Blunt, the House Republican whip, said the blackout improves chances of getting an energy bill this year because it illustrates "what happens when we continue to fail to move forward on a fixed and defined energy plan." He added, "We don't expand our capacity, even though we continue to expand our use."
Meanwhile, supporters of Bush's proposal to curb wildfires by thinning forests hope that the Senate will be spurred to action by the summer's blazes. The House has already passed such a bill.
"Every day when you turn on the TV, some other state in the West is on fire," said Doug Heye, spokesman for Rep. Richard W. Pombo (R-Tracy), chairman of the House Resources Committee. "We hope that it does put extra heat on the Senate to act."
Another preoccupation for the returning Congress will be the unglamorous but essential work of writing 13 spending bills that are needed to keep the government running in the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.
The Senate this week will take up the bill financing education, health and labor programs, which gives Democrats an opportunity to attack Bush's budget as too stingy. They also plan to propose an amendment to block administration rules that would reduce the number of workers who qualify for overtime pay.
