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(cont from 16:5) Recommendations for Early Action or Consideration: A Report to the President-Elect. Submitted by Arthur F. Burns, Chairman, Program Coordination Group. 50 pages. (continued in folder 16:7) [Report], 1/18/1969
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This file contains:
(cont from 16:5) Recommendations for Early Action or Consideration: A Report to the President-Elect. Submitted by Arthur F. Burns, Chairman, Program Coordination Group. 50 pages. (continued in folder 16:7) [Report], 1/18/1969
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Richard Nixon Presidential Library
White House Special Files Collection
Folder List
Box Number
Folder Number
Document Date
Document Type
Document Description
16
6
01/18/1969
Report
(cont from 16:5) Recommendations for Early
Action or Consideration: A Report to the
President-Elect. Submitted by Arthur F.
Burns, Chairman, Program Coordination
Group. 50 pages. (continued in folder 16:7)
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Page 1 of 1
Resources
- 33 -
VII - RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT
1. Population and Family Planning
The explosive increase of population among the poorer
nations of the world and among our own poor people is a
terribly serious but also a terribly neglected problem.
You may want to use something like the following
paragraph in an early address:
"One of the great question marks overhanging
the last third of this century is whether mankind's
efforts to end privation and hunger will be defeated
by excessive population growth. This danger is most
acute in the less developed parts of the globe, and
I pledge that this Administration will continue to
expand efforts to give assistance to those governments
that seek our help in developing family-planning
programs. But the problem is not confined to foreign
countries. Among this nation's own disadvantaged
groups there are serious gaps in the availability of
family-planning knowledge and assistance. I assure
you that high priority will be given to the matter
of determining how best these gaps can be removed. 11
A member of the White House staff should be assigned
the task of developing, with the aid of appropriate
officials in the Department of State and the Department
of HEW, a specific program.
- 34 -
2. Oceanography
Late in the campaign you recommended an expanded
effort in oceanography. This field offers an opportunity
to develop at relatively low cost a program of exploration
that could excite the imagination of the American people
much as the space program has done.
Besides greater scientific knowledge, there are other
potential benefits: new sources of food, untapped re-
sources of oils and minerals, new kinds of recreation,
and the possibility of opening up new fields of technolo-
gical progress.
Beyond this, there is the question of national
security. The Soviet Union, for example, continues to
make swift progress in oceanography, with serious impli-
cations for underwater warfare. It is vitally important
that we not fall behind.
In 1966, the Commission on Marine Science, Engineer-
ing, and Resources was established to make recommenda-
tions on the national oceanographic effort. The Commis-
sion's report, which has just been published, concludes
that a national marine program will contribute to
strengthening both the national economy and national
security, calls for better coordination of efforts in the
field of oceanography, and recommends the formation of a
new, independent, Federal agency to be called the National
- 35 -
Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency.
The programs recommended by the Commission are
estimated to involve an expenditure by 1980 of about $1
billion per year over and above current outlays, which
would amount to a doubling of the present outlay on
oceanography.
The Commission's report will be controversial.
Various departments and agencies are expected to express
much concern over their loss of authority if the Commis-
sion's recommendations are carried out.
You should seek advice on the Commissions recommenda-
tions from the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary
of Commerce, and Congressman Charles A. Mosher. Should
you have to comment at an early date on the Commission's
report, you might confine yourself to restating your
conviction that an expanded effort in oceanography is
needed, and that a more coordinated effort in this pro-
mising field will be pursued by your Administration.
3. Agricultural Reforms
The Republican Platform and your address in Des
Moines, Iowa during the campaign presented various pro-
posals for agricultural reform. The following in par-
ticular deserve implementation:
(a) Development of policies that enlarge the
- 36 -
farmer's opportunity to manage his own affairs
and give him a greater voice in shaping his
own future.
(b) Revitalization of rural America through greater
emphasis on vocational training and on economic
incentives for industrial development.
(c) Pursuit of an economic policy which protects
American agriculture from unfair foreign com-
petition, while increasing our overseas commo-
dity dollar sales.
