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1970: Changing Times on Capitol Hill

Times, they were a changin’ on Capitol Hill in 1970. The length of skirts was creeping ever higher (below) and raising eyebrows and tempers all around. But there were brighter spots: That same year, several House committees started using computers to print their legislative calendars (bottom), resulting in “considerable time savings,” as the story reports. Experiments were under way to see just what all the new technology could do to help people on the Hill, the story adds.

Also in 1970, President Richard Nixon signed the law that gave the District of Columbia a nonvoting Delegate in the House (left). The position still exists today, as does the debate about home rule in the District. The story from 1970 simply states, “Longstanding differences exist over whether the District should have Home Rule or not.”[IMGCAP(1)]

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