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Edward KocheEdward Koche
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Session:         Page of 617

that the sub-committee would have had a majority of the full committee working on it, and this is never done, and in fact would be a threat to the chairman of the full committee; that's how most chairmen would view it. And so Patman fought very hard against that, but I spoke very forcefully for it, because I thought, “Well, if I can't be on a separate sub-committee for mass transit but they increase the Housing Sub-Committee by ten members, maybe I'll get on.” I spoke very eloquently for that one. It lost, too. There were sufficient friends of Patman, I suppose, to prevent that, plus other sub-committee chairmen did not want to have Barrett a sub-committee chairman in a sense to be so much more powerful than they, as they viewed it. And they're also grown men. So it was a Mexican stand-off. Neither one of them won.

Well, the next day I'm on the floor of the chamber of the House, and I see Patman, and I walk over to him and I say, “Mr. Chairman” - and you always talk to these elderly chairmen (at least I did at that time) like a little boy; you know, you have the feeling you're looking up at him and you're holding a lollipop in your hand -- and I sit down next to him -- “if the occasion arises where there is a vacancy on the Housing Sub-Committee I would very much appreciate it if you would consider placing me on that Sub-Committee.” There were no members from New York City on that sub-committee. He said, “But you don't





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