Columnist Benjamin Grove: War overshadows goals of new session

Benjamin Grove

Friday, Jan. 3, 2003 | 4:30 a.m.

THE NATION'S lawmakers return Tuesday to a capital city with war on its mind.

Congress has much to do this year. Ambitious lawmakers intend to settle old budget battles, reform health care, and forge a compromise on new energy and environmental policy.

But the war with Iraq and the broader war on terror will eat up most of the front-page space in 2003.

It's already happening. No doubt lawmakers noted this sprinkling of stories from last week:

Get ready for a lot more reports like the last one. Regardless of any economic or domestic issue victories that Congress claims this year, a path has been laid -- by President Bush, by Iraq and by lawmakers themselves.

War, for better or for worse, will be what President Bush and the 108th Congress are remembered for in 2003.

On a more frivolous note, many lawmakers will spend the next few weeks in a game of musical offices. Every two years when a new Congress convenes, legislative business is conducted amid a moving-day atmosphere akin to the first week of school in a freshman dorm. Furniture literally piles up in the hallways as newly elected lawmakers move in to their new offices and many incumbents move into bigger, or otherwise better, digs.

Within Nevada's delegation, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., faces the biggest change. Senate leaders like Reid, the minority whip, are given ornate suites in the Capitol itself, in addition to the offices assigned to every lawmaker in the six congressional buildings adjacent to the Capitol.

And Reid, formerly the majority whip, had one of the nicest offices in the Capitol, a tastefully decorated space just a 10-second walk from the Senate floor.

In the next week or two, Reid will move into the office of former GOP Whip Don Nickles, R-Okla., on the third floor, a longer walk from the Senate well. Incoming GOP Whip Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., will take over Reid's office now that Republicans are in charge of the Senate.

This is the second time in a row Reid has moved into Nickles' office -- if Nickles had remained whip he might have enjoyed reclaiming his space.

Reid spokeswoman Tessa Hafen said Reid was taking the move into less convenient accommodations in stride.

"It's always a hassle to move, but the silver lining is that we're actually moving into a bigger space," Hafen said.