[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 16 (Wednesday, February 23, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: February 23, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
          THE STATE OF THE UNION AND THE CONGRESSIONAL AGENDA

                                 ______


                          HON. LEE H. HAMILTON

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 23, 1994

  Mr. HAMILTON. Mr. Speaker, I would like to insert my Washington 
Report for Wednesday, February 2, 1994 into the Congressional Record:

          The State of the Union and the Congressional Agenda

       President Clinton delivered his first State of the Union 
     address last week with no major surprises but plenty of 
     policy recommendations, detail, and moral passion. The 
     programs that the President emphasized were the ones everyone 
     expected him to emphasize: health care, crime, education, 
     welfare. It was a strong speech, and his rhetorical gifts 
     were on full display. The President clearly set an ambitious 
     agenda for the nation, but he also used symbols and 
     illustrations in an effort to seize the moral high ground.


                              major themes

       The speech took place against a backdrop of solid economic 
     accomplishments. The economic recovery that is occurring in 
     the country has helped President Clinton's standing in the 
     polls. Particularly encouraging has been the dramatic success 
     in reducing the deficit--originally projected to be $300 
     billion in 1995 but now expected to be less than $180 
     billion. The President called for continued attention to 
     deficit reduction, saying that his budget will be one of the 
     toughest ever presented to Congress and will cut spending for 
     300 programs and eliminate 100 others.
       The President gave nearly equal billing to health care 
     reform, welfare reform, and crime. On health care the 
     President pushed his plan to expand the employer-based system 
     to guarantee insurance for everyone. His insistence that 
     health care reform means comprehensive, guaranteed benefits 
     for every American and his threat to veto any health care 
     package without it was a tough stance. His veto threat 
     increased the stakes for health legislation, but he did 
     indicate a willingness to negotiate on all other aspects of 
     the health care proposal.
       He emphasized overhauling the welfare system to reward work 
     over welfare, and repeated his view that after two years on 
     welfare, anyone who can work must work--in the private sector 
     if possible, in community service if necessary.
       Responding to the increased national concern about crime, 
     he said that we must reclaim our streets from violent 
     criminals. He called for life behind bars for those convinced 
     of three violent crimes, more police on the streets, and a 
     ban on assault weapons, while at the same time saying that we 
     need to improve economic opportunities in America's poorest 
     and toughest neighborhoods.
       Several other items were on the President's domestic 
     agenda: education reform, a new ``reemployment'' program 
     replacing current job training and unemployment programs, 
     campaign finance and lobbying reform, clean water 
     legislation, and creation of an information superhighway 
     linking every classroom, library, and hospital by the end of 
     the century.
       The President clearly did not intend to make foreign policy 
     the focus of his speech. He barely mentioned the crises in 
     Bosnia and Somalia. Much criticized recently for failing to 
     articulate his foreign policy goals, he made an effort to be 
     clearer about those goals in his State of the Union address. 
     His refusal to cut military spending further was strongly 
     stated and widely applauded. It indicates a clear shift in 
     the mood of Congress in the last few years on the level of 
     military spending.
       The dramatic highlight of the 63 minute speech came at the 
     closing with his emphasis on family, community, and work. One 
     of the President's major themes has been that America can 
     prosper only if its citizens rely less on government and more 
     on themselves. When he said in his speech that our problems 
     go beyond the reach of government, he drew strong applause 
     from legislators who are very conscious of the limitations 
     of lawmaking.


                          congressional agenda

       The major themes emphasized by the President mean that the 
     103rd Congress could well turn out to be the ``reform 
     Congress''. Besides taking up the policy reforms urged by the 
     President--in health care, welfare, education and training--
     Congress will take up several reforms in the way it does 
     business. It will continue its work on campaign finance and 
     lobbying reforms and take up a wide-ranging package that 
     would cut congressional committees and staff, curb ``pork 
     barrel'' spending, reform the budget process, make Congress 
     live under the laws that apply to everyone else, and improve 
     the ethics process.
       There are several reasons for the emphasis on reform this 
     year. Some of the reform areas are left over from the Bush 
     presidency, in which the domestic agenda was fairly modest 
     and the emphasis was on ``staying the course''. President 
     Clinton emphasized many of these reforms during his 
     presidential campaign, and he wants to make good on his 
     promises. And after a year of focussing mainly on economic 
     matters--cutting the deficit and reducing trade barriers--he 
     is prepared to move on to other priorities this year. In 
     addition, public opinion polls continue to show low approval 
     ratings of the job Congress is doing, and Congress and the 
     President want to show that they can tackle the issues that 
     Americans care most about.


                                outlook

       Although each item on this reform agenda before Congress is 
     important, it will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, 
     to accomplish all of it in one year. Many of the problems are 
     complex and technical, with little consensus over how they 
     should be handled. In some areas, there is not even agreement 
     over what the problem is--for example, whether the health 
     system is in crisis or not.
       Political obstacles also loom large. Partisan 
     considerations could increase during this election year, and 
     many of the reforms need to work their way through multiple 
     congressional committees, are opposed by determined special 
     interest groups, and face the threat of a filibuster in the 
     Senate. It is my sense that a large dose of bipartisanship 
     will be needed to pass these reform bills.
       Despite the difficulties ahead, I expect some significant 
     accomplishments during this second session of the 103rd 
     Congress. Congress and the President broke gridlock last 
     year, but a great deal remains to be done.

                          ____________________