Report Outline
Economy in Public Expenditure
Naval Defense and the Multilateral Treaty
Agricultural Relief Legislation
Public Improvements Legislation
Labor and Immigration Legislation
Regulatory Legislation
Politics and Elections
Special Focus
The Seventieth Congress, which meets for its second session December 3, 1928, will expire by constitutional limitation at noon March 4, 1929 - when the new Congress chosen at the recent election will come into being, and Mr. Hoover will be inaugurated for the ensuing four-year term as President of the United States.
President Coolidge noted in his annual message at the opening of the final session of the Sixty-ninth Congress that “in the present short session no great amount of new legislation is possible” and that a large part of the time would of necessity be consumed in consideration of the regular appropriation bills. This statement applies with even greater force to the coming three-month session. It is unlikely that any new legislative projects of far-reaching importance will be recommended by the out-going Executive, or will be initiated in the expiring Congress. Moreover, the regular appropriations will require more careful consideration than in other recent years when Congress has been able to count with practical certainty upon large surpluses of Treasury receipts over authorized expenditures.
Important Questions Awaiting; Final Action
The multilateral treaty for renunciation of war presents the one new question of leading importance for consideration during the forthcoming session. President Coolidge is expected in his final annual message to request that the Senate advise and consent to ratification of the treaty without reservation. The Senate will be called upon also to give prompt approval to the new naval construction bill passed by the House at the last session. Another measure coming over from the last session is the Boulder Dam bill. This bill was approved by the House four days in advance of adjournment and was the unfinished business in the Senate when the last session came to a close. Favorable action on the naval construction bill seems assured but it is by no means certain that the Senate will be ready for a final vote on the multilateral treaty by March 4 next. The Boulder Dam bill has twice been killed by Senate filibusters in the past. In the short session it will occupy a highly favorable position, but its final enactment during the session cannot be regarded as completely assured. |
