Ask the Scholar

{
    "localId": "4525481",
    "label": "Ford Newsletter, January-April 1973",
    "core": "doc",
    "dtoType": "document",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/4525481"
}

{
    "id": "4525481",
    "sourceUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/4525481",
    "contentType": "document",
    "title": "Ford Newsletter, January-April 1973",
    "description": "This file contains material relating to Richard Nixon.",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/4525481",
    "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"
    ],
    "iiifBase": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/81/5254/4525481/content/library/document/fordcong/4525481.pdf",
    "thumbnailUrl": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/81/5254/4525481/content/library/document/fordcong/4525481.pdf",
    "largeImageUrl": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/81/5254/4525481/content/library/document/fordcong/4525481.pdf",
    "imageCount": 1,
    "hasImages": true,
    "source": "import",
    "hasTranscription": false
}

{
    "url": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/4525481",
    "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"
}

{
    "seq": 1,
    "pageIndex": 0,
    "type": "document",
    "url": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/81/5254/4525481/content/library/document/fordcong/4525481.pdf",
    "mediaId": "b4005e8e4cf01077",
    "ocrText": "This document scanned from Box D2 of the Gerald R. Ford Congressional Papers at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.\nReport\nServing\nFrom Your Congressman\nMichigan's Fifth District\nJERRY FORD\nPRINTED EXPENSE\nJanuary 8, 1973\nA NEW CONGRESS IS BORN\nThe 93rd Congress came to life last Wednesday with the swearing in of members-elect.\nThe opening day of a new Congress is always uniquely exciting although everyone knows just\nhow the script will go.\nThe floor of the House is a scene of color and bustle. Members-elect stand in the aisles\nand in the well of the House shaking hands and swapping greetings. Newly-elected members\nusually sit sedately and expectantly. There are many youngsters sitting in the chairs normally\noccupied only by members of the House because on opening day members are privileged to have\ntheir families sit with them. It is, in every sense of the word, an \"occasion.\"\nThe \"business\" of the House on the opening day of the new Congress began last Wednesday,\nas it does every two years, with a roll call of the members-elect. This roll call is by states,\nalphabetically.\nThe roll call of the 435 members-elect of the House included the names of 69 new members--\n43 of them Republicans, 25 Democrats, and one Independent-Conservative.\nOne thing has not changed in Congress. The Democrats are in control, which is why Richard\nNixon's tremendous victory last November has been called \"a lonely landslide.' The Democrats\nare in charge in the Senate, 57 to 43, a net increase of two Democratic seats. The numbers in\nthe House are 240 Democrats, 192 Republicans and three vacancies, a net pickup of 13 for the\nRepublican Party.\nAfter the roll call of House members-elect last Wednesday, there was an election held for\nthe office of Speaker of the House--just as though the outcome was not foreordained by the fact\nthat Democrats greatly outnumber Republicans in the House.\nRep. Carl Albert of Oklahoma was the Democrats' candidate. I was nominated by the\nRepublican members.\nThe vote, which was hardly unexpected, was 236 for Albert and 188 for me. The members, of\ncourse, vote their party affiliation.\nHouse Republicans had chosen me as their floor leader on Wednesday morning, which means\nthat I will be the chief spokesman for Republican members of the House for a fifth consecutive\ntwo-year term. I deem this a. high honor, and I am most grateful for it.\nSPEAKER TAKES THE CHAIR\nFor the fifth time I had the privilege of presenting a newly-elected Speaker to the House\nof Representatives.\nWith tongue in cheek, I told the House: \"I am a little bit disappointed about losing this\ncontest for the speakership, but after five defeats you learn to grit your teeth and smile.\"\nIn other remarks, I said to my colleagues: \"Never before have we been under closer\nscrutiny by the public than today, with all the advances in communications and instant analysis,\nand with the liberalization of our own rules and procedures. So I urge you all, and particu-\nlarly the new Members, to bear in mind that you represent the House itself in all that you do.\nI, for one, pray that we shall represent the House in the 93rd Congress with honor and with\npride.'\nI then presented Carl Albert to the House as \"one of my oldest and dearest friends\na\nSpeaker of scrupulous honesty and fairness, a stanch champion of the rights and privileges of\nall Members and of the great traditions of this body.\nIn responding to my introduction, Speaker Albert said: \"I know that my old friend, the\ndistinguished minority leader, Gerald Ford, will stand with me and work with me to help make the\nHouse a forum for effective national leadership. and at the same time a responsible instrument\nof the people's will.\"\nAlbert continued: \"Mr. Ford and I have differed in the past; no doubt we will differ from\ntime to time in the future. But we have never differed on the conviction that the House of\nRepresentatives must always safeguard its constitutional role as a strong and influential branch\nof our National Government.'\nA STEP BACKWARD\nShortly after Speaker Albert took the oath of office, debate broke out in the House over a\nDemocratic move to change the rules by which the House operates.\nRepublicans strongly challenged a proposal permitting legislation to be brought up on the\nHouse floor under suspension of the rules not only on the first and third Mondays of each month\nbut also on the first and third Tuesdays. This is twice the amount of time alloted to\nsuspensions in the last Congress.