US lawmakers were back on Capitol Hill Monday where Congress was set to meet in a rare "lame-duck" session to finish the national budget and possibly chart a new course in a politically-divided nation.
"I think we can get things done," said Senate Republican Majority Leader Trent Lott, appearing on the "Fox News Sunday" television program.
"First of all, the atmosphere right now is one for the most part of just being sort of stunned at what has happened," he added.
Although the make-up of Congress will remain the same as before the national vote, a presidential election mired in vote recounts and Republican losses in both the House of Representatives and the Senate were expected to leave an imprint on everything happening during the next few weeks in the US legislature.
Lame-duck sessions are usually called to allow lawmakers to attend to unfinished legislative business before a newly-elected Congress is sworn in in early January.
The first order of business for returning legislators will be to wrap up work on the 1.8-trillion-dollar US budget, which remains unfinished despite the fact that the new fiscal year started on October 1.
Eight out of 13 appropriations bills funding government agencies have been approved thus far, with agreement on some of the remaining measures likely to be hard-fought, congressional officials said.
Shortly before adjourning for the elections, Republicans killed a bill funding the Departments of Education, Labor and Health and Human Services because it contained new requirements for user-friendly office furniture that business lobbies deemed too costly.
In retaliation, President Bill Clinton vetoed a spending bill that would have given a 3,800-dollar pay raise to members of Congress, saying he could not approve it "before funding our classrooms, fixing our schools and protecting our workers."
Clinton also has vetoed a bill funding intelligence agencies because it contained a provision introducing criminal penalties for leaking government secrets and threatened to veto a Republican tax cut worth 240 billion dollars.
The House will reconvene Monday to pass yet another continuing resolution to keep the government operating while all the differences with the White House are being hashed out. Barring unforeseen developments, the Senate will resume work on Tuesday -- WASHINGTON (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
