Word: 97th
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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IMMIGRATION. Some half a million immigrants, mainly Mexicans, enter the U.S. illegally every year, joining any where from 3 million to 6 million who are already here competing against U.S. citizens for jobs. The 97th Congress blew a chance to stem the tide by failing to pass the Simpson-Mazzoli bill, which combined amnesty for illegal aliens who have escaped detection so far with a system of fines on employers who knowingly hire illegal entrants in the future. The new Congress must start afresh. It will be hampered by the same troubles that blocked the bill last year...
...days after the special lameduck session of the 97th Congress was supposed to adjourn, Baker finally regained a moment of control over the cantankerous Senate and the measure passed. With that the Senators fled for home, as well they might, leaving behind the near debacle that the special session of Congress had become...
...special lameduck session of the 97th Congress seemed to be at once bogged down by cantankerous obstructionism and buffeted by legislative grandstanding. Efforts to pass overdue appropriations bills for the fiscal year that began last October (the ostensible reason for the special session) were a dismal failure. The attempt to pave the road to prosperity with a nickel-a-gallon gasoline tax was stalled by a renegade filibuster. Ronald Reagan and his congressional critics were still at swords' points over the MX missile, and no one dared even mention Social Security, a beast that some had foolishly dreamed...
...called social issues were heavily debated during the 1980 campaign and were crucial in electing Ronald Reagan to the presidency. The 97th Congress, with its eager class of conservative freshmen, was expected to legislate traditional morality back into American life. But not one item of the New Right's prospectus has yet been made a law. Legislation that would allow organized prayer in public schools faced another filibuster. A bill authorizing tax credits for private school tuitions is mired in the Senate. And a measure that would restrict busing for school desegregation passed the Senate but is languishing...
Leaders of the movement now aren't pushing for instant equality of numbers of representatives. Despite the surge in political activity, there probably won't be many more women in the 98th Congress than the 19 representatives and two senators in the sitting 97th. That's because very few politicians start at the national level and the qualified female candidates are still seeking state and local posts. So in the past eight years, the number of women in state legislatures has tripled, from 4 percent to 12 percent. In time, that increase should ripple thought higher circles of power...