(d) Development of a sound crop insurance program.
(e) Reorganization of the management of the Commo-
dity Credit Corporation's inventory operations.
You should ask the Secretary of Agriculture to
evaluate and assume leadership in developing these and
other proposals, with a view to possible presentation in
a Presidential special message on agriculture. A pro-
visional date for this should be set.
4.
Economic Development Assistance Act
The extension of this Act is certain to arouse
considerable controversy. For some time, Republicans
have been concerned about the duplication and waste that
has been associated with this program.
The Economic Development Assistance Act, the
- 37 -
Appalachian Regional Development Act, and the Model
Cities Legislation -- all deal with many of the same
areas and problems. Consideration should be given to
how the overlaps of existing legislation can be elimi-
nated. The provisions with the greatest degree of con-
fusion are those dealing with water pollution control
and sewage treatment.
As soon as possible, the Secretaries of the several
departments involved in this program should consult the
legislative leaders to determine a course of action.
5. Appalachian Development Program
A two-year appropriation that was voted in 1967 for
the Appalachian Regional Development program expires
June 30, 1969. This is an important matter which will
require early attention within the White House office,
not only as to future funding levels but also as to
whether the Appalachian program should serve as a model
for other new regional undertakings.
The White House must be the focal point of decision-
making on this issue because Congress appropriates money
for this program directly to the President, something
that is unique in Federal assistance efforts. The usual
procedure involves a funneling of Federal money to states
and localities through an agency or department, which
- 38 -
then administers its use.
According to recent reports, many Governors view
the Appalachian program (initiated in 1965) as a parti-
cularly promising innovation in inter-governmental rela-
tions. They regard the Appalachian Commission as pro-
viding true Federal-State partnership, something that
they do not feel is achieved when Federal aid is disbursed
by departments in the form of categorical grants. The
fact that the Commission can exercise broad discretion
in using Federal moneys means, according to its guberna-
torial supporters, that program priorities can be set in
a meaningful way. The contention also is made that much
greater efficiency in the use of funds can be achieved
with the Appalachian technique than when attempts at
solving regional problems involve different Cabinet
departments whose efforts often are not properly coordinated.
One significant feature of the Appalachian program
has been its attempt to treat the problems of rural areas,
towns, and cities on a coordinated basis. In particular,
the migration of surplus farm population toward metropoli-
tan centers, where unskilled jobs typically have not been
available in large numbers, has been discouraged. This
has been done by means of an educational thrust aimed at
making rural citizens aware of job opportunities in
middle-sized smaller centers that traditionally were by-
passed in the move from farm to city.
- 39 -
Given the support which the Appalachian program
enjoys, it seems probable that other parts of the
country will urge that they too be accorded the benefits
of similar arrangements. The merit of setting up similar
regional programs embracing the entire country would
seem to warrant early consideration. Specific attention
should be given to the possibility of using the Appalachian
Commission as a model for the regional undertakings that
have been created under the Economic Development Act for
which the Commerce Department has administrative respon-
sibility. These are reported to have been less success-
ful in their operations.
The Director of the Council for Urban Affairs and
the Secretary of Commerce should be involved in the dis-
cussion of these issues, and so too should Governor
Scranton, who is especially enthusiastic about the
Appalachian Commission.
Technology
- 40 -
VIII - SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
1. Organizational Changes
The Task Force on Science and Technology recommends
a number of organizational changes pertaining to the
Federal government's science activities. The objective
is to give science and technology a "status" in govern-
ment commensurate with their vital role in national life;
to promote greater inter-agency cooperation and cross-
fertilization in science activities; and to attract a
larger number of senior scientists and technologists into
government service.
One of the specific proposals made by the Task Force
is that posts of Assistant Secretary for Science and
Technology be established in the Departments of Interior,
State, Justice, HUD, Agriculture, and the Post Office
and that appointees be given policy-making and line
authority.
