Evening star., 1936-11-18
HOUSE DISTRICT
COMMITTEE IN FOR
DRASTIC SHAKE-UP
Three Missing and Several
Reported Desiring New
Assignments.
CHAIRMAN NORTON
EXPECTED TO REMAIN
Two Vacancies Due to Election
and One to Retirement-Seven
Believed Sure to Hold On.
BY JAMES E. CHINN.

BY JAMES E. CHINN.
Drastic reorganization of the House
District Committee is expected when
the Seventy-fifth Congress convenes
in January.
Three of the members who served
through the Seventy-fourth Congress
will not return, one by choice and
the other two as a result Of the No
vember 3 elections. At least q half
dozen of the others are angling for
more important committee assign
ments and probably will get them.
Representative Mary T. Norton,
Democrat. Of New Jersey, however.
is expected to remain as chairman of
the committee. She has been urged
to seek an assignment on the Ap.
propriations Committee, but attaches
in her Office insist she will not sacri-
nee q committee craftsmanship to
become q member Of some other
standing committee. though it may
have q more important status.
Two of the three vacancies a the
committee resulted from the defeat
at the polls of Representatives Clare
Gerald Fenerty. Republican, Of Penn
sylvania and Theodore B. Werner,
Democrat, of South Dakota. Rep
resentative Randolph Carpenter,
Democrat, Of Kansas, third member,
did not run for reelection.
Changes Are Desired.
Aside from these three vacancies,
others are almost certain to be Gre
ated when the House organizes for the
new session and the committee as
signments are passed out. Even be-
fore the last session of Congress ad-
journed several members of the Dis
trict Committee confided to Chairman
Norton they would seek other COM
mittee assignments If reelected to
the Seventy-fifth Congress. These
members were not particularly inter-
ested in District legislation and
showed it by failing to attend COM
mittee meetings.
One Of the members looking for q
more important committee assign
ment, however. has been active in
the affairs Of the committee, and his
loss would be keenly felt BY Mrs.
Norton.
The committee es now constituted.
except for the three members who
will not return. follows:
Representatives Norton. Vincent l..
Palmisano of Maryland, Wright Pat.
man Of Texas, Ambrose j. Kennedy
Of Maryland, Jennings Randolph of
West Virginia, Virginia E. Jenckes Of
Indiana, Henry Ellenbogen of Penn
sylvania, William T. Schultz of In
diana, Reuben T. Wood of Missouri.
James L. Quinn Of Pennsylvania,
Jack Nichols of Oklahoma and Dan
r. McGehee Of Mississippi, all DEM
ocrats; Merlin Hull, Progressive, Of
Wisconsin, and Everett M. Dirksen Of
Illinois, Dewey Short of Missouri,
Ralph o. Brewster of Maine. Chaun-
cey W. Reed Of Illinois and w. Sterling
Cole of New York. Republicans.
Seven 70 Remain.
In this group those virtually certain
to remain include Palmisano, Ken
nedy, Jenckes, Schultz, Nichols, Dirk
sen and Reed. Palmisano is the
ranking majority member of the COM
mittee and is interested in District
affairs because of their relationship
at times to those Of the State he rep
resents. He also is chairman Of the
Judiciary Committee.
Kennedy, who also represents Mary
land, probably will remain on the
committee for virtually the same rea-
son. Likewise he heads the Educa-
ton Subcommittee, which came into
prominence at the last session OF
Congress by promoting the fight for
repeal of the so-called ''red rider" to
the 1896 District appropriation act.
Mrs. Jenckes is vitality interested in
public health and fire department
activities in the District and prob
ably will want to continue her serv-
ice on the committee for that reason.
In the last Congress she served as
chairman of the Subcommittee on
Public Health, Hospitals and Chari-
ties.
Nichols is secretary Of the Commis-
sion Committee appointed to select a
site for the ng-proposed municipal
airport. Ellenbogen heads the i'm
portant Subcommittee on Fiscal Af-
fairs, which is destined to play a vital
part in District affairs at the coming
session in view Of the recommends
tions to be made by the special COM
mittee appointed by President Roose-
welt to solve the perplexing fiscal re-
lations problem between the United
States and the District.