Free at Last, Free at Last

Congress bows out, and so do some respected veterans

We're engaged in a game of chicken-and we all look like turkeys," protested Republican Senator Warren Rudman of New Hampshire. Even the Senate chaplain seemed to be seeking forgiveness for the dilatory and disorderly conduct. "Father in heaven, we are here under duress," intoned the Rev. Richard Halverson. "But we imposed this on ourselves." The flagellation was fully justified. Congress had shrugged off difficult decisions for months, failing even to finance basic governmental functions. With the pre-election adjournment approaching, it had swung into a belated frenzy of partisan maneuvering that produced only gridlock. Four of its self-imposed deadlines slipped past.

Finally, last week a compromise was reached after endless negotiations that left the office of Alaska's Ted Stevens, Senate floor manager for the funding bill, strewn with litter. The end was in sight. The Democratic House completed its chores, and most of its members scurried out of Washington. The Republican Senate convened for the final formalities, including an affectionate farewell tribute to retiring Majority Leader Howard Baker. All that remained was to raise the national debt ceiling by $251 billion, to $1.824 trillion, since the old limit would otherwise be surpassed. But then Democratic Senators balked. Long berated by Republicans for raising the debt limits in previous Administrations, the Democrats sought revenge. They demanded a roll-call vote, knowing that so many Republican Senators had left town that the bill could not be passed. It lost.

Senate leaders frantically dispatched Air Force jets on Friday to retrieve wandering legislators from campaign and home sites. The Pentagon placed the cost of flying Senators John Tower of Texas, Jeremiah Denton of Alabama and Thad Cochran of Mississippi back to the Capitol from their home states at $4,100. Air Force funds are routinely set aside for such travel in a congressional crisis. By afternoon nine more Senators willing to vote for the debt hike had returned, and the bill passed, 37 to 30. "I thought this day would never come," said Baker after casting the last vote of his 18-year Senate career.

In its wake, the 98th Congress left a helter-skelter of dead bills. Among the principal casualties was a long-overdue reform of the nation's immigration laws, the Simpson-Mazzoli bill. Also abandoned was a civil rights measure that restated the intent of Congress, in the aftermath of a contrary Supreme Court ruling, to deny all federal funds to entire institutions, rather than just to the offending department or program, if discrimination is practiced. Killed, too, was a bill to renew and increase financing of the superfund program under which Washington helps states and localities clean up toxic-waste dumps. The fates of these bills will depend heavily on the unknown makeup of the next Congress and Administration.