Evening star., 1951-01-09
Senate, House
.Get 70 Bills
Affecting D. {.
Agency Dispersal
And Representation
Among Measures

80
More than 20 bills affecting the
District, introduced yesterday in
the House and Senate, have begun
to give form to the city's legis-
lative program.
They dealt with a wide range Of
subjects. from defense plans for
dispersal of some of the key Gov
ernment agencies to suburban
areas and District representation
in Congress to conservation of
rockhsh.
Many of the bills seek to revive
measures that died with the 81st
Congress.
The plan to spend $3.50 million
to scatter vital Government agen-
cies in areas as far as 20 miles
from the Capital was renewed by
Chairman Chavez of the Senate
Public Works Committee.
Wire-Tapping Bill.
Members of the House and Sem
ate District Committees offered
bills on city taxes, District suf-
frage, wire-tapping by police and
other unrelated subjects.
Chairman Mcmillan of the
House District Committee reintro-
duced his bill to eliminate all food
sales from the District 2 per cent
sales tax. Groceries already are
exempt and the present law ex-
empts meals up to SIPS.
Late in the past session, after
Maryland had modified its sales
tax law, Chairman Mcmillan
moved to free all restaurant meals
from the tax here, but it was too
late for any action. District Off
cials have indicated they will fight
this proposal.
Chairman Nicely of the Senate
District Committee brought the
question of District representation
before the Senate by reintroducing
a resolution for a Constitution
amendment to empower Congress
to grant representation for the
District in Congress and in the
Electoral College.
Offered in 1949.
This was in the same form as
he offered in 1949, which failed
of any action in the Senate Judi
ciary Committee.
The resolution would empower
Congress to provide the District
with representation in Congress
and among the electors Gin such
numbers and with such powers as
the Congress shall determine" but
no greater than those of a State.
The constitutional amendment
would go into effect when ap-
proved by a two-thirds vote Of
the House and Senate and if rati-
fed within seven years by the leg
islatures of three -fourths of the
States.
! Senator Nicely also placed before
the Senate a bill to ban wire
tapping by members of the Metro
politan Police Department. except
in pursuit of investigations in
volving the safety of human life
and only then when authorized by
a District Court judge. Such a
bill was favorably reported by the
Senate District Committee at the
end of the 81st Congress, but the
timeswas too short for action.
May Ask Contempt Citation.
The West Virginia Senator also
is prepared to move for Senate
adoption of a District Committee
proposal to cite for contempt of
the Senate one of the witnesses in
the Wire-tapping probe-Henry w.
(The Dutchman Grunewald. The
once-missing Mr.. GruneWald ap-
peared before the committee but,
on advice of counsel, refused to
answer numerous questions by
Senator Nicely on the ground they
were Irrelevant to the Senate
INQUIRY.
Another controversial issue was
brought before the Senate by
Senator Johnston, Democrat, of
South Carolina, who re-intro-
duced a bill providing for the reg
istration of optometrists.
This bill, debated through a
long series of hearings in the past
Congress in both the House and
Senate. would classify optome-
trists as members of a profession.
Chairman McCarran of the
Senate Judiciary Committee. a
former chairman of the Senate
District Committee, again placed
before the Senate a bill to give
the District modern law on
corporations. A similar bill al.
ready has been introduced by
Representative O'Hara, Republic
can, of Minnesota.
Senator McCarran was the au-
thor of the bill to protect rockfish
by forbidding the sale of those
weighing over Is pounds.
Cancer Bill introduced.
Among bills introduced yester-
day by Senator Neely were those
to provide compensatory time off
for working on legal holidays for
Washington police and firemen
and White House and Park police:
to make cancer a reportable dis
ease, to extend the District mini.
mum wage law to cover men as
well as women and children. and
to establish a commission on hu-
man rights in the District to deal
with race relations.
In move to protect the teeth
OF children here, Representative
Mcmillan introduced bill to au-
thorize dental hygienists to apply
sodium flouride to teeth. Present
law restricts this kind of treat
ment to dentists or doctors.
Supervision over building and
loan associations here would be
transferred from the controller of
the currency to the Home Loan
Bank Board, under another meas
ure introduced by Mr.. Mcmillan.
Other bills dropped in the Housa