'Do-Nothing'Congress Foils to Push Housing Aid

"Bobtcril" Session Legislotive Roundup

The 86th Congress went into fnal adjournment on September 1. Its "bobtail" session, which convened on August 8, ended approximately three weeks after it met.

Ttre first session of the new 8?th Congress will convene next January. All legisla.tion on which this Congress failed to act is now dead. In order for legislation pending at adjournment to be acted on in the next Congtess, it must be re-introduced and taken through the entire legislative process, including Committee action, before it can become law.

The entire second session of the 86th Congress-and partieularly the "bobtail" session which just concluded-might be briefly characterized as one in which Republicans in coalition with many Southern Democrats gained tactical control of the legislative machinery, notwithstanding the fact that the Democrats had majorities in both Houses approaching two-thirds, reports the National Lumber Manufacturers Association.

The Democratic CongIessional leadership composed of Senator Johnson (D, Tex.), Senate majority leader and Vice-Presidential candidate; Senator Kennedy (D, Mass.), the Democratic Presidential nominee, and Speaker of the House Rayburn, returning to Washington from the Los Angeles convention, laid down a fourpoint piogram-F'ederal-aid to school construction, higher minimum wages and extension of coverage, liberalized housing' and a Social Security system of medical insurance for the aged-which they felt would bolster the Democratic ticket and assure its victory in November if it were enacted. However, when the "bobtail" session ended on September 1 not even one of their proposals had been enacted.

Early in the second session it became evident that a powerful combination of Southern Democrats and Republicans was able not only to force meaningful concessions in the principal social and economic proposals of the Democratic leadership but they were also able in many cases effectively to tie up undesirable legislation of the extreme liberal wing, thereby preventing its enactment. This is illustrated by the fact that two Southern Democrats and four Republic&ns on the House Rules Committee very ably thwarted the plans of the Democratic leadership. It was in the Rules Committee, under the leadership of Democratic Representative Howard Smith of Virginia, that two of the four must biUs of this leadership died.

One piece of legislation unanimously passed by the House during the "bobtail" session, and which is of particular interest to the lumber industry, provided for the establishment of an anrnual National Forest Products Week during the third week of October.

Except for passage of this resolution, the Congress took little action during its short session on major forestry bills. A joint Senate-House conference committee met in executive session on several occasions to reconcile the House and Senate versions of a bill, S. 690, to provide for increased research on industrial agricultural commodities, including forestry, but failed to reach any egreement. A second supplemental appropriations bill for fiscal year 1961 containing additional funds for the United States Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management was passed. Objections were raised in the House to the unanimous consent passag:e of a bill, H.R. 12419, to require advance consultation with the F ish and Wildlife Service before the beginning of any Federal biological control of animal or plant pests.

Legislative action taken by the "bobtail" session on some of the major proposals advanced by the Democratic leadership is briefly summarized as follows:

Mintmum Wage: Prior to the political conventions, the House passed a bill amending the F ederal wage-hour law limiting a minimum wage increase from the present $1 to $1.15 and extending its coverage to a little over 1-million workers. Although Senate debate foreed some concessions, the Senate passed a bill in the "bobtail" session that went far toward organized labor's goals by providing a three-stage increase to $1.25 and extending: coverage of the law to some 4-million more workers, including large numbers engaged in wholly intra-state commerce.

A joint Senate-House conference committee meeting during the final days of the Srlrrt session failed to reach agreement on the divergent versions of the bills before Congress adjourned. Senator Kennedy, leader of the Senate conferees, told the Senate that the House conferees had insisted on the bill as passed by the House "or nothing," adding that the Senate conferees felt it would be better to start all over again next January after taking the issue (extension of federal wage fixing authority to local businesses) to the people in the coming political campaign.

Houslng: An "emergency" housing bill to channel $1-billion into the purchase of government-insured mortgages passed the House

R.emodeling Attrocis Builders

Builders should diverslfy operafions by getdng lnto the romodellng field, accordlng to flitz Burns, big CallforniaIfawa.ll builder, NAIIB past-president and speaker at the recent Pacffic Coast Bullders Conferonce. In tlrnes of market fluctuatlon, remodellng income is mfghty welcome, he declared.

early in the second session but the Senate failed to take any action on it. Billion-dollar housing measures providing for public housing and expansion of the urban renewal, college housing and nursing housing prog"ams were passed by the Senate and approved by the House Banking Committee. However, the House Rules Committee efrectively blocked House floor action on these proposals.

During the closing hours of the "bobtail" session, Congress passed legislation to extend the FHA housing programs for one year, including the Title t home improvement program, and to provide $5OO-million in college housing loan funds and 95O-million in loans for public facilities in small communities.

School Constructlon: The House Rules Committee, by refusing to permit bills already passed by the Senate and the House to go to conference for adjustment of differences, effectively blocked legislation to authorize tr'ederal-aid to school construction. An informal agreement had been reached by the prospective conferees on the measure which included concessions that w€r€ &Gceptable to the Administration. The informal agreement provided that the bill be limited to school construction and-that provisions for teachers' salaries as provided in the Senate bill be deleted.

Medical Care lor tho Aged: When the Congress reconvened in August, Senators Kennedy and Johnson set out to make medical care for the aged an integral part of the Social Security system. They sought to add such So-cial Security provisions to a Housepassed bill providing for a limited grant-in-aid, medical-aid program for the needy aged.

Under the Kennedy-Johnson proposal, medical benefits would be provided Social Security pensioners with the cost of the new program to be financed by payroll taxes. The Administration supported a voluntary progTam of State aid to elderly persons with low incomes entailing E'ederal grants from the Treasury to help States meet the cost.

The mea.sure as sent to the President provided for $220-million in Federal grants for relief-type State prograrns the first year. The States would provide $61-million. It is estimated tlat 1.4 million persons over 65 would receive payments under this proglam.

Secondary Boycott: This Congress did not take any final action on Senate or House bills to permit picketing at sites of labor disputes in the construction industry without regard to the efrect upon neutral or secondary employers. This proposal if enacted would have permitted building trade unions to block the we of non-union-made wood products or ClO-union made products on any construction project employing AF L building trade union employbs. A subcommittee of the Senate Labor Committee on August 9 approved such a bill, S. 2643, for the full Committee's consideration. While the full Committee did consider the measure in a series of executive sessions, it took no flnal action prior to the Congressional adjournment. A companion bill, H.R. 9070, which had been approved by the House Labor Committee, was pigeonholed by the House Rules Committee and it also died when Congress adjourned,

Other Legtslatlon: The President has already sigrted a $3.9 billion public works appropriations bill (now Public Law No. 86700) which includes S706,491,600 for construction by the Army Corps of Engineers.

The "bobtail" session also approved legislation to provide forest protection and management of lands in reservoir projects administered by the Corps of Engineers. It was sigrred by the President, September 6, and is now Public Law No. 86-7\7.

Undoubtedly, many of the proposals which this Congress failed to act on will be brought up again in the next session of Congress. Among these will be legislation to increase the F ederal minimum wage and extend the coverage of the Fair Labor Standards Act, provide federal assigtance to economically depressed areas, enlarge the federal housing programs, and permit secondary boycotts at construction sites. In addition, bills will most likely be dropped in the legislative "hopper" of the 87th Congress in the area of taxation, natural resources, to establish national wilderness areas, and further attempts will be made to solve the alleged road access problems to national forest lands. -Natlonal

Lumber Manufacturers Assoclatlon.

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