CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - HOUSE

; H. R. 3828. An act for the relief of Antonio Bruno;

H. R. 4100. An act for the relief of Mrs.

Lau Hong Shee;

H. R. 4101. An act for the relief of Hidenori ttada;

H. R. 4328. An act for the relief of Mrs.

Edith D. Williamson;

H.R. 4375. An act for the relief of Julia S. Criswell;

H. R. 4440. An act for the relief of Hilde

Kretz Sforza;

H. R. 5118. An act for the relief of Louise

Kaden and Elke Beate Kaden; and

H. R. 5470. An act for the relief of Salvatore

Mario Veltri.

On August 14, 1953:

H. R. 307. An act to revive and reenact

the act entitled "An act authorizing the

Ogdensburg Bridge Authority, its succes- sors and assigns, to construct, maintain, and

operate a bridge across the St. Lawrence River

at or near the city of Ogdensburg, N. Y.";

H. R. 975. An act for the relief of Dr.

Dudley A. Reekle;

H. R. 1127. An act to validate a conveyance

of certain lands by the Central Pacific Railway Co., and its lessee, Southern Pacific Co.,

to the Union Ice Co. and Edward Barbera;

H. R. 1219. An act authorizing the Hidalgo

Bridge Co., its heirs, legal representatives and

assigns, to construct, maintain, and operate

a railroad toll bridge across the Rio Grande,

at or near Hidalgo, Tex.;

H. R. 1245. An act to provide for the con- veyance of a tract of land in Dane County,

Wis., to the Wisconsin State Armory Board;

H. R. 2019. An act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to sell certain land to Ted B. Landoe and Roderic S. Carpenter;

H.R. 2162. An act for the relief of Cyril

Claude Andersen, Patricia Andersen Hill, and

Thelma Andersen McNeill.

H. R. 3046. An act for the relief of William

Urban Maloney;

H. R. 3630. An act for the relief of Mrs.

Nathalie Illine;

H. R. 4151. An act to provide wage credits

under title II of the Social Security Act for

military service before July 1, 1955, and to extend the time for filing application for lump- sum death payments under such title with

respect to the death of certain Individuals

dying in the service who are reinterred;

H. R. 5486. An act for the relief of Irene

Andrews;

H. R. 5662. An act to amend the act of

June 30, 194E, so as to extend for 1 year the

authority of the Secretary of the Interior to issue patents for certain public lands in

Monroe County, Mich., held under color of

title;

H. R. 5887. An act for the relief of George

Michael Jabour; . H. R. 5951. An act for the relief of Eveline Brigitte Bartl (Eveline B. Hermann);

H. R. 6185. An act to amend the'Veterans'

Preference Act of 1944 with respect to preference accorded in Federal employment to

disabled veterans, and for other purposes;

H. R. 6252. An act to amend the charter of

the Girl Scouts of the United States of

America so as to limit membership on the

National Council of Girl Scouts to citizens of

the United States, to authorize meetings of

the national council as provided in the con- stitution, and to authorize an annual report

based upon the preceding fiscal year,

H. R. 6402. An act to provide for abatement

of jeopardy assessments when jeopardy does

not exist;

H. R. 6813. An act to authorize the utilization of a limited amount of storage space in

Lake Texoma for the purpose of water supply

for the city of Denison, Tex.; and

H. J. Res. 268. Joint resolution granting the

consent of Congress to the negotiation of a

compact relating to the establishment of a

bistate park and/or recreational area by the

States of Kentucky and Virginia.

On August 15, 1953:

H. R. 1055. An act to eliminate certain discriminatory legislation against Indians in the

United States;

H. R. 1063. An act to confer jurisdiction on

the States of California, Minnesota, Nebraska,

Oregon, and Wisconsin, with respect to criminal offelses and civil causes of action committed or arising on Indian reservations

w!thin such States, and for other purposes;

H. R. 2062. An act to permit the coordination of the Wisconsin retirement fund with

the Federal old-age and survivors insurance

system;

H. R. 2396. An act for the relief of Harry

Clay Mauli, Jr.;

H. -. 3409. An act to terminate certain

Federal restrictions upon Indians;

H. R. 4047. An act validating certain con-

,cyances heretofore made by Central Pacific

Railway Co., L corporation, and its lessee,

Southern Pacific Co., a corporation, involving

certain portions of right-of-way, in the

county of Alameda, State of California, acqui-ed by Central Pacific Railway Co. under

the act of Congress approved July 1, 1862

(12 Stat. L. 489), as amended by the act of

Congress approved July 2, 1864 (13 Stat. L.

