Lame-duck Congress staggers to finish line

The spirit of compromise, if not weariness, appears to have overtaken the 106th Congress, as the tentative budget deal struck Monday between congressional leaders and President Clinton seems to be propelling this lame duck Congress towards adjournment by week's end.

Although the legislative language is still being drafted, and many crucial details have yet to be nailed down, House sources were hopeful that a final FY2001 Labor-HHS appropriations bill could be on the floor as early as Thursday.

House Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman John Edward Porter, R-Ill., said Tuesday: "You reach critical mass at a certain point, and I think that point is being reached right now. It's time to come to an agreement, pass the bill and go home and be with our families."

A Democratic leadership aide said, "I don't think a lot of people are happy about it, but at some point people just want to get out of here."

Appropriators and the administration now are working on a package of cuts to bring the Labor-HHS bill down to $108.9 billion. They must cut another $1 billion from all other discretionary accounts.

Noting that Clinton and congressional leaders agreed Monday to preserve the bill's proposed increases for education and medical research, Porter added, "I think we can reach common ground and finish this week."

The bill also is expected to carry the other major element of Monday's White House agreement, namely, the so-called Medicare "giveback" provisions to restore funds to Medicare providers hit hard by cuts called for in the 1997 Balanced Budget Act.

Although final agreements are still pending, the deal also should include some form of immigration language Democrats want attached to the FY2001 Commerce-Justice-State spending bill, as well as the community renewal provisions of the House's now-defunct $240 billion tax cut package. The Medicare giveback package should be enough to garner most members' support for the larger deal.

Moderate GOP Rep. Michael Castle of Delaware, said Tuesday: "Based on what I've heard and seen, the outlines of the agreement would appear to satisfy a majority of members and the President. It strikes a good balance."

Fiscal conservative Rep. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., said he and other members of the Conservative Action Team support the Medicare giveback provisions--although Toomey said if they were piggybacked onto the Labor-HHS spending bill, he would vote against the package. "In a nutshell, I think we're spending too much money here," Toomey said.

And an aide to another conservative member said, "Many conservatives will oppose it on policy and fiscal grounds," but conceded, "The Medicare givebacks will be a powerful incentive for many members."