OCR Text |
Show The Senator Reports To The People Senator Arthur V. Watkins I ' The Easter season has meant relaxation for a great many congressmen, but for others it has meant valuable time for work and study. One advantage of the great absenteeism for Congress has been the opportunity afforded those who remained to speak and be heard on important topics. Debate in the Senate (the House was in complee recess for the Easter week), was devoted almost al-most entirely to. the troops to Europe issue. Democrats, with only one or two exceptions, remained silent most of the week and the lion's share of the debate was carried on by Republican members who opposed the President's view that he has dictatorial power to order troops anywhere in the world he pleases without seeking' seek-ing' the consent of Congress. Labor and Indians Secretary of Labor Maurice J. Tobin submitted an interesting interest-ing report to me last week on current programs for giving reservation res-ervation Indians, particularly the Navajos, opportunity to participate par-ticipate in the nation's labor program. He reported that the labor department is working closely with the Bureau of Indian In-dian Affairs in an ' intensive campaign to bring job opportunities oppor-tunities to reservation Indians. He claims the limiting factor in the program is the lack of funds. I intend to inquire of the departments de-partments further as to what portion of their 1952 fiscal budgets bud-gets they have set aside for this purpose. Further, as a member of the Congressional Indian Watch-Dog Committee, I also want to know how much of the funds appropriated to the Navajo and Hopi tribes is being be-ing used for this purpose. President's War? Letters continue to pour in from young Utahns and members mem-bers of their families concerning concern-ing recalls to active military duty. One Congressman suggested sug-gested that all such letters should be sent to the President for reply and action. He took this view, as he put it, because Congress does not share the responsibility re-sponsibility of Korea the President Pres-ident assumed all this responsibility respon-sibility when he ordered American Amer-ican forces into action without seeking the approval of Congress. Con-gress. Senators and members of the House, however, are always al-ways glad to help anyone who has suffered an injustice which merits serious consideration. Voters Reaction Korea Public opinion throughout Utah apparently has crystalized in opposition to much of the present Administration program. pro-gram. While I have not as yet completed a tabulation of a survey which I have under way, it is apparent that people are not in favor of Korea. Neither do they support troops for Europe where Congress is not consulted nor where such troops would be under the command of someone other than an American Amer-ican general. I hope to report more fully on the results of th' survey next week. Gasoline Plant Expansion Last week Mr. J. H. Valentine Valen-tine of the Western States Refining Re-fining Company was in Washington. Wash-ington. Valentine visited with Senator Bennett and me. The oil company executive hopes to obtain a government loan so that his company can complete construction work on a portion of the refinery's planned high test gasoline plant. |