Ask the Scholar
Document scope · 1 page
Scholar
Ask about this object, its catalog metadata, its source description, or the page inventory.
For page-specific OCR and visual context, open one of the page chats.
Source Description
This file contains material relating to Richard Nixon.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
4525481
label
Ford Newsletter, January-April 1973
core
doc
dtoType
document
citationUrl
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
4525481
sourceUrl
contentType
document
title
Ford Newsletter, January-April 1973
description
This file contains material relating to Richard Nixon.
citationUrl
collections
Gerald R. Ford Congressional Papers
Newsletters
subjects
U.S. House of Representatives. 3/4/1789-
Agriculture
Capital punishment
Economic stabilization
Federal budget
Legislation
Roads
Student aid
Vocational rehabilitation
largeImageUrl
imageCount
1
hasImages
yes
source
import
hasTranscription
no
Source extras
naId
4525481
coverageEndDate
logicalDate
1973-04-30
month
4
year
1973
coverageStartDate
logicalDate
1973-01-01
month
1
year
1973
levelOfDescription
fileUnit
recordType
description
ocrSource
nara-archive
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
document
mediaId
b4005e8e4cf01077
ocrText
This document scanned from Box D2 of the Gerald R. Ford Congressional Papers at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Report
Serving
From Your Congressman
Michigan's Fifth District
JERRY FORD
PRINTED EXPENSE
January 8, 1973
A NEW CONGRESS IS BORN
The 93rd Congress came to life last Wednesday with the swearing in of members-elect.
The opening day of a new Congress is always uniquely exciting although everyone knows just
how the script will go.
The floor of the House is a scene of color and bustle. Members-elect stand in the aisles
and in the well of the House shaking hands and swapping greetings. Newly-elected members
usually sit sedately and expectantly. There are many youngsters sitting in the chairs normally
occupied only by members of the House because on opening day members are privileged to have
their families sit with them. It is, in every sense of the word, an "occasion."
The "business" of the House on the opening day of the new Congress began last Wednesday,
as it does every two years, with a roll call of the members-elect. This roll call is by states,
alphabetically.
The roll call of the 435 members-elect of the House included the names of 69 new members--
43 of them Republicans, 25 Democrats, and one Independent-Conservative.
One thing has not changed in Congress. The Democrats are in control, which is why Richard
Nixon's tremendous victory last November has been called "a lonely landslide.' The Democrats
are in charge in the Senate, 57 to 43, a net increase of two Democratic seats. The numbers in
the House are 240 Democrats, 192 Republicans and three vacancies, a net pickup of 13 for the
Republican Party.
After the roll call of House members-elect last Wednesday, there was an election held for
the office of Speaker of the House--just as though the outcome was not foreordained by the fact
that Democrats greatly outnumber Republicans in the House.
Rep. Carl Albert of Oklahoma was the Democrats' candidate. I was nominated by the
Republican members.
The vote, which was hardly unexpected, was 236 for Albert and 188 for me. The members, of
course, vote their party affiliation.
House Republicans had chosen me as their floor leader on Wednesday morning, which means
that I will be the chief spokesman for Republican members of the House for a fifth consecutive
two-year term. I deem this a. high honor, and I am most grateful for it.
SPEAKER TAKES THE CHAIR
For the fifth time I had the privilege of presenting a newly-elected Speaker to the House
of Representatives.
With tongue in cheek, I told the House: "I am a little bit disappointed about losing this
contest for the speakership, but after five defeats you learn to grit your teeth and smile."
In other remarks, I said to my colleagues: "Never before have we been under closer
scrutiny by the public than today, with all the advances in communications and instant analysis,
and with the liberalization of our own rules and procedures. So I urge you all, and particu-
larly the new Members, to bear in mind that you represent the House itself in all that you do.
I, for one, pray that we shall represent the House in the 93rd Congress with honor and with
pride.'
I then presented Carl Albert to the House as "one of my oldest and dearest friends
a
Speaker of scrupulous honesty and fairness, a stanch champion of the rights and privileges of
all Members and of the great traditions of this body.
In responding to my introduction, Speaker Albert said: "I know that my old friend, the
distinguished minority leader, Gerald Ford, will stand with me and work with me to help make the
House a forum for effective national leadership. and at the same time a responsible instrument
of the people's will."
Albert continued: "Mr. Ford and I have differed in the past; no doubt we will differ from
time to time in the future. But we have never differed on the conviction that the House of
Representatives must always safeguard its constitutional role as a strong and influential branch
of our National Government.'
A STEP BACKWARD
Shortly after Speaker Albert took the oath of office, debate broke out in the House over a
Democratic move to change the rules by which the House operates.
Republicans strongly challenged a proposal permitting legislation to be brought up on the
House floor under suspension of the rules not only on the first and third Mondays of each month
but also on the first and third Tuesdays. This is twice the amount of time alloted to
suspensions in the last Congress.
Under this procedure--suspension of the rules--a bill can be debated only for 40 minutes,
20 minutes to a side, and is not open to any kind of amendment. However, it takes two-thirds
of those present and voting to pass a bill brought up under suspension.
Republicans fought this rules change as an expansion of "gag rule," an attempt to pave the
way for the ramming through of important pieces of legislation without adequate debate and with-
out opportunity for amendment.
