Evening star., 1954-08-08
DC. Bills 70 Get
Congressional
Vote This Week
House to Consider
Open Arrest Books
And JobIess Puy

SOVsSSS Ny
This will be q busy and i'm
portant week for the District on
Capitol Hill if present plans fol-
low through.
Both the House and the SEN
ate as well as conference COM
mittee on the huge 50 billion
supplemental appropriation bill
are expected to take up numerous
matters Of local interest.
Tomorrow is District day in
the House and half-dozen bills
await action. These include an
important and hard-fought
measure to liberalize the Dis
trict's unemployment compensa-
ton insurance law.
Awaiting action is bill recon-
mended by the Senate District
Committee which stops somewhat
short Of the provisions of Sem
ate bill. The House District Com.
mittee is recommending a raise
from the present $40 for 20
weeks to $50 for % weeks for the
jobless. The Senate-approved
legislation asks for $50 for 26
weeks. There are other matters
Of controversy between the House
and the Senate concerning watt
ing time and qualifications for
approval.
The House tomorrow also
will consider bills to require the
Metropolitan police to maintain
publicly open books on arrests
Of any one, adult or juvenile, to
strengthen the District Traffic
Act to set up new qualifications
for deprival Of driving permits:
and to provide for a city gov
ernment regulation over. the
election Of District delegates to
national political conventions.
5S5 Bills ON Consent Calendar.
There is an even larger num-
Der OF District bills pending on
the Senate's now huge consent
calendar list. A Senate press
gallery agent yesterday listed
585 bills on the consent calen-
educational and local-await-
ing action. The consent calen-
dar has not been called since
July II.
Among the older bills pre-
viously objected to include those
for an elected and so-called
Washington ''home-rule" form
OF government; provisions for
the appointment of many ad-
ditional Federal judges over the
country, including three more
for the U. S. District Court for
the District of Columbia.
measure to empower the Pub
lie Utilities Commission to limit
the number of taxicabs licensed
to operate in the District, and
a bill to incorporate the WASH
ington National Airport so that
it could operate as a business
outfit instead of having to de-
pend upon annual congressional
appropriations.
There is more hope, however,
on action on some of the later
bills concerning the District,
which have been added to the
Senate calendar. Foremost among
these is the compromise bill au-
thorizing construction of a bridge
over the Potomac River in the
central Washington area. This
would authorize a bridge below
Roosevelt Memorial Island, which
would tie in with Twenty fourth
street NV. as an interbelt high
way to speed traffic.
! This is sponsored by Chairman
Case of the Senate District Com
mittee and has the general in
dorsement of spokesmen for the
District government, the Ma
tional Park Service and the Ma
tional Capital Planning Commits
sion.
Progress on Supplemental Bill.
House and Senate conferees
are reported to have made prog
ress on the big supplemental bill.
Involved in these conferences are
several items of major local in
terest. One is the Senate pro-
posal to provide Sc million for
beginning of construction on an
annex to the Senate Office Build
ing. This would be built on a
site already purchased and
"'e red alon@ First street NE.
between Constitution avenue and
S street, an area now used as q
parking lot.
Another would include George
town University Hospital in the
loan and grant provisions of the
Washington Hospital Center Act
to help it finance a 100-bed ad-
dition to the university hospital
on Reservoir Road NV.
Another item involved in con-
ferences is whether the Civil De-
fense Training Center should be
retained at Olney. Md. instead
of having most of it moved to
Battle Creek, Mich.