Saying goodbye is hard for lawmakers

WASHINGTON (AP) — In the Senate, Democrats are refusing to adjourn for the August recess. Over in the House, Republicans are refusing to leave.

Senate Democrats, repeating a tactic they have used all year, staged a lightning-fast pro forma session Tuesday, a procedure that keeps the Senate from officially adjourning and stops President Bush from making “recess appointments” without Senate confirmation.

Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., took 28 seconds to gavel the Senate in and out of session. It’s a process that will be repeated every three working days to keep the Senate from going into recess until lawmakers return in September.

Often it’s a senator from nearby Virginia or Maryland asked to do pro forma duty. Reed said he was helping out because he was staying at his Washington home with his 19-month-old child while his wife was traveling.

It was a different universe on the other side of the Capitol, where Republicans were in their third day of a protest on the House floor, demanding that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi call the House back into session to vote on an energy bill that includes an increase in domestic oil drilling.

“This is a major message to America, and America is listening,” said Rep. John Carter, R-Texas, one of 10 Republicans heading for the House floor Tuesday morning. The only people directly listening to the lawmakers were tourists filling the visitors’ gallery and seats on the House floor. Because the House has formally adjourned, microphones were turned off, and the TV cameras were off.

Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said he had written President Bush urging that he call Congress back into session to deal with the energy crisis. Democrats, who say Republicans have blocked numerous bills aimed at dealing with market speculators and forcing oil companies to drill in areas they have already leased, say the GOP protest is a political stunt.

Pelosi, in a letter Tuesday to House Republican leader John Boehner, said a majority of Republicans had voted against 13 Democratic-initiated energy and conservation bills. “While a very small band of your colleagues remain on the House floor to discuss gas prices, their constituents deserve to know why their representatives in Congress have failed to support serious, responsible proposals.”

As of last fall, Bush had made 165 recess appointments. That’s when Democrats started blocking them with pro forma sessions.

By comparison, former President Clinton had a total of 140 recess appointments over eight years, and George H.W. Bush had 77 in his four years. A recess appointee is allowed to serve until the end of the congressional session, which in this case coincides with the end of the Bush presidency.