• Congress dodged the dog days of August by taking a six-week recess beginning July 22, but not before legislators increased their bills introduced count to 2,772 in the Senate and 5,001 in the House of Representatives. Even the Scarecrow, who wishes for a brain in the Wizard of Oz, could calculate that legislators in this 108th Congress have just too much on their plates and that time will run out, leaving behind a substantial number of uneaten bills.
• There was a flurry of activity in Washington before members of Congress left for the hinterlands. In their desire to show support for the military before the upcoming elections, Congress did pass a $417.5 billion defense spending bill by a vote of 96 to 0 in the Senate and 410 to 12 in the House. This includes $25 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and 7 percent more for the rest of the Department of Defense programs. This bill is the first of 13 spending bills, due by September 30, to finance government agencies for Fiscal Year 2005.
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