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113th Congress ends with more fights than feats

WASHINGTON >> The tempestuous 113th Congress has limped out of Washington for the last time, capping two years of modest and infrequent legislating that was overshadowed by partisan clashes.

How’s this for a legacy? Congressional data show that just over 200 bills became law during the past two years. That was the fewest since at least 1947 and 1948, when what President Harry Truman dubbed “the do-nothing Congress” enacted more than 900 laws.

This Congress did less than the do-nothing one.

Efforts to revamp the immigration system, tighten gun background checks and force work on the Keystone XL oil pipeline all foundered as the Republican-run House and Democratic-led Senate blocked each other’s priorities.

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