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Historic Obligation. More aggressive members of Congress, many of them youngish liberals, want Capitol Hill to act more vigorously on urban ills, poverty, pollution of the environment, education and health services, and many other problems. For activist Democrats, particularly, a cautious Republican Administration seemed to offer an opportunity to make both an independent record and political points. When he ousted Louisiana's Russell Long as Senate Majority Whip in January, Ted Kennedy talked of the Democrats' "obligation to the country to present the best possible programs in keeping with our historic role as the party of progress and change." No such programs have materialized. Kennedy's viewpoint has considerable support, but not among the majority of committee chairmen, who retain much of the legislative power. One Democratic chairman, Carl Perkins of the House Education and Labor Committee, attempted to take an independent stand on an important education bill, extending the authorization for federal assistance from two years to five. A coalition of Republicans and conservative Democrats easily defeated the move.
Dirksen observes that Congress lacks not only White House guidance but a sense of popular direction. "A lot of people," says he, "don't seem to know whether they want anything from Congress right now or not." Until they find out, Republicans are generally content to wait on the President, while many Democrats are satisfied to defend existing domestic programs.
On Tranquilizers. Even when Nixon has made specific recommendations, Congress has been slow to move. He has proposed a social security benefit increase and a fiscal package that includes retention of the income tax surcharge. He has sent up measures on law enforcement, pornography control, Selective Service reform, foreign aid, Post Office reorganization and Electoral College revision. Some of these and other proposals came relatively late, after Congress' Easter recess in April, and are just getting into the committee machinery. But on the social security issue, House Ways and Means Chairman Wilbur Mills has already let it be known that Nixon's bill is too small and that the whole question should be deferred until next year.
Although Republican Representative Silvio Conte of Massachusetts may be correct when he says that "the boys act now as if they've been on tranquilizers," there is some ferment beneath the surface. In the House, liberal Democrats are attempting to make their party caucus a policymaking body. If they are successful, the liberals would substitute the caucus for the nominal leadership as the party's principal instrument of navigation. On the senior Democratic level, there is quiet talk of organizing a Senate-House leadership group that would attempt to set the party's course for both bodies. For the time being, informal fortnightly meetings are contemplated.