\nUnder this procedure--suspension of the rules--a bill can be debated only for 40 minutes,\n20 minutes to a side, and is not open to any kind of amendment. However, it takes two-thirds\nof those present and voting to pass a bill brought up under suspension.\nRepublicans fought this rules change as an expansion of \"gag rule,\" an attempt to pave the\nway for the ramming through of important pieces of legislation without adequate debate and with-\nout opportunity for amendment.\nThere have been times when enormously complex bills involving hundreds of millions of\ndollars have been brought before the House under suspension of the rules. Under this suspension\nprocedure--or \"closed rule\" or \"gag rule\" the Speaker of the House has absolute authority to\nbring a bill before the House.\nRep. John Anderson of Illinois, chairman of the House Republican Conference, pointed out\nthat in the 92nd Congress the House took up such important legislation as the Strip Mining\nReclamation Act, the Community Mental Health Centers Act, the Omnibus Rivers and Harbors and\nFlood Control Act, and the Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Prevention Program under \"suspension.\"\nThese were measures involving more than $1 billion in Federal expenditures.\nI vigorously objected to the proposed rule change as \"a step backward from reform\" at a\ntime when the American people are looking to the Congress to reform and reinvigorate itself.\nThis, I said, was \"retrogression from progress. We should be making the processes of the\nHouse more responsive to the will of the people, and this was a step in the opposite direction.\nDespite the strenuous objections of Republicans, the House voted 208 to 204 to make this\nchange in the House rules.\nA TAX CREDIT FOR NONPUBLIC SCHOOL TUITION\nOn opening day I introduced a bill which would provide a tax credit of 50 per cent--up to\n$200--for tuition paid by parents to send a child to a nonprofit nonpublic school.\nThis bill was one which was approved by the House Ways and Means Committee late in the last\nsession of Congress--too\nlate for any action last\nyear.\nTHE BUREAUCRACY\nParents of nonpublic stu-\ndents pay taxes to support\nNIXON WANTS To CONTROL\npublic education, and they\npay tuition so their\nAt latest official count-\nyoungsters may receive the\nOn the White House staff, including executive offices: 2,594 people.\nspecial spiritual guidance\nIn 11 Cabinet departments: more than 1.7 million employes.\noffered by a nonpublic\nIn 82 independent agencies, commissions and boards: nearly 1.1 million people.\nschool. I believe we\nshould subtract at least\nALL TOLD: 2.8 million people are employed in the executive branch of Government\npart of what they pay in\nOf that total, President Nixon and his top aides have discretion over an estimated\nnonpublic school tuition\n2,800 jobs-with the rest comprised of career workers.\nfrom their income tax\nTHE TASK CONFRONTING NIXON: controlling a vast bureaucracy with appointive\nbills. That, I think, is\npower over only 1 in every 1,000 jobs.\nonly fair.\nBasic data: House-Senate Committee on Reduction of Federal Expenditures\n# # #\nReport\nServing\nFrom Your Congressman\nMichigan's Fifth District\nJERRY FORD\nPRINTED AT GOVERNMENT -\nJanuary 29, 1973\nHOPE FOR A LASTING PEACE\nThe long nightmare of Vietnam is ending for Americans. I am very happy about the peace\nsettlement. I am happy not only because the fighting has stopped and American POW's will be\ncoming home-but because we have achieved the kind of peace which will give South Vietnam a\nchance to survive as a non-Communist entity. We have achieved an honorable peace, a peace that\nhas a chance to stick, a chance to last. I became convinced of this when I learned the condi-\ntions of the peace agreement and heard Presidential national security advisor Henry Kissinger\nexplain the provisions for members of the House last Friday afternoon.\nThere are some Americans, particularly those who wanted peace in Vietnam on any terms, who\nare saying we could have had peace long ago. Perhaps so, but surrender would not have solved\nanything. That attitude ignores our basic commitment in Vietnam--the fact that we went to South\nVietnam's aid with the purpose of thwarting Communist aggression. Vietnam was actually the\nfinal and pivotal battle of the Cold War. It may prove to be one of the building blocks of a\nfuture generation of peace for all the peoples of the world.\nNATION MOURNS LBJ\nThe body of former President Lyndon Baines Johnson lay in state in the rotunda of the\nCapitol last Wednesday while an estimated 40,000 mourners filed by the casket, paying their\nlast respects to this most forceful Chief Executive. Betty and I attended the graveside\nservices at the LBJ Ranch.\nIt was a curious coincidence--and most fitting--that President Nixon's announcement of a\nceasefire in Vietnam and the scheduled signing of the Vietnam peace agreement should have come\nat a time when the Nation was\ngrieving over Lyndon Johnson's\ndeath.\nAlthough I disagreed with the\nmilitary tactics Lyndon Johnson\nused in Vietnam, I admired him\nfor his determination to stay the\ncourse. He and I were close\nfriends--and I cherished that\nfriendship.\nHOUSE READY\nThe House is now ready for legis-\nlative business.\nThe President's Budget for fiscal\n1974 will provide us with guide-\nlines on fiscal matters and pri-\norities. The State of the Union\nMessage will sketch out broad\ngoals and objectives.\nCommittee assignments have been\nCHINESE ACROBATS VISIT CAPITOL -- These members of\nmade. This year Barbara Bull of\nthe spectacular Shenyang acrobatic troupe chatted with me\nCasnovia, an intern from Mt.\nduring their tour of the Capitol Building. Members of\nHolyoke College, helped my staff\nthe Boggs-Ford group which visited China last summer saw\nwith this work and did an excel-\nthe acrobats perform in Shenyang.\nlent job.\nFIFTH DISTRICT FOLKS ATTEND INAUGURATION\nMore than 100 people from the Fifth Congressional District came to Washington to see Richard\nNixon sworn in for a second term as the 37th President of the United States.