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~· \Y143.215.248.55 ~ E URBAN COALITION ACTION COUNCIL JOHN W . G A RDNER CHAIRMAN 18 10 H ST R EET. N . W. 27 Jun e 1968 WA SHI N GTON. D . C . 20006 WEEKLY LEGISLATIVE REP ORT (Curre n t a s of June 27 ,• 1968) FROM: THE STAFF THE STATUS OF SUBSTANT IVE LEGI SLAT ION The Emergency Emp loy ment a nd Trai n in g Act of 1968 Se nate h earings h ave been c omp le t ed. Th e Subcommi tte e repo r ted o ut a c l e a n b ill o n June 26th. It i s a bi-p a rti s a n measure wh i ch shou ld be re v i ewe d a nd a c te d u pon by t h e f ull Commi t t ee d u ring the week o f July 8th - 12th. The Subcommittee s tr a tegy d i c t a t e d r eporting o u t t he Eme r gency Emp loyme nt meas u re separate f r om th e pro po sed Man p owe r De v e l o pme nt and Tra ini ng Act (MDTA) ext ens ion . STATUS OF HOUSE LEGI SLAT I ON The Se l e ct Subcommitte e on Labo r h a s sche dule d its las t day o f h earings for J u ly 1s t . The f i n a l mark - up o f the bi ll b y the Sub c ommittee wi ll prob a bly b e de l ay e d until afte r t h e July 4t h re c es s. The La bor Committe e repo r t e d o u t t h e MDTA e x t e nsion on June 2 7th . The Re v e nue and Expe nditure Contr o l Act o f 1 9 6 8 ( f o rmer l y t h e Tax Ad j u stme nt Act of 1968 ) Th e b il l cont a ins a t e n p e rce nt t ax s u rch arge a n d $6 bil l i o n in b udge t c uts. The me as u re p ass e d th e House by a vote o f 268- 1 5 0 . The Se n a te approve d t he b i ll o n the 2 1s t a nd the me a s u re is n ow awai t i ng t h e Pres ide nt ' s si gn ature . Con gre ss ional l eade rs are s u g g es ting th a t $3 b ill ion o f t h e $ 6 b i llio n cut wi l l- be approve d by Congression al action . T E L E PH ON E: 202 2 9 3 · 1530 ® �- ·2 - Hous ing and Urban Deve lopme nt Act o f 1968 SENATE The Se nate passed i t s ve rsion of the Act S-3497 on May 28th. HOUSE Banking and Curre ncy Committee Ch a irman Wright Patman introd uce d clean bill HR-17989 on June 19th. The Committe e 's report was filed June 20 t h (House Rep ort 15 85) . Chairma n Patman . we nt b e fore the Rul e s Committee on June 27th. An ope n rule (pe r mitting floor ame n dments) and four hours of g e n e ral debate we re voted. The measure is e x pecte d to be on t he f loor in the House for a c t ion right af ter th e July 4th r ece ss (which conclude s J uly 8th ). THE STAT US OF APPROP RI ATI ONS MEAS URE S Th e p roposed s che dul e o f act i o n on th e part of t he Appropr iations Sub commi ttees c oncerning l egis l at ion o f i ntere s t t o t h e Action Council is: 1. The Ho u s ing and Urban Deve l opmen t Appropri at i o ns b i l l for Fi sca l Year 196 9 passed t h e Ho u se on May 8. Th e Senate Appropriat ions Subcommittee o n Independent Offices expe c ts to comp l ete i ts markup of the b ill on the afternoon o f J une 2 7t h . The f ull Commi t t ee wil l mark the b ill up on J u n e 28 th . 2. The Labor -HEW (i nc luding OEO) Appropr i a ti ons b ill passed th e House on June 26th . Th e Wh itten Amen d ment which wou l d prohib i t the use of funds appro priated by the bi ll t o force busing o f schoo l childre n , to ab ol ish any school or t o force secondary schoo l students to attend a particu l ar school agains t the choice of parents, passed fairly easi l y on a Tel l er (unrecorded ) vote. Serious cuts were made i n many of the education programs i n the Appropr i ations Committee and were upheld by the House. Hard hit were Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (aid to schoo l s in imp·o verished areas ) , the Tea cher Corps and Office of Economic Opport~nity. �-- 3 - Efforts will h ave to be concentrated on the Senate to r es tore these funds and de feat the Whitten amen dment which would subvert the 1 964 Civil Rights Act. 3. The Second ( re g·ular ) Suppleme ntal Appropriations bill for Fisca l Year 1968 easily passed the Senate on June 26th by an 87 to 2 vote. As passed th e meas ure includes $75 million for summer jobs and $ 25 million for Headstart as act ive l y sought by t he Action Coun cil. The House on June 28th refues ed to accep t the b i ll and c a lled fo r a Joint Conferen ce with the Senate n amin g as House Conferees: House Appropriati ons Chairman George Mahon , Congre sswoman Ha nsen, Congressman Wh itten, Sike s , Natcher , Flood, Jonas , Laird, Lan gen , Li pscomb. Th e Conferees meet June re ach ed , th e Conference J uly 1st . Floor ac tion at the ear liest on July 28th and i f agreement is report will b e f i l ed on in t he House wou ld follow 2nd. LETTER TO CONGRESS As authorized at th e June 10 meeting of the Urban Co alition Action Council, the Counci l issued June 27 t h a statement o f con ce rn f or action on the urban crisis in the form of a l etter from Chairman Gardne r to each member of Congress. The text o f the l e tter is at tached . Comparab le communications from memb ers of local coalitions to Senators and Congressmen are u rge ntly n eed ed. �