back at 2007

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Democrats rolled into DC last January with the verve of any party that's been waiting to get back in power for a decade. 


But their hopes to kick some legislative butt got bogged down by Ground Hog Day head-butting over Iraq and a weak majority in the Senate (where a record 62 bills were filibusterd). A couple of chances of passing major bipartisan legislation - for example on immigration reform - were handicapped by the president's increasingly faltering political capital.


Even so, not nothing got done. Here cJ recaps the low-to-moderate amount of work Congress accomplished in '07.


Education. 


As part of its kick-off campaign, Dems kept true to their promise to throw more support to families struggling with <a href="/node/161">college tuition</a>. With less fanfare, Congress also renewed the <a href="/node/116">Head Start</a> bill, <a href="http://www.opencongress.org/bill/110-h1429/show">HR 1429</a>, continuing support for pre-school programs for low income kids.


Energy &amp; the Environment. 


Congress managed to pull off an <a href="/node/168">energy bill</a> in the last moments of '07, passing a bill to bring up gas mileage standards, phase out the incandescent bulb (along with other efficiency mandates) and boost biofuel production.


Government. 


Left over from 05's Jack Abramoff scandals, <a href="/node/174">lobbyist and earmark reform</a> efforts wrapped up this year with a bill ordering greater disclosure of lobbyist activities and earmark supporters. 


Health. 


An attempt to widen coverage of <a href="/node/169">health care for low income kids</a>, the SCHIP program, got tripped up, with Dems in the end only managing to keep support for the current number of kids in SCHIP. 


Housing. 


With the <a href="/node/254">mortgage market</a> on shaky ground, Congress started feeling out ways to help families who were defaulting on their sub-prime loans and to shore up the credit market. The only bill that got signed into law, <a href="http://www.opencongress.org/bill/110-h3648/show">HR 3648</a>, would keep families from being taxed on any mortgage debt they were forgiven (which is normally taxed). Congress got half way through passing <a href="http://www.opencongress.org/bill/110-h1852/show">HR 1852</a> and <a href="http://www.opencongress.org/bill/110-h3915/show">HR 3915</a>, aimed at opening up more loans through the Federal Housing Administration while keeping brokers from pushing risky mortgages.


Intelligence. 


After griping for months about the administration's overly-nosey <a href="/node/212">NSA wiretap program</a>, Congress passed a six month (sort of emergency-ish) bill giving the president wide latitude to listen in on foreign phone calls through - and to - the US. Congress will probably rein the bill in when it gets re-upped in February, 2008. 


Iraq. 


Although it got the greatest play time in Congress, efforts to set a <a href="/node/167">timeline for troop withdrawal from Iraq</a> went no where. The farthest Democrats got was to set benchmarks for &quot;the surge&quot; and demand a September report on the war's progress, <a href="http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:H.R.2206.ENR:">HR 2206</a>, which they got - but which led only to more stalemating over withdrawal.


Jobs. 


Also a central part of their 07 kick-off campaign, Dems bumped up the national<a href="/node/176"> minimum wage</a> to $7.25 an hour (phased in over a couple of years). 


National Security. 


Congress wrapped up a lot of lingering security business, passing a package of <a href="/node/169">measures recommended by the 9/11 Commission</a> and tightening the oversight of <a href="/node/143">infrastructure sales to foreign owned companies</a>. 


Trade. 


Dems brought a bunch of free trade deals back to the drawing board - to make them more labor and enviro friendly - but only passed one, with Peru - <a href="http://www.opencongress.org/bill/110-h3688/show">HR 3688</a>, in the end. One of the biggest things to happen in trade is what didn't happen; that is, the president's &quot;fast track&quot; trade authority ran out this year without congressional renewal.



Other stuff 


Congress extended a Terrorism Risk Insurance bill, <a href="http://www.opencongress.org/bill/110-h2761/show">HR 2761</a>, passed a water works bill, <a href="http://www.opencongress.org/bill/110-h1495/show">HR 1495</a>, okayed local divestment from Sudan, <a href="http://www.opencongress.org/bill/110-s2271/show">S 2271</a>, made it harder for the mentally ill to buy guns, <a href="http://www.opencongress.org/bill/110-h2640/show">HR 2640</a>, passed a bill to boost US competiveness in science and tech, <a href="http://www.opencongress.org/bill/110-h2272/show">HR 2272</a>, reauthorized the Food and Drug Administration, <a href="http://www.opencongress.org/bill/110-h3580/show">HR 3580</a>, extended middle class exemptions from the Alternative Minimum Tax, <a href="http://www.opencongress.org/bill/110-h3996/show">HR 3996</a>, and kept the internet tax free, <a href="http://www.opencongress.org/bill/110-h3678/show">HR 3678</a>. 



Half way there 


A number of bills got through the House and/or Senate but never made it into law including: a massive <a href="/node/158">farm bill</a>, a reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration, <a href="http://www.opencongress.org/bill/110-h2881/show">HR 2881</a>, a patent reform bill, <a href="http://www.opencongress.org/bill/110-h1908/show">HR 1908</a>, a wage discrimination bill, <a href="http://www.opencongress.org/bill/110-h2831/show">HR 2831</a>, a toy safety act, <a href="http://www.opencongress.org/bill/110-h4040/show">HR 4040</a>, an intelligence reauthorization bill (which also limits torture), <a href="http://www.opencongress.org/bill/110-h2082/show">HR 2082</a>, a measure to free up Section 8 housing, <a href="http://www.opencongress.org/bill/110-h1851/show">HR 1851</a>, a &quot;card check&quot; bill that would suppot unionizing, <a href="http://www.opencongress.org/bill/110-h800/show">HR 800</a>, a stem cell research bill, <a href="http://www.opencongress.org/bill/110-s5/show">S 5</a>, a bill limiting who can own an Industrial Loan Company, <a href="http://www.opencongress.org/bill/110-h698/show">HR 698</a>, a measure to rein in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, <a href="http://www.opencongress.org/bill/110-h1427/show">HR 1427</a>, a sexual orientation hate crimes bill, <a href="http://www.opencongress.org/bill/110-h1592/show">HR 1592</a>, an expansion of assistance for workers laid off because of free trade, <a href="http://www.opencongress.org/bill/110-h3920/show">HR 3920</a>, a bill to boost affordable housing, <a href="http://www.opencongress.org/bill/110-h2895/show">HR 2895</a>, and a flood insurance bill, <a href="http://www.opencongress.org/bill/110-h3121/show">HR 3121</a>.

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