You emphasized the deficiencies of Federal science
policy during the campaign, arguing that "the government
is not really in control of itself in this field. " In
view of your interest and commitment, you should seek at
a rather early date Dr. DuBridge's advice on the various
organizational proposals made by the Task Force.
You should also seek Dr. DuBridge's advice concern-
ing the organizational changes proposed by the Task Force
- 41 -
on Space. The Task Force recommends that the adminis-
trative organization of NASA be changed to correspond
to program objectives rather than to means of accom-
plishing them, and that there be a strengthening in the
coordination of NASA and Department of Defense space
programs.
2. National Science Foundation
Dr. Lee A. DuBridge makes a compelling plea for
immediate relief to the National Science Foundation. He
writes as follows:
"The expenditure ceiling imposed on the
National Science Foundation for fiscal 1969 was
extraordinarily damaging -- primarily because it
forced NSF essentially to abrogate grants and
agreements already made to many colleges and uni-
versities. It is one thing to cut the allocations
to new grants or to renewals of grants; it is quite
a different thing to say to an investigator and his
university that he cannot spend money already
granted. Since, when a grant is made, commitments
to staff and equipment are frequently made well in
advance, the expenditure ceiling forced universities
either to abrogate such commitments or else to dip
into their own funds to meet what they regarded as
- 42 -
either legal or moral obligations already undertaken.
"I suggest that immediately after January 20
the President request the Director of the Bureau
of the Budget to add approximately $25 to $30 million
to increase the authorized expenditure ceiling of
NSF. This would immediately get many important
scientific projects out of serious financial diffi-
culties, would avoid serious damage to many impor-
tant research programs, and, most of all, it would
be an enormously important gesture for the new
administration to make to win the confidence of
scientists and educators throughout the country. It
will tell the world of higher education that the
new administration will not countenance abrogating
agreements already made, even though budgetary
tightness may sometimes force reductions in new
agreements involving future plans. An increase in
this expenditure ceiling is a trivial part of the
total national expenditures, but is a very large
factor in university research and graduate education
programs. "
You should promptly ask the Budget Director to check
the facts reported by Dr. DuBridge. If they are found to
be accurate, there is some urgency in granting immediate
relief to NSF.
- 43 -
3. Military Research and Development
The Task Force on Science and Technology asserts
that a mistaken policy with respect to the building of
prototypes has contributed heavily in recent years in
the nation's failure to make adequate progress in develop-
ing new weapons systems. "Beginning in the early 1960's,"
the panel states, "we began greatly to overemphasize paper-
cost effectiveness studies, i.e., studies based on un-
proven assumptions regarding hardware performance and
costs ", while simultaneously reglecting exploratory
prototype construction. As a consequence of this penny-
wise posture, we have often traveled long distances down
unpromising roads at considerable expense before realiz-
ing mistakes. The Task Force argues for "a significant
increase in the number of exploratory prototypes built
in connection with new military systems, and a clear ex-
pectation that only a fraction will prove 'successful'".
Since the Task Force considers the prototype problem
to be of "overriding importance", you should call it
promptly to the attention of the Secretary of Defense.
4. Supersonic Transport (SST)
To date the Federal government has spent close to
half a billion dollars on the development of the SST.
- 44 -
The original design has been scrapped, and Boeing will
submit a complete redesign of the airframe on January
15, 1969. Under the terms of the contract, the govern-
ment has up to 90 days to make a decision. There are
several options open which range from determining that
Boeing has defaulted on the contract to proceeding with
the current program.
There are complex economic, scientific, and mili-
tary questions involved in reaching a decision. For
example:
(a) Does the new design meet performance speci-
fications?
(b) Is the new design economically viable?
(c) Does the SST now merit the high national
priority that it had two years ago?
Because of the many serious, unresolved questions
still surrounding the SST, and in view of the fact that
almost half a billion has already been spent on this
project, it is recommended that you immediately estab-
lish a committee to investigate the SST program and ask
it to report its findings and recommendations within 60
days after the submission of the new Boeing design.
