Word: ashbrook
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Republican bitterly denounced a Democratic committee chairman-and, in the process, scolded the House itself. The victim of the attack was Harlem's Adam Clayton Powell Jr., chairman of the Education and Labor Committee (as usual, Powell was absent at the time). The attacker: second-termer John Milan Ashbrook, 34, attorney, Johnstown, Ohio, newspaper publisher and former national chairman of the Young Republican National Federation...
...Cloak. Ashbrook began calmly. "Mr. Speaker, one of the first things that a new member of Congress learns is the so-called rule of congressional courtesy. Bluntly stated, these rules and precedents make it virtually impossible to criticize the conduct of another member of this body. These rules have probably prevented duels, fist fights and other breaches of gentlemanly conduct which would have reflected on the decorum of the House. Undoubtedly, some lives have been saved because of a remark that was never made on this floor. Outbursts of temper have probably been kept to a minimum...
...Ashbrook then lit into Powell. A mem ber of Powell's committee, Ashbrook urged that his chairman's request for committee funds be slashed by $200,000. He pointed out that committee expenses have risen from $388,000 for the four years before Powell became chairman to $633,000 for the two years under Powell's leadership. Asked Ashbrook...
...Republicans were "harassed" with "persistent demands" that they give up their minority suite. And, although the committee "would seem to have less reason to travel than most other committees," it had become "one of the most freely traveling groups in the entire Congress." About half of that travel, said Ashbrook, was overseas...
Taking direct aim at Powell, who has a $45,000 beach home in Puerto Rico, Ashbrook claimed that taxpayers have paid for at least 30 trips to that island with committee funds. He cited 19 per diem expense vouchers made out to Powell in 22 months for travel in Puerto Rico or "place not known." With bitter understatement, Ashbrook said: "Next to New York City, the problems of Puerto Rico seemed to call for the largest single outlay of our travel funds. At a time when we are mortgaging the future, and maybe the hereafter too, it would seem wise...