…and all I got was some lousy Post Office naming bills. With Congress off on its August recess (after ending session with a huge floor fight over a vote whose outcome shifted after the gavel came down), this is a good time to assess progress. To date, there have been 56 bills signed into law by President Bush. Of those, ‘only’ 20 are measures that rename federal facilities. Of the other measures signed into law, four would be considered major legislation, while the other 32 would be ranked anywhere between minor and trivial. There’s also one major piece of legislation–the lobbying reform bill–that has been neither signed nor vetoed. The four major pieces of legislation signed into law are: * The FY07 Appropriations Bill: When Republicans adjourned in 2007 after losing control of the Congress, they failed to enact 10 of the 12 regular appropriations bills. Those bills covered about half of all federal discretionary spending. To ensure speedy consideration and enactment, Democrats refused to subject this omnibus legislation to the normal amendment process. Further, the legislation contained earmarks despite promises to the contrary by Democratic leadership. * Supplemental funding bill for the War on Terror: In the most prominent conflict between Congress and the president, Democratic leaders ultimately backed down from any of a range of restrictions proposed for Iraq war funding. After President Bush vetoed legislation to impose a timetable for withdrawal, Democrats decided not to pursue ‘installment’ funding for the war, readiness requirements, binding benchmarks, and other measures to undercut the effort in Iraq. Instead, Congressional leaders scheduled action on a ‘no-strings-attached’ funding bill that most Democrats opposed. Once the measure passed with mostly Republican support, Democratic leaders again resumed criticism of the war effort and vowed real efforts to end it. The bill also included a provision to raise the minimum wage. * Implementing 9/11 Commission recommendations: This legislation theoretically requires full screening of cargo entering U.S. ports and of baggage on commercial aircraft (but allows indefinite delays in implementing those requirements). It provides for disclosure of the overall intelligence budget, provides funds for rail and mass transit security, and changes the formula for distribution of homeland security funds. Notably, the legislation does not address the Commission’s recommendation on Congressional oversight of the Department of Homeland Security, where it looks like Congress made a bad problem worse. It should be noted that House Democrats also supported passage of legislation to bar disclosure of the intelligence budget just one week after passing legislation to require it. Is this the fastest flip flop by this Democratic Congress–they’re coming so fast it’s hard to keep track. * Modernizing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act: On the request of the White House and the director of National Intelligence, the Senate and the House quickly passed legislation introduced by Senators Bond and McConnell to clarify that a FISA warrant is not needed to listen to the communications of foreign terrorists overseas. Much like the war on terror appropriations, the House Democratic leadership apparently decided that they could not afford the public relations ‘hit’ of blocking the measure. Thus the legislation was scheduled for floor consideration, passed with mostly Republican votes, and then attacked by the leaders who scheduled it for a vote. Action on the 9/11 commission recommendations and FISA (as well as the lobbying reform bill) all occurred in the last week of session. Even counting those, Congress and the nation have relatively little to show for seven months of Democratic leadership in Congress. Fortunately for conservatives, half of this Congress’s noteworthy achievements (war funding and FISA) are pro-security bills enacted only because of President Bush’s insistence. From that point of view, Democratic leaders have done less damage than they might have.
