104th Congress: In Like Lions, Out Like Lambs

The 104th Congress, which began almost two years ago with Republicans storming the barricades of the Washington establishment, is ending with a mad dash for the exits.

Republicans are doing everything in their power to make this the last full week before they adjourn and send their troops out for the fall’s high-stakes election campaign.

But while Republicans were the unquestioned commanders of the political battlefield during their first 100 days in power last year, their forced march toward adjournment looks more like a hasty retreat.

Already, GOP leaders have promised to give President Clinton most of the money he wants for education programs and other prized domestic initiatives. They have accepted three major Clinton-backed proposals to expand health care benefits for women, children and the mentally ill. Before it’s over, they may even cave in on Clinton’s demands affecting legislation to crack down on illegal immigration.

“He has the upper hand, and all of us know it because he can keep us here until the election,” said Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.). “We don’t have six bullets in the gun. He has a machine gun.”

Republicans “have accepted so many Democratic amendments, we expect them to do the macarena next week,” said Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), referring to the popular dance featured at this summer’s Democratic National Convention.

The closing days of this Congress represent a surprisingly anticlimactic end to a legislative session that has been marked by some of the most far-reaching policy debates of the last generation, by spectacular shifts in the political fortunes of the nation’s top leaders, and by enactment of laws reshaping welfare and other government programs in ways no one dreamed possible before the GOP took charge.

“We’re going out with a whimper, rather than a bang,” said Rep. Scott L. Klug (R-Wis.). “But there was enough turmoil over the last two years. Maybe a quiet end of session helps.”

A year ago, Republicans were doing what many thought impossible. They got Congress to pass a bill to balance the federal budget by 2002, and, in the process, transform the balance of power between the states and the federal government.

But their broad reach exceeded their grasp. Much of their agenda died when Clinton vetoed the budget-balancing plan. The confrontation provoked two government shutdowns that sent Clinton’s standing in the polls skyward and Republicans’ into the tank.

By mid-1995, their major accomplishments were few: a line-item veto for the president, an overhaul of farm programs, a rewrite of telecommunications law. But in July, in a flurry of activity, Republicans began to make deals with Clinton and passed welfare reform, an expansion of health insurance coverage, a water pollution control bill, an increase in the minimum wage and a modest package of tax cuts.

That gave Republicans a pile of new legislative accomplishments to brag about during Congress’ long August recess--accomplishments that made it easier for them to campaign as solid centrists rather than Republican revolutionaries.

But ever since that burst of activity, the rest of the session has seemed like an afterthought. Republicans seem to want only two things: to go home to campaign for reelection and to avoid another shutdown of the government. Even the most confrontational House Republicans are willing to accept major concessions to Clinton in the interest of pulling the plug on the 104th Congress.

“I’m not very happy with it, but I’m willing to hold my nose,” said Rep. Mark Edward Souder (R-Ind.), a feisty leader of House Republican freshmen. “We’ve accomplished enough to run on, and it’s clear we’re not going to shut down the government. It’s up to the voters now, so rather than haggle over fine-tuning, let’s get done, get home and campaign.”

So all eyes are now trained on the one piece of legislation that stands between Congress and its adjournment: an omnibus budget bill needed to keep the government running for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.

Congressional leaders last week announced that they planned, in essence, to give Clinton $6.5 billion in additional spending he has been seeking. “Chances are the president is going to get a lot of what he’s asked for,” said House Appropriations Committee Chairman Bob Livingston (R-La.). “But that’s not capitulation,” because Republicans have insisted that Clinton’s new spending be offset by cuts in other programs or revenue-raising measures.

Livingston argued that these year-end concessions to Clinton should not obscure how much Republicans’ two years in power had turned the tide of government budget policy. Indeed, they have cut $53 billion from domestic spending and claim to have abolished about 320 federal programs they considered unnecessary. They have shifted the terms of debate--at least for now--from whether to balance the budget to how to balance the budget.

Besides the budget, the other big issue still hanging fire in Congress is immigration. And there too Republicans seem to be moving to cut their losses. Clinton has threatened to veto legislation to crack down on illegal immigration if Republicans include a provision limiting access to public education for the children of illegal immigrants. Republicans have not yet decided what course to follow but are leaning toward dropping the education amendment to win Clinton’s signature.

While the budget and immigration bills are being negotiated by administration and congressional officials, the rest of Congress seems to be in a holding pattern.

The Senate has been debating parochial or non-ideological bills, such as fisheries legislation and the renewal of the Federal Aviation Administration. The House has been spending only two or three days in session a week, giving members long weekends to campaign.

Individual lawmakers are scrambling to make last-ditch efforts to push pet legislative causes. It worked for Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R-N.M.), who managed to slip a landmark expansion of mental health insurance coverage into a bill that has nothing to do with the issue. It didn’t work for Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas), who was rebuffed by colleagues when he tried to use the same measure to reverse a 1993 law that has prevented Texans from borrowing against the equity in their homes.

This guerrilla legislating is a far cry from the tenor of the first 100 days of GOP control, when a disciplined Republican Party focused on the high ideology of their “contract with America.”

These final 100 days also have been marked by relentless partisan maneuvers: Democrats demanding release of an Ethics Committee report on House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) is met with a call for an investigation of House Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt (R-Mo.); Democrats call for votes on education funds, Republicans for votes on antiabortion bills.

Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) may have said it all early last week when he concluded: “The time when we can really do constructive things together . . . is perhaps behind us for this year.”