CongressDailyAM -- 7-22-05 --

LOBBYING

K Street Hopes To Clear Docket Before The August Recess

President Bush's Supreme Court nomination grabbed the headlines this week, but business and labor groups said longstanding issues like the Central America Free Trade Agreement will dominate their attention in the days before the August recess.

Compared to the instant reaction from some ideological groups, leading business groups are taking their time before engaging on John Roberts' nomination to the high court.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers are working through internal review processes to decide whether to formally endorse Roberts.

The Chamber and NAM have both signaled they likely would support Roberts, but neither has determined what amount of money, grassroots or lobbying muscle they might throw into a nomination fight.

NAM on Thursday convened its first meeting of a panel of senior legal counsels from member companies to consider Roberts.

"They met and they agreed to meet again," the NAM spokesman said.
The spokesman said NAM likely would decide how to proceed with Roberts after Congress recesses for the August recess.

The NAM spokesman said his group's major focus next week is mobilizing support for CAFTA and a China trade bill offered by Rep. Phil English, R-Pa., that might help smooth passage for CAFTA.

He added that House Majority Whip Blunt, speaking before a NAM breakfast Thursday, tamped down expectations of Congress approving an energy bill before the recess. Blunt did tell the group he hoped to pull off a "hat trick" by passing CAFTA and the energy and highway bill conference reports.

AFL-CIO legislative director Bill Samuel said the union's focus will be split next week between Washington and Chicago, where the AFL-CIO is holding its constitutional convention.

AFL-CIO leaders are expected to approve major institutional changes, but also face the challenge of preventing a breakup of member affiliates.
On Capitol Hill, Samuel said the AFL-CIO's "major focus" is opposing CAFTA, while he said he is also watching pension markups next week in the Senate Finance and Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committees.

On the high court nomination, Samuel said the AFL-CIO is evaluating Roberts' views on worker issues and workplace protections but has not yet actively engaged in the nomination process. "We want to learn more about his views," he said.

Transportation conferees continue to grapple with the highway bill. A spokesman for the American Road & Transportation Builders Association said its lobbyists would continue to push for completion before the recess.

The spokesman said the approval of a short-term highway funding extension indicates conferees have not given up hope of a deal before the recess, but said success depends on resolving state funding formula issues.

"It's a political decision right now, and it's political will," he said.
Acting on signals from Senate GOP leaders, the Family Business Estate Tax Coalition is also gearing up for a possible procedural or stand-alone vote next week on estate tax repeal.

In the final weeks before the recess, Social Security overhaul has taken a back seat to other business.

A Business Roundtable spokeswoman, whose group is also working for CAFTA passage, said overhaul advocates hope next week to help prepare members of Congress to focus on Social Security during the August recess and for action in September.

"We want members to go home with a clear sense of how important this issue is," she said. By Mark Wegner