The membership of the committee might include scientists,
aeronautical engineers, medical men, business executives,
and military men with no vested interests. Among other
- 45 -
things, the committee should familiarize itself with a
recent study by a scientific panel established by the
Secretary of the Interior.
5. National Accelerator Laboratory
One of the items which the Task Force on Science and
Technology singles out for early action is the provision
of construction funds for the proton accelerator project
at Weston, Illinois. Because of budgetary constraints,
support for this project -- a fundamental research under-
taking with regard to the nature of matter -- has so far
been limited to relatively moderate planning appropriations.
No funding provision has been made either for construction
or for annual operating expenses.
The Task Force reports as follows: an immediate
decision to fund $100 million for fiscal 1970 is "necessary
if the outstanding personnel already assembled
are to
be held together. At stake here is the vitality of U.S.
physical science
If we do not soon fund construction
of the
accelerator, we risk not only our world leader-
ship in this field /to the Soviet Union7 but our effec-
tiveness in generating both basic knowledge and a corps
of exceptionally valuable scientists. If
You should seek an early assessment of this matter
from Dr. DuBridge.
- 46 -
6. Post-Apollo Space Programs
One of the more important national issues that will
have to be resolved very shortly is the scope and direc-
tion of U.S. space efforts now that the manned lunar-
landing project, which has been the chief focus of non-
military space activities throughout the 1960's, is
approaching its end.
While there is general agreement in scientific circles
that vigorous space efforts should continue, major dif-
ferences exist with respect to both specific projects and
the appropriate annual level of funding. The Task Force
on Space believes that present annual outlays are "neces-
sary and adequate"; and it recommends that NASA place
primary emphasis in coming years on manned lunar explora-
tion, on the so-called Apollo Applications Program, and
on unmanned planetary probes. It does not believe that
a commitment should now be made to more ambitious and
costly undertakings, such as construction of a manned
space station or a manned Mars mission. There is, however,
some feeling within the Task Force in favor of more ag-
gressive space activities.
It is recommended that you establish a high-level,
inter-agency committee that would report its recommendations
back to you within this calendar year. Your Science Adviser,
the head of NASA, the Director of the Bureau of the Budget,
- 47 -
and a senior official from the Department of Defense
should serve on the committee.
7. Space Boosters
The Task Force on Space believes that a break-
through may be near in achieving dramatic cost reductions
in launching and boosting operations, with potential
savings that "could total many billions of dollars over
a 10-year period. " It feels that "continued priority"
should be given to studies of alternative approaches to
cost savings and that "these studies should be augmented
to provide a more complete understanding of the techni-
cal alternatives, and to make more complete economic
comparisons for several different future levels of
launching activity. If
You should discuss with Dr. DuBridge the panel's
specific recommendation that the Department of Defense
and NASA coordinate their studies in this area so as to
provide, about November 1, 1969, information upon which
a joint DOD-NASA program decision could be made.
Transportation
- 48 -
IX - TRANSPORTATION
1. Airport Development
In keeping with the campaign pledge you made to
relieve the crisis that plagues air transportation, you
should instruct the Secretary of Transportation to give
very high priority to the preparation of an administra-
tion Airport Development bill.
Unavoidably, a substantial increase in Federal ex-
penditures is going to be entailed (probably amounting
to at least several hundred million dollars annually),
but the budget impact can and should be completely off-
set by simultaneously instituting a variety of user
charges. It makes sense to insist that the same pay-as-
you-go principle apply here as in the case of the Inter-
state Highway System, and the device of earmarking user-
tax collections and having them flow through an Airport
Development Trust Fund should be considered.
A number of proposals for considerably expanding
Federal assistance to airport development were introduced
in the 90th Congress and these should be a helpful point
of departure for the Secretary (especially S. 3641
approved by the Senate Commerce Committee on July 1, 1968).
2. Budget for Air Traffic Control
To dramatize further your concern with the problems
- 49 -
of air congestion and air safety, you should also ask
the Secretary of Transportation to focus promptly on
the outgoing Administration's fiscal 1969 and fiscal
1970 budgets for the air traffic control system and to
advise you within 30 days whether any supplemental
"emergency" funds should be sought. This, of course,
would be a "stop-gap" move, pending completion of Con-
gressional action on basic airport development legislation.
3. FAA Regulations
You should be aware that the FAA has recently promul-
gated regulations that will become effective next April
27, setting hourly quotas for use of the overburdened
airports in New York, Washington, and Chicago. Strong
opposition to these regulations can be expected from cer-
tain groups within the aviation industry, and it is not
improbable that a campaign will develop to have them
killed or substantially modified.
Given the acute problem of airport congestion, there
is a strong presumption that the FAA regulations should
stand, but you should ask the Secretary of Transportation
to make an early appraisal of this matter.
4. Highway Program
You should direct the Secretary of Transportation to
- 50 -
make a specific early move to start rebuilding good
working relations between Federal and state highway
officials.
These relations appear to have deteriorated
seriously and rapidly in recent years -- with the feeling
now widespread among state officials that what used to
be a partnership arrangement has become more and more
Federal dictation. The grievances range over many par-
ticulars, embracing not only roadbuilding matters but
also such things as Equal Employment Opportunity regu-
lations.
As a starter, the Secretary and the new Highway
Administrator might jointly communicate with all state
highway departments, candidly acknowledging that a pro-
blem exists, inviting suggestions, and promising that
known trouble-spots will be reviewed. One of the things
the Secretary should specifically seek to determine is
the extent to which the manipulation of Highway Trust
Fund disbursements for economic stabilization purposes
in recent years has frustrated the efficient and orderly
management of construction projects on the Interstate
System. In view of the interest of the Council of
Economic Advisers in stabilization objectives, this
agency should join the Department of Transportation in
a review of actual experience and the delineation of a
policy for the future.
- 51 -
5. New Canal in Central America
There are several powerful reasons for giving early
consideration to a second ocean-to-ocean canal in Central
America:
(a) the nation's military vulnerability to a
closing of the present canal,
(b) its saturated capability, and
(c) its inability to accommodate the current
generation of oil tankers.
The Task Force on Science and Technology has called
attention to the feasibility of a canal that would avoid
conventional locks by selecting a route (already surveyed)
involving a continuous one-way flow of water from the
Pacific to the Atlantic. Selection of such a route,
however, would have uncertain ecological consequences.
Because of the peculiar range of military, diplomatic,
and environmental problems that are involved, an inter-
departmental group (with representation from the Depart-
ments of Defense, State, HUD, and Commerce, and the Office
of Science and Technology) should be asked to give you
before the end of 1969 at least a preliminary assessment
of the problems and costs that would be entailed in build-
ing a second canal. Significantly, construction of a
second canal might afford an opportunity for the first
dramatic nonmilitary use of atomic power.
- 52 -
6.
Transportation Commission
A series of specific, well-publicized initiatives
to demonstrate your concern with the nation's trans-
portation problem seems particularly important because
it looks as if it may take considerable time to fashion
a coherent over-all approach to the full range of exist-
ing national transportation problems. The Task Force
on Transportation has presented a number of interesting
suggestions for actions in various areas, and these will
be passed along for review by the Department of Trans-
portation. On many vital issues, however, the Task Force
report is more suggestive than definitive, and it there-
fore may be wise to create a National Commission on
Transportation Needs and Policies.
Among other things the Commission should explore the
desirability of allowing railroads greater freedom in
setting rates, and of giving railroads as well as other
transportation enterprises the power to engage in supple-
mentary lines of business activity.
A Commission on Transportation would be in keeping
with the commitments you made in the course of the cam-
paign. Thus, you stated that "the proper role of the
FAA would certainly be high on the agenda of an indepen-
dent commission patterned on the Hoover Commission."
