July 31, 1961 - A resounding 403-to-2 vote of approval in the House completed today Congressional action to empower President Kennedy to call 250,000 reservists, including National Guardsmen, for active duty up to one year. It would also permit the President to extend the annual active duty training periods of the reservists. The only dissenters were Bruce Alger of Texas and Eugene Siler of Kentucky, both Republicans. Mr. Alger said he feared that a manpower increase would weaken nuclear "massive retaliation" policies. Mr. Siler said the increase reflected a "propensity of top brass to build forces."
