Congress has much work to do.

• Author: Shepler, Bob
• Position: WashingtonInsights

As Congress returns from its six-week summer recess, it will be faced with completing work on several unfinished items and some new ones. These issues will keep the legislative body occupied for the rest of the Congressional session, currently scheduled to end Oct. 1. Congressional leaders have given themselves about four weeks to complete action on the following:

Appropriations. Of course, there are the 13 annual spending bills that must be passed to keep the government open and functioning, but in the current political climate, even that will prove a challenge. Congress was only able to complete action on one of these bills before the recess, though the House has passed all but three of the measures. The Senate, on the other hand, has held hearings on only three of the bills and passed just one. The combination of the short timetable, the amount of work remaining and the election climate raise the probability that a catch-all, or omnibus, bill will be used to pass the spending bills.

9/11 Commission Report. Congress will also be faced with doing work on the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. Senator Kerry made the Commission report a campaign issue by pledging that he would pass all of its recommendations, which some observers believe forced the Bush administration to act on some of them. In fact, Congress held several hearings during the summer break on the 9/11 Commission's report and seems poised to respond legislatively.

While President Bush has backed the creation of a National Intelligence Director, Congress must authorize creation of the position, as well as determine whether the new position will be independent of the administration or whether it will be a cabinet post. Once the post is created, the president will nominate a person to fill that role, who must be confirmed by the Senate--a process that is sure to be full of partisanship.

International Tax Reform Legislation. Work remains on legislation that would repeal international tax law that was deemed an illegal trade subsidy by the World Trade Organization last year. As an incentive for the U.S. government to pass new legislation, the WTO has been fining domestic manufacturers on their exports since March of this year. That fine structure, which began at 5 percent, increases by 1 percent every month that action is not completed, meaning that if Congress does not act before recessing for the year, companies will be faced with fines of 16 percent by February...