\nDistrict visitors included 34 young Latvian dancers who performed during a Salute to\nAmerica's Heritage program at the Corcoran Gallery of Art. These dancers, so colorful and dash-\ning in their native costumes, put on a show that was a smash. Mrs. Nixon was so entranced that\nshe personally commended them.\nThe President set the tone for his second term in his inaugural address. He pointed up\nAmerica's role as peacemaker to the world but noted that we will no longer make every other\nnation's conflict our own. His plea for peace was most moving. He offered America's help to\nthose countries willing to help themselves, and he extended the hand of friendship to nations\nwith ideologies vastly different from ours.\nThe President also warned Americans against a retreat into isolationism--and I strongly\nendorse that position.\nAs for the President's comments on the domestic scene, these clearly underscored the Nixon\nAdministration's determination to shift the Federal Government from a role of paternalism to\none of partnership with local officials and reliance on the American people. I fully subscribe\nto his call for new ways to meet our needs. Some of the old approaches have failed. As the\nPresident so eloquently said, we must seek solutions at the local level and we must renew our\nfaith in ourselves.\nI approve of the President's attempts to reduce the Federal Government's role in the daily\nlives of Americans and to hold down Federal spending.\nIncidentally, House Speaker Carl Albert, House Majority Leader Thomas O'Neill, and I repre-\nsented the House on the Joint House-Senate Committee which made plans for the inauguration.\nFARM BARGAINING BILL\nLast Wednesday I introduced a bill\nI call the Agricultural Marketing\nand Bargaining Act of 1973.\nThis bill is aimed at eliminating\nthe sad situation that arose last\nfall when Michigan apple growers\nfelt compelled to picket fruit\nprocessors to get \"living-income\"\nprices for their apples.\nThe bill I have introduced would\ncreate a National Agricultural\nBargaining Board. This board would\nset standards for the formation of\nassociations of producers estab-\nlished for bargaining purposes and\nwould generate the proper climate\nfor good faith bargaining between\nfarm producers and farm product\nLATVIAN DANCERS AT INAUGURAL\nprocessors.\nI hope the Congress\nwill see fit to adopt\nmy legislation and that\nit will prove the an-\nswer to the woes of\nMichigan apple growers.\nELECTRONIC VOTING\nThe House last week\nused its new electronic\nvoting system for the\nfirst time. It proved\na success.\nI am delighted that the\nHouse is modernizing\nJOINT INAUGURAL COMMITTEE AND STAFF\nits procedures.\nOffice Capy\nWASHINGTON REVIEW\nReport\nServing\nFrom Your Congressman\nMichigan's Fifth District\nJERRY FORD\nPRINTED\nGOVERNMENT\nFebruary 5, 1973\nto\nCONGRESS RECEIVES BUDGET, STATE-OF-UNION MESSAGE\nThe President has sent Congress his budget for fiscal 1974 and the first in a series of\nState of the Union messages.\nThe State of the Union message usually is a shopping list, calling for all kinds of new\nprograms. It is appropriate that the President this year will be making his wishes known in a\nseries of State of the Union messages because he is intent not on spending money but on saving\nit.\nThe budget sets guidelines for Federal spending for the coming fiscal year. It also pro-\nposes a set of priorities which Congress can accept, modify or reject.\nThe President has urged the Congress to set a rigid ceiling of $268.7 billion and all fiscal\n1974 outlays before considering any spending bills. That recommendation makes sense.\nThe Congress should adopt that spending limitation and then consider the budget proposals\nin the light of the goals and objectives that shaped the budget. Whatever action Congress then\ntakes on the budget, all of the appropriations bills should fit under the $268.7 billion ceiling.\nSPENDING HOLD-DOWN CALLED FOR\nThe American people believe that Federal spending can and should be held down. The 1974\nbudget indicates some ways in\nwhich this can be done.\nIt is true that the President\nplans to reduce or terminate some\nFederal programs, but he also\nrecommends continued and in-\ncreased support of many effective\nand needed programs.\nWe ve heard mostly about the\ncutbacks. There are also some\nincreases, such as a 20 per cent\nrise in funding for cancer re-\nsearch and an 8 per cent jump in\nanti-crime spending.\nWhere cutbacks are called for,\nthe course the President has out-\nlined is difficult and painful.\nBut consider what would happen\nif we do not make the kind of\nchoices represented by the budget\nrecommendations.\nBUMPER CROP OF INTERNS -- No less than seven college\nstudents worked in my Washington office during the month of\nThe Administration is currently\nJanuary. They are, left to right, John Zadvinskis and John\nholding Federal spending to $250\nLeonard, both of Grand Rapids and both from Aquinas College,\nbillion for fiscal 1973, and he\nRichard Hawke of St. Paul, Minn., from St. Olaf College,\nis proposing fiscal 1974 outlays\nBarbara Bull 06 Casnovia, from Mt. Holyoke College, Richard\ntotalling $268.7 billion. With-\nLorenz of Chicago, from Southern Illinois University, Vicki\nout the restraints currently\nWilson 06 Grandville, from Kalamazoo College, and Jeffrey\nbeing employed and those proposed\nTelego of Grand Rapids, from Olivet College. All but Hawke\nin the 1974 budget, 1973 spending\nand Miss Bull will stay on until spring.\nwould be over $10 billion greater\nand 1974 spending would be almost $20 billion more.\nMost importantly, these higher spending levels would mean either an across-the-board pers-\nonal income tax surcharge of at least 15 per cent or an added deficit which would fuel the fires\nof inflation.\nYet the Democratic-controlled Congress is preparing for a direct confrontation with the\nPresident over the issue of spending.\nThe Senate has passed a $593 million water project authorization identical with one vetoed\nby the President on economy grounds last year. Democratic leaders next will be trying to push\nit through the House.