[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E11-E12]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

THE NEW CONGRESS

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HON. LEE H. HAMILTON

of indiana

in the house of representatives

Wednesday, January 4, 1995
Mr. HAMILTON. Mr. Speaker, I would like to insert my Washington
Report for Wednesday, November 16, 1994, into the Congressional Record.
The New Congress

The 104th Congress that convenes in January will have both
the House and Senate under Republican control for the first
time since 1955. That changed makeup as well as the current
mood of the country say a lot
[[Page E12]] about the congressional agenda and about how the
President will have to deal with Congress.

THE NEW MAKEUP OF CONGRESS

The shift of Congress to Republican control will have a
major impact on the legislative agenda.
I hope that one lesson for the new Congress is that both
parties recognize they have to treat each other with greater
respect. Power imposes responsibility, and it is much tougher
to govern than make calls from the bleachers. I hope one
result of the election is to make politicians think about
Congress as an institution and what needs to be done to
improve it.
Members of Congress also need to get a firmer grasp on the
difference between doing what is right for tomorrow and what
is politically popular for today. We have to get a longer-
term perspective into our politics. We must ask what our
country is going to be like when we reach the twenty-first
century, how we can keep the economy strong and prosperous,
and how we can assure that our children have jobs and
opportunity for personal fulfillment.

THE MOOD OF THE COUNTRY

The current mood of the country also shapes what issues
will be tackled by the 104th Congress.
The mood of the country is often described as anti-
government. My own judgement is that Americans primarily
oppose wasteful, duplicative, and corrupt government. They
are prepared to support government that delivers services
efficiently. They are saying that the growth of government
needs to be curbed and that the performance of government
needs to be improved. In a broader sense, Americans think the
country is losing its moral roots and that politicians are
not doing
anything about it. They want more attention to traditional
values as well as an improved level of government
performance.
Americans are alienated from government, their elected
representatives, and the political process. They feel a
deepening powerlessness and pessimism over the future of the
nation. As one Hoosier put it to me, ``I don't really feel
that the people of this country have any control over what is
going on.'' There is a feeling that the country has become
too big, too complicated, too diverse.
Again and again, Americans say they are uneasy about their
future and feel that they are not getting ahead. One
principal reason for this is that the job market is changing
in swift and unpredictable ways. People are no longer sure
that even with two incomes in the family they can maintain
their standard of living. Their feeling that things might get
worse and their deep sense of insecurity are very difficult
for a politician to deal with.
I find Americans distressed about many aspects of society
today: the amount of violence and vulgarity, the rise of
illegitimacy, the decay of responsibility, the loss of
traditional values. The real message is their fear of the
future. They are deeply concerned about crime, job security,
retirement income, and adequate health care. They express a
feeling that something is eating away at the security of
their lives.
Americans certainly support welfare reform and tax cuts.
They have a strong view that the tax burden on middle-class
families has risen steadily in recent decades and that there
has been a decline in real income. Americans are turned
inward and they worry about their own financial difficulties.
They have become less interested in foreign affairs and the
problems of the poor and the minorities in this country.
Congress has been dealing with many of the problems people
want addressed--the deficit, jobs, welfare reform, making
government leaner and more effective. We are not dealing with
those problems satisfactorily
from their standpoint. Often they are not aware of what has
been done.
Americans have become much more interested in local
concerns. Many of them feel the federal government is no
longer as important as it once was. They have redefined what
is really important to them. The closer politics is to their
home and their family, the more important it is to them. In
many communities, I find that infrastructure improvements and
personal security for their families are the dominant
concerns.
It is clear that policymakers need to sort out which roles
should be played by federal, state, and local governments and
which should be shared with the private sector. There is
certainly a strong feeling among the voters that the federal
government is simply trying to do too much.

the president's approach to congress

With the changes in the 104th Congress, the President
confronts two approaches about how to deal with his
legislative agenda. He can push ahead with comprehensive
changes in health care and welfare. He knows he will not
succeed, but he could put the blame on Congress for refusing
to pass his programs. The other approach is to try to work
out agreements with the Republicans.
I would urge the President to proceed on a path of
compromise. He will have to work to develop a spirit of bi-
partisanship. That will not be easy. In effect, he will have
to govern from the middle. But, of course, it takes two to
make a deal and the Republicans will want their agenda to be
given priority. If the President tries bi-partisanship and it
fails, he will have little choice but to go on the offensive.
My advice to the President is that he has to broaden his
political base by governing from the center out, not from the
left in. He needs to forge an alliance with the new members
of Congress who are very close to their constituents and in
tune with the new politics of the country.

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