RETIRING CONGRESS

Congressional retirement announcements are coming so often that they can hardly find enough rooms for the swan-song press conferences. At most recent count, no fewer than 12 U.S. senators and a couple of dozen congressmen and women have announced their plans to depart Capitol Hill rather than stand for re-election. The number of Senate retirements, in particular, is the highest since the pivotal election of 1896.

Some commentators bemoan the loss of leaders of enormous stature, senators such as Sam Nunn of Georgia (24 years), Bill Bradley of New Jersey (18 years), Nancy Kassebaum of Kansas (18 years), Alan Simpson of Wyoming (18 years) and Mark Hatfield of Oregon (30 years). Others will shed no tears, seeing these departures as natural events opening the door for the new blood and the new approaches that are to be welcomed in the life of a democracy.

On the House side, the departure of longtime Democratic Rep. Pat Schroeder of Colorado (24 years) cheers conservatives nationwide, while liberals look longingly for GOP retirees. Trouble is, there aren't many. Most of the retirements are among Democratic members, especially the dwindling band of conservative southern Democrats who will need Endangered Species Act protection any day now.

The huge number of Democratic departures reflects, in part, their loss of majority status in the 1994 elections, a trend that intensified this year with defections and party-switching announcements. In the 13 months since the 1994 election, two senators have joined five House members in switching from the Democrats to the GOP. This is the highest number of party switches since the disintegration of the Whig Party during the 1850s.

The departure of moderate Republicans such as Sen. Kassebaum and outright liberal Republicans such as Sen. Hatfield, who voted against the balanced-budget amendment, will almost certainly mean a more conservative Senate after the 1996 election. Perhaps then voters will see passage of measures such as the balanced budget favored so overwhelmingly in every poll.