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Show WASHINGTON NEwS FROM OUR CONGRESSMAN W. K. GRANGER Congress' Activities Since Session Began in January, 1943 Congress, going home for a summer recess, leaves new tax i legislation as the major task to be tackled on its return in the late summer. The President has asked for sixteen billion dollars in new revenues, but has indicated strong disapproval of a general sales tax although saying liquor and tobacco taxes might be raised. The Treasury has suggested sug-gested that some short of in- dividual "excess profits" tax might be worked out a levy which would take more tax from the man who made $3500 a year before the war, but now makes $5,000, than it would from the one who made $5,000 then and still gets just that. Congress has abolished two agencies The National Re-soures Re-soures Planning Board, known as NRPB, was denied funds with which to continue its planning of ways and means to cope with prospective postwar problems. Likewise, the National Youth Administration, known as NYA, was ordered liquidated by January Jan-uary 1, 1944. It had been established estab-lished eight years ago to help young people (up to the age of 24) continue their schooling by providing part-time jobs during the depression. With the approach ap-proach of war, its emphasis was shifted to training for war production. pro-duction. The President's Executive Order Or-der limiting salaries to $25,000 annually after taxes, was nullified nulli-fied by the vote of Congress, while the labor dispute bill, known as the Smith-Connally Bill, was enacted over his veto. On questions touching on the war and foreign policy, Mr. Roosevelt met whii little opposition. opposi-tion. Congerss appropriated with, scarcely a murmur over 130 Billion Bil-lion Dollars, all but a relative handful to finance the war. News in Brief From Washington The Capitol appeared unaffected unaf-fected by the arrival of General Henri Honore Giraud, wiry Frenchman who commands the Allies' fifth largest army, until shortly after his arrival we learned with him of the tragic news that his daughter and four grandchildren have been taken lo Berlin as Nazi hostages. This sad news brought unsolicited attention at-tention as the co-president of the Committee for the Liberation of France met first with President Roosevelt and took part in a conference con-ference of the joint Chiefs of Staff, made up of America's and Britain's top-ranking officers, where the blue-prints for the defeat de-feat of the Axis were undoubtedly undoubted-ly being drafted. A United Nation's "production rate in 1944 nearly four times as great as that of the Axis" was forecast recently by War Production Produc-tion Chief Donald M. Nelson. "In 1943, he said, "The United Nations outproduced the Axis almost al-most two to one. In 1943, the Allied Al-lied output may reliably be expected ex-pected to be nearly three times Axis production." Although his address was basically optimistic in tone, Nelson cautioned against any "easing up in our efforts." The Department of State has advised that no groups of soldiers sol-diers have been used for farm work and it is not contemplated that permission will be given for release of soldiers in groups to do agricultural work. |