Again, you promised an "immediate reevaluation" of the
- 53 -
Merchant Marine subsidies "in consultation with industry
members and labor representatives, with the goal of pro-
viding incentives for productivity.' IT
You should discuss the proposed Commission at an
early date with the Secretary of Transportation. We need --
but are not anywhere close to having -- a national
strategy pertaining to the balanced development of our
various transportation components, with guidelines as to
the Federal government's role.
Policy
Manpower
- 54 -
X - MANPOWER POLICY
1. Modernized Employment Service
In our country, the matching of available jobs and
unemployed workers often proceeds slowly and inefficiently.
Fortunately, modern high-speed computers and telecommuni-
cation systems now make it possible to organize the labor
market much more efficiently, thereby reducing unemploy-
ment and at the same time curbing inflationary pressures.
During the campaign you called attention to the need for
just such a job bank.
The Secretary of Labor should be directed to under-
take a thorough study of how such a program could best
be implemented in the near future. A date should be set
for a draft of the legislation.
2. Job Vacancy Data
We now have reasonably good current information on
unemployment -- that is, for the supply side of the labor
market. However, there are no current or comprehensive
records on job vacancies -- that is, for the demand side
of the labor market.
Because of this serious gap in our economic intelli-
gence system, it is often difficult to tell whether there
is a surplus or deficiency in the aggregate demand for
- 55 -
labor, so that much of our monetary and fiscal policy-
making proceeds in the dark. If a comprehensive system
of job vacancy statistics were established, this diffi-
culty would be remedied. Also, once the data are broken
down by community and occupation, programs of vocational
education, of job placement, and of guidance could be put
on a much more rational basis.
It is recommended that legislation authorizing a
national system of job vacancy statistics be requested
at once.
3. Encouragement of Worker Migration
In order to stimulate unemployed people to move
where they could find jobs, the government has conducted
a pilot program under which moving allowances and sub-
sidies have been granted to encourage migration. It
would be desirable to request the Secretary of Labor to
make an assessment of this activity with a view to judg-
ing its potential promise.
4.
Mexican-American Conference
During the campaign you promised to convene a White
House Conference "promptly after taking office in January"
to discuss with Mexican-American leaders the numerous
- 56 -
problems surrounding the life and activities of
Mexican-Americans.
The Secretaries of Labor and Commerce should be
promptly requested to advise you, jointly, by an early
specified date, on the participants, format, and issues
of such a conference.
5. Remedial Manpower Programs
The Task Force on Labor, Incomes, and Manpower
Policies finds that the priority need for remedial man-
power programs is a comprehensive manpower bill which
would consolidate the lessons of experience into a
single manageable program offering remedial services
adapted to community and individual needs.
The Secretary of Labor should be requested to pre-
pare at once a suggested draft of such legislation,
accompanied by an analysis of its prospective costs and
benefits.
6. Transition from School to Jobs
Study of the composition of unemployment by age
levels brings out the sharply higher rates for young
workers, especially black teenagers living in central
city areas. While a somewhat higher unemployment rate
- 57 -
for young workers is to be expected as they find their
way in life, the present levels are excessive and con-
stitute one of the most worrisome aspects of current
unemployment.
A strong effort needs to be directed at the problem
of the transition from school to work, or in many cases,
the transition from idleness to work. An added dimension
of the problem of transition results from the flow of
young people from the Armed Services into civilian life
and work activity. Special efforts must be made in such
areas as training, counseling, and work-school programs.
Obviously these are areas for cooperative work involving
the various levels of government and private employers.
In addition, a differential in the minimum wage should be
considered, so that lower learner-rates, rising to the
regular minimum by age 21, would open initial job oppor-
tunities on a wider scale for young workers.
The Secretary of Labor should be requested at once
to prepare a report, together with a draft of proposed
legislation, on ways of facilitating the transition of
youth from school to useful jobs.
7. Minimum Wage Amendments
Congressman John Dent, Chairman of the Labor Sub-
committee of the House Education and Labor Committee,
- 58 -
has indicated that hearings will be held early in the
91st Congress on proposals to raise the minimum wage per
hour from $1.60 to $2.00, to increase overtime pay from
time and one-half to double time, and to provide that
overtime pay start after 35 hours (rather than the
present 40).
