December 03, 2007
Buckle Up, It's Going To Be A Bumpy Two Weeks
UPDATED.
President Bush lashed out at Congress in a brief address to reporters this morning, once again chastising lawmakers for failing to pass emergency funds for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a renewal of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and 11 spending bills to keep the federal government operating.
As legislators return to the Hill after two weeks off for Thanksgiving, Bush noted that "there's two weeks to go before they leave town" again -- "not enough time to squeeze in nearly a year's worth of unfinished business." Bush has been playing the scolder in chief for more than a month now as partisan squabbles over everything from Iraq to earmarks have kept Congress from passing many major bills on the table.
This morning he specifically took aim at a maneuver by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to keep Congress technically in session -- a senator conducted 30-second pro forma sessions every other day -- and thereby block any potential recess appointments by the White House. "If 30 seconds is a full day, no wonder Congress has got a lot of work to do," Bush quipped.
Urging Congress to stay in session until all unfinished business is taken care of, Bush implored lawmakers to begin by approving emergency funding for "our troops in combat," without strings. He alluded to some efforts to tie funds to a withdrawal plan from Iraq, charging legislators with trying "to substitute their judgment for that of our military commanders." Bush also noted that while lawmakers have threatened to withhold funds in the past because they asserted the strategy in Iraq wasn't working, "many" of those critics now acknowledge that the surge "is achieving results."
In addition to war funds, Bush asked Congress to renew FISA without putting new restrictions on "critical tools" needed to fight terrorism. And turning to fiscal matters, the president stressed the need for easing the alternative minimum tax's burden on middle-class taxpayers and for passing 11 remaining spending bills to fund federal government operations. Bush warned that if Congress rolled all appropriations into a single "monster piece of legislation" loaded with earmarks, he would veto it.
Bush also outlined these congressional priorities in his weekly radio address on Saturday.
Meanwhile, it's unclear whether Congress will find the time to fulfill all of the items on Bush's wish list before departing for the holidays. CongressDaily's outlook for the week ahead suggests that members will be focused on energy legislation and renewing the farm bill, in addition to the crucial spending bills and the continuing resolution funding the federal government, which expires Dec. 14.
Responding to Bush's comments this morning, House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel indicated no plans to yield to the president. "A sagging economy has left American families struggling on the homefront while thousands of American troops are risking their lives on the battlefront," he said in a statement. "This morning, the President called on Congress to approve plans for more [of] the same. The status quo might be acceptable to the President, but this Congress will insist on a new direction."
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid also responded today, accusing Bush of failing "to grasp that the way to get things done for the American people is by sitting down to negotiate our differences, not by posturing from the Rose Garden." Later, he told reporters that Democrats have "been willing to work with [Bush], and he has for seven years been unalterably opposed to anything other than something he wants." CongressDaily (subscription) has details.
Posted at 4:00 PM
Posted to:
Bush Administration, Congress, President Bush
Share via
