Congress will have full plate when it returns to Washington

Richard Fulton

Labor Day is just around the corner and that means that the annual migration of members of Congress will take place.

They have taken the month of August off to meet and greet constituents, raise money for their 2016 campaign, and attend state and local fairs.

When they get back into town, they will be met by a bevy of issues that have to be addressed without delay. That is a tall order for this Congress since delay has been their motto for the seven years of the Obama administration.

The first big issue will be the agreement to subvert Iran’s nuclear weapons program.

The deal made between a reluctant Iranian government and five major world powers — note five powers, not just Obama for the United States. Republicans argue that a better deal could be made and that Iran will cheat regardless.

At least two years of hard negotiations led to the agreement, if we do not trust our president and the heads of Great Britain, France, Russia, China, and Germany, when they all agree, then we must give up on all diplomacy since these are the major players in all of world diplomacy.

Add the U.N. and the International Atomic Energy Agency to the mix and there is broad agreement in the world that this is a good deal.

We’ll hear the arguments made for it and against it when Congress takes up a bill to disapprove of the agreement. If they vote to approve that bill, Obama will veto it. Congress will need a two-thirds vote to override. Increasingly, Obama appears to have the votes to defend the agreement.

The second issue facing Congress is the budget. Funding for the government expires Sept. 30 if congress does not act. Government will shut down. Great way to run a railroad, but none of the appropriations bills to run government this year, yes this year, have been passed. The fiscal year began July 1.

All kinds of issues will be placed on bills (or another “continuing resolution” that allows government to spend until budgets are passed) by members of Congress who care only about their pet project.

Key amongst these special issue obstructionists will be the Republican opponents of Planned Parenthood. They want to defund this organization and will even shut down government if they do not get their way (or so a Sen. Ted Cruz has threatened).

Although the rate of increase of the national debt has decreased more than any time since 2008, the fear is that the national debt limit, set by law, will be met before the end of the year.

The improved economy has improved the income of the federal government, however, so that the debt ceiling deadline may be postponed until next year.

Remember, this is the bill, to raise the debt ceiling, that once before shut down government when Republicans refused to let a vote be taken on the bill for weeks.

The last major issue to face the legislators is a bill that would provide long-term financing of the federal highway programs. Money is about to run out on these programs because it is funded by the federal gas tax and that tax has not been raised in more than 20 years.

That means that states cannot plan their highway spending into the future, nor can contractors or highway workers. No one knows what next year will bring. And that means curtailing the expensive programs needed to repair or rebuild major highways and bridges.

America’s infrastructure is deteriorating at an alarming rate. While Rome burns, the legislators fiddle.

This has major consequences for safety and for the transportation of commerce. This should be a no-brainer.

Welcome back to work Congress.

Don’t let our shudders at the thought slow you down.