There have been times when enormously complex bills involving hundreds of millions of
dollars have been brought before the House under suspension of the rules. Under this suspension
procedure--or "closed rule" or "gag rule" the Speaker of the House has absolute authority to
bring a bill before the House.
Rep. John Anderson of Illinois, chairman of the House Republican Conference, pointed out
that in the 92nd Congress the House took up such important legislation as the Strip Mining
Reclamation Act, the Community Mental Health Centers Act, the Omnibus Rivers and Harbors and
Flood Control Act, and the Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Prevention Program under "suspension."
These were measures involving more than $1 billion in Federal expenditures.
I vigorously objected to the proposed rule change as "a step backward from reform" at a
time when the American people are looking to the Congress to reform and reinvigorate itself.
This, I said, was "retrogression from progress. We should be making the processes of the
House more responsive to the will of the people, and this was a step in the opposite direction.
Despite the strenuous objections of Republicans, the House voted 208 to 204 to make this
change in the House rules.
A TAX CREDIT FOR NONPUBLIC SCHOOL TUITION
On opening day I introduced a bill which would provide a tax credit of 50 per cent--up to
$200--for tuition paid by parents to send a child to a nonprofit nonpublic school.
This bill was one which was approved by the House Ways and Means Committee late in the last
session of Congress--too
late for any action last
year.
THE BUREAUCRACY
Parents of nonpublic stu-
dents pay taxes to support
NIXON WANTS To CONTROL
public education, and they
pay tuition so their
At latest official count-
youngsters may receive the
On the White House staff, including executive offices: 2,594 people.
special spiritual guidance
In 11 Cabinet departments: more than 1.7 million employes.
offered by a nonpublic
In 82 independent agencies, commissions and boards: nearly 1.1 million people.
school. I believe we
should subtract at least
ALL TOLD: 2.8 million people are employed in the executive branch of Government
part of what they pay in
Of that total, President Nixon and his top aides have discretion over an estimated
nonpublic school tuition
2,800 jobs-with the rest comprised of career workers.
from their income tax
THE TASK CONFRONTING NIXON: controlling a vast bureaucracy with appointive
bills. That, I think, is
power over only 1 in every 1,000 jobs.
only fair.
Basic data: House-Senate Committee on Reduction of Federal Expenditures
# # #
Report
Serving
From Your Congressman
Michigan's Fifth District
JERRY FORD
PRINTED AT GOVERNMENT -
January 29, 1973
HOPE FOR A LASTING PEACE
The long nightmare of Vietnam is ending for Americans. I am very happy about the peace
settlement. I am happy not only because the fighting has stopped and American POW's will be
coming home-but because we have achieved the kind of peace which will give South Vietnam a
chance to survive as a non-Communist entity. We have achieved an honorable peace, a peace that
has a chance to stick, a chance to last. I became convinced of this when I learned the condi-
tions of the peace agreement and heard Presidential national security advisor Henry Kissinger
explain the provisions for members of the House last Friday afternoon.
There are some Americans, particularly those who wanted peace in Vietnam on any terms, who
are saying we could have had peace long ago. Perhaps so, but surrender would not have solved
anything. That attitude ignores our basic commitment in Vietnam--the fact that we went to South
Vietnam's aid with the purpose of thwarting Communist aggression. Vietnam was actually the
final and pivotal battle of the Cold War. It may prove to be one of the building blocks of a
future generation of peace for all the peoples of the world.
NATION MOURNS LBJ
The body of former President Lyndon Baines Johnson lay in state in the rotunda of the
Capitol last Wednesday while an estimated 40,000 mourners filed by the casket, paying their
last respects to this most forceful Chief Executive. Betty and I attended the graveside
services at the LBJ Ranch.
It was a curious coincidence--and most fitting--that President Nixon's announcement of a
ceasefire in Vietnam and the scheduled signing of the Vietnam peace agreement should have come
at a time when the Nation was
grieving over Lyndon Johnson's
death.
Although I disagreed with the
military tactics Lyndon Johnson
used in Vietnam, I admired him
for his determination to stay the
course. He and I were close
friends--and I cherished that
friendship.
HOUSE READY
The House is now ready for legis-
lative business.
The President's Budget for fiscal
1974 will provide us with guide-
lines on fiscal matters and pri-
orities. The State of the Union
Message will sketch out broad
goals and objectives.
Committee assignments have been
CHINESE ACROBATS VISIT CAPITOL -- These members of
made. This year Barbara Bull of
the spectacular Shenyang acrobatic troupe chatted with me
Casnovia, an intern from Mt.
during their tour of the Capitol Building. Members of
Holyoke College, helped my staff
the Boggs-Ford group which visited China last summer saw
with this work and did an excel-
the acrobats perform in Shenyang.
lent job.
FIFTH DISTRICT FOLKS ATTEND INAUGURATION
More than 100 people from the Fifth Congressional District came to Washington to see Richard
Nixon sworn in for a second term as the 37th President of the United States.
District visitors included 34 young Latvian dancers who performed during a Salute to
America's Heritage program at the Corcoran Gallery of Art. These dancers, so colorful and dash-
ing in their native costumes, put on a show that was a smash. Mrs. Nixon was so entranced that
she personally commended them.
The President set the tone for his second term in his inaugural address. He pointed up
America's role as peacemaker to the world but noted that we will no longer make every other
nation's conflict our own. His plea for peace was most moving. He offered America's help to
those countries willing to help themselves, and he extended the hand of friendship to nations
with ideologies vastly different from ours.
