By Marilyn Werber Serafini, National Journal
© National Journal Group Inc.
Friday, Nov. 10, 2006

House and Senate Democrats laid claim to their new majority with a legislative agenda aimed at redirecting the course set by Republicans over the past six years and bringing bills to the floor that GOP leaders had blocked. At the same time, Democrats tempered their ambitious talk with promises of bipartisanship.

	"Democrats are prepared to lead, to govern, but that means in a bipartisan way," -- Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

Democrats have every reason to be pragmatic. A closely divided Senate leaves them well short of the 60 votes needed to avoid filibusters, and President Bush can block much of their agenda by wielding his veto pen, until now sparsely used. "Democrats are prepared to lead, to govern, but that means in a bipartisan way," said House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. Added Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., who will likely chair the Ways and Means Committee: The president "really doesn't want to be a lame duck, and we don't want there to be gridlock."

Abortion, Family Planning
Democrats hope to use appropriations bills to sink Bush's conservative social agenda promoting sexual abstinence; Democrats would rather fund "comprehensive sex education." Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., the likely chairman of the Government Reform Committee, will champion this cause. Democrats plan to bottle up Republican legislation requiring parental approval to transport minors across state lines for abortions. That bill passed the House this year, but not the Senate. Democrats want to expand federal funding for poor people seeking abortions, but their primary goal is to prevent Senate approval of anti-abortion judges.

Aviation
Democrats will resist Bush administration attempts to privatize or shut down air traffic facilities in next year's Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization. The administration has explored foreign ownership of airlines and has pushed new work rules that Democrats and the National Air Traffic Controllers Union oppose. FAA chief Marion Blakey has argued that major reform is necessary because of a pending shortfall in the federal aviation trust fund. But Rep. Jerry Costello, D-Ill., who's likely to chair the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Aviation, has questioned whether the budget estimates are overly gloomy.

Budget Reform
Democrats vow to return to an old idea: the so-called "pay-as-you-go" rule, under which tax cuts must be offset by tax increases or entitlement-program cuts so as not to increase the budget deficit. Republicans abandoned the rule because it would have blocked favored tax cuts. Democrats also intend to reinstitute discretionary spending caps to set overall limits on appropriations bill spending. However, many Democrats will push for increased domestic spending on programs they feel have been neglected, which could conflict with spending caps. And they will be under pressure to rein in earmarked projects in appropriations bills, although Democratic appropriators have traditionally been big earmarkers.

Education
College affordability is one of the six legislative priorities set by House Democratic leaders. They want to pass a permanent college tuition tax deduction, increase Pell Grants, and reduce student-loan interest rates. Cutting interest rates is high on the agenda, but House Republicans complain that the Democrats' student-loan plans would cost $60 billion over five years. Democrats also want education spending increases in the No Child Left Behind Act, which is scheduled for reauthorization next year. Education committee leaders in both chambers have pledged bipartisan efforts to tinker with the law, but intraparty divisions could derail renewal.

Energy
House Democrats will promote clean energy sources, particularly ethanol and biodiesel, with an aim toward making the nation foreign-oil independent by 2020. Pelosi vows to overturn the oil industry's tax and royalty relief programs granted by the Republican-controlled Congress. Democrats will also block Republican efforts to allow oil and natural-gas drilling off U.S. coasts and to open new Alaskan lands to oil development. Internal party divisions are likely to prevent Democrats from mandating that carmakers produce more fuel-efficient vehicles.

Environment
Democrats will tackle global warming by pushing for cuts in emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. However, they'll face tough opposition from Republicans and from one of their own, Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., who's expected to chair the Energy and Commerce Committee and who is closely allied with the interests of automakers. Democrats will hold oversight hearings on White House programs governing Superfund toxic-waste cleanups, mercury controls on power plants, and logging and road building on undeveloped federal lands. They'll oppose administration efforts to expand oil and natural-gas development, logging, and mining on federal lands. Democrats will block Republican efforts to rewrite the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires environmental impact studies on federally funded projects.

