Delegation Sets Priorities for 109th Congress
WASHINGTON 11/4/04- Protecting the country against terrorism and reforming Social Security will top the agendas of members of the all-Republican New Hampshire delegation when the 109 th Congress convenes in January.
With a solid grip on the House, where Republicans picked up three seats, and reinforced sway in the Senate, where the GOP picked up four seats, accomplishing these goals should be easier than last session, according to delegation members.
Sen. Judd Gregg, who identified protecting the country against terrorists as his number one concern, said he would like to advance the BioShield II bill, sponsored by Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Ct.) and Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah). The bill supplements legislation signed in July which authorized $5.6 billion over the next 10 years for stockpiling of vaccines and drugs to fight bioterror agents, such as anthrax.
Gregg also said he expected a prescription drug re-importation proposal “very quickly.” He introduced one in June, but the bill was buried in committee. Rep. Jeb Bradley introduced a similar bill in the House in July, with the same result. Bradley said that passing the legislation was his top priority this session, along with winning the war on terror.
Both Gregg and Sen. John Sununu said overhauling Social Security is a priority. Both senators have introduced legislation that would create personal retirement accounts to supplement Social Security. Sununu said President Bush, who said Social Security reform was a priority in his news conference Thursday, would take these proposals into account in developing his own plan.
“My guess is the president will look at the legislation that’s out there, work with senators like me and Sen. Gregg that have introduced legislation and try to develop a legislative proposal with his own imprint,” Sununu said.
Another top priority of Sununu’s is passage of the Jumpstart Broadband Act, which would overhaul telecommunications laws to boost wireless broadband Internet access. Sununu said that if the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, where the bill has been sitting, worked at a good pace, it could be marking up the bill next fall.
Telecommunications reform is also a top priority of Rep. Charles Bass. He also said he would focus on a bill he introduced in October that would help develop other sources of renewable energy. The legislation, co-sponsored by Bradley, stalled in the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality.
Some members of the delegation will seek new committee assignments in fulfilling their goals.
Gregg said that the chairmanship of the Budget Committee was a “distinct possibility” and that he had a lot of interest in that area. While he has also been mentioned as a possible Bush cabinet choice, Gregg said there were not too many positions in which he was interested.
Bass, along with Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), are the new co-chairmen of the Tuesday Group, 35 moderate Republicans who meet each week to define agendas and strategy. Bass said this would take up a lot more of his time than in previous years.
Sununu said he didn’t expect to join any more committees, as he is a member of five already and chairman of the Foreign Relations Subcommittee on International Operations and Terrorism. Bradley said he was still thinking about where he might move, but wanted to remain on the Armed Services and Veterans’ Affairs Committees.
But even with Republican majorities in the House and Senate, fulfilling these agendas could be difficult, according to Tripp Baird, a scholar at the conservative Heritage Foundation.
“On paper [it’s] great, but in reality, if the majority leader cannot get 60 [votes] on any major issue.Democrats can still bottle things up, and I expect they will,” Baird said.
But the New Hampshire members were optimistic about the gains in the Senate and confident that they could reach across the aisle to pass legislation that has stalled this session.
“I’m willing to hold out the olive branch and develop some common ground,” Bass said.
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