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Botched farm bill embarrasses Democrats
By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- It was Congress' version of "the dog ate my homework."
An entire 34-page section of the farm bill vanished without a trace on its way to becoming law, and red-faced House Democrats gave the reason: No one proofread the parchment it was printed on.
"OK, so we made a mistake," said Rep. Steny H. Hoyer, D-Md., the majority leader. "The bill was not whole."
Republicans cried foul, calling for an investigation.
"We talk to school groups (about) how a bill becomes a law. This is not the way it is done," fumed Rep. David Dreier, R-Calif.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., was livid, too.
"Uncustomarily crude," she said of her reaction upon learning of the foul-up, declining to elaborate.
It wasn't exactly a constitutional crisis -- or even a juicy conspiracy. Just an embarrassing mistake that could take weeks to correct, and one that marred what should have been a triumphant victory over President Bush for Democrats.
It meant that most -- but not all -- of the $290 billion agriculture measure Congress meant to pass was enacted Thursday after both the House and Senate resoundingly overrode Bush's veto. The missing section, on trade and international food aid, had cleared Congress, but apparently got lost in the shuffle when House staff aides performed the antiquated ritual of printing out the legislation on heavy parchment paper to be sent to the White House.
Things started going awry Tuesday, as staffers scrambled to complete the bill -- called "enrolling" -- so it could be signed by the House speaker and Senate president pro tempore and sent to the White House.
House leaders -- eager to complete the popular farm bill and override Bush before Congress adjourned for a weeklong Memorial Day break -- were pressuring the staff to go faster. In a memo about the mistake obtained by The Associated Press, Lorraine C. Miller, the House clerk, said the enrolling staff reported receiving direct calls from leaders and the Agriculture Committee urging them to hurry.
When it came time to print the legislation, one of the bill's 15 titles never made it onto parchment. The clerk in charge of poring over the final version -- known as the enrolling clerk -- apparently did not notice the omission.
Such errors -- albeit not of this size -- happen all the time. One possible reason for this week's goof: Congressional staff aides stopped proofreading the parchment copies of legislation a decade ago, citing the high cost of the paper.
That policy "has been rescinded effective immediately," Miller told congressional leaders in the memo. "We are working diligently to make sure it will not happen again."
"This happens more times than I would like to admit," said Robert B. Dove, a former Senate parliamentarian. "You don't want to see how sausage is made, and you definitely don't want to see how laws are made."
Dove should know. In 1986, he said he secretly agreed to re-enroll and essentially re-enact a massive spending bill that Ronald Reagan had signed and was already the law of the land.
Staff aides discovered that the part of the measure to pay for lighting and heating government buildings had never made it to the White House, and Congress had already adjourned for the year, with Election Day just one week away. Staff quietly prepared a complete copy of the bill, had House and Senate leaders sign it and sent it to Reagan for a second signature.
"Nobody picked up on it, and I never told anyone," Dove said. "It was, to me, the best of a miserable situation."
But it probably wasn't constitutional. "You don't get two chances" to enact the same bill, he said.
An entire 34-page section of the farm bill vanished without a trace on its way to becoming law, and red-faced House Democrats gave the reason: No one proofread the parchment it was printed on.
"OK, so we made a mistake," said Rep. Steny H. Hoyer, D-Md., the majority leader. "The bill was not whole."
Republicans cried foul, calling for an investigation.
"We talk to school groups (about) how a bill becomes a law. This is not the way it is done," fumed Rep. David Dreier, R-Calif.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., was livid, too.
"Uncustomarily crude," she said of her reaction upon learning of the foul-up, declining to elaborate.
It wasn't exactly a constitutional crisis -- or even a juicy conspiracy. Just an embarrassing mistake that could take weeks to correct, and one that marred what should have been a triumphant victory over President Bush for Democrats.
It meant that most -- but not all -- of the $290 billion agriculture measure Congress meant to pass was enacted Thursday after both the House and Senate resoundingly overrode Bush's veto. The missing section, on trade and international food aid, had cleared Congress, but apparently got lost in the shuffle when House staff aides performed the antiquated ritual of printing out the legislation on heavy parchment paper to be sent to the White House.