Farm Bill
Congress next year must extend the 2002 farm bill or rewrite it. The 2002 bill was popular with farmers because it promised crop and dairy farmers payments when prices are low and put a floor under sugar prices. But its subsidies are unpopular with Bush, environmentalists, and developing countries. As chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn., would push for a bill extension, plus a permanent disaster aid program and programs to encourage ethanol and other biofuel production.

Health Care
A Democratic majority will boost the prospects of legislation that would give private medical providers some financial assistance so they can establish electronic medical records. House and Senate bills stalled in a conference committee this year, partly because Republicans want the private sector to make the initial investment. Meanwhile, Bush has indicated he may seek flat federal contributions when Congress reauthorizes the State Children's Health Insurance Program next year, but some Democrats want an increase to help states cover more people. In the lame-duck session, Congress is expected to halt impending cuts in Medicare payments to physicians. Next year, both parties are likely to seek more-permanent changes that base Medicare's physician payment formula on performance.

Homeland Security
Pelosi's first-100-hours pledge calls for the enactment of 41 security recommendations that the 9/11 commission made in 2004, half of which the commission has said weren't meaningfully implemented. Democrats want to pass security enhancements for air- and seaports, border crossings, and mass transit systems. They want all U.S.-bound containers and cargo screened at their point of origin; new safeguards at nuclear and chemical plants, and for food and water supplies; legislation to prevent "outsourcing" of port and mass transit management to foreign companies; and increases in training, staffing, and equipment for first responders. Democrats have pledged to secure the global supply of "loose" nuclear material by 2010.

Intelligence
The Republican House this year passed a bill to limit the Bush administration's terrorist-surveillance program, but lawmakers couldn't reconcile it with a Senate version. The debate will begin anew next year, with Democrats eager to rein in what they see as an illegal program and at the same time avoid accusations that they're soft on terrorism.

Immigration
Democratic House and Senate control strengthens immigration proponents' calls for guest-worker programs and a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. But gridlock is possible, given a lack of Democratic enthusiasm on the issue and Republican opposition to eased immigration rules. Legislation could move during the lame-duck session, before Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., turns over the Judiciary Committee gavel.

Iraq
A 25-page document called "New Direction for America" [PDF] calls for Congress to force Iraqis to take full responsibility for their country and for the U.S. to begin a phased troop withdrawal this year. That timeline may be tough, considering that the Democrats won't assume committee posts until 2007. And even with a Democratic Senate, the party needs 60 votes to overcome a likely Republican filibuster and force a legislative showdown with Bush, at which point the president could issue a veto. In another option, the anticipated recommendations of the Iraq Study Group could offer bipartisan cover for the administration to strike a deal that includes benchmarks, though probably not hard timelines, for troop withdrawals. Bush and congressional Democrats could then play "good cop, bad cop" in pressuring Iraq to reach a deal. The alternative is likely paralysis in Washington and a continued deterioration of conditions in Iraq that serve neither party well in 2008.

Judicial Nominations
Bush has the power to make judicial nominations, but Democrats hope their slim majority in the Senate will give them more influence over his choices. Given the close ideological divisions on the Supreme Court, Democrats will be emboldened to go to the wall to defeat controversial nominees. They may even resort to filibustering, knowing that Republicans are unlikely to pursue the "nuclear option," a move they threatened this year to forbid filibusters against judicial nominees.

Lobbying Reform
After railing against Republicans' "culture of corruption," House Democrats plan to make lobbying reform a top priority. Expect Pelosi to fulfill Democrats' first 100 hours pledge to vote to ban gifts and transportation from lobbyists, prohibit travel on corporate jets, double to two years the length of time before members and top staffers can lobby former offices, expand lobbying disclosure requirements, make conference committee meetings public, and impose tough penalties for government contracting fraud. While a reform-minded new majority may propel the legislation through the House, a closely divided Senate is unlikely to follow suit.

