The Home Front
BOHN, WILLIAM E.
THE HOME FRONT By William E. Bohn Reading the Small Print For many years I have spent a part of each session of Congress in the galleries of the Senate or the House or in the offices...
...Reading the Record steadily day after day, I discovered that I had innocently accepted a somewhat false picture of Congressional achievement...
...put in a few good words for the Wilderness Bill...
...This was followed by a number of convincing arguments for setting aside various beaches around the country for national seashores...
...I soon found myself falling in with this general view...
...We have been faced with unemployment that seems to creep upward regardless of general business conditions...
...THE HOME FRONT By William E. Bohn Reading the Small Print For many years I have spent a part of each session of Congress in the galleries of the Senate or the House or in the offices of friends who are fairly prominent members of one or the other institution on Capitol Hill...
...A few paragraphs of his speech reveal the mood of the Upper House on that day: "Mr...
...Whatever else one may wish to say about it, or about the cliches of Congressional rhetoric, it has to be admitted that the 88th Congress appears to have a sharp eye out for those measures which will enable the average citizen to live a fuller, more satisfactory life...
...Now and then, almost in spite of myself, I would drop satirical remarks about the consummate uselessness of Congress...
...I suppose other people will be brought up as sharply by this news as I was...
...Unconsciously, I was furnishing an example of how public opinion is created...
...It was not until later, when I had the chance to read through some of the small print of the Congressional Record, that I was able to piece together a more accurate idea of what was being done and said on Capitol Hill...
...To be sure, this Congress has its share of shortcomings, and perhaps more than its share, but it has not, as I was led to believe by the gentlemen of the press, been altogether inactive...
...Cuba, Laos, unemployment, the tax situation—all our troubles were easily hoisted onto the shoulder of the 88th...
...This year, though, because of an infuriating illness, it has been impossible for me to follow the doings of the 88th Congress as I have followed those of its predecessors...
...spoke about a bill to provide a youth conservation corps...
...A little later that same day, the Senate Majority Leader, Mike Mansfield (D.-Mont...
...President, the Senate is fortunate to be able to take this week, among the first major bills, the Youth Employment Bill...
...Up to recent weeks my information has been very sketchy...
...For those readers who are skeptical, I invite them to glance over the Record of April 8. Early in the proceedings of that day, Senator Ralph Yarborough (D.Tex...
...it is, as a matter of fact, being called the "vacation" or "excursion" Congress...
...By thus acting, we can take another step toward improving the economy of our country...
...When I was finally able to read the newspapers, I gathered from the reports of the widely respected columnists that the current Congress is regarded as sadly disappointing...
...Senator Yarborough went on to show how the measures he cited and others of a similar nature would tend to increase the number of jobs open to the young...
...Given Washington's understandable preoccupation with problems of foreign relations in recent years, this concern with domestic affairs deserves perhaps more credit than it is receiving...
...For too many years this country's economy has been in a stagnant condition...
...I have to admit that my judgments were not really based on any substantial knowledge of what actions our elected representatives had taken or what they had achieved...
...Our people everywhere," he said, "are crying out for the preservation of such pockets of primitive wilderness as can be preserved and developed for us and our heirs...
...These and other intelligent steps have been taken to lay the groundwork for full employment...
...By the speedy passage of this bill, the Senate will be able to show its wisdom and concern for the country...
...To spare the youth of the nation the frustrations of unemployment so early in life, he felt, was of vital importance...
...This Democratic Administration and this Congress have viewed this situation as intolerable and have commended during the last two years a series of programs carefully tailored to have an impact on the unemployment situation: the Area Redevelopment Act, the Accelerated Public Works Act, the Housing Act, the Manpower Retraining and Development Act...
Vol. 46 • May 1963 • No. 11
