ly r he M chtg n t Vol. LXXXIX, No. 52-S
M ic igan Daily Twelve Pages
LiAnn Arbor, Michigan Ten Cents
Rationin g bilcollapses in] Housel
WASHINGTON (UPI) - Democratic
efforts to provide President Carter with
his sought-after emergency standby
gasoline rationing plan collapsed in the
House last night with members voting
to adopt a cumbersome amendment
that would hinder any rationing plan
from ever going into effect.
In a vote - which clearly caught
Democratic leaders by surprise, the
House agreed 232-187 to a Republican-
sponsored amendment that would give
Congress two shots at rejecting any
presidential rationing plan - first when
he drafts it and then when he tries to in-
voke it.
After the vote, White House lobbyist
Bill Cable denounced the amendment
as making "the bill worse than existing
law."
SPONSORS OF the measure,
claiming the amendment would make it
virtually impossible for any rationing
Two chances for veto approved
plan to be approved, quickly removed
the bill from House consideration.
House leaders said they didn't know
when it would be brought up again, but
hoped it would be before the August
congressional recess.
The vote was a major setback to
President Carter's new energy plan and
to congressional leaders who had hoped
to overturn last May's rejection by the
House of the president's first rationing
proposal.
IT WAS ALSO a blow tn House
Spesker Thomas O'Neill, who had told
reporters earlier in the day that
passage of the bill appeared assured
and that Democrats were lining up 10-
to-1 to support it.
O'Neill had tried to arrange a final
vote for close to 9 p.m. Congressional
sources said O'Neill chose this time -
the start .of Carter's nationally
televised news conference - so the
president could point to the vote as a
gain for his energy program.
As it turned out, Carter wound up
empty-handed.
THE AMENDMENT which sent the
House into confusion and brought con-
sideration of the rationing bill to a grin-
ding halt was sponsored by Rep. Ben-
jamin Gilman, (R-N.Y.). Supporting
the proposal were 79 Democrats and 153
Republicans.
Gilman claimed the amendment
"would just allow the Congress 30 days
to examine the president's plan and
veto it if it so chooses."
But Rep. John Dingell, (D-Mich.),
manager of the bill, complained: "How
many obstacles does this House want to
put up to block this emergency plan?"
HE NOTED that the proposal before
the House already gave Congress veto
power over any rationing plan the
president tried to put into force - and
that the Gilman measure, in giving
Congress two votes on rationing, would
make it that much harder to ever im-
plement it.
The vote came despite a 234-185 vote
moments before which rejected a
similar attempt to make it harder for
the president to impose rationing.
House leaders had hoped to put the
rationing legislation on the president's
desk before the August recess. That
goal is now clouded since even if the
House can end its own battle over the
plan, a final compromise must be
worked out with the Senate.
Doily Photo by JIM KCRUZ
Openifing showers fail to
damper Art Fair spirit
By PATRICIA HAGEN A woman inquired about the price of
Umbrellas and ponchos were some of a yellow slicker at Tice's Men's Store
the best selling items on the first day of on South University. "Raincoats have
the 1979 Ann Arbor Street Art Fair. been selling real well," said an em-
While not considered fine art, rain ployee named Gary, after he told the
gear proved invaluable as fairgoers, customer the price of raincoats had
artists, and exhibits were dampened by been reduced.
intermittent downpours and sprinkles. "No one has really complained about
Some of the rainwear, constructed out the weather," Gary added.
of plastic garbage bags and sheets, UMBRELLAS OF all colors popped
were themselves masterpieces of up whenever the rains came down and
creativity. the thousands of visitors continued
"WE SOLD real well on ponchos and their slow tours from booth to booth at
umbrellas," said Bob Loria at State the three art fairs located around the
Discount. "There was pretty good traf- city. While licking soggy ice cream
fic through the weather." Bargain hun- cones and munching hot dogs, bargain
ters milled around the storefront table hunters examined tables of merchan-
laden ' with '-buslxel 'baskets - of- disecovered with plastic sheets.
miscellaneous merchandise. See ART, Page 2
Space balloons comprise John Gehman's inventory, which he has vented in
the last two art fairs on the corner of Thompson and Liberty streets. Artist
Elaine Manning looks as serious'as the Indian statue who's handing out her
wares near the corner of Liberty and S. Division.