\nThe House Agriculture Committee has readied for floor action a bill to force the spending\nof $225 million appropriated last year for\nthe Rural Environmental Assistance Program.\nChanging Priorities\nThe President has put the tax and inflation\nmonkey squarely on Congress's back. He has\nPercent of Total Outlays\nsaid, in effect: If there is a tax\nincrease this year because of Federal\nspending in excess of my budget, Congress\nPercent\nwill be to blame. If there is no tax\n50\nincrease but a larger deficit, which adds\nHuman\nto inflation, Congress will be to blame for\nthe higher cost of living.\nResources\nThe budget reduces the Federal role in the\ndaily lives of American citizens. And it\nputs the decision up to local units of\ngovernment whether to continue such pro-\n40\ngrams as Model Cities and Community Action.\nBUDGET HIGHLIGHTS\nOne budget highlight is a recommendation\n30\nDefense\nthat Congress provide for $300 million in\ntax credits to families sending their\nchildren to nonpublic schools. This ties\nin with my bill which provides a tax credit\nof 50 per cent or up to $200 against the\ntuition paid for each child sent to non-\npublic schools.\n20\nThe budget includes $5.7 billion for in-\ncreased Social Security payments and an\nadditional $3.4 billion for Medicare and\nMedicaid. Antipollution spending and aid\n0\nto college students also are up sharply.\n1968 69 70 71 72 73 74 75\nECONOMIC REPORT\nFiscal Years\nEstimate\nPRIORITY PICTURE REVERSED Although the Presi-\ndent's budget calls for a rise in defense spending,\nIn the annual Economic Report sent to\nthis is due to increases in pay and prices. In\nCongress last Wednesday, the President said\n1968, 47 per cent of total Federal outlays went to\n1972 was a very good year and 1973 can be a\ndefense and only 32 per cent to human resources.\ngreat year if Congress will hold down\nThe Nixon budget allocates 30 per cent to defense\nFederal spending.\nand 47 per cent to human resources.\nThe Council of Economic Advisers predicts\n8. 10 per cent increase in Gross National\nProduct to $1.3 trillion; real growth\nTHE BUDGET DOLLAR\nin the economy--after inflation-of\n6-3/4 per cent, and a reduction in\nSOCIAL\nINSURANCE\nNATIONAL\nunemployment to about 4-1/2 per cent by\nINDIVIDUAL\nTAXES AND\nDEFENSE\nINCOME\nCONTRIBUTIONS\nHUMAR\nthe end of this year.\nTAXES\n30c\nRESOURCES\n29c\n42c\n47c\nDISTRICT ASSISTANT VISITS\nCORPORATION\nINCOME\n10c\nTAXES\n14c\n4c\n6c\n7c\n5c\nbc\nGordon Vander Till, my district assis-\nPHYSICAL\ntant, will be at the village hall in\nOTHER\nRESOURCES\nSparta on Feb. 19 and at the City\nBORROWING EXCISE TAXES\nNET INTEREST\nOTHER\nCouncil Room in Belding on Feb. 26\nHours will be from 2:30 to 5 p.m.\nVander Till will answer questions on my\nWHERE IT COMES FROM\nWHERE IT GOES\nbehalf.\nOFFICE COPY\nREVIEW\nReport\nServing\nFrom Your Congressman\nMichigan's Fifth District\nJERRY FORD\nMarch 5. 1973\nBATTLE OF THE BUDGET RAGES\nThe battle of the budget is on in earnest. Democrats in the Congress are deliberately set-\nting up a series of dollar impoundment challenges involving the fiscal 1973 budget while\nlobbyists for various groups are swarming all over Capitol Hill protesting the spending hold-\ndown in the fiscal 1974 budget.\nThe following actions have been taken by Congress in attempts to force the President to\nspend impounded fiscal 1973 funds:\n*\nThe House on Feb. 14 voted 251 to 142 to require the Secretary of Agriculture to spend\n$225 million on the Rural Environmental Assistance Program by next July 1-$210 million\nmore than the Administration has paid out in REAP funds.\n*\nThe Senate on Feb. 20 passed by an 82-9 roll call vote a bill to increase substantially\nservices for the elderly, after voting to keep in the bill two manpower sections parti-\ncularly opposed by the Administration.\n*\nThe Senate on Feb. 21 by a 69-20 roll call vote passed a. bill to restore direct, 2 per\ncent rural electric and telephone loan programs which would cost $455 million more than\nthe Administration has paid out.\n* The House on Feb. 22 voted 269 to 95 to restore temporarily and retroactively disaster\nloans with a $5,000 forgiveness feature and a one per cent interest rate.\n*\nThe House on March l voted 297 to 54 to force the Administration to spend the full amount\nappropriated for rural water and sewer grants for fiscal 1973-$150 million--\n$120 million more than the Administration has spent.\nTO BE SPENT BY JULY 1?\nIn trying to reinstate programs terminated by the President at the end of 1972, the\nDemocratic-controlled Congress is seeking to force the spending of billions of dollars during\nthe next four months.\nThe President has impounded roughly $11 billion in fiscal 1973 appropriations and is simply\nrefusing to spend the money. By this action he is hoping to hold Federal spending this fiscal\nyear to $250 billion. Even with these impoundments, the Federal deficit for this fiscal year is\nestimated at $25 billion.\nIf the Democratic-controlled Congress had its way, the Federal deficit for fiscal 1973\nwould total about $36 billion.\nThe Democrats--and the lobbyists--also are attacking the President's fiscal 1974 budget of\n$268.7 billion. That budget is nearly $19 billion larger than the budget ceiling the President\nhas set for fiscal 1973. And it involves a Federal deficit estimated at $13 billion.\nTHE PRESIDENT WILL WIN\nThe President will win the battle of the budget. He will win because the American people\nsupport his efforts to hold back on Federal spending. He will win because the people know that\nif Federal spending is not checked the inevitable result will be either a Federal income tax\nincrease or a fresh surge of inflation caused by deepening Federal deficits.\n(over)\nPEACE GUARANTEE AGREEMENT SIGNED\nLast week I journeyed to Paris to witness the signing of the nine-point agreement reached\nby the International Conference on Vietnam on ensuring a lasting peace. I feel this agreement\nis a big step forward toward the generation of peace we are all seeking.