Agenda of the 83rd

This week Vice President Alben William Barkley will step up on the rostrum of the U.S. Senate with his gavel, and the 83rd Congress will come to order. The Senate and the House will organize, and then will begin a resolute fortnight of shadow boxing.

In its first days, the Republican 83rd will receive a series of messages from President Harry Truman. His remarks on the way out are expected to extol the Democratic record, challenge the Republicans to do what he wants--and produce little, if any, result. The Congress will be waiting for another series of messages: the program Dwight Eisenhower will outline after he is inaugurated.

None & Nine. The 83rd will be the first Republican Congress in 24 years to organize under a G.O.P. President. None of the 48 Republicans in the Senate and only nine-- of the 221 in the House have ever served under a President from their own party. In this unaccustomed role, the Republicans of the 83rd will not arrive in Washington bursting with self-starting initiative. They will be waiting to fall in behind the new President. After Jan. 20, he is expected to go before Congress personally to present his program. Among the major problems Congress will have to buckle down to after it hears him: APPROPRIATIONS. What to do about the budget for fiscal 1954 which Harry Truman will leave behind. Eisenhower is anxious to cut expenditures, and a number of G.O.P. leaders, including House Majority Leader-to-be Charles Halleck of Indiana, have called economy the most important issue facing the new Congress.

TAXES. The excess profits tax ($2.5 billion a year) expires June 30, and individual income taxes are due to cut back an average of 11% ($2.9 billion) automatically at the end of 1953. Congress will want to cut taxes, but many a top Republican thinks the budget should be balanced first.

CONTROLS. Republican leaders want to drop price and wage controls as soon as possible, but they aim to study the problem carefully.

FOREIGN AID. A close, new look at the whole program is in prospect, with an effort to promote trade rather than aid.

LABOR. The Taft-Hartley law will have to be dealt with. There are signs that this issue may not be explosive. In 1949, Senator Taft agreed to 28 clarifying amendments, but labor then was fighting for outright repeal as a symbolic goal. Last week A.F.L. President George Meany, filled with what seemed to be a cooperative spirit, said he is now willing to settle for amendment rather than repeal.

TARIFFS. The reciprocal trade agreements act expires in June. Tariff reduction will be more important than ever, in view of the "trade rather than aid" emphasis in foreign policy.

CIVIL RIGHTS. The hot civil rights question may come up on the first day. Minnesota's Senator Hubert Humphrey is planning to call for a new set of rules outlawing the filibuster, the Southern Democrats' chief weapon in dry-docking civil rights legislation.

TIDELANDS. The President-elect has said he will sign a bill returning the tidelands to the states. The Congress, which has passed such bills twice before only to have them vetoed by Truman, is almost certain to produce a new bill for signing.

Skeleton Inspection. Like a new tenant peering in all the closets, the 83rd Congress can be expected to make a careful inspection of the skeletons left behind by the Truman Administration. Investigating committees will continue to dig at Communism and corruption in Government. Conduct of the Korean war (including the ammunition shortage) and administration of the supersecret Central Intelligence Agency are other likely prospects for probing. More than one committee will be anxious to get a look at the administrative records Harry Truman has kept out of the range of congressional eyes.

During the early months of 1953, life will be lively on Capitol Hill, but no epic struggles are in prospect. Predicted Massachusetts' Joe Martin, who will be Speaker of the House: "I think there'll be very close liaison between the President and the Congress."

-- New York's Daniel Reed and John Taber, Ohio's Thomas A. Jenkins, Massachusetts' Joseph W. Martin, Edith Nourse Rogers and Richard B. Wigglesworth, Kansas' Clifford Hope, New Jersey's Charles A. Wolverton, Michigan's Jesse P. Wolcott.

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