Success in '06 may be harder for lawmakers

WASHINGTON -- Despite the messy and chaotic end to this year's session of Congress, Acting House Majority Leader Roy Blunt said he is proud of the House's many successes.

But the Missouri Republican warned that it will be hard to duplicate that record next year.

"I think it's unlikely the list of legislative accomplishments next year will match this year's, because so many of the things we did in 2005 completed six and eight years of work," Blunt said.

His list of achievements in-cludes passing the largest highway bill in history, approving the Central American Free Trade Agreement, revising the nation's bankruptcy laws and passing an energy reform bill.

Historically, the pace of legislative action slows in an election year, when lawmakers are focused more on polls than substantive action.

That may be compounded in 2006 if the discord of the final weeks of December carries over. GOP leaders had to contend with party moderates refusing to back new oil drilling in the Arctic -- a centerpiece of President Bush's energy plan -- and others blocking renewal of the Patriot Act over civil liberties concerns.

An even bigger distraction, however, is the question of GOP leadership. With Rep. Tom DeLay temporarily stepping down as majority leader to face money laundering charges in Texas, Blunt could be auditioning for a permanent role in the post. Blunt insists DeLay will beat the charges, but there may be calls for a new leader if the case drags.

Blunt said one of his priorities for next year is "extension of tax policies that I believe have brought us significant economic recovery and opportunity."

He also wants to move forward with immigration reform and complete work on a bill to protect company pension plans. The measure passed the House and Senate in different forms and must be resolved in conference.

Politics will be on Republican Sen. Jim Talent's mind next year as he faces a tough re-election challenge from Missouri State Auditor Claire McCaskill, a Democrat. Several early polls have shown the race to be close, though Talent is well ahead of McCaskill in the money race.

"We've been so busy with our agenda in Congress, we have not thought extensively about that," Talent said of the upcoming race.

Talent and five other Republicans recently wrote a letter to President Bush opposing billions of dollars in spending cuts the Pentagon is planning over the next five years.

"I want us to sustain defense spending at the projected level," said Talent, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. "I certainly don't want us to reduce defense spending because of a budget decision rather that a military analysis."

Talent will continue to back a measure to combat methamphetamine abuse by restricting the sale of over-ther-counter cold medicines used to make the drug. The bill came close to passing this month and Talent said he wants to "get it over the finish line" next year.

For Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., his top priority is making sure Missouri gets the federal funds it needs from next year's spending bills for transportation and housing. Bond was a major architect of the 2005 highway bill that brought the state more than $1.3 billion in new highway funding.

"Making sure Missouri has a modern transportation infrastructure is important to jobs and the future economic health of our state," Bond said.

He also plans to continue efforts to reform intelligence operations and revive a measure that would upgrade locks to speed barge traffic on the upper Mississippi River.

The war in Iraq will continue to dominate the congressional agenda as Bush begins withdrawal of an undisclosed number of U.S. combat troops next year.

"I hope to pass the security of Iraq over to the Iraqi forces and redeploy our forces, having left behind a secure and stable Iraqi parliament," said Missouri Rep. Ike Skelton, ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee. "Hopefully we'll be able to drastically reduce our forces there."

Skelton has proposed a plan to redeploy one U.S. brigade for every three Iraqi security force brigades deemed capable of defending the country.

Closer to home, Skelton looks to help Missouri farmers concerned about possible flooding from a controversial "spring rise" that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans next year for the Missouri River. The release of water from upstream reservoirs is supposed to encourage spawning by an endangered fish, the pallid sturgeon.

But Skelton said federal crop insurance won't cover flood losses caused by from a man-made spring rise. He and Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, R-Mo., are seeking a legislative remedy.