NEWS
Congress holds final session
Looking for a print version?
Simply choose ‘Print’ on your computer and a printer-friendly document will be generated.
Also by Ryan Masse:
Related Stories:
- Homeland Security bill now in grave doubt (October 18, 2002)
- Bush rallies support for Republicans on final day of campaigning (November 5, 2002)
- House Democratic leader Gephardt to step aside (November 7, 2002)
- Campaign-finance vote to take place Wednesday (March 20, 2002)
- Wisconsin Rep. speaker for a day (February 4, 2003)
by Ryan Masse
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
The House and Senate reconvened for its lame-duck session Tuesday as Congress prepared to consider last-minute concerns before wrapping up for the session.
For Democrats, the first bit of business consisted of officially selecting Nevada Sen. Harry Reid as the next Senate Minority Leader. Reid replaces Sen. Tom Daschle, who lost his Senate race in South Dakota to Republican John Thune.
The soft-spoken Reid is considered somewhat more moderate than Daschle — the Nevadan opposes abortion and gun control — but spoke Tuesday for the need to unite the minority Democratic Party, which will soon be down to 44 seats in the Senate.
“We need a strategy to win the war in Iraq and we must continuing fighting terrorism throughout the world to ensure our nation’s security,” Reid said in a release. “At home, we need to restore fiscal discipline. We need to keep our promise on Social Security. And we must confront other serious challenges such as affordable health care and real access to a quality education.”
Democrats pegged Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin to assume Reid’s former role as Senate minority whip.
Republicans face a brighter future than Democrats — their numbers swelling to 55 in the Senate in January — but the GOP nonetheless faces controversy in the lame-duck session.
Specifically, Senate Republicans will have to confront the pressing issue of who to appoint as the next chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, where current chairman Sen. Orrin Hatch has reached a leadership term limit. The chair is expected to have great influence in the next session due to the likelihood that one or more Supreme Court justices will retire within the next few years.
The Republican in line to chair the committee, Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter, has drawn the ire of conservatives, including some pro-life groups in Wisconsin, by indicating anti-abortion judges would face tough confirmation battles in the Senate. Specter has since said he will apply no litmus test to any of President Bush’s judicial nominations, but Specter skeptics remain.
Congressional delegates from Wisconsin hope to advance certain pet projects in the limited time remaining for the 108th Congress.
Democrat Rep. Tammy Baldwin is calling for an additional $600 million to be earmarked for an energy appropriations bill to help fund home-heating costs of low-income families. Jerilyn Goodman, Baldwin’s press secretary, said climbing fuel prices, coupled with projections of a harsh winter, necessitate the increase in funding to the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).
“We know from past history that LIHEAP has been a real lifesaver for people,” Goodman said. “It’s been so grossly underfunded, $600 million won’t bring it up to the full level, but will bring help this winter. If we don’t raise the funding, people will literally be out in the cold this winter.”
Zach Goldberg, spokesman for Sen. Herb Kohl, said the Democrat’s chief priority during the lame-duck session would be to extend the Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) program. The program, set to expire next year, provides a nationwide safety net for farmers when milk prices plunge.
President Bush has expressed support for the measure, but it was eliminated from a House appropriations bill in October. Since its implementation in the 2002 Farm Bill, MILC has provided more than $413 million to Wisconsin farmers facing low milk prices.
Anonymous (November 17, 2004 @ 6:38pm):
Who cares what the Democrats are proposing? They have zero power to pass anything. Why not ask a single Republican, who might plausibly pass something?
Anonymous (November 18, 2004 @ 1:42am):
Even when Democrats had a majority, Kohl and Baldwin got nothing passed. I'm not sure Kohl has ever proposed anything or even stands for everything. You could hang a sign that says "Democrat" on a dog (known locally as a Canine-American) and he would get 60% of the vote in Madison. Seventy percent if it was a female.
Rocco Rapaldi