\nTAX REFORM PROMISED\nThe President has promised to send Congress some tax reform proposals, and the House Ways\nand Means Committee has started a series of panel discussions on general tax reform.\nI am pleased that the President has made tax reform a priority item because it ranks at the\ntop of my list of things for Congress to do.\nIt is true that 15,200 Americans with adjusted gross incomes of $200,000 or more paid taxes\naveraging 59 per cent in 1970, but 108 paid no tax at all--and something must be done about that.\nBILLS INTRODUCED\nOver Three-Year Period\nHOW NIXON AIMS TO SAVE\nMany people do not know that the mil-\nitary pay accumulated by American\n$45 BILLION\nPOW's while they were in captivity is\nexempt from Federal income tax.\nCutbacks in projected spending by ending or re-\nducing programs previously planned or authorized\nThere are, however, other Vietnam\nby Congress, as proposed by President Nixon-\nservice income tax problems that are\nSavings in years ending June 30-\nnot covered by existing law. So I\n1973\n1974\n1975\nhave introduced a tax bill which\nwould resolve several problems that\n(millions of dollars)\nhave arisen for servicemen, their\nNational defense\n$ 90\n$2,701\n$2,767\nfamilies, and the families of\nForeign affairs\n$ 242\n$ 62\n$ 170\ndeceased servicemen.\nSpace\n$ 179\n$ 251\n$ 219\nAid to agriculture\n$1,209\n$1,984\n$2,372\nThe proposed legislation would permit\nNatural resources, environment\n$ 544\n$2,765\n$3,434\nhospitalized servicemen to continue\nTransportation, aid to business\n$ 408\n$ 417\n$ 170\nto treat their military pay the same\nHousing, community development\n$ 121\n$ 640\n$1,747\nas combat pay up to the month hospi-\nEducation\n$ 77\n$ 591\n$ 671\ntalization ends even if all combat\nManpower, job aid\n$ 179\n$1,095\n$1,021\nactivities have terminated.\nHealth\n$ 567\n$1,554\n$2,486\nSocial Security, welfare\n$2,500\n$3,939\n$6,021\nThe bill also would forgive any\nVeterans' benefits\n$\n5\n$ 505\n$ 533\nincome tax liability until the date\nAll other programs\n$ 394\n$ 389\n$ 128\nthe serviceman's missing status is\nterminated in cases where that date\nTOTALS\n$6,515\n$16,893\n$21,739\noccurs later than the date of death.\nA Closer Look at Specific Programs\nIn other action, I reintroduced along\nIncluded among the savings the President proposes are some that involve\nwith all Michigan Republican\nmajor programs or projects that are expected to stir widespread opposition\ncongressmen a bill which allows auto\nin Congress. A sampling of those programs-and the proposed savings over\nmanufacturers to cooperate in per-\nthe three-year period:\nfecting anti-pollution emission\ncontrol devices without fear of anti-\nReducing armed forces, civilian workers in defense\n$1.6 bil.\ntrust suit.\nCutbacks in buying of missiles, other weapons\n$2.0 bil.\nReducing farm price-support aid\n$3.1 bil.\nGuaranteeing rural-electrification loans rather\nDISTRICT ASSISTANT VISITS\nthan making direct federal loans\n$1.2 bil.\nCutting federal grants for soil-conservation practices\n$600 mil.\nDelaying public-works projects\n$1.5 bil.\nMy district assistant, Gordon Vander\nIncreasing sales of oil leases\n$1.6 bil.\nTill, will be at the Middleville City\nHolding back funds for fighting water pollution\n$3.2 bil.\nHall March 5, the voting room in the\nFreezing new commitments for housing subsidies\n$1.0 bil.\nIonia City Hall basement March 12,\nEnding \"model cities,\" other community-\nand the Lowell City Council Room on\ndevelopment programs\n$800 mil.\nMarch 19 to answer questions on my\nReforming manpower-training programs\n$700 mil.\nbehalf. Hours in each case will be\nPhasing out public-service jobs\n$1.4 bil.\nfrom 2:30 to 5 p.m.\nMaking medicare patients pay more of their\nhospital bills\n$1.9 bil.\nTightening up on medicare costs\n$1.1 bil.\nCALENDARS AVAILABLE\nTightening public-assistance standards\n$1.6 bil.\nLimiting grants to States for social-services\nprograms to low-income groups\n$9.7 bil.\nReducing veterans' pensions\n$500 mil.\nI have a limited supply of hardback\n2-year calendars. Those requesting\nSource: U.S. Office of Management and Budget\nthem will receive them on a first-\ncome, first-served basis.\nWASHINGTON\nReport\nServing\nFrom Your Congressman\nMichigan's Fifth District\nJERRY FORD\nPAINTES\nDOVERNMENT\nEXPENSES\nMarch 12, 1973\nHOUSE GOP SEEKS TO EXTEND, STRENGTHEN 'REHAB' PROGRAM\nHouse Republicans last Thursday moved to extend and strengthen the Nation's vocational re-\nhabilitation program, which expired last June 30.\nThe GOP vehicle for extending the \"rehab\" act was a substitute for an overly ambitious bill\nsent to the House Floor by the House Education and Labor Committee. As Rep. Earl F. Landgrebe,\nthe author of the substitute, pointed out, the GOP measure was a sound extension of the\nVocational Rehabilitation Act.\nIn Landgrebe's words, the Republican substitute would have \"made a strong vocational rehab-\nilitation program even stronger by building upon the record of achievement in vocational rehab-\nilitation so painstakingly made over the decades by the joint action of the Congress and the\nExecutive.\" There is no question that an extension of the Act is badly needed.\nHOUSE APPROVES UNREALISTIC REHAB BILL\nUnfortunately, the House rejected the Republican substitute, 165 to 113, and approved the\nEducation and Labor Committee's bill, H.R. 17, by a rollcall vote of 318 to 57.\nH.R. 17 is virtually identical with H.R. 8395, which was vetoed by the President last\nOct. 27. It contains nearly all the defects that marred H.R. 8395. The House is inviting\nanother veto.\nThere are many reasons why H.R. 17 is bad legislation. It is unrealistic. It promises far\nmore than it can deliver. It authorizes a total of $2.595 billion over a three-year period,\nwith the first year's outlay set at $905\nmillion.\nTo set the authorizations at these levels is\na cruel hoax. Neither appropriations or\nactual outlays will come close to those\nfigures.