The President also warned Americans against a retreat into isolationism--and I strongly
endorse that position.
As for the President's comments on the domestic scene, these clearly underscored the Nixon
Administration's determination to shift the Federal Government from a role of paternalism to
one of partnership with local officials and reliance on the American people. I fully subscribe
to his call for new ways to meet our needs. Some of the old approaches have failed. As the
President so eloquently said, we must seek solutions at the local level and we must renew our
faith in ourselves.
I approve of the President's attempts to reduce the Federal Government's role in the daily
lives of Americans and to hold down Federal spending.
Incidentally, House Speaker Carl Albert, House Majority Leader Thomas O'Neill, and I repre-
sented the House on the Joint House-Senate Committee which made plans for the inauguration.
FARM BARGAINING BILL
Last Wednesday I introduced a bill
I call the Agricultural Marketing
and Bargaining Act of 1973.
This bill is aimed at eliminating
the sad situation that arose last
fall when Michigan apple growers
felt compelled to picket fruit
processors to get "living-income"
prices for their apples.
The bill I have introduced would
create a National Agricultural
Bargaining Board. This board would
set standards for the formation of
associations of producers estab-
lished for bargaining purposes and
would generate the proper climate
for good faith bargaining between
farm producers and farm product
LATVIAN DANCERS AT INAUGURAL
processors.
I hope the Congress
will see fit to adopt
my legislation and that
it will prove the an-
swer to the woes of
Michigan apple growers.
ELECTRONIC VOTING
The House last week
used its new electronic
voting system for the
first time. It proved
a success.
I am delighted that the
House is modernizing
JOINT INAUGURAL COMMITTEE AND STAFF
its procedures.
Office Capy
WASHINGTON REVIEW
Report
Serving
From Your Congressman
Michigan's Fifth District
JERRY FORD
PRINTED
GOVERNMENT
February 5, 1973
to
CONGRESS RECEIVES BUDGET, STATE-OF-UNION MESSAGE
The President has sent Congress his budget for fiscal 1974 and the first in a series of
State of the Union messages.
The State of the Union message usually is a shopping list, calling for all kinds of new
programs. It is appropriate that the President this year will be making his wishes known in a
series of State of the Union messages because he is intent not on spending money but on saving
it.
The budget sets guidelines for Federal spending for the coming fiscal year. It also pro-
poses a set of priorities which Congress can accept, modify or reject.
The President has urged the Congress to set a rigid ceiling of $268.7 billion and all fiscal
1974 outlays before considering any spending bills. That recommendation makes sense.
The Congress should adopt that spending limitation and then consider the budget proposals
in the light of the goals and objectives that shaped the budget. Whatever action Congress then
takes on the budget, all of the appropriations bills should fit under the $268.7 billion ceiling.
SPENDING HOLD-DOWN CALLED FOR
The American people believe that Federal spending can and should be held down. The 1974
budget indicates some ways in
which this can be done.
It is true that the President
plans to reduce or terminate some
Federal programs, but he also
recommends continued and in-
creased support of many effective
and needed programs.
We ve heard mostly about the
cutbacks. There are also some
increases, such as a 20 per cent
rise in funding for cancer re-
search and an 8 per cent jump in
anti-crime spending.
Where cutbacks are called for,
the course the President has out-
lined is difficult and painful.
But consider what would happen
if we do not make the kind of
choices represented by the budget
recommendations.
BUMPER CROP OF INTERNS -- No less than seven college
students worked in my Washington office during the month of
The Administration is currently
January. They are, left to right, John Zadvinskis and John
holding Federal spending to $250
Leonard, both of Grand Rapids and both from Aquinas College,
billion for fiscal 1973, and he
Richard Hawke of St. Paul, Minn., from St. Olaf College,
is proposing fiscal 1974 outlays
Barbara Bull 06 Casnovia, from Mt. Holyoke College, Richard
totalling $268.7 billion. With-
Lorenz of Chicago, from Southern Illinois University, Vicki
out the restraints currently
Wilson 06 Grandville, from Kalamazoo College, and Jeffrey
being employed and those proposed
Telego of Grand Rapids, from Olivet College. All but Hawke
in the 1974 budget, 1973 spending
and Miss Bull will stay on until spring.
would be over $10 billion greater
and 1974 spending would be almost $20 billion more.
Most importantly, these higher spending levels would mean either an across-the-board pers-
onal income tax surcharge of at least 15 per cent or an added deficit which would fuel the fires
of inflation.
Yet the Democratic-controlled Congress is preparing for a direct confrontation with the
President over the issue of spending.
The Senate has passed a $593 million water project authorization identical with one vetoed
by the President on economy grounds last year. Democratic leaders next will be trying to push
it through the House.
The House Agriculture Committee has readied for floor action a bill to force the spending
of $225 million appropriated last year for
the Rural Environmental Assistance Program.
Changing Priorities
The President has put the tax and inflation
monkey squarely on Congress's back. He has
Percent of Total Outlays
said, in effect: If there is a tax
increase this year because of Federal
spending in excess of my budget, Congress
Percent
will be to blame. If there is no tax
50
increase but a larger deficit, which adds
Human
to inflation, Congress will be to blame for
the higher cost of living.
Resources
The budget reduces the Federal role in the
daily lives of American citizens. And it
puts the decision up to local units of
government whether to continue such pro-
40
grams as Model Cities and Community Action.
BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS
One budget highlight is a recommendation
30
Defense
that Congress provide for $300 million in
tax credits to families sending their
children to nonpublic schools. This ties
in with my bill which provides a tax credit
of 50 per cent or up to $200 against the
tuition paid for each child sent to non-
public schools.
20
The budget includes $5.7 billion for in-
creased Social Security payments and an
additional $3.4 billion for Medicare and
Medicaid. Antipollution spending and aid
0
to college students also are up sharply.
1968 69 70 71 72 73 74 75
ECONOMIC REPORT
Fiscal Years
Estimate
PRIORITY PICTURE REVERSED Although the Presi-
dent's budget calls for a rise in defense spending,
In the annual Economic Report sent to
this is due to increases in pay and prices. In
Congress last Wednesday, the President said
1968, 47 per cent of total Federal outlays went to
1972 was a very good year and 1973 can be a
defense and only 32 per cent to human resources.
great year if Congress will hold down
The Nixon budget allocates 30 per cent to defense
Federal spending.
and 47 per cent to human resources.
The Council of Economic Advisers predicts
8. 10 per cent increase in Gross National
Product to $1.3 trillion; real growth
THE BUDGET DOLLAR
in the economy--after inflation-of
6-3/4 per cent, and a reduction in
SOCIAL
INSURANCE
NATIONAL
unemployment to about 4-1/2 per cent by
INDIVIDUAL
TAXES AND
DEFENSE
INCOME
CONTRIBUTIONS
HUMAR
the end of this year.
TAXES
30c
RESOURCES
29c
42c
47c
DISTRICT ASSISTANT VISITS
CORPORATION
INCOME
10c
TAXES
14c
4c
6c
7c
5c
bc
Gordon Vander Till, my district assis-
PHYSICAL
tant, will be at the village hall in
OTHER
RESOURCES
Sparta on Feb. 19 and at the City
BORROWING EXCISE TAXES
NET INTEREST
OTHER
Council Room in Belding on Feb. 26
Hours will be from 2:30 to 5 p.m.
Vander Till will answer questions on my
WHERE IT COMES FROM
WHERE IT GOES
behalf.
OFFICE COPY
REVIEW
Report
Serving
From Your Congressman
Michigan's Fifth District
JERRY FORD
March 5. 1973
BATTLE OF THE BUDGET RAGES
The battle of the budget is on in earnest. Democrats in the Congress are deliberately set-
ting up a series of dollar impoundment challenges involving the fiscal 1973 budget while
lobbyists for various groups are swarming all over Capitol Hill protesting the spending hold-
down in the fiscal 1974 budget.
The following actions have been taken by Congress in attempts to force the President to
spend impounded fiscal 1973 funds:
*
The House on Feb. 14 voted 251 to 142 to require the Secretary of Agriculture to spend
$225 million on the Rural Environmental Assistance Program by next July 1-$210 million
more than the Administration has paid out in REAP funds.
*
The Senate on Feb. 20 passed by an 82-9 roll call vote a bill to increase substantially
services for the elderly, after voting to keep in the bill two manpower sections parti-
cularly opposed by the Administration.
*
The Senate on Feb. 21 by a 69-20 roll call vote passed a. bill to restore direct, 2 per
cent rural electric and telephone loan programs which would cost $455 million more than
the Administration has paid out.
* The House on Feb. 22 voted 269 to 95 to restore temporarily and retroactively disaster
loans with a $5,000 forgiveness feature and a one per cent interest rate.
*
The House on March l voted 297 to 54 to force the Administration to spend the full amount
appropriated for rural water and sewer grants for fiscal 1973-$150 million--
$120 million more than the Administration has spent.
TO BE SPENT BY JULY 1?
In trying to reinstate programs terminated by the President at the end of 1972, the
Democratic-controlled Congress is seeking to force the spending of billions of dollars during
the next four months.
The President has impounded roughly $11 billion in fiscal 1973 appropriations and is simply
refusing to spend the money. By this action he is hoping to hold Federal spending this fiscal
year to $250 billion. Even with these impoundments, the Federal deficit for this fiscal year is
estimated at $25 billion.
If the Democratic-controlled Congress had its way, the Federal deficit for fiscal 1973
would total about $36 billion.
The Democrats--and the lobbyists--also are attacking the President's fiscal 1974 budget of
$268.7 billion. That budget is nearly $19 billion larger than the budget ceiling the President
has set for fiscal 1973. And it involves a Federal deficit estimated at $13 billion.
THE PRESIDENT WILL WIN
The President will win the battle of the budget. He will win because the American people
support his efforts to hold back on Federal spending. He will win because the people know that
if Federal spending is not checked the inevitable result will be either a Federal income tax
increase or a fresh surge of inflation caused by deepening Federal deficits.
(over)
PEACE GUARANTEE AGREEMENT SIGNED
Last week I journeyed to Paris to witness the signing of the nine-point agreement reached
by the International Conference on Vietnam on ensuring a lasting peace. I feel this agreement
is a big step forward toward the generation of peace we are all seeking.
TAX REFORM PROMISED
The President has promised to send Congress some tax reform proposals, and the House Ways
and Means Committee has started a series of panel discussions on general tax reform.
I am pleased that the President has made tax reform a priority item because it ranks at the
top of my list of things for Congress to do.
