Problems wait as Bush goes on holiday

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, AUG 5. The U.S. President, Mr. George W Bush, has started a month-long summer break. Before leaving the capital, the President underwent a six-hour medical examination at the Bethesda Naval Hospital - his first check up after becoming President.

While Mr. Bush is holidaying at his Texas ranch in Crawford, the First Family is expected to make some in between trips to Colorado, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and New Mexico. Mr. Bush will return to the capital after Labour Day.

The President has planned some side trips during his vacation for good reason. When Congress returns from the Labour Day recess, the agenda will be contentious, which is why some of the President's favourite themes will have to be kept alive even during the dull summer season.

This week saw Mr. Bush and his top Congressional Republicans gloating about the achievements of the last six months, starting with the tax relief plan and including the energy policy and the patients' Bill of rights. ``We are proving that a new tone, a clear agenda and active leadership can bring significant progress to the nation's capital. We're ending deadlock and drift,'' Mr. Bush remarked in the presence of his Cabinet members. Analysts believe that the strategy of the President's advisors is to first focus on issues that are politically manageable before turning to larger and more difficult fights in the realms of foreign policy and trade.

The President and his advisors may want to talk about their success in the first six months, but a reality check will show something different. While it is a fact that many of the President's plans have cleared the House of Representatives, it is certainly not everything. The Senate, for instance, has not got its hands on some of the legislations that have cleared the House. And then there are conference committees intended to put the same language in legislation.

The political environment is different in the Senate and not merely because the Democrats are in the ``majority''. It is also to do with sentiments being different and the passionate way in which some of the Senators approach an issue.

The Bush administration has not even begun to hear what Senators have to say on the energy policy or the patients' Bill of rights.

While the President holidays in Texas, crucial talks will get under way between the U.S. and Russia here next week followed by two more rounds in Moscow and New York. The first meeting of senior officials will be followed by a visit to Moscow by the Defence Secretary, Mr. Donald Rumsfeld. The Secretary of State, Gen. Colin Powell will meet his Russian counterpart in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations Meeting in mid- September. The Bush administration has stressed that a new relationship with Russia was in order in the post-Cold War era.

``We have our differences with the Russians. But we are not strategic adversaries,'' said Dr. Condoleeza Rice, the National Security Advisor. In a recent interview, Dr. Rice spoke of the ``new strategic framework'' which, if worked out, would see Russia sharing defence plans with the U.S. and getting American missile technology.

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