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The Second Session of the Seventy-eighth Congress
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 September 2013
Extract
The Administration's legislative program for 1944 was presented to Congress in the 1945 budget message and the state of the Union message. Subsequently, drafted bills from heads of departments, administrative agencies, and even the chief executive, were submitted for Congressional approval. But they either embodied or supplemented proposals contained in one of the two messages, or were of an incidental nature.
The state of the Union message set forth a five-point program, recommending that Congress adopt: (1) a realistic tax law, (2) a continuation of the law for the renegotiation of war contracts, (3) a cost-of-food law, (4) an early reënactment of the stabilization statute of October, 1942, and (5) a national service law. Having listed these proposals, the President concluded: “These five measures together form a just and equitable whole. I would not recommend a national service law unless the other laws were passed to keep down the cost of living, to share equitably the burdens of taxation, to hold the stabilization line, and to prevent undue profits.”
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- Copyright © American Political Science Association 1945
References
1 H. Doc. 377, 78th Cong.
2 The President told Congress, which had a tax bill (H.R. 3687) under consideration at that very time (carried over from the first session), that “the tax bill now under consideration by the Congress does not begin to meet this test.” (H. Doc. 377, 78th Cong., p. 4). The bill was finally vetoed, but was enacted over the veto.
3 A special message on the subject was sent to Congress on November 1, 1943 (H. Doc. 355, 78th Cong.). While the President finally got the bill he asked for, the House reversed its vote on an amendment providing that all appropriations for the U.N.R.R.A. be placed at the disposal of the State Department, instead of the President.
4 This was likewise recommended in the state of the Union message.
5 See H. Doc. 426, 78th Cong.
6 Cong. Rec., 78th Cong., 2nd Sess., pp. 1981–1983 (hereafter cited as C. R. 78–2).
7 See H. Doc. 441, 78th Cong. In the veto message, the President said that the bill “by its restrictive provisions would compel an increase in the cost of food and the cost of living to the people of the United States‥‥. The reasons for my disapproval of H.R. 3477—my most emphatic and vigorous disapproval—must already be known to every Senator and every Representative. The issue of using Government funds to hold down the cost of living is not a new issue and my views on it have been expressed before and at some length, particularly in my message vetoing a similar bill (H.R. 2869) on July 2, 1943.”
8 H. J. Res. 192; P. L. 267.
9 S. 1718; P. L. 395.
10 H. R. 5125; P. L. 457.
11 S. 2051; P. L. 458.
12 S. 2105; P. L. 521 and S. 2051; P. L. 458.
13 H. R. 3687; P. L. 235.
14 S. 1543; P. L. 225.
15 H. R. 1506; P. L. 421.
16 S. 1767; P. L. 346.
17 H. R. 3687; P. L. 235.
18 H. R. 4464; P. L. 333.
19 S. J. Res. 116; P. L. 240.
20 The two recesses extended from June 23 to August 1, and from September 21 to November 14.
21 Speeches and materials never presented but incorporated in the Record under the privilege of “leave to print” involved some 5,282 pages, more than one-half as much as the entire proceedings of both houses.
22 This figure is not exact, but subject to only very small error.
23 See H. Doc. 443, 78th Cong. In vetoing the measure, the President declared: “It is not a tax bill but a tax-relief bill providing relief not for the needy but for the greedy.” He continued: “The nation will readily understand that it is not the fault of the Treasury Department that the income taxpayers are flooded with forms to fill out which are so complex that even certified public accountants cannot interpret them. No, it is squarely the fault of the Congress of the United States in using lan guage in drafting the law which not even a dictionary or a thesaurus can make clear.”
24 C. R., 78–2, pp. 1981–1983.
25 C. R., 78–2, p. 1983.
26 Ibid., p. 1982.
27 Reflecting on the President, he said: “I dare say that during the past seven years of my tenure as majority leader I have carried the flag over rougher territory than was ever traversed by any previous majority leader. Sometimes I have carried it with little help here on the Senate floor, and more frequently with little help from the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue.” (C. R., 78–2, p. 1983).