In view of the continuing increase in the cost of
living, there will be a great deal of pressure to get
your Administration to sponsor these changes. From an
economic standpoint, the wisdom of these changes is very
questionable in the present environment. The Task Force
on Inflation rightly urges you "to resist measures that
impair incentives to hire, train, and upgrade labor, such
as further increases in minimum wage rates or the broaden-
ing of its coverage."
You should advise the Secretary of Labor to discuss
at the first opportunity this legislation with Congres-
sional leaders, including Congressman Ayres and Senator
Javits. The Secretary will undoubtedly want to use such
an opportunity to take up the special problem of the
teenager, where some relief from the present minimum wage
is advisable.
8. Farm Workers Under Taft-Hartley
At the present time, farm workers are not subject
- 59 -
to the provisions of the Taft-Hartley Act. However,
there has been a sustained effort on the part of trade
unions and the Johnson Administration to remove this
exemption. A bill that would place certain farm workers
under the Taft-Hartley Act was reported by the House
Education and Labor Committee but failed to get a rule from
the Rules Committee.
There was a great deal of opposition to this bill
from both Republican and Democratic Congressmen. The major
argument against it was that farming does not lend itself
to collective bargaining. The farmer is particularly
vulnerable to strikes, for a whole crop could be lost if
work was stopped at a crucial time.
As soon as possible, the Secretary of Labor and the
Secretary of Agriculture should review this troublesome
question.
9. Morale of Federal Employees
It is highly important that you make a special
effort to win the full cooperation of Federal career
employees who, in the end, execute decisions and deter-
mine the quality of government services.
Besides advising department and agency heads of
your desires in this regard, it is recommended that you
set a conspicuous example by arranging for an early
- 60 -
meeting with the Executive Officers Group. An associa-
tion made up of top departmental administrators, this
Group meets regularly and has a secretary in the Execu-
tive Office.
10. Disputes Involving Public Employees
A national policy with regard to unions of public
employees and disputes involving public employees is
urgently needed.
It would be desirable to establish, under the guidance
of the Secretary of Labor, a special task force to make
a searching examination of this problem. The availability
and enforcement of state and local laws should be explored
as well as the ramifications of a Federal intrusion. Al-
though Federal employee strikes are not a problem today,
they could become a problem in the proximate future.
Hence, this potential problem area, and particularly the
bearing of recent changes in Federal employer-employee
relations on it, should also be studied in depth.
You should discuss the vexing problem of public
employee disputes with the Secretary of Labor at an early
opportunity.
11. All-Volunteer Armed Force
One of your strongest pledges during the campaign
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was the eventual abolition of the draft. It is the
major issue that you can use to establish a rapport
with the youth of the country.
There is, of course, substantial opposition to such
a move, partly on the ground that it may endanger nation-
al security and partly for budgetary reasons.
Thus, it is important that you work toward the ob-
jective of abolishing the draft, but that you do so in a
manner that protects both the national security and the
budget. This can be done by moving toward an all-volunteer
armed force in a series of steps, evaluating the results
of each before moving to the next, as follows:
(a) Reaffirm your pledge to end the draft as soon
as possible.
(b) Increase the planned July 1, 1969 military pay
raise of some $2 billion to $3 billion, con-
centrating the additional billion in the lowest
enlisted ranks where the military-civilian pay
discrepancy is greatest. This should induce
a rise in enlistments and allow draft calls to
be reduced.
(c) Appoint a special Commission charged with the
task of developing a detailed plan of action
for ending the draft.
(d) Request the Budget Bureau to evaluate the cost
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required to replace the draft with an all-
volunteer armed force. The Bureau should
also be prepared to report the impact on
enlistments of the higher military pay scale
of fiscal 1970, and to recommend in the light
of its findings any change in the pay scale
for fiscal 1971. If the evidence indicates
that enlistments are highly sensitive to
increased pay scales, the move toward elimina-
ting the draft can be accelerated at limited
cost. On the other hand, if the evaluation
indicates that very large costs are needed to
assure a substantial increase of enlistments,
a slower pace of implementation would be
logical.