It is true that 15,200 Americans with adjusted gross incomes of $200,000 or more paid taxes
averaging 59 per cent in 1970, but 108 paid no tax at all--and something must be done about that.
BILLS INTRODUCED
Over Three-Year Period
HOW NIXON AIMS TO SAVE
Many people do not know that the mil-
itary pay accumulated by American
$45 BILLION
POW's while they were in captivity is
exempt from Federal income tax.
Cutbacks in projected spending by ending or re-
ducing programs previously planned or authorized
There are, however, other Vietnam
by Congress, as proposed by President Nixon-
service income tax problems that are
Savings in years ending June 30-
not covered by existing law. So I
1973
1974
1975
have introduced a tax bill which
would resolve several problems that
(millions of dollars)
have arisen for servicemen, their
National defense
$ 90
$2,701
$2,767
families, and the families of
Foreign affairs
$ 242
$ 62
$ 170
deceased servicemen.
Space
$ 179
$ 251
$ 219
Aid to agriculture
$1,209
$1,984
$2,372
The proposed legislation would permit
Natural resources, environment
$ 544
$2,765
$3,434
hospitalized servicemen to continue
Transportation, aid to business
$ 408
$ 417
$ 170
to treat their military pay the same
Housing, community development
$ 121
$ 640
$1,747
as combat pay up to the month hospi-
Education
$ 77
$ 591
$ 671
talization ends even if all combat
Manpower, job aid
$ 179
$1,095
$1,021
activities have terminated.
Health
$ 567
$1,554
$2,486
Social Security, welfare
$2,500
$3,939
$6,021
The bill also would forgive any
Veterans' benefits
$
5
$ 505
$ 533
income tax liability until the date
All other programs
$ 394
$ 389
$ 128
the serviceman's missing status is
terminated in cases where that date
TOTALS
$6,515
$16,893
$21,739
occurs later than the date of death.
A Closer Look at Specific Programs
In other action, I reintroduced along
Included among the savings the President proposes are some that involve
with all Michigan Republican
major programs or projects that are expected to stir widespread opposition
congressmen a bill which allows auto
in Congress. A sampling of those programs-and the proposed savings over
manufacturers to cooperate in per-
the three-year period:
fecting anti-pollution emission
control devices without fear of anti-
Reducing armed forces, civilian workers in defense
$1.6 bil.
trust suit.
Cutbacks in buying of missiles, other weapons
$2.0 bil.
Reducing farm price-support aid
$3.1 bil.
Guaranteeing rural-electrification loans rather
DISTRICT ASSISTANT VISITS
than making direct federal loans
$1.2 bil.
Cutting federal grants for soil-conservation practices
$600 mil.
Delaying public-works projects
$1.5 bil.
My district assistant, Gordon Vander
Increasing sales of oil leases
$1.6 bil.
Till, will be at the Middleville City
Holding back funds for fighting water pollution
$3.2 bil.
Hall March 5, the voting room in the
Freezing new commitments for housing subsidies
$1.0 bil.
Ionia City Hall basement March 12,
Ending "model cities," other community-
and the Lowell City Council Room on
development programs
$800 mil.
March 19 to answer questions on my
Reforming manpower-training programs
$700 mil.
behalf. Hours in each case will be
Phasing out public-service jobs
$1.4 bil.
from 2:30 to 5 p.m.
Making medicare patients pay more of their
hospital bills
$1.9 bil.
Tightening up on medicare costs
$1.1 bil.
CALENDARS AVAILABLE
Tightening public-assistance standards
$1.6 bil.
Limiting grants to States for social-services
programs to low-income groups
$9.7 bil.
Reducing veterans' pensions
$500 mil.
I have a limited supply of hardback
2-year calendars. Those requesting
Source: U.S. Office of Management and Budget
them will receive them on a first-
come, first-served basis.
WASHINGTON
Report
Serving
From Your Congressman
Michigan's Fifth District
JERRY FORD
PAINTES
DOVERNMENT
EXPENSES
March 12, 1973
HOUSE GOP SEEKS TO EXTEND, STRENGTHEN 'REHAB' PROGRAM
House Republicans last Thursday moved to extend and strengthen the Nation's vocational re-
habilitation program, which expired last June 30.
The GOP vehicle for extending the "rehab" act was a substitute for an overly ambitious bill
sent to the House Floor by the House Education and Labor Committee. As Rep. Earl F. Landgrebe,
the author of the substitute, pointed out, the GOP measure was a sound extension of the
Vocational Rehabilitation Act.
In Landgrebe's words, the Republican substitute would have "made a strong vocational rehab-
ilitation program even stronger by building upon the record of achievement in vocational rehab-
ilitation so painstakingly made over the decades by the joint action of the Congress and the
Executive." There is no question that an extension of the Act is badly needed.
HOUSE APPROVES UNREALISTIC REHAB BILL
Unfortunately, the House rejected the Republican substitute, 165 to 113, and approved the
Education and Labor Committee's bill, H.R. 17, by a rollcall vote of 318 to 57.
H.R. 17 is virtually identical with H.R. 8395, which was vetoed by the President last
Oct. 27. It contains nearly all the defects that marred H.R. 8395. The House is inviting
another veto.
There are many reasons why H.R. 17 is bad legislation. It is unrealistic. It promises far
more than it can deliver. It authorizes a total of $2.595 billion over a three-year period,
with the first year's outlay set at $905
million.