Things started going awry Tuesday, as staffers scrambled to complete the bill -- called "enrolling" -- so it could be signed by the House speaker and Senate president pro tempore and sent to the White House.
House leaders -- eager to complete the popular farm bill and override Bush before Congress adjourned for a weeklong Memorial Day break -- were pressuring the staff to go faster. In a memo about the mistake obtained by The Associated Press, Lorraine C. Miller, the House clerk, said the enrolling staff reported receiving direct calls from leaders and the Agriculture Committee urging them to hurry.
When it came time to print the legislation, one of the bill's 15 titles never made it onto parchment. The clerk in charge of poring over the final version -- known as the enrolling clerk -- apparently did not notice the omission.
Such errors -- albeit not of this size -- happen all the time. One possible reason for this week's goof: Congressional staff aides stopped proofreading the parchment copies of legislation a decade ago, citing the high cost of the paper.
That policy "has been rescinded effective immediately," Miller told congressional leaders in the memo. "We are working diligently to make sure it will not happen again."
"This happens more times than I would like to admit," said Robert B. Dove, a former Senate parliamentarian. "You don't want to see how sausage is made, and you definitely don't want to see how laws are made."
Dove should know. In 1986, he said he secretly agreed to re-enroll and essentially re-enact a massive spending bill that Ronald Reagan had signed and was already the law of the land.
Staff aides discovered that the part of the measure to pay for lighting and heating government buildings had never made it to the White House, and Congress had already adjourned for the year, with Election Day just one week away. Staff quietly prepared a complete copy of the bill, had House and Senate leaders sign it and sent it to Reagan for a second signature.
"Nobody picked up on it, and I never told anyone," Dove said. "It was, to me, the best of a miserable situation."
But it probably wasn't constitutional. "You don't get two chances" to enact the same bill, he said.
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superxmop wrote on May 23, 2008 12:46 PM:
" When are Hoyer and Pelosi going to start hollering "It's Bush's fault!!!"
Harkin is probably to busy changing his "war records" to notice the screwup "
Harkin is probably to busy changing his "war records" to notice the screwup "
hetfield wrote on May 23, 2008 12:52 PM:
" good job dems! really nice. This will cause more international scrutiny from our allies and our foes.
The left cant even present a bill to congress correctly.
"
The left cant even present a bill to congress correctly.
"
50674 wrote on May 23, 2008 12:53 PM:
" Maybe you should write/call/email him. Get your answer from the source you seek instead of those who speculate on these blogs. He's pretty easy to find if you REALLY want more than rants and raves. "
Reader54 wrote on May 23, 2008 1:35 PM:
" Superxmop- We all know that it is going to be Bush's fault because of Al Gores " Global Warming".
The dems were trying to save a tree to help Al out! "
The dems were trying to save a tree to help Al out! "
bystander wrote on May 23, 2008 2:27 PM:
" At the end of the story there's information showing that this sort of thing is equal-opportunity. Everyone knows what the intent of Congress was on the subject, and many know that Bush needs to cast Congress in the worst possible light to try to deflect attention from his own doings. What the Dems deserve some credit for, is letting the public in on it instead of trying to sneak it by, "
gmaro wrote on May 23, 2008 10:29 PM:
" You're right 50674, he's easy to find but it takes weeks to get an answer back for a simple question. "
50674 wrote on May 24, 2008 5:29 PM:
" I agree there's been times he has been slow in responding but the old saying "the squeaky bolt gets the oil" does have some truth. I contact all my representatives at least weekly on all the issues important me and each one always gets back to me before that important issue comes for discussion/ vote. Of course, it isn't alwways what I'm wanting bu,t I still make my views known. I am the reason they have that job (and respectfully remind them of this.) "
motormaker wrote on May 30, 2008 12:22 PM:
" Well 50674, if you are truly the reason they have that job, you should think about replacing the staff. Mr. Harkin, Mr Grassley and Mr. Braley seem to have forgotten why they have that job. Once they get the Washington fever they cannot waste time with the little old fly over state of Iowa. "
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Reader54 wrote on May 23, 2008 10:21 AM: