As Congress Returns

...There is no sign, however, that the Administration considers it on a par with its three major objectives...

...House Democrats may also revive their old policy committee, defunct for 20 years, or create some new device to broaden the base of the power formerly concentrated in Rayburn's hands...

...But it is a credit, too, to the subtlety and grace of Larry O'Brien of the President's Congressional liaison staff...

...The prospect is for approval of aid to colleges and other institutions, but no aid to high schools...

...This could heat up interest in the bill and result in its passage...

...Secretary Abraham Ribicoff's experts in the Department of Health, Education and Welfare are now completing a survey of educational needs along with public attitudes toward them...

...Is the Kennedy honeymoon with Congress over...

...O'Brien has long been convinced that old-fashioned armtwisting by the White House is impractical and dangerous...

...When the piles of organized angry letters and telegrams swamp Congressional mailrooms in the coming months, however, many a Congressman will lose faith in the statistics of the pollsters on how minor the minority involved really is...

...Here time does not seem to have favored the Administration...

...It will be big, but no more than the usual percentage of our Gross National Product, possibly even a fractionally lower percentage...

...The bill may also make some incentive cuts in the upper bracket taxes...

...The Administration has not yet decided what to ask for...

...Still, Kennedy needs Republican support for most of his major bills...

...Only slightly less controversial is the proposed program for aid to education...

...The Administration appears to have decided to fight for a liberal policy which takes account of the new Common Market situation for two reasons: (1) It feels that a year of education and debate may be required to insure at least the passage of such legislation by the 88th Congress...

...This would provide a program to retrain the hard core of unemployed workers whose jobs have been wiped out for good by automation or other changes in the business structure...

...On the other side of the scales, there is almost no backlog of resentment against the White House among Congressmen as a result of last year's legislative battles...

...Despite the hard preliminary work of Representative Hale Boggs, a bright energetic man with a surprisingly cherubic face, a soft Southern voice and a viewpoint which combines practicality and liberalism, the trade bill doesn't have many friends in Congress...

...The legislative program that this final session of the 87th Congress will have to deal with is varied and controversial...

...It will be of record size, but expected income from the existing tax structure is estimated at better than $90 billion because of business recovery, and the new budget will be in balance...

...A handful of additional items that will come before Congress deserve comment...

...As of this writing, it appears that John McCormack of Massachusetts will move up from Majority Leader to Speaker...

...Hale Boggs of New Orleans may be the new whip in Albert's place...

...Some right-wing groups have already promised not only a fight but a counterattack in the form of a protectionist tariff bill to be offered perhaps by Republican Representative Frank Bow of Ohio and others...

...One practical politician on the Hill put the answer succinctly and with only a seeming paradox: "There never was any honeymoon," he said, "and it isn't over...

...After all, the Southern Democrats who control the vital committees are likely to be re-elected year after year, and their memories are as long as their service on the Hill...

...One unknown factor in the second session of the 87th Congress, of course, is the effect of the death of Speaker Sam Rayburn...

...And the increased prestige of John McCormack, a devoted Catholic and opponent of any aid program which excludes parochial schools, is another negative factor...

...Religious attitudes, which made aid to public schools impossible in the first session, appear to have stiffened rather than relaxed...

...Tax reform is expected to clear through Congress this year...

...In fact, on some issues, where his support was visibly reluctant, the Democratic rank-andfile sensed that rebellion against his leadership would not earn the full measure of the Texan's wrath...

...George E. Herman is the White House correspondent for CBS News...

...Until the holiday swirl calms down a trifle, the Congressional mood is hard to assess with any accuracy...

...Nevertheless, as the inevitable election panic grows in the Congressional breast the importance of the President's popularity will loom larger and larger...

...The Administration is supporting it, though not very energetically...

...This is mainly due to the President's own skill at handling his former colleagues on the Hill...

...A decision will follow the analysis of this survey...

...Carl Albert of Oklahoma will become Majority Leader...

...The Administration is expected to comment on those it elects to support...

...Trade policy will emerge as the third major issue of the session...

...this was lacking last year and there is no confidence that it will be available in 1962...

...Actually, the figure was merely the rough total of estimates turned in to the Bureau of the Budget before that office began recommending cuts...

...By George E. Herman As Congress Returns This is the time of the year when the pulse of Washington quickens from the heady influx of Senators and Representatives returning from autumn at home loaded with Christmas presents and Med with home-town talk...

...No big battle is expected over the budget...

...Everybody is in favor of closing loopholes...

...Administration experts feel that time has been working on their side, that the one year delay has paid off...

...Such a committee might be headed by Richard Boiling of Missouri...

...Rayburn seems likely to be followed by a sort of team leadership in the House...

...A bill that would set up a Department of Urban Affairs and Housing is still pending in the Senate, according to an agreement by the leadership...

...There are about 30 civil rights bills pending...

...It is that biennial season when members of the House in particular see looming up before them the spectacle of elections in November—and Democrats ponder the twin question of what the President can do for them in November and what they should do for him until then...

...It is expected to stir up more public turmoil than any other bill scheduled for consideration...

...Reports coming to the White House show that public support has been building up all year in favor of the Administration stand...

...At the same time, medical organizations and other professional and insurance groups have built up a well-organized campaign against it...

...In the coming months, therefore, the Administration is likely to launch a major educational effort involving citizens committees, more bi-partisan testimony along the lines of that already heard from former Secretary of State Herter and others and more speeches by the President...

...One unknown factor is the extent of the current rising tide of voter interest in reapportionment and the unfair treatment of urban voters...

...many have one particular loophole they want left open to favor this or that segment of the community...

...Here much depends on the still unknown effect of the highly vocal rightist minorities...

...The first impression is that while things have changed very little from last year, they may change rapidly as November occupies more and more thoughts...

...The White House has lost a powerful and influential leader in the House...

...Civil rights legislation is one of the major campaign promises that were deferred until 1962...

...One last bill is dear to the President's heart...

...And liberal Republican support, which the Administration must have to overcome conservative Republican and Democratic opposition on the trade issue, has not yet developed...

...First on the list is Medical Care for the Aged, usually shortened to Medicare...

...The budget whipped up a scare when a hardpressed headline writer interpreted a preliminary $100 billion figure as the probable size of the final budget...

...Returning Congressmen agree that Kennedy's personal popularity at the grass roots remains high...

...2) It still has a faint hope that something can be achieved this year and, in any event, believes that the time to start fighting for something is the minute you decide it is vital to the future of the country...

...But although Rayburn did not see eye to eye with Kennedy on a great many items, he remained doggedly loyal to his party...

...But this kind of personal support, as President Eisenhower unhappily discovered, does not necessarily cany over to particular bills, issues or individuals backed by even the most enthusiastic White House support...

...But the bill's passage is still considered questionable...

...This is the plan to make such care part of the Social Security system...

...It is safe to predict there will be a loophole-closing bill which will leave some loopholes open...

...Congressmen say confidently that such groups don't control many votes and are not a significant factor in any election...

...It is headed by three items deliberately put off until 1962 by a President who was seeking desperately to get his highest priority bills passed by last year...

...No clear-cut program has been laid out for Congressional inspection in 1962, but one is expected...