CONGRESS

The Week on the Hill

by Jill Smallen and Jason Dick

Saturday, Aug. 2, 2008


Acrimony Marks Pre-Recess Week

With an August recess of politicking and pres-idential conventions looming, lawmakers this week engaged in partisan blame-games and general gridlock on their way to the exits. In both chambers, Republicans taunted Democrats for leaving town for the summer without passing legislation to reduce high gas prices, while Democrats painted Republicans as obstructionists on a wide variety of matters. The acrimonious week kicked off with a high-profile showdown in the Senate between Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla. Reid had compiled 35 unrelated, noncontroversial bills--all of which the House passed with broad bipartisan support--into one package after Coburn and fellow conservatives refused for months to allow many of them to pass individually by unanimous consent. On July 28, all but three Republicans voted against proceeding to debate on the package, which was nicknamed the "Tomnibus." The 52-40 vote left Reid eight votes short of the 60 needed to overcome the filibuster. In explaining their positions, many Republicans said they wanted to keep the Senate focused on gas prices. The package included bills to investigate cold civil-rights cases, address various diseases, and fight child pornography, and Reid contended that Republicans would pay a political price for opposing it. "They are going to have to answer to their constituents, to voters," he said. Coburn, however, continued to maintain that the legislation would cost too much. "This bill is about trying to bust the process here," he said.
--Brian Friel/National Journal

Summer Energy Measures Stall

Congress was poised late this week to head home for the August recess without resolving impasses over competing proposals designed to reduce gas prices. In the Senate, a bill aimed at curbing excessive oil-market speculation has been stalled for more than a week, as Democratic and Republican leaders have been unable to agree on how many and which amendments members could offer. Democrats have been trying to stave off GOP pressure to hold votes on allowing additional domestic oil and natural gas drilling--a step that Republicans contend has strong public support. Democrats have countered with a "use-it-or-lose-it" plan that seeks to expedite production in areas already open for drilling. In the House, Democrats have failed to pass a series of energy bills this summer under suspension of the rules, a process that does not allow amendments and requires two-thirds support. Republicans complain that Democrats are merely trying to prevent them from offering a drilling amendment.
--Darren Goode/CongressDaily

Tax Extenders Blocked, Again

A huge package of popular tax-cut extensions remained stalled in the Senate, after Democrats failed twice this week to achieve the 60 votes necessary to proceed to the bill. Democrats could not win sufficient GOP votes, despite their inclusion of Midwest flood relief and other sweeteners. The package would expand various tax breaks, prevent the alternative minimum tax from affecting 21 million additional taxpayers in 2008, and provide incentives for renewable-energy sources such as solar and wind power. Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., said that the Senate would revisit the matter in September, after senators hear a month's worth of complaints from constituents about high gas prices and the battered economy. Republicans argued that it was more important to debate a separate energy bill allowing more domestic oil and gas drilling. They also expressed concern that Democrats were bypassing the normal committee and amendment process. "The Senate is constipated," said Finance Committee ranking member Charles Grassley, R-Iowa. "This legislative body needs a function, a laxative." In the fall, a dispute will have to be resolved over offsetting the cost of the tax legislation under the "pay-as-you-go" budget rules; Democrats in the House, which has already passed its version, have insisted on offsets.
--Peter Cohn/CongressDaily

Deficit Colors Spending Debate

The White House on July 28 projected that the fiscal 2009 deficit would hit $482 billion--nominally the largest budget hole in U.S. history. The White House blamed the deficit on slow economic growth and a $150 billion package of tax rebates that President Bush approved in February. Democrats, however, blamed the president's overall fiscal policy. "These deficits are going to hamstring our country, whether there is a McCain administration--which I doubt, which I don't think will happen--or an Obama administration," House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said. The news came as the House this week prepared to finally take up the first of the much-delayed fiscal 2009 appropriations bills. The House Rules Committee on July 29 cleared the Military Construction and Veterans appropriations bill for floor consideration. Democrats required that amendments be preprinted in the Congressional Record, an unusual procedural move for a spending bill, designed to prevent Republicans from extending floor debate by continually offering amendments. The bill at press time was slated for floor debate on July 31, but insiders doubt that Congress will consider any other spending bills but the Defense measure this year. The rest are likely to be wrapped into a continuing resolution that will kick most spending decisions into 2009.
--Brian Friel/National Journal

Consumer Safety Bill Advances

Congress appeared set late this week to give final approval to legislation dramatically increasing funds for the agency charged with protecting consumers and expanding its regulatory power to scrutinize imported toys and other products. By 424-1, the House on July 30 passed the conference report updating the Consumer Product Safety Commission and sent the measure to the Senate. "This legislation will strengthen our ability to prevent those [dangerous] toys from even getting to market, get products off the shelves more quickly, and increase penalties," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said on the floor. Many of the legislation's provisions were spurred by the 2007 recall of more than 200 products, including Chinese-made toys containing high levels of lead. The final bill represented a bipartisan compromise between the House's more general approach and the Senate's specific regulations, including a ban on certain types of plastic softeners--known as phthalates--in toys. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce issued a letter condemning the legislation, citing several provisions, including the phthalates ban, the creation of a consumer database, and protections for whistle-blowers.
--Kasie Hunt/CongressDaily

Higher-Education Bill Cleared

The House and Senate were poised on July 31 to pass the first reauthorization of federal higher-education policy in a decade. The renewal of the Higher Education Act boosts Pell Grants for needy students from $4,800 to $8,000 a year by 2014, requires colleges to justify high tuition hikes, and calls on states to avoid budget cuts on public universities. The bill also simplifies the student aid application process. A conference committee approved the final version on July 29. Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., led the negotiations because Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Chairman Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., is battling brain cancer. "As the cost of college continues to rise, this bill could not come at a more crucial moment," Kennedy said in a statement. President Bush is expected to sign the measure.
--Brian Friel/National Journal

Stevens Indicted on Seven Counts

A federal grand jury in Washington on July 29 indicted Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, on seven counts of lying on his Senate financial disclosure forms. As part of a wide-ranging corruption probe in his home state, Stevens was charged with failing to disclose gifts and services totaling more than $250,000 in value--from extensive home renovations to a Land Rover--from VECO, an Alaska oil services firm. Stevens, 84, the longest-serving Republican senator, denied the charges and pleaded not guilty during a July 31 arraignment. "I am innocent of these charges and intend to prove that," he said in an earlier statement. "I have never knowingly submitted a false disclosure form required by law as a U.S. senator." Stevens has had enormous clout over federal spending, having served more than six years as Senate Appropriations Committee chairman and more than 20 years as chairman or ranking member of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. In keeping with Senate Republican Conference rules, he stepped down from his key committee posts. Meanwhile, his name remains on the ballot in Alaska, where lawyer and author Vic Vickers is challenging him in the GOP primary. If Stevens prevails, he faces a tough battle against Democrat Mark Begich, the Anchorage mayor.
--Kirk Victor/National Journal

Obama Rallies House Democrats

At an enthusiastic meeting on July 29 with the House Democratic Caucus, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., focused mostly on his policy agenda and how they can work together if he is elected president in November. "It was a very, very positive meeting," House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said. The session followed some complaints from congressional Democrats in recent months about insufficient coordination with the Obama campaign. The presumptive nominee had little to say publicly before or after the event, but Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said that House Democrats promised their "support and commitment" to him. If anything, some Democrats grumbled that the meeting did not focus enough on the campaign. "Too much policy and too little politics," said Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fla.
--Richard E. Cohen/National Journal