Congress Shines in Short Term

The legislative mood swings came fast and furious on Capitol Hill in recent weeks.

On some days, Congress moved briskly and in a bipartisan fashion to pass key legislation in response to the wave of corporate scandals, the jittery stock market and the promise of greater global trade.

But on other days, lawmakers found themselves bogged down in partisan squabbling, incapable of cutting deals to pass prescription drug benefits or rewrite energy policy.

Through it all, the run-up to Congress’ summer recess, which began Friday for the Senate and a week earlier for the House, was a tribute to how much the nation’s political and economic climate has been transformed.

Amid signs that voters are increasingly worried about the direction of the country, the last thing lawmakers wanted was to head home empty-handed. That drove them in some instances to break deadlocks and take unexpected turns.

“What really gets people angry is if they’re upset and Congress doesn’t get it, isn’t doing anything,” said Bill McInturff, a Republican pollster. “Incumbents have to demonstrate, ‘We’re angry too, and we are doing what it takes to fix the problem and improve the economy.’ ”

But the impulse to deliver has not consistently triumphed over Congress’ instinct for impasse. While a landmark corporate reform bill breezed through Congress, hopes of passing the prescription drug benefits for the elderly collapsed, as did a patients’ bill of rights.

A long-stalled bill giving the president increased authority to negotiate trade pacts was finally approved, but a long-sought measure to rewrite bankruptcy laws snagged just as it seemed destined to pass.

Legislation to reorganize homeland security programs and create a Cabinet post was assembled with remarkable speed, only to founder on the contentious issue of workers’ rights.

This mixed legislative record underscores an enduring truth about how Congress works, especially when it is narrowly divided between the parties. Lawmakers manage reasonably well to respond to short-term crises or pressing public concerns, such as the clamor to crack down on corporate corruption, when public opinion speaks in a strong, clear voice. It is less well-equipped to take the lead on solving long-term problems, such as the future of Medicare and Social Security, about which the public is more ambivalent.

“We’re not very good at long-term planning,” said Charles Jones, a retired professor of government at the University of Wisconsin.

President Bush was upbeat Friday as he commented on recent congressional action; he praised lawmakers for “a month of accomplishment.”

Before leaving for a weekend at his parents’ seaside compound in Maine, Bush signed a supplemental appropriation bill he sought that contains new funds for the war on terrorism. On Tuesday, he plans to sign the trade authority bill that cleared Congress this week.

“It goes to show that when we put our partisanship aside, when people stop all the yelling and hollering and finger-pointing and say, ‘How can we help the American people?’ we can get a lot done in this town,” Bush said.

When Congress reconvenes in early September, lawmakers will be eager to wrap up work as quickly as possible so they can focus on the midterm elections in which control of the House and Senate are at stake. But a crushing workload remains.

A potentially protracted debate looms over several issues when the Senate takes up legislation to create a Department of Homeland Security. One major dispute is the administration’s push for greater leeway in hiring and firing the agency’s employees.

Corporate scandals will continue to attract lawmakers’ attention, with both parties hoping agreement can be reached on legislation to establish new protections for people who invest in 401(k) retirement accounts.

The House and Senate are way behind on spending bills that must be passed before Congress can adjourn. The debates on these bills will test Bush’s commitment to curb Congress’ election-year spending appetite.

All this will play out against a backdrop of vast uncertainty about the economy and the shifting political winds. No one knows how the tempestuous stock market will be behaving by the time Congress returns after Labor Day, let alone on election day.

In the meantime, lawmakers will be probing the mood of voters as they tour their states and districts during the August recess. If McInturff’s polls are any indication, they will find many of their constituents are surly--suddenly feeling less optimistic about the direction of the economy and less kindly toward reelecting incumbents.

“We’ve gone through an extraordinary month in which the country’s mood has turned from optimistic to pessimistic, with the revelations of corporate scandals, the stock market [swings] and growing economic insecurity,” said Thomas Mann, an expert on Congress at the Brookings Institution think tank.

As a result, voters may be less patient with the traditional excuses for why it takes Capitol Hill so long to act on legislation. With that in mind, Republicans plan to spend much of the recess blaming the Democratic-controlled Senate for killing or delaying major legislation passed by the GOP-controlled House.

“The Senate is the killing field of American politics,” said Sen. Peter Fitzgerald (R-Ill.).

Democrats plan to respond that the bills passed by the House are flawed. An example will be the House version of legislation to protect 401(k) accounts, which Senate Democrats say is too weak.

Rhetoric aside, the outlook remains bright that this will be anything but a do-nothing Congress. The last few weeks already have significantly added to its legislative legacy.

The trade authority bill has been eight years in the making. It reinstates presidential power that lapsed in 1994, giving Bush the ability to negotiate international trade agreements with little interference from Congress.

The legislation to crack down on corporate corruption that Bush signed into law this week includes the most far-reaching business reforms since the Great Depression.

And the proposed Homeland Security Department, which has been slowed but almost assuredly will not be stopped in the Senate, will result in the biggest reorganization of the federal government in half a century.

Notably, the issues that are moving smartly through Congress are not the ones that a year ago seemed hot.

The patients’ bill of rights was the priority for Democrats when they took control of the Senate in mid-2001. The House and Senate passed versions of the bill, but negotiations on a compromise collapsed this week.

Energy legislation was catapulted to the top of the agenda last year by California’s rolling blackouts. But now that the sense of crisis has waned, the energy legislation Congress is trying to cobble together likely will produce only marginal policy change.

The drive to provide prescription drug coverage under Medicare, once thought to be a major issue in this year’s election, effectively died in the Senate this week. In many campaigns, it now is overshadowed by economic issues.

Some lawmakers hope the prescription drug debate can be revived in September, especially if senators get an earful at home from elderly voters.

But the issue will be competing with a host of other items of unfinished business when Congress returns. As White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer put it recently, “You don’t have to be a helicopter pilot to know that Congress is heading for a giant traffic jam.”

*

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Hits and Misses

This legislative session has seen Congress take action on a number of key issues, including:

Corporate reform. A law will stiffen penalties for white-collar crime as well as make sweeping changes to corporate governance.

Trade. The president’s authority to negotiate trade pacts has been increased.

Defense. President Bush has just signed a supplemental appropriation bill he sought that contains funds for the war on terrorism.

However, legislation on other issues has stalled, most notably:

Prescription drug benefits for the elderly.

Patients’ bill of rights.

Bankruptcy reform.

Creation of a Homeland Security Department.

Los Angeles Times

*

Times staff writer Edwin Chen contributed to this report.