A New Agenda in Congress

Although a 1992 New York Times poll found that three quarters of the American public thinks government "for the people" means for a few special interests, recent weeks have played out in favor of the people.

One by one, the most powerful lobbies on Capitol Hill taking big hits. Even though PAC dominance never matched public conceptions, for years, such large groups as the National Rifle Association (NRA) and the tobacco lobby possessed enough political clout to stimy any legislative attack against them.

Now in a matter of weeks, amidst stiff lobbying assaults, Congress has approved several bills limiting where you can smoke and what you can shoot.

Last week, a House subcommittee passed the Smoke-Free Environment Act, thus moving on a bill that would outlaw smoking in most public areas, including almost all businesses. Recent legislation has banned cigarettes in public schools and army tanks. And the Food and Drug Administration announced several months ago that it would seek to regulate nicotine as an addictive drug.

Almost at the same time, weeks after approving the long-delayed Brady Bill, Congress approved a ban on 19 different assault weapons in a narrow, unexpected victory. Just one day prior to the vote, Congressional supporters and opponents agreed that the ban would fall 20 voter short.

It seems in Washington you just can't count on anything.

>All of these votes came in the face of sturdy opposition from lobbying groups. The tobacco industry, for example, spent between $2 million and $3 million dollars in the last national elections. Nevertheless, legislators clearly spent more time listening to public opinion polls than to high-paid lobbyists.

In part, it is changes in public opinion which have driven these issues. Americans have become less and less tolerant of smokers since the Environmental Protection Agency documented the dangers of second hand smoke. Cultural icon McDonald's, for example, recently banned smoking in its 1,400 company-owned restaurants and asked its franchisees to do the same.

Meanwhile, Americans are increasingly coming to regards crime as the nation's number one problem. The surge in gun-related violence (up 21 percent in 1992 alone) and daily reports on evening newscasts of children murdering each other, have severely undermined each other, have severely undermined the NRA's whining about individual rights. The rights of Americans to own weapons that can fire hundreds of bullets for minutes--for apparently no legitimate purpose--seems specious when waves of terror leave dozens dead in Texas or on a Long Island train.

In response, both houses of Congress have passed gigantic crime packages made up of dozens of measures in an attempt to stem the nation's unenviable reputation as a world leader in urban violence. Legislators' passions for the bill helped sweep in the ban on assault rifles as one more weapon in the "war on crime."

There is another difference in Washington, however. For all his other weaknesses, Bill Clinton has emerged as one of the most independent presidents of our time.

Today's Congress is so fractious that little gets done without strong leadership. Time and again, Clinton has confronted large private interest groups when he could have stepped aside and let Congress temporize the issues into oblivion.

In his successful fight to ratify the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Clinton alienated some to the Democratic party's biggest supporters by going head to head against the labor unions. The AFL-CIO donated $1 million to the election coffers of the Democratic National Party and threatened to withhold support to any Democrat, including the President, who supported the NAFTA treaty.

Mobilizing all his forces, Clinton campaigned for NAFTA for weeks, even sending Vice President Al Gore '69 to debate Ross Perot, NAFTA's popular opponent and the billionaire watchdog for the common man. In an effort of pure will, Clinton secured a last minute NAFTA-victory by indefatigably pursued wavering senators in the face of strong opposition within his own party. It's hard to recall George Bush ever putting himself in such a position.

Likewise, Clinton has been behind Congress's recent effort to take on the gun lobby, securing the passage of both of Brady Bill and the recent ban on assault rifles. In a much-publicized hunting trip, Clinton tried to bypass the NRA and explain to hunters the difference between a hunting rifle and a Saturday-night special.

Moreover, Bill and Hillary Clinton sent a message to America when they banned smoking from the White House. And while Clinton has yet to make anti-smoking regulations his priority, his decision to use cigarette taxes to help finance health care was a clear blow to the tobacco industry.

The tobacco and gun lobbies are down, but hardly out. The Smoke Free Environment Act for instance, still faces tough opposition in Congress. Just because tobacco executives wheeze before a Congressional subcommittee doesn't mean the bill will become law to the land.

And Clinton faces plenty of challenges before Americans decided whether he will have another term--the fate of health care and welfare reform will decide that. Nevertheless, the Clinton administration has been a welcome breath of fresh air in a city known more for its smoke-filled back rooms.