Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-08-03
Close Margins
Marked House
Action in S.

mounting IN the LEGISLATIVE
straining for adjournment could
match for suspense the numer-
Gus tight squeezes in House vot-
ing this year.
For many leader on both
sides Of the aisle separating 232
Democrats and 2o3 Republicans
the ayes and hayes on several
major issues Of the session were
much too close for comfort. The
Senate. with only 96 members,
occasionally has photo finishes
in passing or defeating bills. But
the House, despite its far greater
spread of 1875 members, has es-
tablished q tradition Of tight
TALES.
Margins of only q few House
votes made lot Of difference
during the last week or 10 days
to the fate or form Of such
measures as the highway bill
the natural gas law, and the
Federal minimum wage law.
Six Votes Kill Road Bill
President Eisenhower's pro-
posal for q bond issue method
Of helping to finance a huge
bodybuilding program was re-
jected last Wednesday by only
six votes, 1874 to 178. The House
also killed the Democratic-spon-
sored bill, 292 to 1913.
On the next afternoon the
House passed, 209 to 203, the
bill to exempt natural gas pro.
ducers from direct Federal reg
ulation. 1t prevented a recon-
initial motion by 210 to 203
Even before those votes the bill
had some hairbreadth escapes
when it managed to get out Of
the Commerce Committee by {
to S.
The bill to increase the mini
mum wage from rs cents to 81
an hour had no trouble on finaI
passage. But a Republican move
to lift the level to 80 cents until
January l and 81 thereafter lost
by only five votes, 173 to 1863.
The course of roll calls on
some other legislation earlier
this year in the House could
have contributed gray hair OF
forehead lines to individual
sponsors as well as to party
whips" responsible for rounding
up members.
The farm price supports pro-
gram stayed alive only because
the House passed it 206 to POI
last May.
Single-Vote Margin
Extension Of the Reciprocal
Trade Agreements Act escaped
a recommittal attempt, 206 to
1879, after q nip-and-tuck ex-
hibition in which the House
practically out-did itself last
February. Before the debate
started, opponents tried to
throw it open to amendments
which, according to supporters
Iof the measure. would have
wrecked the program. But a no.
amendment rule was adopted
by only one vote, 1893 to 1872,
which reversed a previous ten
tative count Of 207 to l78 for
an open rule.
A week later the House put
on a similar nerve-wracking
performance on a bill to continue
the existing corporation income
tax rate and various excise
levies. The bill itself went
through, 242 to ITS, but only
after Democrats lost, 210 to 205,
on their proposal for a $40 in
|dividual income tax cut.
Just to keep in trim, the
House Rules Committee chalked
up many narrow margins among
Its IL members. 1t couldn't have
been closer than on the SIS tie
which for weeks blocked the
housing bill before it finally was
Cleared for House debate in the
adjournment push.
The Inflated bill for State
hood for Hawaii and Alaska
emerged from the Commerce
Committee by q 1919 vote, only
to be returned by the House to
that committee for shelving.
The House vote for recommittal
last May was 218 to ITO - a
significant difference of 48
which left the total of States
still at 48.