To set the authorizations at these levels is
a cruel hoax. Neither appropriations or
actual outlays will come close to those
figures.
The President's fiscal 1974 budget request
is $650 million for the basic rehab program,
an increase of 62 per cent over the $403
million spent in 1969. That is a realistic
figure and hardly niggardly. As Landgrebe
said in opposing H.R. 17 as fiscally irres-
ponsible, "It is time for Congress to stop
promising what it can't deliver. It is
cruel to raise false hopes in our disabled
citizens.
Another chief defect of H.R. 17 is that it
would extend vocational rehabilitation ser-
vices to the severely handicapped. This
turns the thrust of the vocational rehabil-
itation program away from its ostensible
purpose of employment and substitutes medi-
cal and social goals.
HIGH SCHOOL INTERN Miss Sallie Edmunds,
of 2754 Pioneer Club Road, Grand Rapids, was an
intern in my office for three weeks earlier this
LOPSIDED VOTE
year under sponsorship of the Washington work-
shops Foundation of Mt. Vernon College. Sallie
is a senior at Ottawa Hills High School.
There was a lopsided vote for H.R. 17 on
final passage because all members of the House want to see the Vocational Rehabilitation Act
extended. With the Republican substitute having been rejected, members who favored that legis-
lation generally voted for H.R. 17 because there was no other way to be on record as favoring
continuation of the rehabilitation program.
HOUSE VOTES TO ENCOURAGE OPEN MEETINGS
With some doubts as to how well the setup will work, the House last Wednesday voted 370 to
27 for a rules change aimed at encouraging open meetings. I voted for the new rule.
In general, the new rule declares that all House committee meetings shall be open unless
the committee, with a quorum present and by a rollcall vote in public, votes to close them.
The rule also requires that all House committee hearings shall be open unless the committee
decides by the same procedure that a hearing should be closed because testimony to be taken
involves the national security or might defame somebody's character.
Several House committees had adopted the anti-secrecy rule prior to House adoption of it.
Now all House committees are bound by the new procedure. The House Appropriations Committee, on
which I served for 14 years before becoming Republican leader of the House, was one of the
committees approving the anti-secrecy rule before the House acted.
As the anti-secrecy rule was brought to the House Floor, it required that any vote on
closing a meeting for reasons of national security or otherwise be taken on the day of the meet-
ing, with a quorum present. Several Appropriations Committee members, notably ranking
Republican Elford Cederberg of Michigan, protested that a committee should be able to announce
in advance whether a particular meeting would be open or closed. This, Cederberg pointed out,
would be a convenience to the public and the press.
After much discussion, the House agreed by voice vote to permit committee votes on closing
a meeting to be taken in advance but with the vote limited to a specific hearing or meeting.
OPEN MEETINGS NOT GUARANTEED
The new rule does not guarantee that all House committee sessions will be open, since each
committee does have the privilege of voting in open session to close a particular meeting. In
fact, a vote to close could cover more than one day's session. It could apply to a whole series
of meetings devoted to "marking up" a piece of legislation in final form.
Most members of the House do not like to have markup sessions open to the public because
lobbyists then can come into the meetings and figuratively peer over members' shoulders while
they are hammering a bill into shape for presentation on the floor.
The House Education and Labor Committee has open markup sessions, but that committee is the
exception and not the rule. It can be expected that the present situation will continue with
regard to markup meetings.
In any case, the new anti-secrecy
rule is a breath of fresh air in the
House because it creates a presump-
tion of open meetings as opposed to
closed sessions. It places on each
committee the burden of voting to
close meetings and sets up the
hypothesis that the reason had
better be a good one.
SCHOOL LUNCH BILL
The House voted 352 to 7 last Monday
to assure that Federal financial
assistance for the school lunch pro-
gram is maintained at the level
budgeted for this fiscal year. I
AT VIETNAM PEACE GUARANTEE SIGNING Congression-
voted for the bill.
al leaders had the privilege of witnessing the signing of
the Vietnam peace guarantee agreement March 2 in Paris.
Right behind the action, second row, left to right, are:
DISTRICT VISIT
Senate Republican Leader Hugh Scott, Senate Democratic
Leader Mike Mansfield, myself, and House Democratic Whip
John McFall. Front row, left to right, are: China's For-
My district assistant, Gordon Vander
eign Minister Chi Peng-fei, China deputy foreign minister
Till, will be at the Lake Odessa
Chang Wen-chin, William Porter, chief of the U.S. peace
Village Hall from 2:30 to 5 p.m.
talks delegation, and Secretary of State William Rogers.
March 26 to answer queries.
WASHINGTON REVIEW
Report
Serving
From Your Congressman
Michigan's Fifth District
JERRY FORD
PRINTED AT GOVERNMENT EXPENSE)
April 9, 1973
TAXPAYER WINS ONE
In what was a surprise for most people, the Senate last week sustained the President's veto
of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1972 (s. 7) and thus made it unnecessary for the House
to vote on the question.
Had the Senate not upheld the President's action, the House would have done so--by a com-
fortable margin.
The bill was abandoned because it was fiscally irresponsible, calling for spending $1 bil-
lion above the budget during fiscal years 1973-75. I hope, now, that the Congress will pass a
new vocational rehabilitation bill which continues the existing sound and effective program. I
am deeply committed to efforts to make the handicapped capable of supporting themselves. How-
ever, I am also committed to the curbing of wasteful Federal spending and unnecessary duplica-
tion of Federal programs. We must avoid a tax increase or a new surge of inflation.
