WASHINGTON — Montana farmers will have a stronger safety net next year, disabled veterans will have an easier time getting to the doctor, and students will see lower interest rates on their college loans, thanks to efforts by the state's congressional delegation this year.

Montana's senior senator, Democrat Max Baucus, said he's especially proud of his effort to get a new permanent disaster aid program in the farm bill so farmers don't have to wait a year or two for Congress to get around to helping them. He also cited his work in inserting provisions to improve support payments for wheat and barley and to stop the U.S. Department of Agriculture from closing Farm Service Agency offices.

He said his biggest disappointment was President Bush's veto of an expansion of the state-federal Children's Health Insurance Program. Baucus, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and Iowa Republican Sen. Charles Grassley, the committee's ranking member, put the measure together and lobbied hard for it.

Baucus said he doubts Bush will follow through on a threat to veto the farm bill. He predicted Republicans will be less inclined to support Bush's agenda as the president moves closer to the end of his term and the Republican presidential nominee moves to center stage.

"(A veto) would not be very smart," Baucus said. "Frankly, a lot of people around the country would be very upset if that were to happen. It might affect some congressional races, too."

Montana's freshman senator, Democrat Jon Tester, said his top accomplishments include getting legislation through that boosts travel reimbursement rates for the nation's disabled veterans from 11 cents a mile to 28.5 cents per mile. The proposal surfaced as Tester held 10 meetings with veterans across the state.

Tester also is proud of having supported a higher-education bill that increased the maximum Pell Grant award for the neediest college students, cut the interest rate on subsidized student loans, capped the amount low-income borrowers must pay back each month, and created a debt-forgiveness program for many public service employees.

"The higher-education bill that I campaigned on, I couldn't have written it any better," Tester said. "That was a great piece of legislation."

Republican Rep. Dennis Rehberg, the only member of the Montana delegation to sit on the Appropriations Committee, said his biggest accomplishment this year was bringing money home to the state. Working with Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Democrat, Rehberg was able to insert a provision in the fiscal 2008 spending bill that directs the Homeland Security Department to deploy high-tech security equipment, such as electronic sensors and aerial drones, along the northern and southern borders.

Rehberg said he wanted to make sure not all the border security money was spent along the U.S.-Mexico border, where the priorities are building fences and jail cells and stopping smugglers who tunnel under the border.

"There are some things that are specific to places like Montana, where you have a large geographical area but not a lot of population," Rehberg said. "Technology plays a more important role. You're not going to see a lot of tunneling between Montana and Canada. We have entirely different issues."

Partisan bickering, however, cast a shadow over lawmakers' successes. It's also blamed for lawmakers' declining public image. Only 22 percent of Americans surveyed by a Gallup Poll in December approved of the job Congress is doing. That's down four percentage points from when voters transferred control to Democrats a year ago.

Democratic leaders blame Republicans for blocking legislation to expand the health insurance program for lower-income children, repeal tax breaks for oil companies to pay for tax incentives for renewable energy, and set a timeline for troop withdrawals from Iraq. Republicans blame Democrats for not seeking bipartisan agreements before taking controversial measures to the floor.

The Senate this year held 62 votes to cut off debate, known as cloture votes, the highest number ever recorded in a two-year congressional session, according to the Senate clerk's office. Thirty-one times, the majority failed to muster the 60 votes needed to proceed with the bill. One of those blocked measures was the farm bill, which won the unanimous support of the Senate agriculture committee.

Tester said the arguments Republican leaders make in defending the blocking maneuvers aren't convincing, especially when it comes to the farm bill. The bill ultimately moved forward after a month's delay, but now faces Bush's veto threat.

"(The farm bill) was built by people from every corner of the country, and it was filibustered," Tester said. "On some of (their) arguments, I can say, 'Yeah, you're right, you have every right in the world and probably should filibuster.' But not on as many (bills) as they have."

Tester was one of 15 Democrats who joined Republicans in blocking a measure to overhaul immigration policies.

Rehberg blames the Democratic leaders of the House for the partisan wrangling there.

"Once they settle down and realize that all they're doing is continuing to further polarize a polarized country, I'm hoping that we can again find the areas of consensus, the things that Republicans, Democrats and independents alike can agree to and get some of those off the plate," Rehberg said.