Evening star., 1961-08-30
OuseRejects
Education Aid
By242-t69
Compromise Fails;
lmpucted Areas
Move Plunned
By ROBERT K. WALSH
Star Staff Writer

The House today smashed
President Kennedy's proposed
Federal aid for public school
construction by refusing, 242 tc
169, even to consider a COM
promise bill containing that
provision.
A strong combination oi
Republicans and Southern
Democrats accounted mainly
for the Sudden-death vote. The
roll call came on a test motion
on whether the House should
consider the three-part bill.
Voting against considering
the bill were 80 Democrats and
100 Republicans. Voting to con-
slider it were 1853 Democrats and
6 Republicans.
Besides authorizing 1925 mil
lion in Federal funds for one
year for public school conStruc-
ton, the measure also would
have extended for another year
the aid program for federally
impacted areas and would have
extended a National Defense
Education Act section making
$50 million available for loans
to students.
Separate Bill Seen
Speaker Rayburn and Rs
publican Leader Halleck SaiN
they were confident that the
impacted areas extension and
the NDEA section would be
submitted later in a separate
bill and passed by the House.
Operating under a seldom
used Calendar Wednesday par
liamentary procedure, the
greatly watered-down bill re-
ported out only yesterday by
the Education Committee was
called up for House action this
afternoon by Chairman Powell,
Democrat of New York.
Opponents pressed for an
immediate roll call in an at
tempt to block consideration
OF the bill and thus kill it for
this session.
If the motion had been
adopted, the House would have
been plunged into an all-day
and perhaps all-night hassle.
Calendar Wednesday rules re-
quire that bills called up in the
manner must be disposed of in
one legislative day. The bill
thus would have been open to
amendments and subject to
tlme-conSuming quorum calls
and other delaying tactics.
Roll Call Taken
The test motion to consider
the school aid bill was made
by Representative Hebert, Dem
ocrat of Louisiana. On the
roll call which followed i'm
mediately, Mr.. Hebert voted
against consideration.
Among those voting for con-
sideration of the bill was Rep
resentative Delaney, Democrat
OF New York. whose vote in
the Rules Committee last
month blocked clearance of the
administrations much broader
school aid bill.
A tipoff of opposition strategy
to kill the watered-down bill.
before it got started today
came when District Committee
Chairman Macmillan, Demo-
crat OF South Carolina, passed
up his committees alpha
betical privilege to call UP some
OlSCTlCC Dill. II ne had done
so, Mr.. Powell would have had
to wait until next Wednesday
to call up the school aid bill.
A House Republican member
ship conference earlier today
showed that the G. o. P. mem
berS would vote almost solidly
against considering the school
aid bill today. Republican lead
erS protested especially against
what they called the "highI
handed tactics" in which the
compromise bill was rushed
through the Education Com
mittee and brought to the
House floor.
Key Southern Democrats also
conferred at the same time inI
the Rules Committee office of
Representative Smith, Demo-
crat of Virginia.