ustxtxb_obs_1973_02_16_50_00010-00000_000.pdf

ill-advised verdict.” He also said that a verdict like theirs “is responsible in my judgment for the increasing crime rate everywhere. It is responsible for having hard narcotics and marijuana in your schools and streets. I can imagine every peddler in Laredo and everywhere else saying to himself, ‘Why should I worry about getting caught? If I’m tried, we have juries in Laredo who will turn a man loose who admits his own guilt.’ ” The AP reports that two executives of Ross Perot’s Electronic Data Systems contributed something more than $100,000 to Richard Nixon’s reelection campaign. Milledge A. Hart III, president of EDS, scattered $69,048 among two dozen stateand national-leyel Nixon committees and Thomas J. Marquez, a vice president of EDS, contributed $40,082. No contributions have been traced to Perot himself, but he has strong financial reasons for supporting the President. Last year the Intergovernmental Relations Subcommittee of the House Committee on Government Operations investigated EDS’ highly profitable governmental contracts. It found that Perot used federal money to develop his data processing system and ever since then he’s been charging very high possibly exorbitant rates for Medicare to use the system the government paid to develop in the first place \(Obs., April 14, It’s official: the Texas Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations has recognized there is “public concern for a statewide land management program.” In a report released last week, TACIR noted some of the problems: irregular layouts, unpaved streets, wholesale development of readily-flooded land, substandard housing and areas without provisions for water supply or sewage disposal. It points out that 37 states use some form of controls on subdivisions outside city limits, and 40 allow countywide zoning. Recommendations for Texas include authorization for municipalities to extend intra-city development standards to their extraterritorial jurisdiction and for counties to establish zoning and other standards in other unincorporated areas. Fine tuning U.S. Rep. Jim Collins of Dallas has introduced a resolution incorporating a couple . of amendments to the 1934 Communications Act, including the “carrot” portion of Clay Whitehead’s controversial plan to rectify lodal television news broadcasting. That particular alteration would allow license renewal for five years instead of three, as is the case now. But Collins also proposes an even 10 The Texas Observer more portentous change in the renewal process, removing the FCC’s authority to consider other applications for the license for which renewal is sought. At present, alternative application hearings provide a potential forum for reviewing the performance of license holders. The greening of Carl Parker is one of this session’s more interesting phenomena. The Port Arthur representative is no longer the last of the living flattops: he has shed what he called his East Texas Afro in favor of a moderately mod hair arrangement cum sideburns. He is sponsoring a number of good government and environment clean-up bills. He has also hired that Distinguished Former Member Arthur Vance as his administrative assistant, thus taking care of the perennial, “What ever happened to Arthur Vance?” Vance was the House’s first longhair, a liberal rep from Pasadena who got turned off by the corruption and futility of the sessions in ’67 and ’69 and dropped out. Another D.F.M. who is back this session as an administrative assistant is Sonny Jones of Houston, the Dirty 30 Republican who was the best spoons player in the House. Jones is working for Rep. Tom Uher of Bay City, a conservative Democrat. The House passed, 144-1, a bill by Fred Head to limit the functioning of conference committees appointed to resolve differences between Senate and House taxation or appropriations measures. With that, the chances that Rep. Neil Caldwell will become a Heatly II diminish even further: it was not uncommon for the former House Appropriations Chairman to introduce entirely new items into the conference committee versions of spending bills, but that prerogative will be severely curtailed if the Senate passes Head’s bill. Future bills on raising or spending money may not be changed, altered, added to or subtracted from except where items in question are already present and are in disagreement between the houses. There is a provision for exceptions if they are approved by majorities of both houses and limited to matters and contemplated actions specified by concurrent resolution. ‘ The lone dissenter, Rep. Joe Wyatt of Bloomington, explained that he objected to “rules being written into statute.”, It was business as usual when the Senate Nominations Committee interviewed Preston Smith’s last nominees to the UT Board of Regents. Former Gov. Allan Shivers was asked no questions at all. And there were only a few perfunctory questions asked Ed Clark, the former “Johnson Democrat” who headed GOP Sen. John Tower’s reelection campaign, and Dr. James Bauerle, a San Antonio dentist active in Smith’s last campaign. Under the new Senate rules, the senators discussed the nominees in executive session and then voted on them in public. There was speculation that Shivers and Clark would receive some negative votes because of their wavering allegiance to the Democratic Party. A few “nays” were cast, but none were attributed to partisan considerations. Oscar Mauzy Of Dallas voted against all three men, complaining that the nominations were rushed to the Senate floor before he had time to probe their views on education. \(One certainly couldn’t learn those views by attending the Shivers’ appointment also was opposed by Sens. Chet Brooks of Pasadena and Bob Gammage of Houston. Brooks said it was “absolutely ridiculous” to put Shviers on a college board since his wife Marialice is already on the board of Pan American University and his son, John, is on the board of Texas Woman’s University. Brooks also went along with Mauzy in opposing Bauerle. Sen, Ma Bell The Austin phone book lists 32 senators, the mystery man beingone G. G. Garcia. The number listed for Garcia rings in the office of Sen. Raul Longoria of Edinburg. “The senator was a little insulted by that,” an aide said. After all, Longoria ran against Garcia and defeated him down in South Texas for the right to answer that particular Senate telephone. While the Texas Legislature is trying to open governmental meetings to the public,_ U.S. Sen. John Tower is trying to keep the Senate Banking Committee closed, at least when it’s working on banking benefits. According to a transcript acquired by Jack Anderson, Senators Proxmire and Packwood argued to open the meeting, but Tower threatened to filibuster rather than allow the committee to open up the closed session by a majority vote.