Record of the Seventy-Second Congress, First Session

Report Outline
Conflicts Between Congress and the President
Legislation to Combat the Depression
Tax Increase and Appropriation Measures
Action on Permanent Legislation
Special Focus

Conflicts Between Congress and the President

The first session of the Seventy-second Congress met on December 7, 1931, and adjourned on July 16, 1932, after having spent most of the session in the consideration of emergency measures to deal with economic problems arising out of the depression. Emergency measures enacted included the Reconstruction Finance Corporation act, the Emergency Relief and Construction act, the Glass-Steagall act, a resolution approving the Intergovernmental debt moratorium, several administration measures for additional agricultural financing, the 1932 Revenue act, and the Economy act. On the final night of the session the Home Loan Bank bill was sent to the President. The bill had been deadlocked in conference, due to Senate insistence upon a currency-expansion amendment which the House refused to accept. The House twice voted down the amendment on the last day of the session before finally receding, by a vote of 120 to 114. Aside from the Home Loan Bank bill, the only outstanding measures of a more permanent character which were finally approved were the Norris constitutional amendment to abolish “lame duck” sessions of Congress, the Norris-LaGuardia act limiting injunctions in labor disputes, an act extending the federal vocational rehabilitation program, and certain changes in federal law enforcement activities.

Measures which had passed one house, but which were left waiting action by the other house at the next session, included the Goldsborough price stabilization bill, the Steagall bank deposit guaranty bill, the Philippine independence bill, the Muscle Shoals bill, a bill revising radio legislation, and a bill to pension widows and orphans of World War veterans, all passed by the House; and the Hale naval construction bill, passed by the Senate. Although considerable attention was given to legislation revising the general banking laws, and modifying national prohibition, no conclusive action had been taken by either house. This was likewise the situation with respect to various agricultural relief, railroad, public utility, anti-trust, and labor bills which had been actively sponsored in one or both houses, but which all were left for further action at the short session of Congress.

Conflicts Between Congress and the Executive

Bi-partisan support was given to the President in both houses during the opening months of the session in the enactment, with relatively few changes, of major parts of his financial relief program. The President had little success in obtaining adoption of recommendations for more permanent banking and regulatory legislation, and was defeated outright on important details of the tax and economy legislation. However, the totals finally carried by the tax and economy bills approximated the amounts requested by the administration. The anti-injunction bill was passed with only qualified administration approval. The House passed four major bills—the Patman bonus bill, the Almon highway bill, the Philippine independence bill, and the Goldsborough bill—to which the President or members of his cabinet expressed definite opposition. The first of these was, however, defeated outright in the Senate, and no final action was taken on the others. In addition to the conflicts between the President and one or both houses of Congress over tax and economy legislation, sharp divergencies of policy over further relief and public works legislation developed after the middle of May.