House flooded with legislation
but the dike’s about to break
SALEM (Special) — One daj
soon — probably Saturday — the
floodgates will be forced oper
and backed-up legislation will
gush into the House and over tc
the Senate.
Until then, however, the House
chambers are abnormally quiet
every morning except Tuesdays
and Fridays since House Speaker
Richard Eymann (D-Springfield)
initiated a new system of holding
committee meetings all day.
The new system was instigated
as a way to handle the record
number of bills which have beer
introduced this session — about
2,300 — more than 400 more than
last session — which have been
held up in the House committees
that haven’t had the time to
consider the avalanche of
legislation.
Before this week, committees
met for about two hours two or
three times a week. Under the
new system, two House com
mittees meet all days which
sounds like a good idea to
everyone not here in the capital
Lobbyists and interested
citizens complained about their
schedules being disrupted.
Secretaries turn unbelievably
sour after handling the barrage
of complaints from the lobbyists
and citizens.
r
And legislators drag through
the building muttering that the
new system — with the increase
in work load it brings — is going
to lull them.
Saturday the first of at least
three all day House sessions is
scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Almost
80 bills already appear on the
Saturday docket causing the
weary legislators to groan at the
mere mention of “the weekend.”
House Sergeant-of-Arms Bill
Wooten is also concerned about
the new system — he is the
person that must round up all of
the legislators on Saturday, no
matter where they are according
to House rules.
Several of the bills of concern
to students have been slowed
down in the House including:
— Two bills (SB 27 and HB
3167) which lower the age of
majority from 21 to 18 years. TTie
bills are currently in the Joint
Committee on Alcohol and Drugs
awaiting a first hearing tonight.
— A bill (HB 2970) directing the
State Board of Higher Education
to establish uniform guidelines
which include student input in
evaluating and promoting
professors. The bill is awaiting a
work session in the House
Education Committee.
— A bill (SB 307) which
decriminalizes marijuana by
removing it from the list of
narcotic and dangerous drugs in
Oregon Revised Statutes. The
measure is in the Joint Com
mittee on Alcohol and Drugs.
One hearing has been held on the
bill and another one may be
scheduled.
— Two bills directing the State
Board of Higher Education to
establish guidelines in hiring and
admissions which eliminate
discrimination. The bills are in
the House Education Committee
awaiting a work-session.
Two bills, however, have been
sent to the House and Senate floor
after committees adopted them
with “do pass’" recom
mendations.
A bill (HB 2147) which directs
the Governor to appoint two
students to the State Board of
Higher Education passed the
House Education Committee
Sunday and should be voted on in
the House next week.
And SB 159, the comprehensive
revision of landlord-tenant laws,
passed the Senate Committee on
Local Government and Urban
Affairs last week and should also
be voted on in the Senate next
week
Iranian
student
cleared
of charges
Deportation is a problem which
is facing many of the politically
outspoken foreign students in
America today.
The case of Babak Zahraie, an
Iranian student who faced
deportation for crossing the
Canadian border without a
passport, became a central
example of UJS. and Iranian
governmental attempts to silence
foreign student political activity
when it became known that a
main reason for the charges
made against him was his out
spoken views in defense of
Iranian political prisoners and
against American involvement in
Vietnam.
Recently announced in a
release from the Committee to
Defend Babak Zahraie was a
statement by Zahraie to a Seattle
news conference that “the U.S.
Immigration and Naturalization
Service (INS) dropped all
charges against me and granted
my application for permanent
resident status in the United
States.’’
I
See tf^e .
Students of fine beer concentrate on Blitz-Weinhard, the mellow,flavorful beer (per
fected at the West’s Oldest Brewery. Blitz-Weinhard Company, Portland, Oregon.
One year ago Zahraie was
informed of the charges And since
then has been traveling across
the country with the support of
the Committee to Defend Babak
Zahraie, attempting to bring the
American public the truth about
his case. In a speech made on
Feb. 28, 1973 at the University,
Zahraie commented, “Im
migration has stepped up its
attack against politically out
spoken foreign students,
especially Arab students. Right
now there are 200 Arab students
awaiting deportation, nine
Vietnamese, and 41 Iranian
students. One thing is for certain,
the students of the Third World
are at the receiving end of these
harassments.”
Zahraie felt that one of the
main issues with the U.S. concern
about political activities of
Iranians in the U.S. was its
connections with the Iranian
government economically and
militarily. “The Iranian
government is a by-product of the
CIA. It owes its existence to this
country,” said Zahraie. He
continued that the U.S. govern
ment has just given the Iranians
$2 billion in arms, the largest
military gift in UJS. history.
But, “. . . the Iranian army is
not to protect Iran from the
Soviets, it is to protect the
government from the people,’’
Zahraie emphasized. He felt that
the repressive atmosphere in
Iran was causing the Iranian
students in the United States to
fear for their freedom.
“My victory represents a
tremendous step forward in our
campaign to establish full
democratic rights for all foreign
students,” Zahraie stated in the
release. Zahraie feels that the
Defense Committee must con
tinue to work to support all
foreign students and to “create a
political climate where the INS
must completely stop its
harassments of politically active
foreign students.”
Positions
open
Petitions must be picked up
in Room 308 EMU for open
positions in OSPIRG (two
delegates) and IUS (three
delegates). Petitions must be
filed by 5 p.m. Monday in 306
EMU, together with Voter’s
Guide Statement (optional) of
up to 150 words.
Voting for these positions
will take place during the
ASUO general election April
23 and 24. Further information
about these positions is
available in 303 EMU (IUS)
and Mill EMU (OSPIRG).