along with Bush’s slide in the polls, only encouraged “Congress and the President to defy one another and engage in the partisan bickering with which the public is so fed up,” Schneider said.

Perhaps nothing inflamed the public’s frustration with this legislative impotence more than the House banking and post office scandals.

Many of the retirements and primary defeats of incumbents this year could clearly be tied to the uproar over the House bank, where members took advantage of privilege to overdraw their personal accounts by tens of thousands of dollars without penalty.

While it paled by comparison, the ongoing post office scandal--involving embezzlement and cocaine use by House aides--helped to keep alive the negative publicity and to spark moves toward congressional reform next year.

Senators remained profoundly grateful that they did not have an in-house bank. But the Senate’s reputation was tarred by another event--the sordid saga that captured the nation’s attention as the Senate Judiciary Committee listened to law professor Anita Faye Hill accuse Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment.

To the perks, privileges and other liabilities of incumbency, the insensitivity with which several senators were perceived to have treated Hill’s allegations added yet another negative: being a man. As a result, when the 103rd Congress convenes next year, many of the new faces sitting on either side of the aisle will belong to women. Because of redistricting, the chairs will include many more blacks and Latinos as well.

Predictably, Democratic leaders tried to put a positive spin on the year, with House Speaker Thomas S. Foley (D-Wash.) pointing to a “satisfactory” record of achievement and noting that lawmakers left the House with “remarkable grace and comity.”

“Looking at the record, there are accomplishments to point at,” Panetta said. “But overall, from a historical perspective, when people look back on the 102nd Congress they will say, ‘Let’s never repeat this experience again.’ ”

Times staff writers William J. Eaton and Art Pine contributed to this story.

Congressional Scorecard

Here are the major legislative accomplishments of the 102nd Congress as well as the big issues that were addressed but left unresolved:

ACCOMPLISHED

Civil rights--Made it easier for minorities and women to win discrimination suits against employers and established punitive damages for intentional discrimination based on sex, age or disability.

Cable television--Re-regulated cable television rates and services.

Higher education--Expanded eligibility for government grants and loans to students from middle-income families.

Defense transition--Began rechanneling some money devoted to defense to help retrain hundreds of thousands of military and defense plant workers losing their jobs with the end of the Cold War.

Coping with recession--Voted two extensions in emergency unemployment benefits for people losing their jobs because of the recession.

Transportation--Authorized $155 billion over five years to upgrade highways, mass transit systems and bridges to address the nation’s crumbling transportation infrastructure.

Nuclear arms--Ratified first treaty actually reducing the number of U.S. and formerly Soviet strategic nuclear weapons. Also ordered a moratorium on and eventual end to atomic weapons testing.

Foreign policy--Approved a $417-million aid package for Russia and other former Soviet republics to foster their conversion from centrally planned to free market economies and to promote cultural ties.

LEFT UNRESOLVED

Abortion--Legislation promised by Democratic leaders to prohibit states from imposing restrictions on abortion never reached the floor in the House or Senate out of fears by supporters it would be watered down or defeated. Bush won five veto showdowns with Congress over abortion-related issues.

Health care--Democrats and Bush put forth conflicting plans for addressing the skyrocketing health care costs and the nearly 40 million Americans without medical insurance. Neither received any action.

Secondary education--The House passed an $800-million package of block grants to state and local governments for improving public secondary and elementary schools. Republicans in the Senate blocked final action after Democrats rejected Bush’s proposal to start subsidizing private schools.

Economic recovery--Bush and Republicans rejected Democrats’ proposals to stimulate the economy with middle-income tax cuts that would be financed with higher taxes on the wealthy. Democrats rejected Bush’s call for a broad reduction in capital gains taxes.

Crime--The House and Senate each passed broad anti-crime bills imposing a five-day waiting period for buying a handgun, expanding the federal death penalty to cover 50 more offenses and stretching prison sentences for crimes involving the use of guns. Bush and Senate Republicans blocked final action after Democrats rejected Bush proposals to deny successive appeals to Death Row inmates and let police seize evidence without warrants.

Campaign reform--Congress passed legislation to restrict how much House and Senate candidates can spend on their campaigns and to substitute public financing for some of the money now raised by special interests. Bush vetoed it.

Family aid--Congress passed a bill to make employers of more than 50 people provide up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for family emergencies. Bush vetoed it.

STILL PENDING

Energy--Senate was scheduled to act today on a House-passed bill to entirely revamp energy policy with new focus on conservation and making it easier to build new nuclear plants. Bush is expected to sign it.

Source: Times wire services