National Agenda

Hospital workers, who staged a one-day strike last week, launched a new tactic yesterday, picketing at the Johns Hopkins University campus. The university is a separate corporation from Johns Hopkins Hospital, with whom the workers are negotiating, but university President William R. Brody is a hospital trustee, and union members said they hoped to meet with him. Over the next few weeks, union members plan to picket at the offices of other trustees of...

Washington. -- Even though it is not mentioned in the United States Constitution, there can be little doubt that constituent service by members of Congress is a valuable part of our system.This is particularly true because in this country we have a large and powerful bureaucracy which is capable of arbitrary conduct and non-responsiveness to legitimate concerns.In addition to checking into bureaucratic abuses in individual cases, members of Congress performing constituent services may learn about problems which make them better qualified to carry out their primary work of oversight and legislation.

WITH JUST two paid staff members and a budget filled mostly with voluntary donations, the Rev. Skip Long and his colleagues in Jobs Partnership have done an impressive job in Raleigh, N.C., over the past 27 months.Reaching from the inner city to the suburbs, they have organized about 100 churches to provide one-on-one mentors to guide welfare recipients, recovering addicts and others in need through a 12-week training course that uses biblical lessons to teach workplace skills. Then, with a network of participating businesses, they have found jobs for 300 of the program's graduates -- with 95 percent still working for the first company that hired them.

Rep. Kweisi Mfume's election as chairman of th Congressional Black Caucus is a remarkable achievement for a congressman just entering his fourth term in the House of Representatives. A back-bencher no longer, he moves to the forefront as a major player in Washington, not just in Congress but throughout the nation.The caucus of African-American members of Congress has been a bully pulpit for advocates of minority rights, economic development and urban needs. With its strength bolstered from 26 to 40 in the last election and a Democrat in the White House, the caucus becomes a potent political force.

More than 230 mayors are expected at the Baltimor Convention Center tomorrow for a black-tie celebration of cities -- which many of them are confident will receive new federal attention when Bill Clinton becomes president.Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke and the U.S. Conference of Mayors say they organized the gala because they expect urban issues to return to the top of the national agenda with the inauguration of Mr. Clinton Wednesday."It is a chance to come together at a time of great hope in our country," Mr. Schmoke said.

LACANDON RAIN FOREST, Mexico -- From their jungle stronghold here, Mexican Indian rebels are preparing to reject the government's peace offer and to return to the negotiating table -- or to fighting.Parts of the government proposal are almost certain to be turned down, rebel spokesman Subcommander Marcos said in an interview with four foreign reporters who were allowed to attend some of the insurgents' discussions of the offer."We are speaking of a process of dialogue and negotiation that can take six to eight months," Marcos said, noting that extended period threatens to draw out the peacemaking process until after the Aug. 21 presidential election.

There is a bumpy road ahead for health care reform -- and precious little time before congressional elections overtake all else on the national agenda. But the flurry of proposals that emerged from committees before Congress adjourned for its July 4 recess kept alive the chances that health care legislation can be enacted this year.That's important, because mid-term shifts in party power may well strengthen the hand of Republican opponents enough to scuttle prospects for significant reform during this presidential term.

WE KNOW what the voters didn't like about President Clinton's health reform proposals -- more control by the federal government, employer mandates, higher taxes to cover the poor and, above all, price controls.The question is how long the voters will remain satisfied with what they have now.Two out of three Americans have good health insurance or Medicare, and they assume that their employers or the federal government pay for it.In fact, of course, the primary payers are working people and the taxpayers, since if there were no employer or government-financed health insurance, wages would be higher and taxes lower.

CAPITOL HILL has never seen anything like it. Freshman legislators are supposed to take a back seat, learn the ropes and shut up. Not this time. The 73 House members of the Republican Class of '94 are the deal-breakers or deal-makers in a tense dispute over the very nature of government that is shaking Washington.They regard themselves as the enforcers of a revolution who are ready to take on President Clinton, Senate majority leader Bob Dole and, if need by, even House Speaker Newt Gingrich to achieve success on their terms.

WASHINGTON -- Congressional Republicans and Democrats, vying to take credit for revamping the nation's health insurance system, are hailing the bill sent to President Clinton as one of their "most remarkable" creations.But in fact, they've had the blueprint for the measure in hand for four years: It is almost an exact duplicate of the proposal former President George Bush offered on the 1992 campaign trail.During his unsuccessful re-election campaign against Bill Clinton, Bush proposed a health care program to "guarantee access to health insurance to all families" and in doing so offered TC what he called "job lock protection" for millions of Americans who "are afraid to change jobs for fear of losing their health insurance."