The 105th Congress skillfully orchestrated a five-year bipartisan balanced budget agreement by mid-1997, but it seemed to have forgotten the music during the last three months of the 1997 session, returning to a partisan dissonance that drowned out any chance of harmony on other important issues. When the final curtain came down in mid-November, nothing came close to matching Congress's major action on the budget and tax package, although lawmakers did approve bills speeding up adoptions of children in foster care, overhauling Amtrak, authorizing a rescue plan for the fiscally ailing District of Columbia, restoring some welfare benefits to illegal immigrants, and expediting approval of new drugs. Even when President Bill Clinton and the Republicans were playing from the same score, such as on the president's bid to renew his 'fast-track' authority to negotiate trade deals, House Democrats rebelled, leading Clinton to withdraw his proposal.
The Republican-led 105th Congress had started out in a conciliatory mood. Congressional leaders worked with Clinton to ensure ratification of a global treaty to ban chemical weapons and then patiently chipped away the opposition to the five-year agreement to balance the federal budget and cut taxes. When the budget and tax package passed both houses of Congress, Clinton heralded it as a 'monument to the efforts that people can make when they put aside partisan differences and work together for the common good.' But when Congress returned from its August recess, Republicans and Democrats seemed to have lost interest in cooperating. As a result, Congress faced a crowded agenda for 1998.
Budget, Taxes, Medicare.
The landmark legislation to balance the budget by 2002 that Congress approved and the president signed included $115 billion in savings from Medicare and a $24 billion program to provide health insurance for millions of children, by increasing the federal cigarette tax 15 cents a pack over five years. The legislation also authorized a tax credit of up to $500 per child by 1999, cut capital gains and estate taxes, and included tax credits to offset certain college costs.
As part of the package, Congress made several changes in the ailing federal health insurance program for the elderly and disabled. It provided new options for health-care insurance, expanded coverage of preventive services, and created incentives for managed care plans to serve rural areas. The preventive benefits included screening for colorectal, prostate, cervical, and breast cancer and diabetes education and monitoring equipment. Among other changes, the measure capped what hospitals could charge Medicare beneficiaries for outpatient services.
Chemical Weapons.
In April the Senate ratified an international treaty banning the development, production, sale, use, or stockpiling of chemical weapons. Passage of the measure represented an important victory for President Clinton, who faced opposition from conservative Republicans. But it came at a price — concessions to Republicans on several related issues. The Clinton administration agreed to reduce the size and number of foreign policy agencies, but congressional consideration of the reorganization plan got sidetracked in the final days by other political impasses. Supporters of the reorganization plan vowed to get it passed in 1998.
Immigration.
Congress approved measures intended to restore some welfare benefits to illegal immigrants already in the United States but close loopholes for newcomers, avert deportation for refugees from Central America and elsewhere, and allow some illegal immigrants to stay in the United States while applying for permanent resident visas, provided they pay a $1,000 fine. Another measure gave the Immigration and Naturalization Service money to overhaul its citizenship process; the process came under fire in 1996 when some 180,000 immigrants became citizens without proper criminal background checks.
Abortion.
Congress attempted in 1997 to outlaw a controversial procedure, technically known as intact dilation and extraction, sometimes used to terminate late-term pregnancies. The House, by a majority of more than two-thirds, banned the procedure, sometimes called partial-birth abortion, and a similar ban passed the Senate just three votes shy of a two-thirds margin. President Clinton vetoed the measure in October, noting that it did not allow an exception for women whose health would be threatened without the procedure. The bill did, however, allow for exceptions in cases where the mother's life was endangered.
Adoption.
It became easier to remove children from abusive families and allow them to be adopted, under legislation approved by Congress shortly before it recessed for the year. The measure stressed the child's health and safety over reuniting the child with the biological parents, reversing the previous approach, which held greater risk of reuniting children with abusive parents. Under the new law, states could seek adoption of a child after one year of foster care, rather than the previous 18 months. Proceedings to terminate parental rights would start after a child was in foster care for 15 of the previous 22 months — sooner if there is evidence of physical or sexual abuse, torture, abandonment, or action that caused the death of a child's sibling. The legislation also provided states with cash incentives to increase adoptions, allowing $4,000 for each child adopted above the previous year's level and $6,000 for each newly adopted child who was older or had physical or emotional disabilities.
FDA.
Congress passed, and the president signed, legislation aimed at modernizing the Food and Drug Administration and expediting the process for approval of prescription drugs. The legislation also speeded up approval of experimental drugs used in life-threatening diseases and provided incentives for drug companies to develop and test medicine for children.
IRS.
