The journal. (Caldwell, Ohio) 1934-1961, 1959-01-22
with Rep. John Henderson
THE NEW CONGRESS

marked the opening of the 86th |
Congress has died down. The
swearing-in of members and the
delivering of the Presidents State
of the Union Message were the
highlights of the first week. On
both occasions, the balconies were
packed with friends, relatives and
interested spectators observing
the tiIne-honored procedures.
Maxine attended both cere-
monies. The wives of members
seem to take especial interest, not
so much in what is going on the
floor of Congress, but in the
plumage that is displayed in the
gallery. For them, the main object
of attention and comment is hats.
A Member of Congress retains
his privileges of the floor even
after he leaves Congress 50 the
opening days are especially at
tractive to-former Members. They,
together with the Cabinet, the
Senators, the Supreme Court, the
Ambassadors and the diplomats
of foreign nations filled the House
Chamber to overfloWing.
The next week or two will be
devoted to organizing the new
Congress for conducting the work
of the session. Most important in
that process is the appointment
of Committees to consider the
volumes Of ideas for new legis-
lation which reached record pro-
portions in the House with 2136
bills introduced during the open
ing week. It will be the latter
part of January before the legis-
lative machinery is operating in
high gear.
The city Of Washington ex-
panded its waistline sufficiently
to accommodate the Members of
Congress, their families and the
thousands of additional people
who arrive on the scene for the
re-opening of new session of
Congress. New Members of Con-
gress have been looking for suit
able homes for themselves and
their families and for them the
first week or two in Washington
Is marked by receptions, ban
quets and other social gatherings.
Arriving slim and slender, they
will find that after a steady diet
of such "sociables" more than
the city's waistline will expand.
Operation Abolition
At the beginning of each Con-
gress attention is given to Com
mittees, both the regular Com
mittees of the House and those
special Committees that have
been set up to perform specific
tasks. Early in each Of the Con-
crosses of which l have been a
| Member, the question of continu-
ing the work of the House IN
American Activities Committees
has received some consideration
and comment. In previous years
the Committee was re-established
without much difficulty. How
ever, this year one notes an
especially well-planned attack
upon the Un-American Activities
Committee seeking to destroy its
reputation and to bring about its
dissolution. Capital newspapers
have carried full page advertise
ments urging that the Committee
be abolished. The Un-American
Activities Committee itself in a
recent publication calls the effort
operation abolition" and states
that it is a campaign not only
against the Committee but the
Federal Bureau of Investigation
and the Government Security
Program in general.
/ feel that the survival of our
republic requires constant vigil
ance over the operations of those
subVersive organizations which
operate within. our borders to
destroy or undermine the free
dorns we enjoy. The Un-American
Activities Committee has played
| an important part in alerting
public opinion to these dangers.
In this sense, l believe the Com
mittee has performed necessary
and desirable function. Because
of its work in the past, the Ma
tons understanding of subver-