Stats on the 108th Congress-1st Session

The official numbers are in, and once again the House leads in output and the Senate in input. The Congressional Record's summary of the first session of the 108th Congress, complete through Nov. 30, shows that the Senate was in session for 166 days compared with 132 days for the House since Congress convened Jan. 7, 2003. But the House passed 664 measures to the Senate's 575. The combined total represented only 18 percent of the
6,915 bills and resolutions introduced by Nov. 30. And the number of measures enacted by that date -- a grand total of 159 -- added up to just 2 percent of those introduced. That success rate is identical to that of the 107th Congress in 2001, though both chambers were in session more days that year. For the third year in a row, President Bush has not vetoed a
single bill as yet.

-CQ Midday Update