Lame-duck chairmen, long to-do lists

Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) and Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) have announced that they are not running for reelection in 2012.

But none of them plans to idle away the next 22 months reflecting on his accomplishments.

{mosads}They all head powerful committees, and have a lot of unfinished business to attend to.

Lieberman runs the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and is hoping to pass a cybersecurity bill this Congress. 

The legislation stalled last year amid concerns about a so-called “kill switch,” whereby the president would be allowed to shut down the Internet during national emergencies. 

Lieberman revised his bill (co-sponsored with Senate Homeland Security ranking member Susan Collins, R-Maine) to ban such a switch.

The U.S. is considered highly vulnerable to a cyber-attack, and Lieberman’s legislation aims to shore up our technological defenses. 

Meanwhile, Bingaman, who heads the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, wants to pass a bipartisan energy bill.

He was well-aware that climate change legislation would not get through the upper chamber even during the last Congress, when there were more Democrats there. Now that the climate bill is dead, Bingaman is working with the White House on a “clean energy standard,” a high priority of President Obama’s that would mandate a doubling of power generation from low-carbon sources over the next 25 years.

Unlike other Senate Democrats, Bingaman has established a bipartisan track record. He is willing to negotiate on nuclear energy and drilling, both GOP priorities, to enact a bill this year.

Conrad has the toughest job: He must tackle runaway federal debt. He is a fiscal hawk and is eyeing Medicare and Medicaid for major changes, noting that the healthcare entitlement programs are on track to bankrupt the country.

Conrad is crafting a budget resolution that will probably be attacked by liberal Democrats, the White House and congressional Republicans. Sometimes, it can be lonely trying to solve a major problem. Conrad will need some thick skin to deal with the arrows being prepared for him.

It remains to be seen if any or all three retiring senators will achieve their objectives. But as veterans of the Senate and astute political observers, they know that their time is now. 

Passing legislation is never easy, though it is infinitely harder in a presidential election year.