Democrats 0 for 6 in Congress; agenda sidetracked by Iraq war

None of the elements of the newly minted Democrats’ congressional agenda have made it to President Bush’s desk, and the prospects of signature bills such as federal funding for stem-cell research or homeland-security improvements becoming law any time soon are doubtful.

Much of the Democratic agenda — dubbed “Six for ‘06” — sailed out of the House with bipartisan support, but all of it has stalled in the Senate as leaders scramble to deal with the Iraq war.

“I don’t think they’ve gotten anything done,” House Minority Leader John A. Boehner of Ohio said of the Democrats. “How many bills have they sent to the president? None? Somewhere around there.”

A minimum-wage increase, which seems the most likely of the Democratic plans to get Mr. Bush’s signature, has not yet been sent to the president because House and Senate leaders are still bickering over its specifics.

House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland last week grumbled over what he called a “slowdown” in the senate, while acknowledging his counterpart in that chamber has an uphill battle to pass legislation in a closely divided body.

“I would like to have passed them all by now,” he said. “I’m frustrated by it, yes.”

Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada responded later that day: “Steny is my friend, and he hasn’t spent much time in the Senate. They [the House] have expedited procedures on everything.”

Mr. Reid noted Democratic successes in his chamber, adding, “I think we’ve done really, really well.”

Yesterday, the Senate leader said his chamber will consider a bill to federally fund stem-cell research the second week of April, which is “as soon as we can,” given all the other items on the agenda.

“We’re moving down the road on what we’ve set out to do,” he said.

However, Mr. Bush has promised to veto the stem-cell bill, identical to one passed by both chambers last year under the Republican Congress.

A bill that has passed both chambers — implementing the remaining recommendations of the September 11 commission — also has drawn the president’s ire. The measure that overwhelmingly passed the House triggered a veto threat from Mr. Bush when the Senate attached a provision allowing airport screeners to collectively bargain. Republicans say they will back the president, making it impossible for either chamber to override a veto.

Mr. Hoyer seemed especially irritated that his signature issue, increasing the minimum wage to $7.25 per hour, has been bogged down as the House and Senate negotiate a possible tax break for small businesses to offset the cost of raising the wage.

“I cannot understand why anybody would want to trap hardworking people in the richest country on the face of the earth working 40 hours a week in a framework of 1997 wages,” he said.

Senate Republicans have attached the tax package to their chamber’s version of the bill. The House passed a $1.3 billion tax cut for small businesses as a compromise, but the two chambers must still come up with a final conference report before the bill can be sent to Mr. Bush.

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