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Optimist Club, Grand Rapids, MI, September 30, 1970
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Optimist Club, Grand Rapids, MI, September 30, 1970
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Gerald R. Ford Congressional Papers
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The original documents are located in Box D30, folder "Optimist Club, Grand Rapids, MI,
September 30, 1970" of the Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at
the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Copyright Notice
The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of
photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. The Council donated to the United
States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.
Works prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public
domain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to
remain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject to a valid
copyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Digitized from Box D30 of The Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
CONGRESSMAN
NEWS
GERALD R. FORD
HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADER
RELEASE
--FOR RELEASE AT 12 NOON--
September 30, 1970
Excerpts from a Speech by Rep. Gerald R. Ford before the Grand Rapids Optimist Club
The U.S. House of Representatives has voted to push the Congress into the
20th century--and there is good reason to believe the U.S. Senate will do likewise.
That is the significance of the vote Sept. 17 by which the House decided,
326 to 19, to modernize the procedures of the Congress and to overhaul its
legislative processes.
The House approved what is known as the "Legislative Reorganization Act of
1970.' If the Senate follows suit, the Congress will have undertaken a comprehensive
reorganization of its functions. This has happened only once before--in August
1946. And so the current move to modernize Congress is the first such step in
24 years.
Is this development meaningful? It is a major accomplishment, an historic
action. I am pleased and excited about it. I am especially pleased because it
comes about as the culmination of many years of Republican effort.
Let me tell you why congressional reorganization is so badly needed and just
a few of the things that the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 does.
In April 1969 a Reader's Digest article posed the question: "Is Congress
Destroying Itself?"
The author noted that the Congress had been described as "obsolete,"
"inefficient," and worse. He pointed out that the Congress was in serious trouble
for a number of reasons--inadequate staffs to carry out the incredible array of
duties which fall upon a congressman; a fantastic flood of information and
pitifully little time to allot to it; an insufficient overseeing of programs
previously enacted; too much secrecy; antiquated and time-consuming procedures.
The Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 is designed to plug up the holes
in the leaky legislative vessel that is the Congress, to bridge the gaps that
prevent the Congress from functioning effectively. It is aimed at helping the
Congress do an effective job of shaping laws needed to cope with today's complex
problems and to untangle the bureaucratic mess created by overlapping programs
(more)
GERALD
-2-
What does the Act do?
It authorizes the use of electronic equipment on rollcall votes. This,
once the details are worked out, will save tremendous time.
It will make information swiftly available to members of Congress by
creating a Congressional Research Service in the Library of Congress, a unit which
will greatly assist the Senate and House in analyzing, appraising and evaluating
legislation. In fact, as I see the Congressional Research Service it will help
Congress assert its own initiative in advancing legislative proposals instead of
simply waiting for the White House to send up a sheaf of Administration measures.
It will improve the availability of information on fiscal affairs, insist
that price tags be attached to all new programs and require a four-year projection
of Federal spending beyond the fiscal year for which the Presidential budget is
prepared.
It will expand and strengthen the General Accounting Office and thus
greatly assist Congress in reviewing and overseeing Federal programs already in
existence.
It will eliminate much of the secrecy in Congress by requiring that most
committee sessions be open to the public and by placing on the record all teller
votes, those votes in which members of the House now simply pass up the aisle to
be counted on one side or the other of a motion or amendment.
It will open House committee meetings to radio and television news coverage
under rules laid down by members of the committees.
I count the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 a great achievement. It
did not come easily. And I say with pardonable pride that Republicans--I and
others--were in the forefront of the movement that brought it about.
The current move for comprehensive legislative reform began with creation of
a Joint Committee on Organization of the Congress in March 1965. That was a
response to long-felt awareness that Congress needed modernization.
On March 30, 1965, the House Republican Conference created a GOP Task Force
on Congressional Reform and Minority Staffing. In July 1966 the Task Force went
to press with a book called "We Propose: A Modern Congress.' " On Oct. 10, 1966
the House Republican Policy Committee issued a statement urging immediate
consideration of a congressional reform bill introduced in the House by
then-Rep. Thomas Curtis, R-Mo.
Meantime the Joint Committee had produced a bill which the Senate sub-
sequently passed, 75-9, on March 7, 1967.
(more)
-3-
But what happened to the Senate-passed bill? The House Democratic
Leadership put a lock on it and kept it in the House Rules Committee.
On August 22, 1967, the House GOP Task Force on Congressional Reform was
reactivated to put pressure on House Democrats to report out the bill bottled up
in the Rules Committee. On Oct. 11, 1967, the House GOP Conference unanimously
adopted a resolution calling upon the House Democratic Leadership to schedule
the reform bill for floor action.
On Jan. 17, 1968, I personally urged action on congressional reform in a
GOP State of the Union Message. On March 29, 1968, the House GOP Task Force sent
a comparison of the Senate-approved bill with all prominent "compromise" versions
of the bill to every member of the House and to news editors throughout the country.
On August 6, 1968, I called for action on the congressional reorganization
bill in a nationally televised speech during the Republican National Convention
in Miami Beach, Fla.
On August 7, 1968, the Republican National Convention adopted a platform
which included the following call for congressional reform: "Congress itself
must be reorganized and modernized in order to function efficiently as a co-equal
branch of government. Democrats in control of Congress have opposed Republican
efforts for Congressional reform and killed legislation embodying the
recommendations of a special bipartisan committee. We will again press for
enactment of this measure."
