War Abroad, Congress Moves Forward On Domestic Agenda
By Scott Brooks
WASHINGTON – Though on the sidelines as the nation pursues its war against Iraq, Congress has positioned itself on the front lines of the government’s domestic policy effort since war began two weeks ago.
While White House and Pentagon officials concentrate on shaping the U.S. military operation in Iraq, the House and Senate have acted recently on a slew of major issues, only some of which involve the war.
“Congress realistically does not have that much day-to-day engagement in the prosecution of the war, so they are doing what seems to be natural, which is to shift their focus to appropriations and domestic issue matters,” said Jerome F. Climer, president of the Congressional Institute, which keeps track of Congress’s work flow.
With the public and the president looking elsewhere, the pressure has been on Congress to hold down the fort on domestic policy, said Norman Ornstein, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research. This week, both chambers are working to churn out next year’s budget resolution, as well as a proposed $74.7 billion wartime budget.
“They’re trying to conduct business as usual, but it’s very hard,” Mr. Ornstein said. “Everybody has been distracted by this.”
On Monday, a day that members rarely spend in Washington, the House put one of President Bush’s key domestic priorities to a vote. House members ultimately killed a bill that would have provided medical workers or their families with federal benefits if they were injured, disabled or killed after receiving smallpox vaccinations.
Republican leaders had hoped to push the bill through the House without debate but were embarrassed when the bill, which needed the support of two-thirds of the House to pass, failed to get a simple majority.
That defeat was the latest in a series of bumps in the road for the Bush administration’s domestic agenda. Last week, the Republican-controlled Senate voted to slice the president’s proposed $726 billion tax cut in half.
And, on the day the president announced the start of the war, the Senate rejected a measure that would have included revenue from prospective Alaska oil drilling in next year’s budget. Several key Republicans sided with Democrats to defeat the Bush-supported measure.
“The war produces a rally effect for the president in public opinion, but it seldom does anything to advance his domestic policy agenda,” said Thomas Mann, a political expert at the Brookings Institution. In this case, with the president holding fast to his domestic goals despite his focus on the war, the administration is coming across some uneasiness within the congressional ranks, he said.
“This president has chosen to stick with an agenda that’s basically a conservative Republican one,” Mr. Mann said. “He’s going to find the going a little tough with moderate Republicans and virtually unanimous dissent from Democrats.”
Still some bills recently on Congress’ menu have been considerably less divisive. Last week, the House overwhelmingly supported a bill designed to curb child abduction and exploitation. That measure rushed through Congress on the heels of the discovery of kidnapped Utah teenager Elizabeth Smart, who was missing for more than nine months.
There was time last week, too, to speed through the House a resolution “recognizing the public need for fasting and prayer” during the war in Iraq.
Mr. Mann said Congress simply is following its natural rhythms and routines. Since the initial bombings of Iraqi government buildings two weeks ago, members of Congress have introduced more than 300 bills and resolutions on scores of subjects.
“There are dozens and dozens of pieces of legislation that will be moving to the floor,” Mr. Mann said. “Just because we’re in a military engagement in Iraq, there’s no reason not to proceed with any of those.”
Rep. Barney Frank, D-MA, said that, in fact, there has not been enough debate of domestic issues in the House. He blamed Republican leaders for stifling discussion on matters that may give them trouble, such as the president’s tax cut and Social Security reform proposals.
“They don’t let a lot of issues come to the floor,” he said. “Debate is muffled.”
Published in The New Bedford Standard Times, in Massachusetts.
