By Charles Babington
Tuesday, September 26, 2006

It's hardly a news flash that Congress procrastinates. But even by its own foot-dragging standards, the 109th Congress has pushed an extraordinary amount of unfinished business into this week, its final stretch of legislative work before the Nov. 7 elections.

Republican leaders in both houses share a handful of priorities, starting with a bill to set standards for interrogating and prosecuting terrorism suspects. They also seem determined to approve spending bills for the military and homeland security, and to finance construction of a fence along 700 miles of the Mexican border before adjourning Friday or Saturday.

Even these measures are not guaranteed to pass, however, and beyond them stand more than a dozen long-debated initiatives that are in limbo at best, in peril at worst. They include proposals that once seemed strong candidates for enactment: reforming lobbying practices, expanding offshore drilling, tightening port security, regulating warrantless wiretaps and extending several tax breaks for businesses.

Items left unfinished next weekend will have a final chance in the legislative session scheduled to begin Nov. 13, a week after the elections. But the "lame duck" session's political atmosphere is unpredictable, and it could become a graveyard even for bills with substantial support. If Democrats make strong gains, as many predict they will -- and especially if they win enough seats to control the House in the 110th Congress, which will convene in January -- then Democratic senators will have added incentives to use stalling tactics to thwart legislation they dislike.

For now, Democrats are attacking the GOP leadership's failure to complete work on the fiscal 2007 budget, most of the annual appropriations bills and a host of other high-profile items. "Like children at the end of the school year, Republicans are trying to cram all the things they haven't done into the last week before they hit the campaign trail," said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) opened yesterday's Senate session by telling colleagues that they face "a lot of legislation that has been produced over time." He added, "It will be a challenge to consider all of that legislation" this week.

Some major initiatives were abandoned weeks ago, including a proposed guest-worker program and paths to legal status for many of the nation's estimated 12 million illegal immigrants. Also given little hope of passage are much-discussed bids to raise the minimum wage and to sharply limit the estate tax.

Even this week's top legislative priority, the military detainees measure, faces some resistance in both parties. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) wants to amend it to allow captives to challenge the legality of their detention through habeas corpus appeals. Lawmakers predict the amendment will fail.

From there, nearly everything looks problematic to some degree. Supporters of the border fence were scrambling to secure Senate votes yesterday. The homeland security appropriations bill is weighted by disputes over chemical plant safety requirements and restrictions on importing prescription drugs. A Defense Department policy bill is plagued by quarrels over court security, immigration and military chaplains. A port security bill is in limbo because the Senate added more than $4.5 billion in rail and mass transit programs that the House opposes.

Elsewhere, the clock is ticking on John R. Bolton's tenure as United Nations ambassador. Unless the Senate confirms his nomination by the time the 109th Congress adjourns for good, his recess appointment will expire. The nomination is stuck in the Foreign Relations Committee with little prospect of moving this week.

Also unresolved is a proposal to allow the United States to export nuclear technology to India for the first time in years. Similarly gasping for air is legislation that would block a 5.1 percent cut in Medicare payments to doctors, scheduled to start Jan. 1.

Frist called yesterday for a week of high energy and cooperation, saying, "We have a very small window to complete our business over the next six days."

But Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) sounded less than accommodating. "We have three days left, and a list of things a mile long to do," he said. "Why? Because Republicans are busy campaigning, not leading."