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Busy day on Capitol Hill this day – the House Ways and Means Committee voted 19 to 15 Friday to delay for 90 days the foreign oil tariff ordered into effect by President Ford. In a move condemned as “old-fashioned politics” by the White House, the Democratic-dominated committee also voted 15 to 14 to attach the delay provision to a bill increasing the national debt ceiling from $495 billion to $531 billion through June 30 a bill badly needed by the administration. If sustained by the full House and Senate, the combined bill would present Ford with an all-or-nothing veto dilemma. The’ bill could reach the House floor as early as next Friday.
Also, the White House denied that the United States is creating” a Middle East invasion force and dismissed reports to that effect as “bunkum.” President Ford had declined comment Thursday night when asked in a TV interview about the reported force. But press secretary Ron Nessen moved Friday to forestall controversy or misunderstanding. “I talked to the president and Secretary (of Defense) James R. Schlesinger about the report this morning and Schlesinger’s word for that is Bunkum,” Nessen told newsmen. “The United States is not creating any Middle East expeditionary force, is not creating three divisions to send to the Middle East and the United States has no plans to send any military divisions to the Middle East.
And three persons were killed and about 40 were hurt Friday when a bomb believed planted by Puerto Rican nationalists ripped through a historic building housing Fraunces Tavern, where George Washington bade farewell to his officers in 1783. Police said the dynamite bomb was similar to six others allegedly planted by members of a Puerto Rican nationalist group in recent months. A note signed by the group, found nearby, claimed responsibility for the blast. None of the victims of the blast was immediately identified. The bomb went off in the private Anglers and Tarpon Club on the second floor of the four-story building at 101 Broad St., directly above the tavern’s dining room, fire officials said.
Both the tavern and the club were jammed with luncheon crowds from the Wall Street district. Shortly after the explosion, callers identifying themselves as members of the Armed Forces for the Liberation of Puerto Rico (FALN) telephoned news organizations to claim responsibility.
And along with the continuing stories on Capitol Hill, that’s just a small slice of what happened this January 24, 1975 as reported on The World Tonight.
