Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-12-08
Sponsors See
Hope in Choice
Of Conferees
By SAM EASTMAN
Star staff Writer

request Of one member-Rep-
resentative Finnegan. Demo-
crat Of nlinois-knocked out q
81 900 birth control item from
the city's proposed budget.
The Senate's Appropriations
subcommittee for the District
voted however to restore the
81 900 and add S24, 900 to it to
finance an expanded municipal
program.
Mr.. Finnegan was not among
the five Representatives named
to serve on a House Senate con-
ference committee on the city's
budget for the current fiscal
year.
Sponsors Are Hopeful
Sponsors of the birth control
project are hopeful that the
choice OF conferees will mean
congressional approval of the
municipal program.
The conferees met Friday
but failed to reach agreement
on a spending and revenue
program for the city. They will
meet again Tuesday.
A number Of budget items
are in dispute. The session
Friday was prolonged by an
argument over the controver-
Sial welfare proposal to expand
the city's relief payments to
children of the unemployed.
After several setbacks. the
District last year won approval
by Congress of a $1,000 budget
item for a limited. information
program on birth control.
House Request Delete6
The city's initial budget
requests this year included ST.
900 to continue the project.
which District officials regard
ed as the keystone to q full
scale control program.
At the request of Mr.. Finne-
gan, however. the Appropria-
tons subcommittee headed by
Representative hatcher, Demo-
crat of Kentucky, quietly
deleted the $1,000 spending
request. Mr.. Finnegan. of
Chicago, is a new member Of
the subcommittee.
The $1,000 authorized last
year was used for films on
pregnancy and birth shown at
the Districts prenatal health
clinics.
Following the House action
on the budget, Congress ap-
proved revenue measures for
the District that cleared the
way for city officials to submit
additional spending programs.
The new requests, which
went before the Senate District
Appropriations subcommittee,
included the proposal to spend
SIS, 900 on the birth control
program.
Would Provide Supplies
This item, as approved by
the subcommittee headed by
Senator Robert C. Byrd, Demo-
crat Of West Virginia, would
make available both birth
control supplies and fnforma-
ton at the clinics.
The conferees walked out
Friday night. after a two-and-
a-half hour session. in disa-
greement over the number Of
school teachers, counSelors,
welfare investigator and
social workers the city requires.
The greatest heat at the
meeting repeatedly was gener-
ated over the city's proposal to
extend its welfare aid to chill
dren of the unemployed. The
city's d-to-dependent-chil-
dren program now Is limited to
the families where the father is
dead, missing or incapacitated.
Senator Byrd won q fight in
committee and on the floor to
reject the proposal to expand
the program. At the Friday
meeting, he argued that the
item was not officially before
the conferees because 1t was
not carried in the House.
passed appropriations bill or the
Senate-approved measure.
Bridge Approval Sought
District officials, meanwhile,
plan to ask the conferees for
authorization to use funds that
had been appropriated for the
Three Sisters Bridge to con-
Struct a Potomac River span at
another site.
The Three Sisters Islands
location has been rejected. No
agreement has been reached,
however, on an alternate site.
Virginia officials recently
attacked a proposal by a White
House commission that the
bridge be constructed Just
downstream from Key Bridge.
District Engineer Commits
sioner Charles M. Duke said
that a single consultant firm
would be hired to make bridge
site studies for hnth the DiE-