Federal outlays under the Vocational Rehabilitation Act have risen from $371 million in
fiscal 1969 to $650 million budgeted for fiscal 1974, an increase of 75 per cent. In Kent
County, Federal grants for vocational "rehab" have climbed steadily--from $600,642 in fiscal
1969 to $861,971 in fy 1970, to $925,424 in fy 1971 and $1,112,643 in fy 1972.
REPUBLICAN REA EFFORT FAILS
House Republicans last Wednesday sought to improve on a House Agriculture Committee rural
electrification bill by offering a substitute aimed at getting away from the approach of the
depression era.
The Republican substitute would have reduced the amount of 2 per cent REA loans to $31 mil-
lion, would have made REA payments out of the Rural Development Insurance Fund, and would have
given the President and the REA administrator
flexibility to manage the monies involved,
with most loans at 5 per cent.
The House rejected the GOP substitute 162 to
244 and adopted the committee bill instead,
317 to 92. I voted for the substitute and
against the committee bill.
The committee bill:
*
Sets up an REA revolving fund.
*
Requires the Administrator to loan these
assets.
*
Calls for $90 million in 2 per cent loans
to telephone and electric distribution
borrowers annually--from funds borrowed
by the Government at about 6 per cent.
* Permits electric generation and trans-
mission loans at 2 per cent under
certain criteria.
I support a viable and effective rural elec-
trification and telephone program. But the
committee REA bill would tie the hands of
INSTALLED Elton R. Smith, of Caledonia,
program administrators and remove huge sums
president of the Michigan Farm Bureau, last week
of money from proper budgetary control. The
was installed as a member of the 13-man Federal
"backdoor spending" revolving fund it would
Farm Credit Board. Here I congratulate
create is unnecessary and unsound. It was
Mr. Smith immediately after his installation.
for these reasons that I opposed the bill.
DEATH PENALTY SHOULD BE RESTORED
On March 22 I introduced the Administration bill providing for the death penalty for
wartime treason and for murder committed under certain circumstances.
I believe the death penalty can be a deterrent to crime. I was therefore dismayed when the
Supreme Court on June 29, 1972, ruled out capital punishment. The court's decision called into
question existing Federal statutes which give a judge or jury discretion in imposing the death
penalty. This left the possibility that a new statute providing for the death penalty under
specific circumstances would be upheld.
My bill would impose the death penalty for wartime treason and for murder if the murder
occurred during an aircraft hijacking or a kid-
napping, or if the person murdered was the
President or a member of Congress, or if the
defendant had previously been convicted of an
offense for which the death penalty was
imposable.
However, the death penalty could not be imposed
under my bill in the event of mitigating
factors such as the youth of the offender or
mental incapacity.
MORE REVENUE SHARING FUNDS
The Treasury Department has announced that
$2,989,890,000 in revenue sharing money will be
distributed for the first half of 1973, with
each state to get more money than last year.
Michigan's allocation is $126,718,539, up
12.9 per cent from 1972. Half was paid April 6;
the other half will be paid in July.
The 1973 allocations are greater because the
Treasury Department is using more recent popu-
lation data and is basing calculations on
actual rather than estimated 1972 state income
SENIOR CLASSES VISIT WASHINGTON -- Two
tax collections.
groups of Kent County seniors visited the
Nation's capital recently. Above is the senior
class of Caledonia High School, 51 strong,
INFORMATION FOR VETS
accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. Bill Harrison and
Mr. and Mrs. Jeff Heth. Below are the 58
seniors from Godfrey Lee High School in Grand
Veterans may obtain helpful information by
Rapids, with eight adults headed by Henry
attending a Veterans Benefit Day program
Shisler, who has made the Washington trip 16
between the hours of 2 and 8 p.m. May 2 at the
times. I spoke to the groups and answered
Michigan National Guard Armory on 44th Street
their questions.
in Wyoming. The event is sponsored by the Red
Cross Service-to-Military-Families-and-Veterans
Committee headed by my district assistant,
Gordon Vander Till.
Representatives from all levels of government
will be there to advise veterans as to their
potential benefits, and industry and business
people will be there to provide career informa-
tion.
Also, my district office has a limited number
of copies (50) of a Veterans Administration
booklet entitled "Summary of Benefits for
Veterans with Military Service before Feb. 1,
1955, and their Dependents." Please call
456-9607.
Questions of Vietnam vets also will be answered.
PANEL REJECTS DIVERSION
The House Public Works Committee has voted
down a move in committee to permit use of
Federal Highway Trust Fund money for mass
transit.
MOFFICE
COPY
WASHINGTON REVIEW
Report
Serving
From Your Congressman
Michigan's Fifth District
JERRY FORD
at
GOVERNMENT
I
April 23, 1973
HOUSE VOTES TO EXTEND WAGE-PRICE CONTROL AUTHORITY
The House voted overwhelmingly last Monday to extend the President's wage and price control
authority for one year after turning down all moves to freeze or roll back prices.
The action was not a partisan one. On the initial key vote to lay aside House Banking and
Currency Committee price rollback legislation and take up the simple one-year extension of wage
and price control authority, 76 Democrats joined hands with 182 Republicans to sidetrack the
rollback measure. The vote to eliminate consideration of this legislation was 147 to 258.
