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THE MICHIGAN DAILY
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PAGE SIX TUE MICHIGAN BAIIY
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5
Dirksen
Asked
LBJ Neutrality
on
Amendment
(Continued from Page 1)
ly, since his support of the ad-
ministration's Viet Nam policy has
largely diffused any- Republican
opportunities to turn it into a
political issue.
No Intervention
Dirksen was well aware of
Johnson's mood-and, it has been
learned for the first time, him-
self asked Johnson not to take a
position on his amendment.
This was a request only Dirk-
sen could have made-and it im-
mediately gave him a great ini-
tial advantage, not only in terms
of diminished opposition, but also
in terms of increased cooperation
from Mansfield.
But although the President had
given a solid public commitment
not to intervene in the fight at
a press conference during the
spring, the administration was
getting worried.
And by now-although Johnson
himself was still doing nothing-
both Vice-President Hubert Hum-
phrey and Attorney-General Nich-
olas Katzenbach were out fighting
against Dirksen.
Humphrey had a long talk with
Javits before Javits announced his
opposition to the Dirksen propos-
al, and Humphrey was also ac-
tively talking to other wavering
senators, primarily from midwest
and border states.
'Give Him Hell'
Dirksen told a group of corres-
pondents August 3 he was so
irritated about Humphrey's activi-
ties he had asked Johnson-who
protested innocence - to "call
Humphrey up and give him hell."
Dirksen told the newsmen he
had no idea if Johnson had call-
ed Humphrey, but added he hadn't
seen him around the Senate much
recently-"and he wasn't in the
cloakrooms, either."
But according to an observer
with a close knowledge of the
infighting which preceded the vote
-and who had blasted the ad-
ministration early in the spring
for its then-lukewarm attitude to-
wards the Dirksen amendment -
said, "Hubert was down there per-
suading right up to the start of
the roll-call, and so was Katzen-
bach."
The source added that for both
prominent administration men to
be lobbying actively against the
Dirksen proposal without the Pres-
ident's knowledge and tacit con-
sent "is unthinkable in Johnson's
Washington."
And the lobbying continued -
right up to August 4.
Dirksen's DayI
But August 4 was Dirksen's dayI
up enough votes to defeat him,
warned the Senate that he would'
try again with his amendment if
he did not succeed with this at-
tempt.
And then he launched into a
senatorial classic which made
some of the observers in the gal-
leries wonder if they weren't back
in the days of one of Dir1isen's
idols, Sen. J. Hamilton Lewis-
who Dirksen told the Senate "had
pink whiskers and flashy waist-
coats," and who, Dirksen said, had
told him, "My boy, you will see
the time when the only people
interested in state boundaries will
be Rand-McNally."
Continuing in this vein, Dirk-
sen said that he wanted to reverse
what he termed the deplorable
"erosions" of the federal-state sys-
tem.
Reads Proposal
l4e read over his proposal twice,
each time stressing the words, "the
people," wherever they appeared,
and, at the end, added, "The peo-
ple-that is a great word."
Blasting away at the charges
of Sen. Thomas Dodd (D-Conn)
that the full Judiciary committee
had not yet considered the bill
and that it was unwise to amend
the Constitution hastily, Dirksen,
flailing his fist in the air, boomed
out "The ink was hardly dry on
the Constitution when Jefferson,
who happened to be in Paris, hur-
ried back and offered 12 amend-
ments. Two of them were discard-
ed, and the other 10 became the
Bill of Rights."
Dirksen's spell slowly broke, as
Douglas denounced the amend-
ment as the undoing of "the rights
of the individual to stand equally
before the legislatures which make
the laws of this land."
He added that, since "rotten
borough legislatures" would often
be framing the referendum ques-
tions, and because actual partici-
pation in referenda is "absurdly
low," the argument of "let the
people decide" is fallacious.
Then came the voting-which
was almost an anticlimax. After
rejecting Javits' proposal over-
whelmingly, the Senate took a
procedural vote tacking the Dirk-
sen substitute onto the baseball
resolution.
This passed 59-39. But then
camesthe crucial vote on final
passage of the constitutional
amendment. This required a two-
thirds majority.
The final tally was 57-39 -
seven votes short of the neces-
sary two-thirds margin, and al-
most exactly as the liberals had
predicted.
First came a procedural vote
attaching the Dirksen substitute
to the baseball resolution, which
passed 59-39.
But then came the crucial vote
on final passage of the constitu-
tional amendment-which requir-
ed a two-thirds majority.
The final tally was 57-39 -
seven votes short of the neces-
sary two-thirds margin, and al-
most exactly as the liberals had
predicted.
But then, on August 11, Dirk-
4
4
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-Associated Press
SENATOR EVERETT DIRKSEN is shown conferring here with House minority leader Gerald Ford.
in the Senate.j
The Illinois senator, already
aware that the liberals and the
administration had probably lined
Ii
i;il
t
I
i
GARGOYLE
MASS MEETING
has been postponed
from
WED., SEPT. 15
to
WED., SEPT. 22
i
i
sen introduced another proposal,
similar to his earlier amendment
but requiring any legislature sub-
mitting a vote-weighting plan to
itself be apportioned on a straight-
population basis.
Faced with a Judiciary commit-
tee deadlock again, Dirksen this
time exercised another privilege as
the panel's ranking minority mem-
ber. He suspended consideration
of the administration's immigra-
tion bill foi' a week-and threat-
ened to block it until his own
amendment got to the floor.
Last week, amid angry charges
of "blackmail," Sen. Dodd, a com-
mittee member, switched his vote,
supported the Dirksen proposal
with the greatest reluctance, and
so the amendment was reported
from committee without recom-
mendation for a January vote.
Dodd-who said he wanted to
unfreeze the immigration bill-is
also understood to have been as-
sured by Dirksen that his own
controversial gun-control bill will
be reported from committee too.
Whatever the outcome, observers
here believe that the story dem-
onstrates some of Dirksen's im-
portant qualities.
First, Dirksen has made bril-
liant use of every rule in the Sen-
ate book.
And he has continually out-
smarted his opponents, as his par-
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liamentary maneuvers to get his
proposal to the floor despite great
opposition demonstrate.
Second, regardless of how tense
the political situation is, Dirksen
never loses the opportunity to
clown a little.
Moral Crusader
- Dirksen was once asked about
a statement by Dwight D. Eisen-
hower that it seemed from the
Watts riots that America needed a
moral crusade..
His eyes shining and his hands
outspread, Dirksen intoned, "Why,
I've always believed in crusading.
I've been crusading all my life."
Dirksen continually 'turns this
sort of deceptive tomfoolery to
his advantage, observers feel, and
add that this is his third great
strength.
"While he is usually ten times
deadlier than Nixonaand infinite-
ly more effective than Goldwater,
Dirksen is awfully difficult to at-
tack," one newsman said recently.
"After all, how can you at-
tack a man who's so funny he
looks like a caricature of himself?"
And nobody has yet thought up
an answer.
TOMORROW: Washington to-
day-a summary of impressions,
political, social and personal.
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