\nThe President's fiscal 1974 budget request\nis $650 million for the basic rehab program,\nan increase of 62 per cent over the $403\nmillion spent in 1969. That is a realistic\nfigure and hardly niggardly. As Landgrebe\nsaid in opposing H.R. 17 as fiscally irres-\nponsible, \"It is time for Congress to stop\npromising what it can't deliver. It is\ncruel to raise false hopes in our disabled\ncitizens.\nAnother chief defect of H.R. 17 is that it\nwould extend vocational rehabilitation ser-\nvices to the severely handicapped. This\nturns the thrust of the vocational rehabil-\nitation program away from its ostensible\npurpose of employment and substitutes medi-\ncal and social goals.\nHIGH SCHOOL INTERN Miss Sallie Edmunds,\nof 2754 Pioneer Club Road, Grand Rapids, was an\nintern in my office for three weeks earlier this\nLOPSIDED VOTE\nyear under sponsorship of the Washington work-\nshops Foundation of Mt. Vernon College. Sallie\nis a senior at Ottawa Hills High School.\nThere was a lopsided vote for H.R. 17 on\nfinal passage because all members of the House want to see the Vocational Rehabilitation Act\nextended. With the Republican substitute having been rejected, members who favored that legis-\nlation generally voted for H.R. 17 because there was no other way to be on record as favoring\ncontinuation of the rehabilitation program.\nHOUSE VOTES TO ENCOURAGE OPEN MEETINGS\nWith some doubts as to how well the setup will work, the House last Wednesday voted 370 to\n27 for a rules change aimed at encouraging open meetings. I voted for the new rule.\nIn general, the new rule declares that all House committee meetings shall be open unless\nthe committee, with a quorum present and by a rollcall vote in public, votes to close them.\nThe rule also requires that all House committee hearings shall be open unless the committee\ndecides by the same procedure that a hearing should be closed because testimony to be taken\ninvolves the national security or might defame somebody's character.\nSeveral House committees had adopted the anti-secrecy rule prior to House adoption of it.\nNow all House committees are bound by the new procedure. The House Appropriations Committee, on\nwhich I served for 14 years before becoming Republican leader of the House, was one of the\ncommittees approving the anti-secrecy rule before the House acted.\nAs the anti-secrecy rule was brought to the House Floor, it required that any vote on\nclosing a meeting for reasons of national security or otherwise be taken on the day of the meet-\ning, with a quorum present. Several Appropriations Committee members, notably ranking\nRepublican Elford Cederberg of Michigan, protested that a committee should be able to announce\nin advance whether a particular meeting would be open or closed. This, Cederberg pointed out,\nwould be a convenience to the public and the press.\nAfter much discussion, the House agreed by voice vote to permit committee votes on closing\na meeting to be taken in advance but with the vote limited to a specific hearing or meeting.\nOPEN MEETINGS NOT GUARANTEED\nThe new rule does not guarantee that all House committee sessions will be open, since each\ncommittee does have the privilege of voting in open session to close a particular meeting. In\nfact, a vote to close could cover more than one day's session. It could apply to a whole series\nof meetings devoted to \"marking up\" a piece of legislation in final form.\nMost members of the House do not like to have markup sessions open to the public because\nlobbyists then can come into the meetings and figuratively peer over members' shoulders while\nthey are hammering a bill into shape for presentation on the floor.\nThe House Education and Labor Committee has open markup sessions, but that committee is the\nexception and not the rule. It can be expected that the present situation will continue with\nregard to markup meetings.\nIn any case, the new anti-secrecy\nrule is a breath of fresh air in the\nHouse because it creates a presump-\ntion of open meetings as opposed to\nclosed sessions. It places on each\ncommittee the burden of voting to\nclose meetings and sets up the\nhypothesis that the reason had\nbetter be a good one.\nSCHOOL LUNCH BILL\nThe House voted 352 to 7 last Monday\nto assure that Federal financial\nassistance for the school lunch pro-\ngram is maintained at the level\nbudgeted for this fiscal year. I\nAT VIETNAM PEACE GUARANTEE SIGNING Congression-\nvoted for the bill.\nal leaders had the privilege of witnessing the signing of\nthe Vietnam peace guarantee agreement March 2 in Paris.\nRight behind the action, second row, left to right, are:\nDISTRICT VISIT\nSenate Republican Leader Hugh Scott, Senate Democratic\nLeader Mike Mansfield, myself, and House Democratic Whip\nJohn McFall. Front row, left to right, are: China's For-\nMy district assistant, Gordon Vander\neign Minister Chi Peng-fei, China deputy foreign minister\nTill, will be at the Lake Odessa\nChang Wen-chin, William Porter, chief of the U.S. peace\nVillage Hall from 2:30 to 5 p.m.\ntalks delegation, and Secretary of State William Rogers.\nMarch 26 to answer queries.\nWASHINGTON REVIEW\nReport\nServing\nFrom Your Congressman\nMichigan's Fifth District\nJERRY FORD\nPRINTED AT GOVERNMENT EXPENSE)\nApril 9, 1973\nTAXPAYER WINS ONE\nIn what was a surprise for most people, the Senate last week sustained the President's veto\nof the Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1972 (s. 7) and thus made it unnecessary for the House\nto vote on the question.\nHad the Senate not upheld the President's action, the House would have done so--by a com-\nfortable margin.\nThe bill was abandoned because it was fiscally irresponsible, calling for spending $1 bil-\nlion above the budget during fiscal years 1973-75. I hope, now, that the Congress will pass a\nnew vocational rehabilitation bill which continues the existing sound and effective program. I\nam deeply committed to efforts to make the handicapped capable of supporting themselves. How-\never, I am also committed to the curbing of wasteful Federal spending and unnecessary duplica-\ntion of Federal programs. We must avoid a tax increase or a new surge of inflation.