THE CONGRESS: Last Quacks

The lame-duck 81st Congress lingered on, dying slowly but not gracefully. Members were in a vagrant holiday mood; by midweek so many had left Washington that the leaders were barely able to call up a quorum. As matters stood before the Christmas recess, the 81st would not be able to adjourn until the day before the 82nd Congress convened on Jan. 3.

In the Senate, North Dakota's "Wild Bill" Langer got up on his aging legs to block the confirmation of Anna M. Rosenberg as Assistant Secretary of Defense (TIME, Dec. 25). He had nothing to say against her, but he just felt that his own North Dakota was not getting enough federal patronage. He would block any presidential nomination, Langer threatened, until some North Dakotan got a first-class Washington job. The Senate heard him out, gave Mrs. Rosenberg its endorsement the next day.

Throat Trouble. In somewhat the same spirit, Senator George Malone of Nevada (where legalized gambling is a big revenue-producer) waged a one-man fight against a bill prohibiting interstate shipment of slot machines. He had defeated the bill once last September with an eleven-hour, one-man filibuster, and he threatened to do so again last week. But when a perceptive fellow Senator discovered that Malone was suffering from a bad case of laryngitis, the bill was hastily called up and passed.

In more formidable fashion, Robert Taft raised an objection to the President's request for a war-powers measure which would give him authority to reshuffle Government agencies. Said Taft: "It's all just a vague 'We want power to do something without anything particular in mind.' " Taft was determined that Congress should not give Harry Truman too much power, emergency or not.

No Medal for Labor. In the House, leaders were trying to jam through a labor law, already approved by the Senate, which would give the railroad unions the checkoff and the union shop (barred by the Railway Labor Act). Virginia's lean, conservative Howard Smith dourly protested. Smith didn't see "why we should confer the Medal of Honor on labor for pulling a railway strike when we've got a war in Korea." When Speaker Sam Rayburn persisted in trying to call up the bill, Smith demanded a roll call.

All business stopped. Bells jangled and clerks scoured the Hill. It was almost three hours before a bare quorum could be collected out of homes, department stores, restaurants and offices (many came loaded down with Christmas packages). By that time, House leaders thought better of making an issue of it, decided to put the whole matter over until after Christmas.

At week's end, Congress managed to pull itself together for one last effort before the holidays. The Senate, following the lead of the House, finally passed an excess-profits tax bill, which a few weeks ago had been subjected to emphatic and sustained criticism. Conferees agreed on a single bill, which the Senate approved. It levies a 77% tax on excess profits, retroactive to July 1 (see BUSINESS).