Evening star., 1946-02-03
Joint Congress Group
Reports Progress in
Reorganization Study
BY DON 9. WARREN.

| 1ACLADCIC VI tlle LII TOuebLG~N1Ou.
roney Joint House and Senate Com
mittee yesterday made good prog
ress" reviewing the lengthy draft OF
the committees. proposed report on
reorganization Of congressional ma
chinery.
The committee now has covered
three-fourths of the 15.000-word re-
port and may be ready for decisions
on the recommendations, section by
section, after one more session for
reading and study Of its contents.
Still to be read for the first time
are sections dealing with proposals
for registration Of all kinds of lob
byists, a boost in the pay OF Senators
and Representatives from 5000 to
$4,000. and legislation to permit
members Of Congress to buy their
way into the Federal retirement
system by putting down a minimum
Of $4,000 and thereafter paying the
usual 5 per cent salary deduction
Pay Boost Sting Eased.
To ease the political problem Of q
Congress member voting for pay in
crease for himself, the draft report
suggests this increase be effective
with the opening of the 80th Con-
gress, which would be after the No
vember elections for all House
members and one-third of the Sen
ate membership.
And as to retirement for Con-
gress members, it is proposed the
$2,500 expense allowance voted last
year by the House be discontinued.
At the same time, the tentative
report proposes Representatives and
Senators be given "a reasonable
deduction on their income taxes fol
duplicate rents paid in the per.
formance Of their congressional du.
ties. Where members are required
to maintain two homes, one in thei1
district and the other in Washing
ton," the tentative report says, "oc-
cupancy costs for one should be
deductible as legitimate expense
item"
Registration Of Lobbyists.
As to lobbyists, the tentative
draft states that while organized
groups have a right to petition the
Government, mass means of COM
munication and highly developed
professional skill have so increased
pressures upon Congress as to dis
tort and confuse the normal ex-
preston of public opinion"
The proposed registration Of Or
ganized groups would, as now
drafted, include quarterly state
ments Of expenditures for any at
tempt to influence" legislation. II
also would call for statements OF
bona flde total membership.
Among miscellaneous recommen.
dations at the end of the report
yet to be considered, are proposals
favoring remodeling Of the House
and Senate chambers (already
planned under separate legislation)
improvement of the use, including
visual displays, Of the House and
Senate caucus rooms; expansion oi
the restaurant facilities in the
House and Senate; provision of more
space for meetings of joint confer
ence committees; housing of Capt.
tol pages. and for modernization Of
the daily Congressional Record.
Recesses for Congress.
Another recommendation calls fol-
Limitation Of the sessions of Con-
gress to permit at least two month
recesses each year except for ma
tional emergencies.
Also there are recommendations
that Congress experiment with al
tentative days for congressional and
committee sessions and that Con-
gress give trial to periodic evening
sessions which would be broadcast
to the Nation.
As now planned this would no,
be the ordinary hit and miss de.
bate but prescheduled night session
broadcasts with equal division o1
time between opposing parties, and
under proper limits"