\nFederal outlays under the Vocational Rehabilitation Act have risen from $371 million in\nfiscal 1969 to $650 million budgeted for fiscal 1974, an increase of 75 per cent. In Kent\nCounty, Federal grants for vocational \"rehab\" have climbed steadily--from $600,642 in fiscal\n1969 to $861,971 in fy 1970, to $925,424 in fy 1971 and $1,112,643 in fy 1972.\nREPUBLICAN REA EFFORT FAILS\nHouse Republicans last Wednesday sought to improve on a House Agriculture Committee rural\nelectrification bill by offering a substitute aimed at getting away from the approach of the\ndepression era.\nThe Republican substitute would have reduced the amount of 2 per cent REA loans to $31 mil-\nlion, would have made REA payments out of the Rural Development Insurance Fund, and would have\ngiven the President and the REA administrator\nflexibility to manage the monies involved,\nwith most loans at 5 per cent.\nThe House rejected the GOP substitute 162 to\n244 and adopted the committee bill instead,\n317 to 92. I voted for the substitute and\nagainst the committee bill.\nThe committee bill:\n*\nSets up an REA revolving fund.\n*\nRequires the Administrator to loan these\nassets.\n*\nCalls for $90 million in 2 per cent loans\nto telephone and electric distribution\nborrowers annually--from funds borrowed\nby the Government at about 6 per cent.\n* Permits electric generation and trans-\nmission loans at 2 per cent under\ncertain criteria.\nI support a viable and effective rural elec-\ntrification and telephone program. But the\ncommittee REA bill would tie the hands of\nINSTALLED Elton R. Smith, of Caledonia,\nprogram administrators and remove huge sums\npresident of the Michigan Farm Bureau, last week\nof money from proper budgetary control. The\nwas installed as a member of the 13-man Federal\n\"backdoor spending\" revolving fund it would\nFarm Credit Board. Here I congratulate\ncreate is unnecessary and unsound. It was\nMr. Smith immediately after his installation.\nfor these reasons that I opposed the bill.\nDEATH PENALTY SHOULD BE RESTORED\nOn March 22 I introduced the Administration bill providing for the death penalty for\nwartime treason and for murder committed under certain circumstances.\nI believe the death penalty can be a deterrent to crime. I was therefore dismayed when the\nSupreme Court on June 29, 1972, ruled out capital punishment. The court's decision called into\nquestion existing Federal statutes which give a judge or jury discretion in imposing the death\npenalty. This left the possibility that a new statute providing for the death penalty under\nspecific circumstances would be upheld.\nMy bill would impose the death penalty for wartime treason and for murder if the murder\noccurred during an aircraft hijacking or a kid-\nnapping, or if the person murdered was the\nPresident or a member of Congress, or if the\ndefendant had previously been convicted of an\noffense for which the death penalty was\nimposable.\nHowever, the death penalty could not be imposed\nunder my bill in the event of mitigating\nfactors such as the youth of the offender or\nmental incapacity.\nMORE REVENUE SHARING FUNDS\nThe Treasury Department has announced that\n$2,989,890,000 in revenue sharing money will be\ndistributed for the first half of 1973, with\neach state to get more money than last year.\nMichigan's allocation is $126,718,539, up\n12.9 per cent from 1972. Half was paid April 6;\nthe other half will be paid in July.\nThe 1973 allocations are greater because the\nTreasury Department is using more recent popu-\nlation data and is basing calculations on\nactual rather than estimated 1972 state income\nSENIOR CLASSES VISIT WASHINGTON -- Two\ntax collections.\ngroups of Kent County seniors visited the\nNation's capital recently. Above is the senior\nclass of Caledonia High School, 51 strong,\nINFORMATION FOR VETS\naccompanied by Mr. and Mrs. Bill Harrison and\nMr. and Mrs. Jeff Heth. Below are the 58\nseniors from Godfrey Lee High School in Grand\nVeterans may obtain helpful information by\nRapids, with eight adults headed by Henry\nattending a Veterans Benefit Day program\nShisler, who has made the Washington trip 16\nbetween the hours of 2 and 8 p.m. May 2 at the\ntimes. I spoke to the groups and answered\nMichigan National Guard Armory on 44th Street\ntheir questions.\nin Wyoming. The event is sponsored by the Red\nCross Service-to-Military-Families-and-Veterans\nCommittee headed by my district assistant,\nGordon Vander Till.\nRepresentatives from all levels of government\nwill be there to advise veterans as to their\npotential benefits, and industry and business\npeople will be there to provide career informa-\ntion.\nAlso, my district office has a limited number\nof copies (50) of a Veterans Administration\nbooklet entitled \"Summary of Benefits for\nVeterans with Military Service before Feb. 1,\n1955, and their Dependents.\" Please call\n456-9607.\nQuestions of Vietnam vets also will be answered.\nPANEL REJECTS DIVERSION\nThe House Public Works Committee has voted\ndown a move in committee to permit use of\nFederal Highway Trust Fund money for mass\ntransit.\nMOFFICE\nCOPY\nWASHINGTON REVIEW\nReport\nServing\nFrom Your Congressman\nMichigan's Fifth District\nJERRY FORD\nat\nGOVERNMENT\nI\nApril 23, 1973\nHOUSE VOTES TO EXTEND WAGE-PRICE CONTROL AUTHORITY\nThe House voted overwhelmingly last Monday to extend the President's wage and price control\nauthority for one year after turning down all moves to freeze or roll back prices.\nThe action was not a partisan one. On the initial key vote to lay aside House Banking and\nCurrency Committee price rollback legislation and take up the simple one-year extension of wage\nand price control authority, 76 Democrats joined hands with 182 Republicans to sidetrack the\nrollback measure. The vote to eliminate consideration of this legislation was 147 to 258.\nOpponents of a rollback pointed out it would cause a host of inequities and thus create\nchaos in the economy. They condemned the committee bill as impractical and unworkable.