Evening star., 1961-12-31
Legislative

Every new President has what
Is called honeymoon" period
with Congress. Sometimes it is a
long one; sometimes short. Mr.
Kenn dy S was comparatively
short, considering that he was the
first Democrat to sit in the White
House in eight years.
Moreover, both the Senate (65
to 35) and the House 1858 to 174)
were controlled by the Presidents
party-the first time this situation
existed since 1854. This advantage,
however. was more apparent than
real because of the conservative
coalition of Republicans and
Southern Democrats.
The energetic millionaire son
of Boston multi millionaire
plunged into his job with great
vigor. He called for a similar roll
up-the- sleeves" response from
the Nation. ASK not what your
country can do for you - ask
what you can do for your coun-
try" he urged his fellow Ameri-
cans in his widely hailed inaug-
ural address.
In the first few months, pres
idential legislative requests and
messages fairly deluged Congress.
BY the time the first half of the
87th session ended in late Sep
tember the longest one since
1851 - Mr.. Kennedy had made
355 requests and had sent up 66
messages. The figures compare
with an Eisenhower eight-year
high of 234 and 30 in 1858.
Anti-Recession Moves
The President first concentrated
on emergency anti-receSsion meas
ureS and he found the opposition
Republican Party, for the most
part, willing to go along. AS a
result, he scored some early sue
cesses, among them
A $500 million d-to-depreSsed
areas program: an increase of the
minimum wage from 81 to SIPS
over two-year period and an
extension of coverage to 36 mil
lion more workers; an increase in
Social Security benefits; tempo
rary unemployment benefits ex-
tension. and aid to dependent
children of the unemployed.
But as the session wore on, Mr..
Kennedy found the going tough
er. True, his forces pushed through
a big omnibus housing bill, but he
could not translate his rising per-
sonal popularity throughout the
Nation into support in Congress.
The Presidents nemesis was the
conservative coalition of Repub-
licans and Southern Democrats in
the House, a real stumbling bloc"
for him and his welfare Legislation
plans.
The difficulty he would have
was foreshadowed even before he
took office, with the fight over
increasing the membership of the
powerful and coalition controlled
House Rules mmittee, the
traffic cop" for legislation in the
lower chamber After extremely
heavy pressure had been put on
all Democrats, Speaker Rayburn
led the administration to mar
row 217 to 2i2 victory. 1t has yet
to prove worth the ill-feeling it
engendered.
Perhaps Mr.. Kennedy's bitter
est defeat came on his top-pri-
ority school construction plan.
After passing the Senate with
relative ease, it was killed in the
House where proponents of funds
for private and parochial schools
teamed with opponents of Fed
eral aid in this field.
Another of the Presidents ma
jor legislative plans-he said it
was lat the very top of my
agenda got out of COM
mittee in the House and is being
held over for next year. This is
medical aid for the aged under
the Social Security System.
On Foreign Aid
On his proposed new long-term
approach to handling foreign aid,
the President got what some con-
Sidered moral pledge from Con-
greSs, but the lawmakers insisted
that the money be appropriated
each year.. giving them an ulti-
mate veto. Mr., Kennedy did win
an increase over the total funds
voted the year before.
Whether the loss of the strong
handed leadership of Speaker Ray
burn significantly affected the ad-
ministration's legislative record is
debatable. But he was, of course,
missed. Below par for weeks before,
he left Washington a dying man
on August 81, 81 days before Con-
greSs adjourned. He died in Texas
on November 16 at age 70. He had
served as speaker more than twice
as long as any other man-more
than II years-and held the record
for House service, 48 years and
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