28 C. R., 78–2, p. 1462.
29 Note remarks by Senator Vandenberg, provoked by a statement that the Senate had not sufficiently studied the issue: “I wish very briefly to assert my total agreement with the analysis of the situation made by the distinguished majority leader. There seems to be an implication here that the pending proposals, all three of them, are “shotgun” proposals which have been inadequately considered and inadequately born, and are inadequately supported at the present time before the Senate. I have been a member of the Senate for 16 years, and I know of no legislative proposal in all that time which has had the lengthy, careful, scrupulous, and complete attentipn the pending propositions have received.” (C. R. 78–2, p. 6972).
30 C. R. 78–2, p. 3109.
31 Of the 36 favoring the clôture, 17 were Democrats, 18 Republicans, and 1 Progressive; of the 44 against the clôture, 31 were Democrats, and 13 were Republicans (C. R. 78–2, pp. 4550–4551).
32 C. R., 78–2, p. 4272.
33 Unanimous consent procedure business includes bills called up out of order by request, from the Unanimous Consent Calendar and from the Private Calendar, all of which are passed without objection.
34 Two of the resolutions were reported in the later part of the first session.
35 One of these 12 was laid on the table after a like rule had been defeated.
36 Before it was amended, the resolution provided: “And all points of order against said bill are hereby waived. That after general debate, which shall be confined to the bill and continue not to exceed nine hours, to be equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on Banking and Currency, the bill shall be read for amendment under the five-minute rule. It shall be in order to consider without the intervention of any point of order any amendment which may be offered to the bill embodying any of the sections or paragraphs contained in the bill H. R. 4647….”
37 See H. R. 4115, H. R. 4833, H. R. 3646, S. 1432, and H. R. 4615.
38 Under the discharge procedure, the House adopted H. Res. 29 on January 24, 1944, amending the rules of the House to extend the jurisdiction of the Committee on World War Veterans' Legislation to veterans of World War II.
39 In the first session of the 78th Congress, 384 laws were enacted, of which 219 were public and 165 private. For data on prior Congresses, see Calendar of the U. S. House of Representatives, 78th Cong., final edition, p. 242.
40 Each house played a more important rôle in legislative activity than the above figures show. Of the 953 measures passed by the House, 515 were House bills, 218 Senate bills, 18 House joint resolutions, 8 Senate joint resolutions, 12 House concurrent resolutions, 17 Senate concurrent resolutions, and 165 simple House resolutions. In the first session, only 795 measures were passed. During the second session, 2,171 bills and resolutions were introduced in the House, of which 1,725 were House bills, 114 House joint resolutions, 40 House concurrent resolutions, and 292 House resolutions. In the first session, 4,568 bills and resolutions were introduced in the House. House committees made 1,117 reports. Of the 931 measures passed by the Senate in the second session, 245 were Senate bills, 539 House bills, 16 Senate joint resolutions, 21 House joint resolutions, 19 Senate concurrent resolutions, 12 House concurrent resolutions, and 79 Senate resolutions. In the first session, only 702 measures were passed. During the second session, 825 bills and resolutions were introduced in the Senate, of which 605 were Senate bills, 60 Senate joint resolutions, 30 Senate concurrent resolutions, and 130 Senate resolutions. In the first session, 1,971 bills and resolutions were introduced in the Senate. Senate committees made 765 reports.
41 At the close of the First Session, four were left in conference; only 49 were sent to conference in that session.
42 For a thorough analysis of these appropriations, see Appropriations, Budget Estimates, etc. (by Sheild, Marcus C., clerk to the House Committee on Appropriations, and Smith, Everard H., clerk to the Senate Committee on Appropriations), pp. 1–861.Google Scholar This volume does not include data on H. R. 5587, First Supplemental Appropriation Bill for 1945, signed on December 22, 1944.
43 C. R., 78–2, pp. 1231–1232.
44 H. Doc. 386, 78th Cong.
45 C. R., 78–2, p. 716.
46 C. R., 78–2, p. 922; Jan. 31, 1944.
47 C. R., 78–2, pp. 1391–1415.
48 C. R., 78–2, pp. 1391–1415.
49 Washington News Service—ticker—for March 1, 1944.
50 See H. Doc. 523, 78th Cong.
51 See this Review, Vol. 38, pp. 307–308 (Apr., 1944).
52 P. L. 240, 78th Cong.
53 This bill had the support of the General Accounting Office and gave the Comptroller-General the final approval on all contracts terminated (H. Rep. 1268).
