1963 Year In Review - Part 1

Don fulsome: "If the Congress didn't work hard, it at least worked long, staying in session almost all year. Huge sums were chopped from the Foreign Aid Program, but the President was given authority to make concessions in U.S. trade with Poland and Yugoslavia. A military pay boost averaging 14% was approved. Congress showed its ire when the Supreme Court ruled against Bible-reading and prayer recitation in the public schools. All kinds of legislation aimed at overturning the landmark decision was introduced.

"And Congress proved, too, how fast it could move by passing in short order legislation made necessary when Labor Secretary Willard Wirtz made this assessment of the Railroad Work Rules Dispute."

Willard Wirtz: "The situation is that the parties have failed to come up with anything as the basis of an agreement involving the whole of the railroad industry, and the situation is that as far as the mediation process is concerned, we have so far been unable to come up with anything which would contribute to their settlement. It's as serious as it could possibly be."

Don Fulsome: "The emergency legislation headed off a threatened strike and set up an Arbitration Board, which ruled the carriers could gradually eliminate 90% of the firemen on diesel locomotives in freight and yard service.