Evening star., 1951-01-21
Hearings on Budgets
Will Be Postponed
For Week at Least

Hearings on District and Fed
eral budgets will be delayed at
least week while the House Ap-
preparations Committee perfects
its organization.
The committee was to have set
up its machinery tomorrow. but
this now has been postponed a
week. possibly because of a re-
ported disagreement over con-
tinuation of the "one-package"
plan of handling all Federal and
District budget requests in one
measure.
Some members of the House
subcommittee in charge of the
Districts $136 million budget had
expressed a desire to delay the
hearings to allow time for pre-
liminary studies.
Meanwhile, House and Senate
District Committees are expected
to set up their organizations this
week to handle the growing list of
city bills placed before Congress.
Home Rule Bill Due.
A Washington home rule bill,
calling for an elected city council
and an elected school board, prob
ably will be placed before the
Senate this week. A half dozen or
more Senators are expected to
sponsor the measure. Such a bill
was passed by voice vote in the
past Congress but was pigeonholed
in the House District Committee.
Several members of Congress
have introduced bills to provide
either for elected representation
in Congress for the District, or
for some form of local suffrage.
AS to the latter, however, a drive
for a wholly elected city govern
ment is yet to be started. although
bills have been offered to provide
for reorganization of the city gov
ernment departments, for an
elected school board, and for an
elected. but non-voting District
delegate in the House.
Sometime this week. Chairman
Nicely of the Senate District Com
mittee is expected to take the
Senate floor to demand action
with regard to wire-tapping by
Washington police. Among other
things he is expected to make a
sharp answer to the six Repub-
lican members of the Senate Dis
trict Committee during the past
Congress who, as a parting shot,
filed a minority report with the
Senate saying that the District
Committee wire-tapping report
was subject to suspicion.
Hint at Political Motive.
The retiring Republican men,
berS of the old Senate District
Committee limited that there were
political motives in some of the
committees proposals. They there
fore recommended that punitive
action against two of the witnesses
be withheld at least temporarily
and that a proposed bill to put
overlapping in Washington under
severe restraint be referred to
some national committee of the
Senate for further study.
Late in the past Congress the
Senate District Committee called
for a police trial board hearing
for Police 1t. Joseph w. Shimon,
an admitted wiretapper, and had
moved to cite Henry w. Grune-
wald, Wire-tap witness. for con-
tempt of the Senate for refusing
to answer a number of questions
propounded by Chairman Nicely.
A definite date has been sched-
uled for a meeting of the new
House District Committee - for
10:30 am. Tuesday. At that time
members of various subcommittee
are to be named and the whole
group is expected to adopt it's rules
of procedure.
Efforts are being made for a
meeting of the Senate District
Committee early this week, prob
ably Tuesday or Wednesday, but |
this was left indefinite because
some members have been or will I
be out of town.