After the 100-Hour Show Comes the Slog
A session of tricky issues and contentious hearings
The new Democratic majority in Congress has tasked itself with an ambitious opening salvo for the 110th session of the national legislature: raising the federal minimum wage, passing the still-outstanding recommendations of the 9/11 commission, and halving the interest rates on student loans. But Democrats have a robust agenda beyond that first 100 hours. Here's a glimpse at what's coming on Capitol Hill in the weeks and months ahead.
DEFENSE
House Dems have promised hearings into how the war in Iraq has been handled, with scrutiny in a range of committees expected to turn on contractor oversight, force readiness, and the president's forthcoming plan in Iraq. Over on the Senate side, expect three hearings on Iraq this month alone. And Congress will almost certainly consider expanding the size of the Army and Marine Corps, a measure that is expected to receive broad support on both sides of the aisle.
INTELLIGENCE
Expect investigations on controversial intelligence programs launched by President Bush, including the National Security Agency's warrantless surveillance program and the CIA's secret prison and renditions program. The Senate Intelligence Committee, meanwhile, will tackle a task not finished in either of the past two years-passing an authorization bill for the $44 billion intelligence community for the next fiscal year. But most of the committees' work will remain behind closed doors: Hearings will be held this month on the threats to Iraq from its neighbors, as well as on current and emerging safe havens for terrorists.
IMMIGRATION
Very soon Democrat Ted Kennedy and Republican John McCain will introduce a Senate bill allowing 12 million illegal immigrants in the country to qualify for legal status after paying fines and some back taxes. That's a marked departure from the compromise bill passed in the Senate last year, which grouped immigrants into three categories and had some go home while others could stay. The Senate aims to pass a bill in March or April, while the House will most likely tackle the issue this summer or fall.
HOMELAND SECURITY
Improving radio communications between fire and rescue personnel will be one of the easiest 9/11 commission recommendations to enact; Democrats plan to create new grants specifically for communications equipment. Requiring the inspection of all sea and air cargo, on the other hand, has industry groups howling, including airlines still reeling from financial woes. The Transportation Security Administration, meanwhile, is bracing for a potential congressional push to unionize 43,000 aviation screeners.
JUDICIARY
Sen. Patrick Leahy wants to crack down on war profiteering, and he's promising to implement the Iraq Study Group recommendations to develop the devastated country's judicial system and train its police force. GOP Sen. Arlen Specter last week joined Leahy in reintroducing a bill that would restore habeas corpus rights to permanent U.S. residents who were among noncitizens stripped by Congress of the ability to challenge imprisonment in court. The administration's data-mining programs will immediately come under scrutiny in a committee hearing this week.
HEALTHCARE
Bipartisan support might be in the offing for reauthorization and possible expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program, which provides health insurance to 4 million low-income children whose parents don't qualify for Medicaid. But the program could test Democratic pay-as-you-go promises. The House Committee on Energy and Commerce will examine the drug approval processes in various bills that affect pharmaceutical and medical device makers.
BUDGET AND TAXES
Don't expect any action to either extend or eliminate the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, both scheduled to expire in 2010. Temporary patches to the alternative minimum tax are more likely, once again raising exemption amounts to prevent it from ensnaring millions in the middle class. Complicating efforts to pass the estimated $45 billion fix will be budget rules that would require new tax cuts or spending to be paid for through budget cuts or new taxes. One way forward might be closing the estimated $300 billion "tax gap" between what taxpayers theoretically ought to pay and what actually comes in to the IRS.
EDUCATION
Two big-ticket items are up for reauthorization: the Higher Education Act, funding colleges and universities, and the No Child Left Behind Act, which allocates federal K-12 dollars. Both are mammoth pieces of legislation that will take time to hash out. Many education watchers don't foresee NCLB being reauthorized until after the 2008 elections. While cuts in student loan interest rates may come in the first 100 hours, the promised increased funding for Pell grants will be discussed in the appropriations process.
ENVIRONMENT
Rep. Nick Rahall, chair of the House Resources Committee, is pursuing the loss of billions of dollars in oil-drilling royalties due to "mismanagement" by the Interior Department. On the Senate side, a raft of global warming proposals will be floated to a Congress that has routinely dismissed measures to mandate cuts in greenhouse gases. The Democratic leadership is hopeful that growing public support for such a bill will sway some conservatives. McCain might reintroduce a bill he cowrote with Sen. Joe Lieberman that placed mandatory caps on emissions, while other bills favor a cap-and-trade system similar to that of the Kyoto protocol.
With Kevin Whitelaw, Angie C. Marek, Liz Halloran, Anna Mulrine, Michelle Andrews, Sarah Baldauf, James Pethokoukis and Bret Schulte
This story appears in the January 15, 2007 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.