[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 1 (Wednesday, January 4, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E14-E15]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                            THE 103D CONGRESS

                                 ______


                          HON. LEE H. HAMILTON

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, January 4, 1995
  Mr. HAMILTON. Mr. Speaker, I would like to insert my Washington 
Report for Wednesday, October 19, 1994, into the Congressional Record.
                           The 103d Congress

       The 103rd Congress promised to govern. In the end, despite 
     significant achievements, it was unable to deliver on much of 
     the legislative program. But it should not be judged solely 
     on the numerous measures which were defeated in the closing 
     weeks. Among them were the bills dealing with health care, 
     campaign finance, lobbying disclosure, telecommunications, 
     and toxic waste clean-up. There is no doubt it was a bad 
     ending to the Congress.
       But the 103rd Congress really did quite a lot. It was 
     reasonably productive even through extraordinarily 
     contentious. In the end I think it was a respectable 
     Congress, not spectacular but at least average.


                            measures passed

       Important legislation passed by the 103rd Congress included 
     deficit reduction, the North American Free Trade Agreement, 
     family and medical leave, ``motor voter'' registration, 
     national service corps, Hatch Act revisions, the crime bill, 
     interstate branch banking, Goals 2000 education reform, and 
     deep cuts in the federal workforce. GATT may be added to this 
     list during a special post-election session. It is easy to 
     imagine another 8 to 12 pieces of major legislation that 
     could have been passed near the end but were not. In judging 
     the Congress it is important to think in terms of not only 
     what it did but also what groundwork it laid. My guess is 
     that basic agreements were reached in several areas in 
     preparation for passage next year. That includes a 
     telecommunications bill and superfund reform.
       The central achievement of the 103rd Congress was passage 
     last year of one of the largest deficit reduction packages in 
     history--reducing the projected deficits over five years by 
     some $430 billion. The deficit will fall three years in a 
     row--the first time that has happened since the Truman 
     Administration. This has helped boost the economy--raising 
     the overall growth rate, boosting productivity, and reducing 
     the unemployment rate. Some 4.6 million new jobs have been 
     created since January 1993, compared to 2.4 million over the 
     previous four years. Passage of the North American Free Trade 
     Agreement abolishing trade barriers between the United 
     States, Mexico, and Canada has led to a sharp increase in 
     U.S. exports to our NAFTA partners.
       [[Page E15]] Among the other achievements of the 103rd 
     Congress were several education initiatives, including 
     renewal of elementary and secondary education aid and 
     expansion of Head Start, the Goals 2000 reform to set 
     achievement standards, a school-to-work transition program, 
     and an overhaul of the college student loan program. Two 
     separate banking laws passed, one the remove restrictions on 
     bank branches across state lines and another to put money for 
     economic development into distressed areas via community 
     development banks. The new crime package means more police on 
     the street, more prisons, and tougher punishment for federal 
     crimes.
       The reinventing government effort had some distinct 
     successes; procurement reform to streamline government buying 
     of goods and services and to allow more products to be 
     purchased off the shelf, and buyouts to cut the federal 
     payroll by almost 280,000 jobs over six years. Government 
     reorganization advanced with the creation of a separate 
     Social Security Administration and reorganization of the 
     Agriculture Department. Congress renewed the independent
      counsel to investigate allegations against high ranking 
     government officials. The most significant piece of 
     environmental legislation passed was the California Desert 
     Protection Act creating the largest wilderness area 
     outside Alaska.


                            Disappointments

       A Congress, of course, is always measured against 
     expectations. Looking just at what the 103rd Congress 
     achieved, quite a lot was done. But looking at it against 
     expectations and opportunities, it does not measure up very 
     well. One standard by which Congress clearly failed was in 
     gaining public confidence.
       As I wrote earlier, this Congress was a reform Congress and 
     we learned once again that those who seek reform and change 
     run into many obstacles and risk failure.
       I was disappointed that congressional reform, which 
     included modest proposals for change made by the bi-partisan 
     committee I co-chaired, died in both houses. These reform 
     proposals will certainly be on the agenda for the 104th 
     Congress.
       The most significant failure of the Congress was on health 
     care reform. It died when consensus failed to develop among 
     supporters of various plans. Welfare reform did not get out 
     of committee. A campaign finance reform plan with voluntary 
     spending limits and curbs on special interest money was 
     killed by filibuster, as was a bill to ban lawmakers from 
     accepting any gifts from lobbyists.
       I was disappointed that welfare reform was not enacted, but 
     encouraged that in 1995 it will be high on the agenda of the 
     104th Congress. I was also disappointed that we could not 
     strengthen the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water 
     Act.
       It is especially difficult to move on reform when public 
     confidence in government is waning and suspicion of its every 
     act is rising. The public sees Congress as a do-nothing 
     assembly of quarrelsome partisans more attuned to the special 
     interests than to the voters. The large number of filibusters 
     in the Senate certainly slowed the agenda.
       Many members of Congress believe the news media contributed 
     to the very tough environment within which we do our work. 
     The media tend to be more destructive than constructive, 
     criticizing even those who are striving to make things 
     better. One of my colleagues said that nothing about 
     government is done as incompetently as the reporting of it. 
     That may be an overstatement, but it is frustrating to see 
     the failures of Congress celebrated while the very real 
     successes are ignored.


                               conclusion

       Overall the 103rd Congress came out of the starting gate 
     fast but it collapsed at the finish line. Some of the critics 
     say that this was perhaps the worst Congress in 50 years. I 
     simply do not agree. Those critics were too focused on the 
     final days of the Congress and have not looked at the overall 
     record. Certainly the final record could and should, have 
     been better, but the 103rd Congress did manage to put 
     together a list of significant accomplishments.
     

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