Record of the 78th Congress (First Session)

Report Outline
Work of Congress During Second War Year
War Taxation and the Public Debt
War and Nonwar Appropriations
Congress and the Executive Establishment
Price Control, Farm and Labor Measures
War Policies; Draft and Service Legislation
International Collaboration
Constitutional, Political, Electoral Questions
Special Focus

Work of Congress During Second War Year

Congress displayed strong support for international policies of the President at its 1943 session but differed sharply with the administration on every domestic policy of leading importance. The conduct of United States military operations under the general direction of the President, as commander in chief of the Army and Navy, won general approval and there was no interference by Congress in this field. Domestic phases of the war effort, on the other hand, were the subject of continuous controversy which threatened at times to produce unbreakable deadlocks between the Executive and Legislative branches of the government.

Both houses gave approval by overwhelming votes to the principle of United States participation after the war in a world organization with power to prevent aggression and preserve the peace. The House resolution said the United States should act “through its constitutional processes”; the Senate resolution specified that American participation in a world organization could be brought about “only by and with the advice and consent of the Senate” through the process of treaty-making prescribed in the Constitution.

The Reciprocal Trade program was extended for two additional years by the largest votes it has ever received; the Lend-Lease Act was extended for one year by unanimous vote of the Senate and with only six negative votes in the House. A resolution to authorize United States participation in the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration has not yet been acted upon by either house.