\nCongress cannot act on a day-to-day basis to deal with the complexities of our economic\nsystem. Giving the executive branch the authority to act quickly on economic questions makes a.\ngreat deal of sense. The rollback legislation failed to provide the flexibility necessary to\nmeet changing economic conditions and to handle specific inequities certain to arise. Such\naction also would have produced shortages and, probably, black markets.\nThe vote on final passage of the one-year extension of wage-price control authority to\nApril 30, 1974, was 293 to 224.\nThe Economic Stabilization Act, as the wage-price control authority is known, has been on\nthe books since June 2, 1970. It was not used until August 15, 1971, when the President imposed\na freeze on wages, prices, rents and salaries.\nThe freeze remained in effect until Oct. 15,\n1971, when it was replaced by Phase II, a set\nof mandatory controls administered by a Price\nCommission and a Pay Board. On Jan. 11, 1973,\nthe President replaced Phase II with Phase III,\na program of largely voluntary guidelines. On\nMarch 29, 1973, in the face of rising prices,\nthe President clamped a ceiling on the price of\nmeat.\nIn retrospect, it seems obvious that the move\nfrom Phase II to Phase III was premature.\nWith the flexibility given him under the Econ-\nomic Stabilization Act, the President should\ntighten up on Phase III price controls until\nsuch time as restraints can safely be loosened\nand we can return to free markets.\nI think our chances for lower food prices due\nto expanded supplies are greater under the ex-\ntension of wage-price control authority than\nwould have been true under a price rollback.\nMeantime, the President has acted wisely in\nseeking to sell $6 billion worth of metals and\nminerals from our national strategic stockpile.\nPART-TIME INTERN -- Ronald J. Posthuma\nThis should have a favorable impact on indus-\nof Grand Rapids, Hope College junior, is\ntrial prices.\nworking part-time in my office as an intern\nunder the Washington Semester Program of Am-\nI also applaud the Administration request that\nerican University. An outstanding student\nbanks hold down interest rates on loans to\nand campus leader, Ron will be with me until\nhome buyers, consumers, small businessmen and\nMay 5.\nfarmers. This should be helpful.\nFINAL CONTROLS ACTION OFF 'TIL APRIL 30\nThe final shape of the wage-price control authority legislation was left uncertain until\nApril 30, the day the present authority is due to expire.\nThe Senate bill provides for a one-year extension of the existing controls authority\nwielded by the President but differs from the House bill in other respects. When conferees from\nboth houses sought to compromise the ifferences, they wound up with a bill which House\nRepublican conferees oppose.\nThe Senate adjourned Wednesday until April 30 after refusing to send the legislation back\nto conference with the House--and the House on April 30 may refuse to accept the current confer-\nence report. So the fate of the legislation is left hanging until E-day (expiration day).\nCONGRESS VOTES COLLEGE STUDENT AID FOR '73-74\nThe House and Senate last Wednesday agreed on a $1.36 billion supplemental appropriation\nbill which included $872 million for aid to college students.\nThe total amount for student aid was the figure requested by the Administration but the\nHouse rearranged the sums under that total in line with pleas from the colleges and universities.\nThe Administration had placed primary emphasis on the new Basic Educational Opportunity\nGrant (BEOG) program, asking $622 million for that purpose. But the House, with the Senate\nlater concurring, allotted only $122.1 million for the BEOG program. This may be too little for\nBEOG even to get started next school year.\nAs finally approved, the appropriation bill provides $210.3 million for the established\nSupplementary Educational Opportunity Grants program (SEOG), $269.4 million for direct low-\ninterest student loans-together with $26.6 million already available for that purpose, and\n$270.2 million for college work-study programs (CWS).\nThe emphasis in the SEOG program is on especially needy students. The new BEOG program\nwould provide grants up to $Z, 400 to each student, depending on family need. The idea is to\ngive some help to students from middle-class families.\nThe House passed the appropriation bill unanimously by a rollcall vote of 367 to 0.\nHOUSE PASSES HIGHWAY BILL\nThe House last Thursday approved a $7 billion-a-year highway construction bill that also\nprovides $1 billion annually for mass transit capital improvements and gives cities the option\nof getting additional general revenue money for mass transit in lieu of receiving Highway Trust\nFund urban highway dollars.\nHouse members passed the bill after rejecting, 275 to 290, an attempt to tap the Highway\nTrust Fund for mass transit capital improvements. The vote was on an comendment giving states\nand cities the option of using up to $700 million a year from the Trust Fund for rail and bus\nsystems, new highways or a combination of the two.\nThe bill as passed would make add-\nitional funds available for mass\ntransit--over and above the regular\n$1 billion annual authorization--\nwithout dipping into the Highway\nTrust Fund.\nI opposed tapping the Highway Trust\nFund for mass transit because the\nFund already is insufficient for\nhighway needs.\nBesides, to use Trust Fund monies\nfor mass transit would be to break\nfaith with highway users whose\ngasoline, tire and truck tonnage\ntaxes go into the trust to finance\nthe nation's road system.\nTHIEU VISITS CAPITOL HILL South Vietnamese Pres-\nTapping the Highway Trust Fund for\nident Nguyen Van Thieu recently conferred with Congres-\nmass transit capital improvements\nsional leaders at the Capitol. Here he is, second from\nwould lead to Trust Fund outlays\nright, with Vice-President Agnew, myself, Rep. Spark M.\nfor operating subsidies--and this\nMatsunaga of Hawaii, and House Speaker Carl Albert.\nwould be a bottomless pit."
}