The journal. (Caldwell, Ohio) 1934-1961, 1959-10-01
On GlaAhU1gton
with Rep. John Henderson
One Robin


The arrival of Mr.. Khrushchev
in the United States last week
excited a special kind of curl
osity in the Nations capital -
curiosity which could not be
described either as enthusiastic
or unfriendly. This same pattern
proved to be typical of other
cities as well.
Even though many of the en-
ployees on Capitol Hill had been
awake until 500 a. m. when Con-
gress adjourned, a great many of
them congregated several blocks
from the Capitol to watch the
entry of Mr.. Khrushchev as he
came into the city from the air.
port. This was the first sizable
group of Americans the Russian
leader encountered along his
route of travel Their response to
his appearance was polite and
little else.
Newspapers and TV screens
have been flooded with the ac-
tions and reactions surrounding
Khrushchev's visit. The circus
like tone, set by the antics Of the
Russian leader, is part Of the
most deadly serious vaudeville
act the Goth century has pro-
duced. Since Khrushchev has
abviously come here more to be
seen and heard by the American
people than to observe what he
can about our way of life, the
final result of his visit may be
far from what he had hoped to
accomplish. The over-exposure of
publicity he is receiving may
demonstrate fully to the Ameri-
can people that he is offering
little Or no prospect for sound
agreement for ending the cold
war now. However, the fact that
he makes such an energetic
grand stand play is important in
itself. If the visit is the beginning
of a new climate in world affairs
wherein the Russians will avoid
the bald ultimatimS and per-
cipitated crises which have mark
ed their behavior in the past, it
would be the best long-term
demonstration that they gen.
timely want peace in the world
| and are prepared to cooperate to
achieve it.
| One robin does not make a
Spring and considering the
crooks and turns of Russian
policy over the years, Mr.. Khru-
shchev's strength of personality,
rude joviality, and quick wit will
not thaW the freeze in East-West
relations unless he is willing to
demonstrate and guarantee his
sincerity.
Box Score For Congress
AS | left Washington last week,
analyses of the Khrushchev visit
abounded with each new state
ment from the controversial lead
er of the Soviet Union. The
resume Of the long session OF
Congress received little atten.
ton Arguments are now begin
ming on what was accomplished.
In a purely quantitative study
of the session, the statistics are
impressive. Together, the House
and Senate spent 28l days in ses-
sions which lasted approximately
1886 hours with debates flooding
1880 pages of fine print in the
Congressional Record. Another
1894 pages were devoted to ex.
traneous material and comments
on subjects of encyclopedia pro
portions. All of this resulted ir
approximately 289 new public
laws and 1875 private laws for the
relief of specific individuals. A
total of 2,194 measures were
passed by both chambers, many
of them left for final action unit
next year. These were weedec
out of 1887 proposals for legls
lative action introduced in til,
House and Senate. The Presiden
vetoed six bills Gas of Septem
Der l6). The veto Of only one bill
was over-ridden to become Law
over the Presidents objection.
: Of the 80 record votes in th
House of Representatives durin!
the session, l was present for al
but two which occurred early il
the year when I was necessaril.
away from Washington becaus
of the death of my brother.
= The Spending Year
+ The year was no exception /!
recording astronomical appro
priations to operate our hug
a Federal government through tn
t middle of next year. The tota
of all appropriations amounted t
= $72.97 billions. Of this amour
S $45.9 billion were earmarked fo
programs which, Jumped togeth
er, are referred to as "nations
security" In addition to fund
n directly for the Department c
f Defense, these items are $l.3
d billion for military construction
n $2.68 billion for atomic energ,
l. and $3.62 billion for foreign al
(both military and technical a
sistance). When all of the apprt
priated funds are added to til
l. new obligational authority Gu
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