CONGRESS GLOWS OVER FLURRY OF BILLS : EACH PARTY COMES AWAY WITH LEGISLATIVE VICTORIES.

Byline: Jim Abrams Associated Press 

Congress left town last week with a legislative bang, passing landmark welfare, health insurance and minimum wage bills. What brought warring Republicans and Democrats together after all those months of gridlock was a shared fear of returning home empty-handed to their constituents.

Now the parties are sparring over who deserves credit for success.

House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia said there was an ``underlying sense of both Democrats and Republicans wanting to be able to go home with things the American people want.''

For Gingrich, a former history professor, the last-minute surge was of historic proportions.

``This is the most significant Congress in a generation,'' he told fellow Republicans at a victory rally. ``Not since 1965-66 have we ever seen the kind of productivity. And this week rivaled, I think, Lyndon Johnson at his best,'' he said.

``This is the most reformed Congress I've ever seen - certainly the most reform-minded Congress in 40 years,'' said Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss.

House Democratic Whip David Bonior, D-Mich., scoffed at that notion. ``To hear Republican leaders call this Congress a success is like hearing a baseball player who batted .100 declare the season a success because he got on base a few times in the last game.''

Democrats weren't denying that the legislative action of the last week before Congress left for its August vacation and the presidential nominating conventions was impressive.

It sent the president legislation to fundamentally change the nation's welfare system, protect people from losing their health insurance, raise the minimum wage and improve the nation's drinking water systems.

But that burst of activity followed months of partisan bickering that produced a lot of gridlock but few major legislative achievements.

``It's like saying I had the best meal of my life because I had seven desserts,'' said Professor Ross Baker of Rutgers University, an expert on Congress. ``The purpose is to have the whole session productive, not just the last few days.''

On the whole, 1996 has seen more progress than 1995, when Democrats thwarted Republicans' efforts to enact their `Contract With America'' and sharp battles over budget cuts resulted in two government shutdowns.

Republicans, said Thomas Mann of the Brookings Institution, ``began with the bravado that they would negotiate but not compromise, but that led to a kind of disastrous reaction to the Republican Party.''

With their popularity falling, Republicans ``have made some critical concessions and rediscovered the art of compromise,'' he said.

The welfare bill finally moved after the GOP leadership agreed to separate it from legislation to overhaul Medicaid, which Democrats opposed. Finally allowing the Democrats to go forward with their top priority, raising the minimum wage 90 cents over the next year to $5.15, cleared the way for Republican-favored legislation to move forward.

Democrats say they have been united by the adversities of losing control of Congress and that they have succeeded in stopping the ``extreme'' Republican agenda while passing bills they want. ``What they are doing is largely Democratic initiatives,'' House Democratic leader Dick Gephardt of Missouri said of Republican legislation.

Congress has passed some big bills this year, mainly of a non-partisan nature. It rewrote the national telecommunications law to conform to the changing communications world and changed the decades-old farm subsidy system. It gave the president line-item veto power to help him cut government pork, passed an anti-terrorism bill, made budget cuts that have trimmed government spending by some $50 billion and levied tough sanctions on Cuba, Iran and Libya.

There have been at least an equal number of failed initiatives. The ``Contract'' goals of constitutional amendments on a balanced budget and term limits have been rejected. Presidential vetoes have stopped GOP efforts to ease regulatory burdens on businesses and cap product liability awards.

Attempts to rewrite the Superfund hazardous waste law have made little headway and the two chambers have had trouble reaching a compromise on a bill to crack down on illegal immigrants. Medicare and Medicaid reform remain illusive goals. The Republican promise to give the nation a $350 billion tax break has gone unfulfilled, although several smaller tax packages, including one tied to the minimum wage bill, have passed.

Congress strengthened lobbying rules last year, but the House failed last month in a half-hearted attempt at campaign finance reform.