With a break looming, Iowa’s legislators in Washington still have issues

WASHINGTON — The last few weeks of work for Congress before a break are shaping up to be both brief and busy — and not boring.

And Iowa's senators, Chuck Grassley and Tom Harkin, have items they want to check off their to-do lists.

The U.S. House and Senate are in session for about another week this month before adjourning so members can campaign for re-election. The Senate plans to adjourn on Sept. 23, although that could change, and the House hopes to leave a week later, on Oct. 2.

All 435 House members and 28 senators are up for re-election, and control of the Senate is considered hanging in the balance — with Iowa's own senatorial battle between Democrat Bruce Braley and Republican Joni Ernst at the top of the marquee races.

Most observers say it would be wise to expect as little as possible in the way of actual legislation in those remaining days.

'For the most part, probably not that much,' predicted Tim Hagle, associate professor of political science at the University of Iowa. 'It is an election year, and the political environment is pretty strained, shall we say.'

Jennifer Duffy, a senior editor and congressional analyst at the Cook Political Report in Washington, D.C., is one of several who share that assessment: 'Congress will do as little as possible.'

However, there already have been plenty of colorful sideshows sprouting up so far this month. Most notably, President Barack Obama's prime-time speech on Wednesday night about a U.S. strategy to fight the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has injected fresh debate into both chambers, and a congressional vote on authorization for funding and airstrikes in Iraq and Syria could come as soon as next week.

Sen. Grassley is among a few Republicans who have said they believe Obama has authority to act on behalf of the United States under the 1973 War Powers Resolution, but should seek congressional approval anyway.

Overall, three of Eastern Iowa's four congressional delegation members issued statements supporting Obama's ISIS speech. The sole exception was Democratic Sen. Harkin, who is retiring this year and did not issue a statement.

Other notable votes just this week came on Monday, when the Senate advanced a measure restricting the influence of financial contributions in political campaigns — an issue Grassley took to the Senate floor to slam as a constitutional restriction on free speech.

And on Wednesday, the Senate succeeded in passing a measure aimed at guaranteeing equal pay for women. Final Senate passage of both measures still is up in the air, and passage of both in the Republican-controlled House is less likely.

For Iowa's agricultural community, the fireworks came on Tuesday, when the House voted 262-152 to pass a bill to block the Environmental Protection Agency from implementing a still-unfinalized rule change clarifying its powers under the Clean Water Act. Farmers and other agricultural advocates have said the EPA plans to overreach its authority to the point of controlling what farmers do on their own land. The EPA has denied that.

Regardless of the House bill, however, Senate passage is unlikely and Obama aides at the White House are already preparing a veto just in case.

The retiring Harkin, a longtime champion of disability rights, has a few months of work left in his nearly 40-year congressional career and wants to see the international disability rights treaty passed. The U.N. Convention on the Rights of People With Disabilities essentially would extend the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act throughout the world, making it easier for disabled Americans to travel abroad with ease. It may or may not come up for a final Senate vote.

A Harkin spokeswoman also said the senator plans to use his chairmanship of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee at an upcoming hearing to examine U.S. efforts to contain the Ebola outbreak. The spokeswoman said Harkin also plans to push yet again for a Senate vote on raising the minimum wage, which has been blocked multiple times by Republicans.

Looking ahead, the UI's Hagle, Grassley and others said there is one piece of legislation likely to emerge from the fray before Congress leaves town — some kind of a stopgap spending resolution to keep the government running after Sept. 30, when the current fiscal year ends

A continuing resolution was introduced in the House on Tuesday to do just that, extending government funding until Dec. 11.

Grassley said this week that if Democrats keep control of the Senate, he expects to see a more proper series of appropriating bills come forward in November instead of a stopgap approach. If Republicans take over the Senate, he said there likely will be another short-term spending extension until next winter, when the new Congress has been sworn in.

'If we don't do something quickly, the government is going to shut down,' he said. 'So the continuing resolution would go until Dec. 11 to get us by the election, and that gives both Republicans and Democrats an opportunity to take into consideration the results of the election.'

The calendars for the House and the Senate says they are set to return Oct. 1.