The Congress: Johnson Juggernaut

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"We're somewhat battered," observed Speaker John McCormack last week, after helping to steer the Administration's school-aid bill through the House. "But we weathered the storm."

A more vindictive admiral might have added: you should see the other guys. Clearly outmaneuvered, House Republicans ran painfully aground in their first all-out effort of the year to offer a "constructive alternative" to a major Great Society program.

The battle had been months in the making. Ever since the Republicans gained 47 House seats in last November's election, the minority leadership under Michigan's Gerald Ford has sought to devise positive proposals to pit against key Democratic programs. As a substitute for the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act, under which Washington directly assists local school districts with the emphasis on specific programs in impoverished areas, Albert Quie (pronounced Kwee) of Minnesota developed a new approach that would give state governments a dominant role in distributing federal funds. The Quie substitute would also have changed the formula under which federal aid is apportioned among the states.

Public Relations War. Initially, the Quie measure seemed assured of House passage by a coalition of Republicans and Southerners eager to reduce Washington's influence. But Lyndon Johnson prizes his education program above all other accomplishments. Although the President has been relatively cautious in applying presidential muscle to the 90th Congress, he decided to go all the way to defeat the Quie substitute. He publicly attacked the measure as "fanning the church-public school controversy," applied personal pressure to the Texas delegation and sanctioned a public relations offensive by White House aides and Cabinet members. New York Republican Charles Goodell described the result as the "Johnson juggernaut." The Administration won strong allies among church and education lobbies, which generally approve the existing system. Some Congressmen—Ford included—reported that they got more mail opposing Quie's measure than they had ever received on any single previous issue.

As the vote neared, Ford realized that he had no chance to win. The 50 or so Southern Democrats he could count on were nearly offset by about 35 Republican defectors. There followed some intricate maneuvering over whether the Democrats should force a roll-call vote —adding to the Republicans' distress—but the Democrats finally settled for an anonymous teller-vote victory over the Quie amendment, 197 to 168.

Evasion & Delay. Before the 14-hour session ended at 1:40 a.m.—with passage of the $3.4 billion authorization bill, 294 to 122—the Republican leadership suffered still further humiliation. Ford made a token effort to have the bill sent back to committee, only to see 46 Republicans desert him. On the final vote for passage, 99 defected.