The Leadership of George Bush: An Insider's View of the Forty-first President

Eight: Dealing with Congress

161 Eight : DEALING WITH CONGRESS T he success of any president’s domestic agenda depends on the support of Congress and the initiative a president demonstrates in presenting legislation. The relationship with Capitol Hill underscores a president’s negotiating skills and ability to form consensus and reach compromise—essential elements for the success of a legislative agenda. Successful legislative programs also reflect on presidents’ skill in fashioning public support for their programs and in parlaying that support into pressure against any opposition in Congress. Sununu believes that Bush’s domestic accomplishments will be judged favorably by history. “George Bush’s domestic results and performance [were] more than any other president[’s] in the postwar era except for Lyndon Johnson ’s Great Society legislation,” claims Sununu. The former chief of staff continues, “I am absolutely convinced that when history starts to do the scorecard, this president’s accomplishments on the domestic side will be seen to be as significant as what he was able to accomplish in leading the free world to respond in exactly the right way to the dissolution and the crumbling in the Soviet Union and to the international changes that he was the leader of during one of the most critical international periods in history.” Bush’s initiatives ranged over a wide gamut and included education, the environment, crime, energy, trade, civil rights, child care, agriculture, and others. Much of his legislation was forward looking, breaking new ground, as in the reform of child care. That legislation revolved around the principle 162 the leadership of george bush of parental choice and provided for the single largest increase in resources for poor families. During the campaign of 1988, Bush differed with his Democrat opponent, Michael Dukakis, on the issue of child care. Dukakis favored granting funds to child care providers, while Bush advocated tax credits, which gave parents a choice of leaving children with a provider or relatives. The latter approach fit Bush’s philosophy of maximizing individual choice and stemming the role of bureaucracy and government in dictating individual choices. After the election , Bush was successful in getting his bill passed. Other legislative action originating in the White House helped stabilize the savings and loan industry in the wake of its collapse, safeguarded depositors , and helped calm the financial markets. The Immigration Act of 1990 enhanced border enforcement, expanded the number of legal immigrants, and provided for adequate documentation for illegal workers. The HOPE Act—Home Ownership for People Everywhere—helped provide affordable housing. In education, Bush was able to provide the first national education goals when he convened a historic summit of the country’s governors in 1989 in Charlottesville, Virginia. Additional measures included the Clean Air Act amendments, which reduce acid rain, smog, and other types of air pollution; the Civil Rights Act of 1990; the Transportation Act of 1991, which provided $151 billion for the repair and construction of the nation’s roads, highways, and bridges; the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990; and the balanced budget agreement of 1990. Bush also put through a landmark farm bill in 1990 that was protective of conservation areas. Through that bill and by the creation of fifty-seven new wildlife refuges, Bush designated 500,000 acres as wetlands. He increased the acreage of parks, forests, wildlife refuges, and other public lands by more than 1.5 million acres. Underscoring his own commitment to the environment and recognizing the need to tackle this issue in a concerted and a long-range approach, Bush proposed the creation of a Cabinet-level Department of the Environment. In the wake of the oil spill caused by the Exxon Valdez tanker off the coast of Alaska in March 1989, the administration prosecuted Exxon and championed the legislation that placed liability on tanker operators and instituted the requirement that all new tankers be built with double hulls. In an effort to reduce ocean pollution, Bush provided $400 million per year to major cities such as Los Angeles and New York for secondary sewage treatment. dealing with congress 163 He also enacted a ten-year moratorium on drilling for oil off the coasts of California, North Carolina, Oregon, and Washington, and in the Florida Everglades and Georges Bank, off the coast of New England. Other initiatives included bans on large-scale driftnet fishing, a ban on ivory imports, and, under the Basel Convention, a ban...