We did indeed press for congressional reform legislation and the bill
recently passed by the House and now pending in the Senate is the fruit of our
efforts, produced with the help of Democrats right-minded enough to be
reform-minded.
###
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Distribution : 8/25/70 News media Only
Office Copy
CONGRESSMAN
NEWS
GERALD R. FORD
HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADER
RELEASE
--FOR RELEASE AT 12 NOON--
September 30, 1970
Excerpts from a Speech by Rep. Gerald R. Ford before the Grand Rapids Optimist Club
The U.S. House of Representatives has voted to push the Congress into the
20th century--and there is good reason to believe the U.S. Senate will do likewise.
That is the significance of the vote Sept. 17 by which the House decided,
326 to 19, to modernize the procedures of the Congress and to overhaul its
legislative processes.
The House approved what is known as the "Legislative Reorganization Act of
1970.' If the Senate follows suit, the Congress will have undertaken a comprehensive
reorganization of its functions. This has happened only once before--in August
1946. And so the current move to modernize Congress is the first such step in
24 years.
Is this development meaningful? It is a major accomplishment, an historic
action. I am pleased and excited about it. I am especially pleased because it
comes about as the culmination of many years of Republican effort.
Let me tell you why congressional reorganization is so badly needed and just
a few of the things that the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 does.
In April 1969 a Reader's Digest article posed the question: "Is Congress
Destroying Itself?"
The author noted that the Congress had been described as "obsolete,"
"inefficient," and worse. He pointed out that the Congress was in serious trouble
for a number of reasons--inadequate staffs to carry out the incredible array of
duties which fall upon a congressman; a fantastic flood of information and
pitifully little time to allot to it; an insufficient overseeing of programs
previously enacted; too much secrecy; antiquated and time-consuming procedures.
The Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 is designed to plug up the holes
in the leaky legislative vessel that is the Congress, to bridge the gaps that
prevent the Congress from functioning effectively. It is aimed at helping the
Congress do an effective job of shaping laws needed to cope with today's complex
problems and to untangle the bureaucratic mess created by overlapping programs
(more)
-2-
What does the Act do?
It authorizes the use of electronic equipment on rollcall votes. This,
once the details are worked out, will save tremendous time.
It will make information swiftly available to members of Congress by
creating a Congressional Research Service in the Library of Congress, a unit which
will greatly assist the Senate and House in analyzing, appraising and evaluating
legislation. In fact, as I see the Congressional Research Service it will help
Congress assert its own initiative in advancing legislative proposals instead of
simply waiting for the White House to send up a sheaf of Administration measures.
It will improve the availability of information on fiscal affairs, insist
that price tags be attached to all new programs and require a four-year projection
of Federal spending beyond the fiscal year for which the Presidential budget is
prepared.
It will expand and strengthen the General Accounting Office and thus
greatly assist Congress in reviewing and overseeing Federal programs already in
existence.
It will eliminate much of the secrecy in Congress by requiring that most
committee sessions be open to the public and by placing on the record all teller
votes, those votes in which members of the House now simply pass up the aisle to
be counted on one side or the other of a motion or amendment.
It will open House committee meetings to radio and television news coverage
under rules laid down by members of the committees.
I count the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 a great achievement. It
did not come easily. And I say with pardonable pride that Republicans--I and
others--were in the forefront of the movement that brought it about.
The current move for comprehensive legislative reform began with creation of
a Joint Committee on Organization of the Congress in March 1965. That was a
response to long-felt awareness that Congress needed modernization.
On March 30, 1965, the House Republican Conference created a GOP Task Force
on Congressional Reform and Minority Staffing. In July 1966 the Task Force went
to press with a book called "We Propose: A Modern Congress." On Oct. 10, 1966
the House Republican Policy Committee issued a statement urging immediate
consideration of a congressional reform bill introduced in the House by
then-Rep. Thomas Curtis, R-Mo.
Meantime the Joint Committee had produced a bill which the Senate sub-
sequently passed, 75-9, on March 7, 1967.
(more)
-3-
But what happened to the Senate-passed bill? The House Democratic
Leadership put a lock on it and kept it in the House Rules Committee.
On August 22, 1967, the House GOP Task Force on Congressional Reform was
reactivated to put pressure on House Democrats to report out the bill bottled up
in the Rules Committee. On Oct. 11, 1967, the House GOP Conference unanimously
adopted a resolution calling upon the House Democratic Leadership to schedule
the reform bill for floor action.
On Jan. 17, 1968, I personally urged action on congressional reform in a
GOP State of the Union Message. On March 29, 1968, the House GOP Task Force sent
a comparison of the Senate-approved bill with all prominent "compromise" versions
of the bill to every member of the House and to news editors throughout the country.
On August 6, 1968, I called for action on the congressional reorganization
bill in a nationally televised speech during the Republican National Convention
in Miami Beach, Fla.
On August 7, 1968, the Republican National Convention adopted a platform
which included the following call for congressional reform: "Congress itself
must be reorganized and modernized in order to function efficiently as a co-equal
branch of government. Democrats in control of Congress have opposed Republican
efforts for Congressional reform and killed legislation embodying the
recommendations of a special bipartisan committee. We will again press for
enactment of this measure."
We did indeed press for congressional reform legislation and the bill
recently passed by the House and now pending in the Senate is the fruit of our
efforts, produced with the help of Democrats right-minded enough to be
reform-minded.
###