Bush Outlines His ‘Big Issues,’ Asks for New Lawmakers’ Help

President Bush urged new members of the House and Senate on Monday to work with him to achieve “big things” for the nation.

In particular, Bush used his greeting for freshmen lawmakers to press his case for Social Security reform, restrictions on medical liability and an overhaul of the federal tax system. He described the tax code as “a complicated mess.”

“On big issues it is possible -- and not only possible, important -- for the Congress and the White House to work together. Issues like war and peace, issues like homeland security, issues like making sure our seniors are treated well,” the president said.

Bush and his aides are aware that a president’s clout usually lessens as a second term proceeds, and they have signaled since his reelection that the administration plans to aggressively push its agenda this year.

“I don’t know about what your time frame is for the amount of time you anticipate spending here, but mine’s about four more years and then I’m going home,” Bush said, earning chuckles from the audience in the White House’s ornate East Room. “And so I want to confront problems, and I will. I’ll call upon Congress to take on big issues, and I look forward to working with members of both parties to do just that.”

Members of the 109th Congress will be sworn in today in their respective chambers. The 48 new legislators include Democrat Barack Obama of Illinois, who will be the Senate’s only African American, and two new Hispanic senators -- Democrat Ken Salazar of Colorado and Republican Mel Martinez of Florida, who served as Bush’s secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

In his remarks, Bush made a special pitch for bipartisanship, recalling his cooperation with Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) in passage of the No Child Left Behind education law in his first term.

“My hope is that we can show the nation that we can come together to achieve big things for the good of the country,” Bush said.

But the education bill has evolved into a matter of contention, with Democrats saying that Bush has not provided enough money for key parts of the measure. Kennedy has been among those voicing such complaints, and he also has emerged as a leading critic of the administration’s decision to invade Iraq.

The president also remembered the late Rep. Robert T. Matsui, the Sacramento Democrat who died Saturday. Bush recalled that Matsui was first elected in 1978, the year of the president’s unsuccessful run for a House seat in Texas.

“Bob went on to serve with distinction and integrity in the House of Representatives for more than 25 years. He was a principled advocate for the people of Northern California, and he will be deeply missed,” Bush said.

As the ranking Democrat on the House’s Social Security subcommittee, Matsui had been a leader in marshaling his party’s opposition to Bush’s plan to partially privatize the retirement system.

The first item on the congressional agenda this week is expected to be a bipartisan message of sympathy for victims of the southern Asia tsunami. Bush has pledged $350 million to the relief and rebuilding effort, a request expected to be passed as a supplemental budget bill later in the month.

In the House, where the GOP slightly increased its majority, Rep. J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) will be reelected speaker.

On Thursday, the Senate will officially count the electoral votes in November’s presidential election.

Senate committees also will hold hearings on the nominations of White House aide Margaret Spellings to be secretary of Education and of White House counsel Alberto R. Gonzales as attorney general.