National Affairs: Work Done

With most big issues still in committee rooms, the House and the Senate last week managed to pass one major bill apiece:

The House:

¶ Passed (274-138) a bill to make Hawaii the 49th state. A group of Democrats tried but failed to block statehood for Hawaii (pop. 499,800) until Alaska (pop. 128,650) also becomes a state. This is the third Hawaiian statehood bill passed by the House in six years; both previous bills died in the Senate. The new bill will be opposed by some of the Senate's Southern Democrats—who like neither Hawaii's political complexion nor its lack of a color line—but...