EMERSON HAS ASSIGNMENT ON CONGRESSIONAL REORGANIZATION

Eighth District U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson begins a new term this week with seats on the same two major committees he served on last year and a new special assignment.

The Cape Girardeau Republican will remain on the House Agriculture Committee, moving up to the slot of second ranking Republican. He also retains his seat on the Public Works and Transportation Committee.

Both committees are essential to the 8th District, Emerson said, because agriculture is the major industry for Southeast Missouri and improved infrastructure is essential to building a strong economy.

The public works and transportation panel this year will be reauthorizing the Clean Water Act, and, as part of that process, will determine the definition for wetlands - a very controversial issue.

"I will likely be one of only two members of Congress that serve on both the agriculture committee and the public works committee and will be sort of a designated hitter to carry concerns of agriculture as it relates to wetlands," explained Emerson.

But the committee assignment that will dominate most of Emerson's efforts early in this session is a special one he received last year. He has been appointed to the Joint Committee on the Reorganization of Congress, which must issue a final report by the end of the year.

The panel has 14 senators and 14 representatives, equally split between the two parties.

"This is a very high agenda item with me," said Emerson. "Our task is to review the operations of Congress and ways to make Congress more efficient and restore its credibility with the citizenry. I'm very excited about this opportunity. I don't think Congress is as good as we'd like it to be, but not as bad as we are perceived to be."

Newly-elected and re-elected senators and all House members will be sworn in on Tuesday. A day later the committee will meet to get organized - an indication of priority status of the committee, Emerson believes.

"I anticipate we will have some rather intense activity," predicted Emerson.

He said the panel will likely spend the first four months of the year holding hearings in Washington and field hearings around the country to seek input. Emerson said the committee wants to hear from past and present members of Congress, a good cross-section of citizens, and from representatives of think tanks and interest groups that have ideas on improving the body.

"We want to indulge in the hearing process intensely and up front," said Emerson. "We feel that once everything is on the table, we will have a real job sifting through it all and coming up with a formal set of recommendations."

Emerson, a 12-year veteran of the House, has been a longtime advocate of reorganizing Congress and has some definite ideas he will contribute to the committee.

He advocates such things as a two-year budget cycle rather than the present annual budget process; having more work periods back in the district and less time in Washington; and setting aside periods when committees meet and the House is not in session, followed by periods when the House meets and committees do not.

"If Congress operated in a well-organized structure, there is no reason we should be in session all year long," said Emerson. "I think one of the problems we have with the economy is a lack of predictability on what Congress will do and when."

Emerson said often the business community is waiting for Congress to take action on things like tax codes and have difficulty planning. He believes having Congress in session less will limit the endless tinkering with legislation and give newly passed bills a chance to work.

Presently, Congress spends much of its time in session on Tuesday through Thursday, and then takes four days off for members to return to their district or work with committees. Emerson advocates being in session five days a week, and then having regular two-week-long work periods back in the district when Congress is not in session.

"It's a tough job and requires a lot of travel," said Emerson. "It takes a lot of staying in touch to be able to adequately reflect people's views."

By scheduling district work periods, Emerson said members of Congress will not be running back and forth between home and Washington all the time, which is expensive, time consuming, and is hard on members and their families.

During the last session, Emerson was involved in helping write the new federal highway bill as a member of the public works committee. This year he believes the panel will do some oversight work on how the new law is functioning. He also predicted some major construction on badly needed highways in his district and all over the state.

Emerson anticipates remaining on the same subcommittees this year: one dealing with surface transportation and one with riverways.

On the agriculture panel, Emerson said the focus will be on trade- related issues. Since the new farm law is in place and not scheduled to be rewritten until 1995, the committee will be doing basically oversight functions, Emerson said.

In the new Congress, Emerson will be the ranking Republican on a newly consolidated commodities subcommittee of cotton, rice, wheat, sugar, soybeans and feed grains. He will also continue as the ranking Republican on the Select Committee on Hunger.