U.S. CONGRESS ADJOURNS

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27435, 23 August 1954, Page 11

U.S. CONGRESS ADJOURNS

President Succeeds With Programme (Rec. 9 pjn.) WASHINGTON, August 21. The United States Congress ended its eighty-third session last night and handeq President Eisenhower a legislative record which will be the basis for the Republican campaign to maintain domination of Congress in the-forthcoming November elections. To the surprise of most political observers, the Congress, after a slow and strife-torn start, wound up by giving Mr Eisenhower most of the legislation he had sought and much more than the earlier trends indicated he would get. Then the members rushed back to their home States to campaign for re-election to the new Congress, which will assemble next January. In the field of foreign policy, the White House could “point with pride” to an impressive list of accomplishments, said Reuter’s diplomatic correspondent. A major blot on it was the Administration’s failure to get approval of a new foreign trade programme aimed at reducing tariff barriers to the entry of foreign goods.

But on balance the President and the leaders of his party were highly pleased with the record which was established mostly in the hectic closing weeks of the session when the White House openly entered the Congressional struggles to force favourable decisions on a mass of controversial legislation, the correspondent added. The political observers said one of the most notable achievements in the President’s handling of a sometimes rebellious and often reluctant Congress was the large degree df his success in killing or heading off objectionable legislation in international affairs. In the volume of important domestic legislation enacted the score of the eighty-third Congress was above average—a clear indication that The legislative branch of the Government was on the whole more responsible than had been expected. Mr Eisenhower, when he became President in 1953, brought with him to the White House a limited concept of presidential leadership in Congressional activities, and his reluctance to get into legislative fights had been blamed for the poor record of accomplishment in the eighty-second Congress.

Political Power Exercised It was now obvious that this bashfulness had been overcome in the hard school of politics, and that Mr Eisenhower had exercised political power in his office to force sometimes rebellious party members into line behind his policies. The result had been the approval of a great part of the President’s “dynamic forward looking” programme which he laid before Congress last January. At the same time he put the Republican Party in Congress on clear notice that it would not deserve a return to power in November unless such a programme was enacted. Mr Eisenhower submitted more than 100 legislative recommendations then. For months Congress dallied, with much of its time taken up by the Communist-hunting activities of Senator Joseph McCarthy, climaxed by weeks of highly-publicised hearings of the senator’s fight with the Army command over 1 what he called “Com-munist-coddling.” By July, all that Congress could show in the Way of legislative progress on the President’s programme was Completed action on 22 bills. This did not include legislation introduced by members. The Democrat Opposition was talking about a “do-nothing” Congress.

Borst of Activity Then it looked as though Mr Eisenhower might only get about half of his programme through Congress before it adjourned for the election battles but, under powerful pressure from the White House, there was a sudden burst of activity. Committees hastened to report on the mass of piled-up bills. Speech-making was reduced and by the beginning of August a stream of long-delayed legislation was on its way for presidential signature to become lavIn a memorable burst of billpassing, the Senate on August 11 set a record by approving 420 bills, mostly minor ones, in one day. In all more than 1200 bills were approved in the session, of which about half were of very minor interest.

Some of the most, important measures like the big Foreign Aid Bill, the new farm price-support programme, and a more liberal revision of the atomic secrets law. were passed in the closing week after night sessions were •