Gearing Up to Recess

So much of the pace of Congress seems to depend upon where it is in the cycle of considering legislation, especially in reference to the timing of recesses and elections – key times when the members are back in their districts defending their actions to the voters. Both parties seem conscious of not wanting to handle controversial legislative issues close to the November elections, in particular (especially since 468 of their seats are on the ballot). I've noticed an uptick in a willingness to compromise and try to pass bills before the Independence Day break, perhaps in an effort to avoid controversial legislation during the fall campaign season? Am I becoming cynical or just realistic?

Several of the issues that didn't reach a majority vote to break a threatened filibuster (cloture) earlier this month are back on the agenda for this week, including housing, Medicare and FISA (foreign intelligence surveillance), where companies who violated the privacy laws might get immunity in the proposed legislation – a sticking point between the House, Senate and White House (not to mention those companies, and the American people!).

National associations continue to follow these bills, and send out their email alerts to members, who email us, asking for our position on revised legislation. This does get our attention.

I've also noticed that there are fewer constituent meetings. I wonder if the bulk of these visits for the year are intentionally scheduled during the budget and appropriating process in the spring. The budget was voted on weeks ago, and the different appropriations committees are making their decisions now. You should notice media articles about what projects are being funded back in the states and districts, based on these decisions.

So what else is happening, and might happen before recess?

Congress is talking about former press secretary Scott McLellan’s new book, which questions the Bush administration's honesty with the public. House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Henry Waxman issued a subpoena to the Justice Department for documents related to the leaking of Valerie Plame’s CIA identity.

They’re talking about whether any members of Congress may have received special treatment from financial companies when negotiating for favorable mortgage rates. They’re marking up spending bills in the appropriations committees, with about one third of the federal budget for discretionary spending (energy, the environment, education, health, housing, defense (not the wars), transportation, commerce, agriculture, homeland security, etc). That’s a lot of competition for a relatively small piece of the federal pie.

They’re talking about creating an oversight task force to create necessary health care reform policy. They’re debating whether to allow off-shore drilling, how to repair the financial markets, whether to extend unemployment security and other tax benefits. They continue to debate how to fix or delay fixing certain Medicare rules, the alternative minimum tax (which would unfairly subject low middle income families to paying higher taxes), and they seem to be considering legislation without subjecting it to the “pay/go” rules of finding an “offset” somewhere else in the federal budget to pay for any legislation with a price tag on it. Most bills are reviewed by the congressional budget office before introduction to get a “CBO score” in order to determine how much money needs to be offset, a major challenge for most legislation.

They celebrated “Seersucker Thursday” last week (I couldn’t make this stuff up), which was originally created by the southern senators to show those dark-wool suit-wearing northern senators how to dress for the southern heat. Truly, everyone wears seersucker suits, gets a group photo taken and has a brief ice cream social (not everyone, certainly, but some!).

After the Hill community held its collective breath for Senator Kennedy's surgery and hoped-for positive outcome, it was devastated by the death of Tim Russert, "Meet the Press" moderator and campaign journalist (among other noteworthy accomplishments). He was someone almost everyone knew and watched, and respected and feared. Very sad.

I'm working on three issues to craft into potential floor speeches, legislation, and areas for the Senator to consider championing. I've been doing my research and talking to experts, as I want to get this right. My goal is to position public health at a key strategy to contribute to reducing health care costs and boosting the economy while protecting the environment and reducing energy dependency, the issues most on the minds of Congress domestically. Wish me success.

I gave a presentation back home last week to the Health Officers Association, who is strengthening their advocacy skills to influence health policy at all levels. And today I was invited to speak at the national Girl Scout leadership training on engaging the political process to make a difference. I actually enjoy these presentations when I know what I'm talking about.

Two briefings of interest: last week on Global Health and Climate Change, collecting and observing the science data; and tomorrow about biodiversity, with an author I'm currently reading: Edward Wilson (The Future of Life). Even though it’s a library book, I'm bringing it to request an autograph.

Other very well-written books I’ve enjoyed are Sheila Weller’s “Girls Like Us” (about Carole King, Joni Mitchell, and Carly Simon), and a few by author Wendell Berry (about a character named Andrew Catlett). I hadn’t heard of any of these (thank goodness for the New York Times Book Review), but all are delightful to read for very different reasons. The first resonates with my youth, and the others are about a simpler time.

Weather continues to be unpredictable, with the last two softball games being rained out, as well as my first formal meeting with the Senator (who was stuck on the runway during a hailstorm, unable to fly back to D.C.).

Question: Will the Senate pass Medicare and housing bills before the July 4th break?