[Barbara Jordan Scrapbook, July - September, 1974] Page: 19 of 236
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Thursday, July 25, 1974
Bomb Threa
Taken Calmly
By CommitteeBY CRAGG HINES
Chronicle Washington Bureau
Washington - The day the
impeachment inquiry went
public was one of speeches
and minor spectacles. An un-
known woman caused the big-
gest to-do when she phoned a
bomb threat to the Capitol
switchboard.
The warning was handled in
the same easy-paced manner
as the hearings of the House
Judiciary Committee, which
has been studying for five
months whether President
Nixon should be put on trial in
the Senate.
It was 30 minutes from the
time the call was received
until Chariman Peter W. Rodi-
no Jr. called a recess. Even
then he did not say what was
up and Capitol policemen had
to be rushed in to clear the
packed room.
Second Threat
A hands-and-knees search of
the room, which had been
carefully guarded earlier
Wednesday, turned up noth-
ing. But the threateners would
not be put off. Just after he
had recessed the hearings for
the night, Rodino reported to
stragglers in the hearing room
that there had been another
bomb call.
Security got tighter after
t h e first scare. Women's
purses were given a once-
over. But even before that,
there was little chance of
strays getting into the room.
Only 10 of some 300 seats
were for the public and per-
sons were allowed to stay only
15 minutes at a stretch. The
first persons to get in had
waited six hours. All other
seats were occupied by fami-
ly, friends and staff of com-
mittee members and the news
media.
Tickets Scarce
Most committee members
had been given only one guest
seat. Rep. Delberg L. Latta,
R-Ohio, was approached in the
hallway outside the room by
four staff members, one of
whom got the magic yellow
ticket.
"Get it back to me," Latta
said, "I need it for tomor-
row."
A us "Bud" vrz dmin-
is i sis an o Rep.
Barbara C. Jordan, D-Hous-
ton, said he'd be willing to let
a constituent from the 18th
District (central Houston) use
Jordan's guest pass, but he
couldn't find one.Members were supposed to
have only 15 minutes in which
to deliver their statements.
Eleven got delivered Wednes-
day night.
Gives 2 Minutes
Rep. Harold Donohue, D-
Mass., tried to "reserve the
balance of my time," a House
tradition, but Rodino said he
wasn't allowing that. The
chairman did permit Rep.
William Hungate, D-Mo., to
yield two minutes of his time
to Rep. Tom Railsback, R-Ill.,
who used it to finish an attack
on Nixon - a speech that left
little doubt Railsback will vote
for at least one article of im-
peachment.
If a committee member got
too close to the time limit,
Rodino would have a staff
member slip a note on yellow
paper in front of the speaker,
urging that the remarks be
wound up.
Only Railsback got gaveled
to a halt Wednesday night,
and Hungate, whose remarks
were also strongly anti-Nixon,
bailed him out.
Cordial Affair
Generally, the atmosphere
was cordial, as are most pub-
lic House proceedings. The
public got a look at the tradi-
tional courtly gentility of the
members, referring to "the
distinguished chairman" and
"the gentleman" from so-and-
so that characterizes House
debate.
d get perturbed at
a a gton Star-News
photographer who asked her
to go over and pose with Rep.
Elizabeth Holtzman, D-N.Y.,
the only other woman on the
committee. Jordan said she
was tired of the "only two
women" pictures. She suggest-
ed the photographer., take one
of her and one of Holtzman.
Things were not as pleasant
outside the committee room.
Rabbi Baruch Korff, leader of
a pro-Nixon group, supposing
that the committee will vote
to impeach the President, said
"History will judge them to be
assassins." He was admitted
to the committee room using
the guest pass of a member
he would not identify.
Just outside the building,
representatives of the Nation-
al Prayer and Fast Group, an
anti-impeachment organiza-
tion, gathered as the hearing
opened.
Its members carried various
state flags and sang.1OUSTON CHRONICLE
t
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[Barbara Jordan Scrapbook, July - September, 1974], book, 1974; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth616583/m1/19/: accessed May 22, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas Southern University.