We're Safe for 5 Weeks

I just strolled into the newsroom kitchen and saw that the light on the capitol dome is out. That means Congress is not in session. They are leaving town for five weeks of campaigning. Here's a summary from the Associated Press of what the Congress did and didn't do.

What Congress did: --Congress sent President Bush a bill allowing military commissions to prosecute terrorism suspects with legislation that also spells out violations of the Geneva Conventions. --The Senate sent Bush a $448 billion defense spending bill that includes $70 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. --The House and Senate passed and sent to Bush a nearly $35 billion homeland security spending bill, which included an overhaul of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and $1.2 billion for increased border fencing to discourage illegal immigration. --Senate Democrats blocked a final vote on sending Bush a bill that would make it a crime for anyone but a parent to take a girl across state lines to obtain an abortion. The bill, which also would subject physicians who performed abortions in those cases to criminal penalties, was passed Tuesday by the House. --The Senate authorized a $1.5 billion (euro1.2 billion) program to create new national heritage areas and tourism projects. --The House passed and the Senate deemed as passed a bill to make 361 seaports safer from biological, chemical or nuclear attacks. A Senate vote was expected. Democrats complained it shorted security for railroads and mass transit. Republicans added a measure to restrict Internet gambling. --The Senate confirmed Mary Peters, an advocate of privatizing highways, to succeed Norman Mineta as transportation secretary. Mineta, the only Democrat in Bush's Cabinet, resigned in July. --Congress sent Bush legislation authorizing a 2.2 percent pay increase for the military. --The House passed a bill giving landowners easier access to federal courts to challenge environmental and safety regulations affecting the value of their property. It stands little chance of passing in the Senate --The Senate sent to Bush a bill to build 700 miles of new fencing along the 2,000-mile (3,200-kilometer) U.S.-Mexico border. The House passed this bill two weeks ago. --The House passed and sent to Bush a bill including North Korea in a nonproliferation law that provides for sanctions against foreigners who supply weapons technology to Iran and Syria. The Senate passed it in July in response to a missile launched by North Korea. ------ What Congress didn't do: --The House and Senate could not reconcile their differences over legislation allowing the warrantless wiretapping of terrorism suspects in time to deliver a bill before the election. The White House may get the authorization in a postelection session. --Spending bills for annually funded government programs other than defense and security remained unfinished, delaying planned spending increases for veterans' health care. --Congress did not renew a host of tax breaks that expired at the end of 2005, including deductions for tuition, teachers' classroom expenses and state and local sales taxes, as well as a research and development credit for businesses. --The House and Senate could not resolve their differences over comprehensive immigration and border security bills passed in each chamber. --Efforts to merge different House and Senate bills expanding offshore drilling failed. --The House and Senate responded to lobbying scandals by passing ethics bills, but they couldn't reconcile their differences and send an overall measure to the White House for signing. --New York and New Jersey senators blocked Senate action authorizing $2.1 billion for victims of HIV/AIDS because it would shift aid from urban to rural areas. The House passed it Thursday night.