New study suggests a 'healthier' Congress

WASHINGTON — The new Congress is showing early signs that lawmakers are working more and allowing more input from both parties in the Senate, a new report finds.

"I think it's fair to say we've made a little progress this year," said former Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota, a cofounder of the Bipartisan Policy Center, which is examining the workings of Congress. "I'm encouraged by what we found, and I'm certainly encouraged to the degrees there's been more open debate and consideration of issues."

The center on Monday will launch the Healthy Congress Index, a new quarterly report tracking various metrics on the legislative branch, including days in session, amendment votes, filibusters and others.

The criteria are based on recommendations offered last June by the center's Commission on Political Reform, which argued that a breakdown of the legislative process had helped fuel polarization over time.

The initial report shows this Congress narrowly spent more days in session in the first quarter on legislative business than the previous two. In the Senate, with a new Republican majority, some 202 amendments — 97 from Republicans and 105 from Democrats — were considered either by roll call or voice vote, or by unanimous consent. In the first quarter of the previous Congress, 134 amendments had been considered.

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BPC member and former senator Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, said the amendment process in particular is "extremely vital to the institution" finding legislative solutions and encouraging across-the-aisle relationships.

"Amendments are bridge builders," she said. "They give both sides a chance to work together and compromise."

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, have pledged to refocus the legislative process around "regular order," the process by which legislation is intended to move through Congress. That means a process driven by committees and with more open debate, particularly in the Senate where minority party rights are emphasized.

"We're not through getting back to normal," McConnell told USA TODAY in a recent interview. Specifically, he wants to see a thriving committee process. To that end, recent bills on Iran, cyber-security, and trade that are going through the committee process are all likely to hit the floor in the coming weeks.

"It honors the work of all 100 people who live here," he said.

Part of the reason for Senate Republicans' early success is that Democrats have engaged in the process rather than staging filibusters or using stalling tactics, according to Adam Jentleson, a spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

He said the same courtesy was rarely extended to Democrats by a GOP minority. "It is good for the Senate to have a minority willing to participate in the process and not just grind the institution to a halt," Jentleson said.

While some progress is apparent, it's too soon to determine whether this Congress will be more productive and less partisan than its recent predecessors. The report also concludes that House debate remains too constricted, although the House by design is a majority-driven body.

And despite signs of cooperation and more work days, the public doesn't seem impressed yet. A Suffolk University/USA TODAY poll taken this month found Congress had an approval rating of 11%.

Former Senate Republican leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., who co-chaired the Commission on Political Reform with Daschle, said they want the index to serve both lawmakers, who can use it to self-evaluate, and the public, so they can hold Congress accountable.

"I want the American people to know if they are producing results, and staying in session more and doing their job — and they'll get the credit for it," Lott said, "And if they're not doing that, I want the American people to know that, too."

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