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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 September 2013
The first Congress to replace the old lame-duck session convened with a mighty mandate from the electorate to support the President. It was estimated that 350 of the 561 members in Congress owed their seats to their pledge to back the New Deal. Controversial legislation had to be disposed of in this session if the meeting of Congress during the coming election year was to be brief and decorous. The general tone of the session was indicated by Senator Wagner when he said: “I am sure we all agree that one of the fundamental purposes of government is to give security to its people” (p. 9927). The terms in which this purpose should be expressed remained the major problem of the session. No rallying point for opposition appeared in Congress. In the House, the unimaginative Snell offered little more than grumbles, and Senator McNary was not a consistent opponent. The leadership of the majority party was in the hands of staunch Southern Democrats whose first loyalty was to the will of the President.
2 Unless otherwise indicated, all page citations are to the bound edition of the Congressional Record. All references beyond p. 12429 are to the unbound edition.
2a In the House were 319 Democrats, 103 Republicans, 7 Progressives, 3 Farmer-Laborites, and 3 vacancies; in the Senate, the major parties mustered 69 and 25 supporters, respectively, and the minor parties one each.
3 For background on this point, see Luce, Robert, “Petty Business in Congress,” in this Review, October, 1932Google Scholar.
4 Rogers, Lindsay, The American Senate, pp. 173 ff.Google Scholar
5 For congressional reaction to judicial review, see pp. 10975–87.
6 For a highly critical appraisal of the President's relations with Congress, see an article by Ward, Paul in the Nation for September 11, 1935Google Scholar.
7 See pp. 2758–61, 1999–2002. The first measure of this kind was introduced by Senator G. H. Pendleton in the 46th Congress. Similar attempts to secure such coöperation between cabinet and Congress have been endorsed by three presidents, by a senatorial committee of outstanding ability, and by two chief justices of the Supreme Court (p. 2761).
8 Politics and Administration, pp. 261–262.
9 On p. 5765 of the Congressional Record for this session is a list prepared by the Legislative Reference Bureau citing all the congressional investigations since 1921 —their subject, authorization, cost, and findings.
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