Congress Convenes Lame-Duck Session

The so-called lame-duck session is the last opportunity for lawmakers to enact legislation before newly elected officials meet Jan. 7. "Lame duck" refers to legislators who still hold office after a replacement is chosen but who hold limited power.

Congressmen recessed in October to devote time to campaigns for the Nov. 5 election and now are meeting to resolve unfinished business, said UNC political science Professor Thad Beyle. "They didn't get everything done that they needed to."

Beyle said lame-duck sessions have historical significance as a post-election session because legislators are often less concerned about pleasing their constituents. "They can come back to pass things they were afraid to before elections," he said.

Democrats hold the majority over Republicans in the Senate 50-49, but Republicans will take over in 2003 with a 51-47 edge. One member is Independent, and one seat remains undecided. Republicans also gained a slightly stronger hold in the House.

Drew Lyman, press secretary for Rep. Cass Ballenger, R-N.C., said he expects the main issue of the lame-duck session to be creation of a new U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

President Bush has urged congressmen to create the new Cabinet-level agency before the end of the year.

The House, already under Republican control, passed a bill to establish a Department of Homeland Defense in July, but the proposal was stalled in the Senate because Democrats wanted to make sure department employees would receive adequate job protection, Lyman said.

Congressional leaders agreed Tuesday to begin pushing through Congress this week a bill to create the department.

Congressional officials said they expected the Republican-run House to approve the bill Wednesday while the Democratic-controlled Senate will begin debating it the same day. The legislation could be voted on next week.

Beyle said Republicans are confident the bill inevitably will pass because they will be in the majority next year in the Senate.

But Beyle said it is difficult to predict how both parties will act in the upcoming session. "In January, you'll have a whole new set of actors, and you don't know how they will act," he said. "One could guess that they'd side with the president and the issues he pushes."

Beyle said he thinks some Republicans also might have concerns about the new department. "Not everyone acts in a knee-jerk reaction."

Other key issues on the session agenda include 11 federal budget spending bills.

The bills were made into continued resolutions because the federal fiscal year began Oct. 1, but they expire Nov. 22, said Mike Briggs, spokesman for Sen. John Edwards. But Briggs added that continuing resolutions can be passed that would allow the bills to be considered next session.

He added that he thinks Congress should be able to pass everything on its agenda. "If they want to walk and chew gum at the same time, they can do it."

The State & National Editor can be reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.