Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-04-10

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President Eisenhower ability
to get along with a Democratic
Congress will be put to a more
severe test in the next three
months than in the last three.
At least six major controver-
sizes are shaping up for the Sec
ond half of the 1855 session. be-
ginning with the return of both
houses from an Easter recess
Wednesday. They probably will
keep Congress In session until
the end of July or the middle OF
August.
Issues Listed
The biggest battles ahead will
be over:
/. The perennial tariff ques-
ton in the Reciprocal Trade
Agreement bill.
2. Military manpower, which
will produce conflict on the de-
tense budget and. to a lesser
degree, on the administrations
new reserve plan.
8. How best to expand the
nations highway system, whether
by Federal loans or grants.
a. School construction, which
involves the same issue Of loans
VS.. grants.
S. Increasing the 75-cent min
imum hourly wage. The Presi-
dent recommended 80 cents.
Labor leaders want SIPS. Con-
gress may approve 81.
6. Foreign military and eco
nomic aid, on which exact fig
ures are not yet available. Ad-
ministration plans to step up
assistance to areas still free
from communist control in Asia
will be the focal point Of debate.
Pay Raise Still Unresolved
Still unresolved also are the
divergent views on a pay in
crease for Federal employees.
ranging from 7.6 to 10 per cent.
Most observers beliece Con-
gress will heed the Presidents
request for action on all Of these
subjects. The big question Is how
close will they come to meeting
his specifications.
Up to now. Mr.. Eisenhower
has had a high degree of success
in getting his program through
the Democratic-controlled Con-
gress. But in the first three
months of the session the en-
phasis was on foreign affairs.
where the spirit of bipartisan
ship prevailed on five important
roll calls.
Both houses promptly gave the
President broad discretion In the
defense of FormoSa, and the
Senate lost no time in ratifying
four treaties: For mutual defense
of Southeast Asia; for mutual
defense of Formosa; ending the
occupation of Western Germany,
and bringing West German man
power into NATO defense set-up.
With Democratic help, Mr..
Eisenhower also won his fight
against individual tax cuts at
this time, which would have
further unbalanced the budget.
But the issues that lie ahead
contain more seeds for contro-
versy, especially in domestic
legislation.
The first and biggest fight is
likely to start Wednesday morn
ing when the Senate Finance
Committee begins to vote on the
administrations 3-year Recipro-
cal Trade program, providing
authority to make further tariff
cuts at the rate of 5 per cent
each year.
The tariff fight will not follow
party lines. Senators are more
likely to choose sides according
to the effect they think further
cuts would have on their geo.
graphical areas. In fact, on
some proposed changes in the
House bill. the President may
have more trouble with his own
side of the political aisle than
with the Democrats. At the
same time. some Southern Dem
ocrats who have been faithful
from the start to the program
inaugurated 20 years ago are dis
turbed now because of the growth
of the textile industry in the
South.
In the Finance Committee and
on the Senate floor, amendments
will be proposed to protect both
the oil and textile Industries.
But there are no indications the
hackers of these and other COM
modify amendments will be able
to pool their strength. If they
don't they may cancel each other
out.
Threat of Restriction
The program may !. face a
greater threat from general re-
strictions. on which the conflict
ing interests might get together.
One prominent Finance Com
mittee member predicted efforts
to shorten the life of the pro-
gram to one or two years: to
eliminate or scale down the
authority for additional tariff
cuts of Is per cent over the
three-year period, and to make
sure that nothing in this bill
puts Congress on record as ap-
proving GAIT. (The general
agreement on tariffs and trade
worked out at Geneva, in which
the United States has particle
pated by Executive order).
The GAIT issue will be fought
out later on a separate BILL. in
which the administration will
seek to have the United States