54 H. Rep. 1355, 78th Cong.; it, likewise, gave the General Accounting Office much power in the termination of contracts.
55 P. L. 395, 78th Cong.
56 Much of the procedure used in disposing of the bill in the Senate is pointed out under “Senate Procedure.”
57 P. L. 458, 78th Cong.
58 H. Doc. 443, 78th Cong.
59 For details, see Congressional Record for Feb. 24 and 25, 1944. Representative Doughton, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, when asked his position on the veto, asked the question: “How am I going to retain my self-respect if I don't” vote to override the veto. Senator George, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, stated: “Never in my experience have I seen a major piece of legislation vetoed on such inadequate and wholly unconvincing grounds.”
60 See Macmahon, A. W., “Senatorial Confirmation,” Public Administration Review, Vol. 3, pp. 281–296 (Nov. 1943)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; also C. R., 78–2, p. 5272, June 1, 1944.
61 See procedure on H. R. 4070.
62 C. R., 78–2, p. 5149.
63 S. 2048; H. R. 3986.
64 Of the ten additional investigations undertaken during the current session, six were by standing committees, the chairman in each instance having designated a subcommittee to make the investigation. The subjects of investigation were: Guayule Trees for Crude Rubber (H. Res. 346), Physically Handicapped (H. Res. 230), Improvement of the Columbia River and Its Tributaries for Reclamation and Flood Control (H. Res. 262—having been authorized in 1943), Montgomery Ward and Company (H. Res. 521), Farm Security Administration and Activities of Farm Credit Administration (H. Res. 525), Campaign Expenditures (H. Res. 551), War Effects on Education in Colleges and Universities (H. Res. 592), Post-War Economic Policy and Planning (H. Res. 408), Conduct of two federal judges (H. Res. 406), and Post-War Military Policy (H. Res. 465). For a list of the other 21, see this Review, Vol. 38, p. 311 (Apr., 1944).
65 Of the ten investigations authorized during the current session, seven were by standing committees of the Senate, the chairman in each instance having designated a subcommittee to make the investigation. The subjects of investigation were: Centralization of Heavy Industry (S. Res. 190), Petroleum Resources (S. Res. 253), Campaign Expenditures (S. Res. 263), Censorship (S. Res. 282), Use of Rayon as Substitute for Cotton and Wool (S. Res. 291), Farm Machinery Investigation (S. Res. 276), Issuance of Executive Orders and Departmental Regulation (S. Res. 252), Adjustment of Veterans into Civil Life (S. Res. 225), Alcoholic Beverages Industry (S. Res. 206—having been authorized in 1943), and Investigation of Termination of Government Contracts (S. Res. 198). For a list of the other 10, see this Review, Vol. 38, p. 311 (Apr., 1944).
66 C. R. 78–2, p. 6816, for Aug. 7, 1944. The Truman Committee made its third annual report to the Senate, stating that the committee had submitted to the Senate 29 reports, “which cover most of the major subjects investigated by the committee” (S. Rep. 10, Part 16).
67 All four rejected were postmasters. See Civilian Nominations, compiled by L. W. Bailey, executive clerk, for Secretary of the Senate, pp. 1–393.
68 See Governmental Affairs, Legislative Daily, Vol. 1, Nos. 24 and 28, Dec. 14 and 19, 1944.
69 C. R., 78–2, p. 7786, for Sept. 12, 1944.
70 The Senate ratified a total of five non-controversial treaties on June 16, June 22, and December 6, 1944 (Executive B, D, G, I, and J). Five others (Executive A, C, E, F, and H) were submitted to the Senate and made public, but never acted on.
71 H. J. (Res. 320—H. Rep. 2061).
72 H. Rep. 1526.
73 Ibid., pp. 7–8; see also C. R., 78–2, pp. 5192–5193, for May 29, 1944.
74 H. Rep., 1024, 1366, 1797, and 1912.
75 C. R., 78–2, p. 2501.
76 C. R. 78–2, p. 5251, June 1.
77 H. R. 4879—P. L. 372.
78 C. R., 78–2, pp. 6103–6110.
79 See remarks by Representative Gifford on May 29, pp. 5192–5193; by Senator Moore on June 16, 1944, pp. 6099–6100; by Senator Reed on June 9, 1944, p. 5718.
80 P. L. 358.
81 H. R. 3687.
82 H. R. 3477.
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