Ever since May 1957, the bill to grant statehood to Alaska has been gathering dust in a House Rules Committee pigeonhole personally guarded by Rules Chairman Howard Smith. Virginia Democrat Smith opposes the bill, at least partly because Alaska would probably send a pro-civil-rights delegation to Congress. Only last week did Smith hold his first hearings on the bill, and monopolized the time by questioning New York's Democratic Representative Leo O'Brien, a backer of Alaskan statehood, until the meeting was broken up by a House quorum call. Cunning old Chairman Smith benignly called...
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