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Lobbyists also clashed with Agriculture's Henry Wallace, but biggest obstacle they had to hurdle was the White House. Franklin Roosevelt simply stated that he would veto the Sugar Bill unless Congress lopped off discriminations against Hawaii and Puerto Rico, allowed them also unrestricted refining. When the Bill reached the floor of the House, Congressman Marvin Jones, Agriculture chairman and father of the Bill, introduced a courtesy amendment to right these discriminations, but he fooled no one. Said McCormack of Massachusetts: "[Mr. Jones] is a good soldier, but he talks with his tongue in his cheek." The amendment lost, 135-to-92, and swarms of sugar lobbyists perched confidently in the gallery, knowing they had won, began making side bets on various minor amendments. The Bill itself finally passed, 165-to-55, and went to the Senate. Lobbyist Black rushed up to a group of Congressmen, chirped: "It's all right now, you can go home."
But, as it has before, the last laugh may fall to Franklin D. Roosevelt. The Senate may pass the Bill, but many observers believed no power on earth could hold Congress in session ten days after that, until the President's anticipated pocket veto expires. In that case Congress might never have a chance to override, even if the lobbyists were strong enough to round up two-thirds of both Houses.
With that event, refiner-lobbyists would not be the sole losers. They had only been pulling chestnuts out of the fire. They would drop, at least for the time being, only a small share of their tonnage to island refiners, but U. S. beet and cane growers would be without the extended protection of the expiring Jones-Costigan Act, which has helped keep U. S. sugar more than three times as high as the world market price.