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This same spring I visited Bridges in his hideout as minority leader under the eaves of the Capital portico, to get his aid on the Appropriations Committee, as I thought maybe he could do something on the House side. As I waited for him, the Republican policy heads and the Democrats came out of his inner office. Fortunately, the Democratic leaders did not see me, as I was hidden by an open door. I'm sure they would have been shocked to see me waiting for Senator Bridges under any circumstances and for any reason.

However, Bridges was helpful in introducing the bill for construction of medical research facilities, as I've said, and Hill got the Hill-Bridges bill S-849 passed on the unanimous consent calendar without opposition.

Percy Priest on the House side, probably because of the opposition of Dr. Norman Topping and some of his followers among the deans of medical schools, imagine! or possibly because John Fogarty had discouraged him, did not get the companion bill on the floor of the House, so did not pass in this session. Priest was always afraid of any disagreement or fight and really did not have enough pressure on him in any positive way to get the bill on the House floor. He also had the excuse of working on the Natural Gas Bill for many months; however, this bill could have been taken care of in that session, fiscal '56, or in other words, the summer of '55, if Priest had had any real desire to do it. I think that he, by this time, was not really