Medicare
As part of their New Direction for America plan, House and Senate Democrats vow to "fix the Medicare prescription drug program, putting seniors first by negotiating lower drug prices and ending wasteful giveaways to drug companies and HMOs." Democrats want to allow the Health and Human Services secretary to negotiate lower prices with pharmaceutical manufacturers. It's on Pelosi's list for the first 100 hours. Democrats came within six votes of Senate passage this year, boasting 12 Republican supporters. Democrats can also expect limited Republican help on legislation to allow drug imports from Canada, but less support for efforts to lower Medicare payments to private health plans. Democrats would use any savings to narrow the so-called "doughnut hole," a gap in coverage where participants pay the entire cost of their prescriptions.

Minimum Wage
Congressional Democrats have made a quick vote to raise the minimum wage a prominent campaign promise, and with sufficient Republican support, the only question is whether GOP leaders will beat them to the punch in the lame-duck session. Outgoing House Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, has hinted at a wage hike in a package of tax extenders that could be voted on during the session. The most popular Democratic proposal would raise the federal minimum wage, which has been $5.15 an hour for nearly a decade, to $7.25. After six states voted on November 7 to raise their minimum rates above $5.15 an hour, 24 now have higher minimums.

Retirement Security
Democrats say they consider retirement security a key part of their domestic agenda. When it comes to Social Security's long-term financing problem, this has mainly meant opposing Bush's still-favored idea of letting individuals divert Social Security payroll taxes to private investment accounts. Moreover, with Democrats united in opposition and the public unenthusiastic, Republicans' appetite for the president's plan has dwindled. Democrats are unlikely to propose or discuss fixes for the program's long-term financial shortfalls unless a chastened White House decides to change course. Instead, Democrats in both chambers want to increase retirement savings among lower- and middle-income families by encouraging direct contributions from payrolls and by essentially making existing tax credits for contributions to an IRA or 401(k) refundable to low-income families.

Science
Rep. Bart Gordon, D-Tenn., who's likely to chair the Science Committee, will seek legislation to aid science-related education. He'll have to massage numerous disagreements, though, even among Democrats, over intellectual property, education spending, and competing research priorities. Gordon also wants to pass bills that bolster scientists' contributions to federal decision-making and establish a civilian research agency modeled on the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

Stem Cells
Democrats will push legislation to expand federal funding of embryonic-stem-cell research. In July, Bush vetoed a bipartisan bill that could be revived next year. Even with a close margin in the Senate, Congress will likely be able to override another veto. Bush and social conservatives argue that the federal government should fund research on stem cells from adults only.

Taxes
Rangel has ruled out a blanket extension of the Bush tax cuts beyond 2010. But he's invited speculation that Democrats and the White House could quickly reach a deal to extend two middle-class tax breaks -- the child credit and marriage penalty relief. Rangel has been more coy about extending two business-supported cuts -- on capital gains and stock dividends -- indicating these will be more of a bargaining chip. There is less urgency among Democrats than among Republicans to permanently reduce the estate tax, which will be phased out in 2010 but is scheduled to return in 2011.

Telecommunications
"Net neutrality," an issue that arose in conjunction with this session's failed telecom overhaul, is likely to remain hot. Some technology companies, such as Google and eBay, want legislation that would prevent the Bells and cable service providers from charging higher rates for high-speed Internet and from posing obstacles to Web surfers' access to competing sites or services. Telecom companies spent millions in the 109th Congress to pass legislation overhauling the 1996 Telecommunications Act. The bill passed the House but not the Senate. Democrats are unlikely to take up a rewrite.

Trade
Democrats may limit extension of presidential trade-negotiating authority to the Doha Round of multilateral talks and the Korean Free Trade Agreement. And while organized labor will push for labor-rights protections, Democrats will emphasize bolstering congressional oversight and administration accountability in the negotiations. Only legislation establishing normal trade relations with Vietnam is likely to pass in a lame-duck session. Next year, Democrats will want stronger labor protections in a Peru Free Trade Agreement and will be leery of a Colombia free-trade deal.

David Baumann, Lisa Caruso, Brian Friel, Jerry Hagstrom, Shane Harris, James Kitfield, Julie Kosterlitz, Margaret Kriz, John Maggs, Neil Munro, Bruce Stokes, Bara Vaida, and Kirk Victor contributed to this report.

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