356) ;

H. R. 4483. An act to provide compensation

to the Shoshone and Arapahoe Tribes of Indians for certain lands of the Riverton reclamation project within the ceded portion of

the Wind River Indian Reservation, and for

other purposes;

H. R. 4508. An act to authorize the sale of

certain lands to the State of Oklahoma;

H. R. A-980. An act to amend section 3250

(1) (5) of the Internal Revenue Code to provide that a person entitled to drawback with

respect to certain nonbeverage products may

elect to receive such drawback on a monthly

instead of a quarterly basis;

H. R. 5603. An. act to amend the Federal

Reserve Act so as to authorize national banking associations to make loans on forest

tracts;

H. R. 6281. An act to reimburse the Post

Office Department for the transmission of

official Government-mail matter;

H. R. 6426. An act to amend the Internal

Revenue Code to extend the time .during

which certain provisions relating to income

and estate taxes shall apply, and for other

purposes; and

H. R. 6441. An act to amend certain provisions of title XI of the Merchant Marine

Act, 1936, as amended, to facilitate private

financing of new ship construction, and

for othar purposes.

DISAPPROVAL OF HOUSE BILLS

AFTER SINE DIE ADJOURNMENT

The message also announced that the

President had on August 6, 1953, disapproved a bill of the House of the following title together with his reasons for

such action:

TAX ON ADMISSIONS-H. R. 157

H. R. 157. I am withholding my approval of H. R. 157, entitled "To provide

that the tax on admissions shall not apply to moving-picture admissions."

My reasons for taking this position are

that we cannot afford the loss of revenue

involved and that it is unfair to single

out one industry for relief at this time.

In my message to the Congress on

May 20, I said:

Tax receipts will apparently fall considerably short of our necessary expenditures

during the next fizcal year. In view of this

fact, I have come to the conclusion that no

reductions in tax rates should become effective during this calendar year.

In accordance with this policy, the

Treasury Department advised the chairmen of the House Committee on Ways

and Means and the Senate Committee

on Finance of its opposition to this bill.

Because of the need for revenue I recommended an extension of the excessprofits tax for 6 months and the extension has now been made. Tax relief for

one industry now would be inconsistent

with that action.

It is estimated that the repeal of the

admissions tax on motion-picture performances, which has been on the books

at the present rate since April 1, 1944,

would result in a gross loss of revenue of

$200 million. After allowing for a resulting increase in corporation income

taxes, the net loss is estimated tn be between $100 million and $120 million a

year.

It is not contended by the industry

that the present scale of admission prices

which reflects the 20-percent tax is responsible for the existing distress situation in the industry. Indeed, the industry apparently expects in many cases to

maintain the present price to consumers

even though the tax is repealed

There is distress in large but not all

segments of the industry. The basic

causes of the industry's distress, however, arise from new forms of competition.

A strong case can also be made for

tax relief in other industries which are

subject to high excise taxes, including

other. forms of entertainment subect to

the admission tax. If relief is to be

given to motion-picture theaters at this

time, it would not be fair to refuse relief to these other industries. If widespread relief were given, however, the

loss in revenue would be very large.

As I said in my message of May 20:

The wide variety Of , xisting excise rates makes little economic sense and leads to improper discrimination between industries

and among consumers. Specific proposals

for a modified system of excise taxation will

be included in the recommendations for tax

revision that will be submitted to the Congress next January.

The Treasury analysis has already

progressed to the point where I can say

that I will include a recommendation for

a reduction in the admissions tax in my

proposals for a modified system of excise

taxation. Action could be taken by the

Congress early in 1954 and relief could

be given at that time.

It is for these reasons that I cannot

give my approval to the repeal of the

tax on admissions to motion-picture performances. The country cannot afford a

loss of revenue at this time. Furthermore, it would not be fair and would be

discriminatory to give relief under a

single excise tax and then only to one of

the industries subject to that tax.

DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER,

THE WHITE HousE, August 6, 1953.

1953 11161