For All Congress Did, Much Goes Undone

The 107th Congress, which ends this week, leaves a rich legacy of legislation to combat terrorism, corporate corruption and the influence of money in politics. But many of its signal achievements have been undercut by subsequent developments, leaving both parties with a record that critics call hollow.

Spurred by the searing events of Sept. 11, lawmakers passed landmark legislation to create a new Department of Homeland Security, combat bioterrorism and shore up port security. But Congress still has not provided the increased funding needed to pay for these new anti-terrorism initiatives.

Responding to a spate of business scandals, Congress passed a far-reaching bill to crack down on accounting abuses and strengthen the Securities and Exchange Commission. But the newly established oversight board is off to a bad start, its chief driven from office along with beleaguered SEC Chairman Harvey L. Pitt.

While 2002 began with passage of a major campaign finance reform bill, the law’s impact has been muted by regulations issued by the Federal Election Commission. And by the time the law took effect, both major political parties were devising ways to get around its key provision.

“Some of the reforms that seemed so substantial may turn out, in practice, to be less substantial,” said Catherine Rudder, a professor of public policy at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va.

This two-year session of Congress -- which has completed its major business and is expected to officially adjourn Friday -- did rack up major accomplishments. It passed President Bush’s $1.35-trillion, 10-year tax cut, an education reform plan and several major bills in response to last year’s terrorist attacks. But when Congress, with its slim Republican majority in the House and one-seat Democratic majority in the Senate, turned to nagging long-term domestic problems, lawmakers came up largely empty-handed.

Among the issues untouched or left undone: reform of Social Security and Medicare to accommodate the approaching wave of baby-boomer retirements; a rewrite of energy policy; new rules to strengthen patients’ rights; the future of welfare reform, and pension protections for 401(k) investors.

“Our failure to be able to pass any long-term structural changes is extremely significant,” said Stephen Bell, an aide to Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R-N.M.). Bell called lawmakers “paralyzed” by the narrow political divide in Congress “and by the growth of scar tissue ... after years of intense partisan warfare.”

Those factors have not been significantly changed by the 2002 elections, so the prospects for long-term structural policy changes may remain dim.

Republicans have seized control of the new Senate and expanded their House majority, but their majority margins remain thin. That will make it difficult for the 108th Congress to act decisively on long-range domestic problems.

If anything, partisan warfare may intensify in the coming session if Democrats conclude that the best response to the midterm elections is to turn more sharply to the left.

Along with what it did and did not accomplish, the 107th Congress was marked by the transformation of Bush’s relationship with Capitol Hill. The session began in early 2001 with Democrats questioning the legitimacy of his presidency; it ended with Bush’s agenda dominating Congress in its lame-duck session.

That changed dynamic flowed from the events of Sept. 11.

“This Congress is going to be known as the 9/11 Congress,” said Roger H. Davidson, emeritus professor of government at the University of Maryland.

After last year’s tax cut, most of the major bills that passed were in response to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Measures to finance the war in Afghanistan, increase airport security and provide new law enforcement tools to track down terrorists were quickly approved. The bioterrorism legislation soon followed. The lame-duck session delivered the bill to create the Department of Homeland Security, federal backup insurance against damages caused by terrorist acts, and the bill to increase security at the nation’s ports.

That agenda essentially crowded out or eclipsed domestic issues that had been front and center. Legislation to give patients more leverage in their dealings with HMOs was sidetracked. Efforts to provide a prescription drug benefit through Medicare stalled. Bush’s domestic priorities -- welfare reform and aid to social services provided by faith-based institutions -- foundered.

“Very important legislative matters have been swept off the agenda,” Rudder said.

There were exceptions. The spate of business scandals propelled into law the campaign finance and accounting reform bills. But implementation of those laws has fallen short of the hopes of their authors.

The corporate oversight board set up by the accounting bill has been sputtering in the wake of the resignation of Pitt and the board’s first chief, William H. Webster, just a few weeks after he was appointed. The resignations were the result of controversy over Pitt’s failure to tell other SEC commissioners about Webster’s role in auditing a company accused of fraud.

Outgoing Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.C.) argued Wednesday that the corporate reform bill will, in the end, be one of the “most far-reaching measures” of this Congress.

He also said that the campaign finance bill would cause “a sea change in the way campaigns are run” as a result of its ban on so-called soft money: unregulated contributions to national parties by unions, corporations and individuals.

But even as political operatives explore ways to circumvent the ban, the law faces a court challenge that many expect will nullify key parts of it.

John J. Pitney Jr., a professor of government at Claremont McKenna College, said such developments illustrate the limits of Congress’ ability to legislate reform. “As soon as you invent a better mousetrap, the mice get smarter,” Pitney said.

One of Congress’ most striking lapses this year was its failure to pass 11 of the 13 appropriation bills needed to finance the government. Instead, it put off until next month making spending choices for a budget year that is already almost 2 months old. Congress passed a “continuing resolution,” which extended until Jan. 11 spending levels that were set a year ago.

The result, critics in both major political parties say, is to delay funding increases for a wide array of programs that emerged as priorities after the terrorist attacks. For example, billions of dollars in increases planned for the Coast Guard, Customs Service and other agencies involved in homeland security have been postponed.

Also, the FBI has not acted on plans to hire additional intelligence analysts and researchers, which had been proposed to beef up its anti-terrorism apparatus.

What’s more, big increases authorized for the SEC in the wake of the business scandals have not come through. The Senate Appropriations Committee voted this year to boost the commission’s budget to $750 million; under the stopgap funding resolution, it remains at $467 million.

Amy Call, a spokeswoman for the Office of Management and Budget, said federal agencies are coping with the funding freeze without major problems but acknowledged that it was slowing the start of new initiatives.

All that leaves a full plate for the GOP-controlled Congress that convenes Jan. 7. Asked Wednesday what the Senate would do next year, incoming Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) offered a menu of legislative leftovers -- pension reform, prescription drug benefits for Medicare, energy legislation -- plus such GOP favorites as tax cuts, limits on medical malpractice lawsuits and a ban on the procedure critics call partial-birth abortion.

“A lot of what we do next year is to finish the work that’s undone,” Lott said. “There’s no use trying to fix blame, but the fact of the matter is a lot of important things that needed to be done were not done.”