APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEES FEUD ON APPROPRIATE MEETING PLACE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP64B00346R000100130058-8
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 8, 2003
• Sequence Number: 58
• Content Type: NSPR

Approved For Release 2004/01/15 : CIA-RDP64B00346R000100130058-8
Approved For Release 2004/01/15 : CIA-RDP64B00346R000100130058-8
 Approved For Release 2004/01/15 : CIA-RDP64B00346R000100130058-8
Apprpnrttrnns ctrnV i tees
On Appropriate Meeting Place
By Richard L. Lyons
. Stiff Reporter
The House and Senate Ap-
propriations Committees have
been quietly but heatedly feud-
ing all year over prerogatives
-of which the House feels it
has too few.
Last year the House finally
won equal billing in the Con-
gressional Record by having
its daily proceedings printed
first on alternate days. Senate
talk had always gone first un-
til then.
.Now file -.:?douse Appropefa-
tions Committee is trying to
break the ? century-old custom
that conferences to settle dif-
ferences between the Houses
on money bills. fire always held
on the Senate side of the Cap-
itol,
Conference Request
Early this year the House
Committee adopted a resolu-
tion announcing it wanted half
the conferences held on the
House side. The Senate Ap-
propriations Committee sol-
emnly replied that this would
be acceptable if the House let
the Senate originate half the
appropriations bills.
This hit a raw nerve and
was summarily turned down.
Though the Constitution re-
quires only that "revenue"
l few areas where the House
holds the whip hand and it
is not about to give it up.
At the moment these two
most powerful committees in
congress are glaring at each
!ether from their respective
offices while the bills begin
to pile up.
Only one conference meet-
ing has been held this year.
House conferees went over to
l the Senate three weeks ago to
start work on the Treasury-
Post office- Mote i4 ,,,f
A `300-million-dollar supple-
mental bill containing funds
needed by several agencies
now has been waiting a week
for a conference. The House,
as part (Of the war of nerves,
failed to name conferees last
week and now has gone off on
a week's vacation.
More is involved than the
long:' walk ? across the ' Capi-
tol, but that " is part of it.
House members have '.long
been irked by a number of big
and little things which period?
They complain that they of-
ten have to trudge back to
the House two pr three times
to at weZ roll palls. during !,
conterg ce. fill$`ay they . b
over lriak bodwork, wh O
Setidtoi's flit to and" out.
In Efret y Terrllor
The i otase "grow Also has
an uneasy, fee to
it is. in en-
emy territory: all tI e.Une and.
wants to get on ettnground.
This is part of the running
fight made by the .House over
the years to maintain at least
an equal positionin the face'-
of growing Senate . power,
Many House members.. believe
the Founding Fathers intend
ed their popular branch to be
the more important.
Oldtimers in the House take
The late Speaker Sam Ray-
burn would never go over to
the Senate. The only time he
was seen therein recent years
was eating dinner during one
late session when the House
restaurant was closed.
The House considers the
Senate especially unreliable in
money matters. The House Ap-
propriations Committee feels
that it does ally the hard
work listening to witnesses
for months on each bill?'only
to have the Senate Committee
sit as a court of appeals. find,
little mere; an a'etb`>'ory
glahce,: restore most of the
funds cut.
'Back-door spending, that' -
genious;:deevice to do an -end
sire around %U ''con3ee+ative
House A,bprotion commit-
tee, is a favorite of the eua+te.
The House was ,tickled on ad=
ournment 'liig1tt .last year,
when it was able to repeal
three back-door spending pro-
grams in a catch-all bill, and
then go home, forcing the
Senate to accept the package.
.1 Sen. Carl Hayden (D-Ariz.),
Chairman of the Senate Appro-
.priationas Committee, said yes-
terday he didn't know how the
conference problem would
work out. He indicated the
next move was up to the
House. Chairman Clarence
Cannon (D-Mo.) of the House
Committee couldn't be reached