THE TWILIGHT CONGRESS

The twilight days of the 91st Congress, Second Session, won’t be dull. Jockeying for position in the 92nd will, of course, occupy a lot of the time of re-elected members. But there is unfinished business and one or two more slugfests on tap. A big one will be over defense appropriations. Anti-defense leader, liberal Senator William Proxmire (D., Wis.) returned to town before most of his colleagues. Braced by a big win in his bid for reelection, Proxmire is now sharpening his knife to trim Pentagon budget requests for the next fiscal year.

Current custodian of the Defense Department’s money bill is the Senate Appropriations Committee. Though few insiders anticipate trouble for the Administration bill in committee, there are doubts that it can withstand serious cuts on the Senate floor during the lame-duck session. Senator Richard Russell (D., Ga.) supports a sound military establishment. Both he and Senator John Stennis (D., Miss.) will provide strong support for adequate funding of Administration military programs. But lately neither Stennis nor Russell has been particularly active on the bill. Senator Henry Jackson (D., Wash.), easily re-elected with tacit Administration support, can also be counted on to back the bill. But Jackson has been in Israel, not minding the home front recently.

The twilight days of the 91st Congress, Second Session, won’t be dull. Jockeying for position in the 92nd will, of course, occupy a lot of the time of re-elected members. But there is unfinished business and one or two more slugfests on tap. A big one will be over defense appropriations. Anti-defense leader, liberal Senator William Proxmire (D., Wis.) returned to town before most of his colleagues. Braced by a big win in his bid for reelection, Proxmire is now sharpening his knife to trim Pentagon budget requests for the next fiscal year.

Current custodian of the Defense Department’s money bill is the Senate Appropriations Committee. Though few insiders anticipate trouble for the Administration bill in committee, there are doubts that it can withstand serious cuts on the Senate floor during the lame-duck session. Senator Richard Russell (D., Ga.) supports a sound military establishment. Both he and Senator John Stennis (D., Miss.) will provide strong support for adequate funding of Administration military programs. But lately neither Stennis nor Russell has been particularly active on the bill. Senator Henry Jackson (D., Wash.), easily re-elected with tacit Administration support, can also be counted on to back the bill. But Jackson has been in Israel, not minding the home front recently.