Now Put That Talk Into Action

Wednesday was a day of ceremony, bipartisan goodwill and historic oddities as the 107th Congress convened. In the Senate chamber, for instance, there was Vice President Al Gore, in his constitutional role as president of the chamber until Jan. 20, swearing in the members elected in November. They included Hillary Rodham Clinton, who will spend 17 days as both the junior senator from New York and first lady of the land.

A ripple of laughter rose as Democratic Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota introduced the traditional resolution calling for the dispatch of a messenger to the White House to inform the president that the Senate was in session and ready to do business. The president of the United States was in fact sitting in the visitors gallery, on hand to witness his wife being sworn in.

Daschle was serving as Senate majority leader, a post he will hold only until Gore is succeeded by Vice President-elect Dick Cheney. The Senate is evenly divided--50 Democrats and 50 Republicans--with the vice president casting a deciding vote in the event of a tie. Control will shift to the Republicans Jan. 20, and Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) will resume the majority leader post.

There was lots of talk of bipartisanship in the House, too, where Republicans hold a narrow lead of 221 to 211 over Democrats, with two independents and one vacancy. Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) was reelected and, in another olive branch to Democrats, was administered his oath by Democratic Rep. John D. Dingell of Michigan, the senior member of the House. Hastert too talked about the need for cooperation between the parties.

We wish the leaders of both parties well in this effort. Perhaps, with George W. Bush’s prodding, they can agree on some matters across party lines. Education, Social Security and Medicare are good places to start. But all of this goodwill is likely to come to an end the first time the two sides clash on a sharply partisan issue. The bitter divisions of the 106th Congress are still close to the surface.

In truth, House members began fighting Wednesday afternoon over rule changes proposed by House Republican leaders, with Democrats accusing the Republicans of playing politics as usual by denying Democrats fair representation on committees. Unfortunately, much of the 107th session of Congress will be consumed in battle over who will control the 108th, to be elected in November of next year.