Not Our Finest Hour

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Another significant decision in the continuing resolution was the deletion of $988 million for building the first five MX missiles. Reagan insisted when signing the spending bill that, under his interpretation of the wording, it permitted the Administration to build some of the new missiles by using funds earmarked for research and development. Said he: "The language of the conference report does enable us to keep to our schedule for initial deployment in 1986 once the Congress approves a permanent basing decision." But Congress's action seemed likely to cripple the homeless weapon. The lawmakers cut an additional $5 billion from the defense budget in a move that the White House did not publicly protest.

Congress also used the continuing resolution for some ill-advised meddling in foreign policy. One provision specifically renews a ban on any American-supported military activities designed to overthrow the Sandinista government in Nicaragua. The CIA has been arming bands of anti-Sandinista rebels based in Honduras. But the White House insists that it has been complying with this restriction and will continue to do so.

On the whole, however, the special session will be remembered more for what it did not do. Reagan's Caribbean Basin Initiative, designed to give trade breaks to Latin American countries, was ignored in the last-minute shuffle. The failure to enact a new law governing bankruptcy courts has left that system in legal limbo. A worthwhile immigration bill painstakingly worked out by the Senate and Administration, which attempts to regulate better the influx of alien workers, died in the House. The expiring Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act were hotly debated and amended, but Congress did not get around to a final vote on renewing them.

Above all, the raucous lameduck session forcefully illustrated the most significant problem Congress faces: the breakdown of its budget process. In 1974 Congress reformed the way it authorizes funds by instituting a system designed to force committees to reconcile their spending decisions with an overall budget resolution. Not since 1977, however, has Congress been able to complete the final stage in this unwieldy process, the passage of 13 formal appropriation bills. As a result, it must regularly consider a potpourri of programs all thrown into a catch-all continuing resolution with little time for detailed deliberation. Noted Missouri's Democratic Senator Thomas Eagleton of this session's continuing resolution: "On foreign aid we spent 15 minutes."

Another potentially debilitating problem for Congress was the breakdown in Republican unity. The acrimonious fight provoked by Helms left scars that will not heal quickly. "Right now, Jesse Helms couldn't get unanimous consent to wish his grandmother happy birthday," said Republican Senator Mark Hatfield of Oregon. During his filibuster, Helms was the recipient of one of the most scathing attacks in recent Senate history. It came from a member of his own party, the usually amiable Alan Simpson of Wyoming. Standing next to Helms, Simpson declared: "Seldom have I seen a more obdurate and obnoxious performance. I guess it is called hardball. In my neck of the woods we call it stickball. Children play it."