Opponents of a rollback pointed out it would cause a host of inequities and thus create
chaos in the economy. They condemned the committee bill as impractical and unworkable.
Congress cannot act on a day-to-day basis to deal with the complexities of our economic
system. Giving the executive branch the authority to act quickly on economic questions makes a.
great deal of sense. The rollback legislation failed to provide the flexibility necessary to
meet changing economic conditions and to handle specific inequities certain to arise. Such
action also would have produced shortages and, probably, black markets.
The vote on final passage of the one-year extension of wage-price control authority to
April 30, 1974, was 293 to 224.
The Economic Stabilization Act, as the wage-price control authority is known, has been on
the books since June 2, 1970. It was not used until August 15, 1971, when the President imposed
a freeze on wages, prices, rents and salaries.
The freeze remained in effect until Oct. 15,
1971, when it was replaced by Phase II, a set
of mandatory controls administered by a Price
Commission and a Pay Board. On Jan. 11, 1973,
the President replaced Phase II with Phase III,
a program of largely voluntary guidelines. On
March 29, 1973, in the face of rising prices,
the President clamped a ceiling on the price of
meat.
In retrospect, it seems obvious that the move
from Phase II to Phase III was premature.
With the flexibility given him under the Econ-
omic Stabilization Act, the President should
tighten up on Phase III price controls until
such time as restraints can safely be loosened
and we can return to free markets.
I think our chances for lower food prices due
to expanded supplies are greater under the ex-
tension of wage-price control authority than
would have been true under a price rollback.
Meantime, the President has acted wisely in
seeking to sell $6 billion worth of metals and
minerals from our national strategic stockpile.
PART-TIME INTERN -- Ronald J. Posthuma
This should have a favorable impact on indus-
of Grand Rapids, Hope College junior, is
trial prices.
working part-time in my office as an intern
under the Washington Semester Program of Am-
I also applaud the Administration request that
erican University. An outstanding student
banks hold down interest rates on loans to
and campus leader, Ron will be with me until
home buyers, consumers, small businessmen and
May 5.
farmers. This should be helpful.
FINAL CONTROLS ACTION OFF 'TIL APRIL 30
The final shape of the wage-price control authority legislation was left uncertain until
April 30, the day the present authority is due to expire.
The Senate bill provides for a one-year extension of the existing controls authority
wielded by the President but differs from the House bill in other respects. When conferees from
both houses sought to compromise the ifferences, they wound up with a bill which House
Republican conferees oppose.
The Senate adjourned Wednesday until April 30 after refusing to send the legislation back
to conference with the House--and the House on April 30 may refuse to accept the current confer-
ence report. So the fate of the legislation is left hanging until E-day (expiration day).
CONGRESS VOTES COLLEGE STUDENT AID FOR '73-74
The House and Senate last Wednesday agreed on a $1.36 billion supplemental appropriation
bill which included $872 million for aid to college students.
The total amount for student aid was the figure requested by the Administration but the
House rearranged the sums under that total in line with pleas from the colleges and universities.
The Administration had placed primary emphasis on the new Basic Educational Opportunity
Grant (BEOG) program, asking $622 million for that purpose. But the House, with the Senate
later concurring, allotted only $122.1 million for the BEOG program. This may be too little for
BEOG even to get started next school year.
As finally approved, the appropriation bill provides $210.3 million for the established
Supplementary Educational Opportunity Grants program (SEOG), $269.4 million for direct low-
interest student loans-together with $26.6 million already available for that purpose, and
$270.2 million for college work-study programs (CWS).
The emphasis in the SEOG program is on especially needy students. The new BEOG program
would provide grants up to $Z, 400 to each student, depending on family need. The idea is to
give some help to students from middle-class families.
The House passed the appropriation bill unanimously by a rollcall vote of 367 to 0.
HOUSE PASSES HIGHWAY BILL
The House last Thursday approved a $7 billion-a-year highway construction bill that also
provides $1 billion annually for mass transit capital improvements and gives cities the option
of getting additional general revenue money for mass transit in lieu of receiving Highway Trust
Fund urban highway dollars.
House members passed the bill after rejecting, 275 to 290, an attempt to tap the Highway
Trust Fund for mass transit capital improvements. The vote was on an comendment giving states
and cities the option of using up to $700 million a year from the Trust Fund for rail and bus
systems, new highways or a combination of the two.
The bill as passed would make add-
itional funds available for mass
transit--over and above the regular
$1 billion annual authorization--
without dipping into the Highway
Trust Fund.
I opposed tapping the Highway Trust
Fund for mass transit because the
Fund already is insufficient for
highway needs.
Besides, to use Trust Fund monies
for mass transit would be to break
faith with highway users whose
gasoline, tire and truck tonnage
taxes go into the trust to finance
the nation's road system.
THIEU VISITS CAPITOL HILL South Vietnamese Pres-
Tapping the Highway Trust Fund for
ident Nguyen Van Thieu recently conferred with Congres-
mass transit capital improvements
sional leaders at the Capitol. Here he is, second from
would lead to Trust Fund outlays
right, with Vice-President Agnew, myself, Rep. Spark M.
for operating subsidies--and this
Matsunaga of Hawaii, and House Speaker Carl Albert.
would be a bottomless pit.