The House, voting 426 to 4, overwhelmingly approved the first significant overhaul of the Internal Revenue Service in decades. The legislation would create an independent oversight board made up largely of private citizens, switch the burden of proof from the taxpayer to the IRS during tax court proceedings, and make it easier for taxpayers to sue the IRS for negligence and recover legal fees in cases where the IRS wrongfully demanded payment. The Senate was expected to act on the measure in 1998. House passage of the bill was prompted by Senate Finance Committee hearings in September that revealed alleged abuses by the IRS in its treatment of ordinary taxpayers.
Congressional Pay Raise.
Congress gave itself a pay raise for the first time in five years. The 2.3 percent cost-of-living increase added up to more than $3,000 and brought congressional salaries to $136,673.
Gingrich Reprimand.
Newt Gingrich became the first sitting speaker to be sanctioned for ethics violations. In January the House reprimanded the Georgia Republican for using tax-exempt organizations for political purposes and misleading the House ethics committee during its inquiry, and fined him $300,000. Gingrich maintained he had made an unwitting mistake and blamed his attorney for providing the committee with incorrect information.
Trade.
Facing tough opposition from House Democrats, President Clinton shelved his proposal for extending fast-track trade negotiating authority, under which Congress could only pass or reject but not amend trade agreements. House Democrats opposing the measure sided with organized labor, environmentalists, consumer safety groups, and civil rights organizations, contending that the agreement would hurt workers and the environment. The Senate favored passage of the bill, which would have extended the authority all presidents since Gerald Ford had had in negotiating trade agreements.
Campaign Finance.
Many Democrats and Republicans agreed that something needed to be done about campaign financing but they could not agree on what it was. Senate Republicans blocked a measure to ban so-called soft money, unregulated money that national parties raise for party-building efforts but that often gets spent on campaign activities. Democrats blocked a GOP effort to require labor unions to get approval from members before using dues for political purposes. Senate Republicans, faced with Democratic delays on other legislation, did agree to permit a vote by March 1998 on the soft money ban.
Tobacco Settlement.
A proposed $368.5 billion legal settlement between the tobacco industry and state attorneys general and class-action plaintiffs, agreed on in June, came under fire in Congress from both opponents and supporters of tobacco. As a result, any legislation enacting the settlement was left for the second session. The June agreement called for a public antismoking campaign, targeted especially at youth, restrictions on tobacco sales and advertising, stronger warning labels on cigarette packs, and FDA regulation of the tobacco industry. The $368.5 billion, collected from tobacco companies over 25 years, would be used to fund antismoking advertising, provide health care for uninsured children, compensate states and plaintiffs for the past costs of smoking-related illnesses, and provide punitive damages for past offenses. Compensatory and punitive damages would be capped, and the money expended by tobacco companies would be tax deductible, thus in effect partly tax subsidized.
Transportation.
Congress agreed to a six-month extension of the current federal transportation law, after efforts to pass a new multiyear package costing more than $100 billion stalled in early November. The breakdown came when Democrats and a few Republicans blocked Republican leaders from considering the measure — known as the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act, or ISTEA — until the GOP would allow a vote on campaign finance legislation.
Congress did, however, pass legislation to overhaul the way Amtrak is run. The compromise measure provided continued operating support for Amtrak and $2.3 billion in subsidies for capital improvements to help bail out the financially troubled national passenger rail system. The measure removed some Amtrak labor protections, set a $200 million limit on legal liability for each crash, and required the president to name a new Amtrak board of directors in consultation with Congress. Among other provisions, the new legislation suspended the absolute prohibition against contracts for outside work that would result in layoffs and removed absolute guarantees of up to six years' continued pay for workers laid off because of route eliminations, with both of these issues now subject to collective bargaining.
Public Housing.
The House and Senate both passed bills aimed at revamping public housing and giving local authorities more control over regulations, but the two bodies differed over how to deal with the 1937 law that established public housing. The House version would repeal the law, while the Senate's would merely amend it. In addition, the Senate bill would maintain a limit (30 percent of income) on the rent public housing residents would pay, while the House's would allow them to choose a flat-rate rent.
Education.
Several education measures failed to make the grade during the first session. In early November the House defeated legislation that would have enabled low-income families to use federal funds to send their children to private schools. And on the same day, the Senate blocked for the second time a bill that would allow parents to establish tax-free saving accounts of up to $2,500 per child to defray education-related expenses, including private schooling, tutoring, computers, and special needs. The measure had passed in the House.
Foreign and Defense Policy.
Carefully negotiated plans to pay overdue U.S. dues to the United Nations and provide new credit for the International Monetary Fund died in the session's final hours when they became entangled in a domestic battle over abortion. The White House vowed to take up the matter again in 1998.
Juvenile Crime.
The House passed legislation aimed at cracking down on youth gangs and violent juvenile offenders, including inducements for states to try violent juvenile offenders as adults. A similar bill was slated for action in the Senate in 1998.
No comments:
Post a Comment