You should, of course, take into account the very
real possibility that the military chieftains, perhaps
with good reason, would raise a storm of protest about
the narrowing of pay differentials between officers and
privates. In any event, you will need advice on this
whole problem from the Secretary of Defense, and you
should communicate your interest to him promptly.
Education
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XI - EDUCATION
1. The Federal Role
The Task Force on Education expresses strong concern
about your campaign pledge to press for "
a Federal
program to turn back to state and local control, through
block grants, such funds as are urgently needed to upgrade
their educational performance. 11
This emphasis on general aid -- as contrasted with
categorical grants for specific, narrowly defined purposes --
is worrisome to the Task Force for several reasons, but
especially so because they believe that "it would probably
reopen the Church-State issue in aggravated form. 11
The Task Force notes that the constitutions of thirty
states (including New York, California, and Illinois) have
provisions which tightly restrict aid by state bodies to
parochial schools. Thus, it is considered probable that
any attempt to turn Federal educational dollars (which at
present do benefit sectarian-school children to some extent)
into generalized state educational dollars would provoke
bitter opposition from Catholic officials. This, the panel
fears, might possibly unsettle the whole Federal educa-
tional effort. A companion danger, according to the Task
Force, is that any distribution of general aid moneys to
sectarian schools in those states where constitutional
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restrictions do not exist would invite a spate of "estab-
lishment-clause" suits challenging the constitutionality
of Federal educational aid.
Because of these considerations, the Task Force
emphatically recommends that neither you nor any high
official of your Administration "make any further allusions
to block grants until the full implications of new methods
of Federal financing of education in regard to the Church-
State issue have been fully explored."
Indeed, the Task Force believes that even without
any disturbance of present aid-distribution procedures
there may well occur new legal challenges to Federal edu-
cational programs. Because of this, it recommends that
you promptly set up a small study group "to review the
consequences of a possible adverse decision by the courts
on all existing Federal education legislation and to
prepare proposals as to how such legislation might be
revised should the need arise. "
While the Task Force opposes any move toward "general
aid", it does believe that the number of specific cate-
gorical educational grant programs is now unnecessarily
large and that this fact creates burdensome operating and
administrative problems for state and local officials and
for educational institutions. It therefore recommends, as
a matter of early "high priority", a thorough study of the
possibilities for regrouping a number of present categorical
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grant programs into "designated block grant programs"
to afford recipients considerably more latitude and
discretion than they now have in using funds. Discretion
would not be so broad, however, as to make aid "general."
In a closely related recommendation, the Task Force
calls for "study as quickly as possible" of all existing
education legislation with a view to determining how it
might best be reorganized and recodified to provide
greater efficiency in administration. The Task Force
points out that there are now operative 69 pieces of
educational legislation and that in fiscal 1970 the Office
of Education will be administering at least 113 programs.
According to the Task Force, "there is a widespread
belief, both at the state and local level, that the seek-
ing of funds under this multiplicity of legislation is
an unnecessarily burdensome and time-consuming business. "
The Task Force on Science and Technology likewise
recommends that procedures governing the distribution of
Federal aid to institutions of higher learning be revised.
It clearly would like to see a deemphasis on specific
project grants and contracts, with less earmarking of
moneys and with accountability for funds "limited to
demonstration that they have been expended in a responsible
manner. " The departure from specific grants desired by
this Task Force is so sweeping in fact that it may be
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incompatible with the guidelines suggested by the Task
Force on Education.
It is apparent that difficult and sensitive problems
of procedure do in fact overhang Federal educational
programs. The advice by the Task Force on Education to
be cautious in public pronouncements until the implications
of new procedures can be fully assessed seems sound. You
should request a very early review of this whole area by
an interdepartmental study group, including the Depart-
ment of HEW, the Department of Justice, and the Bureau
of the Budget.
2. Urban Schools
The Task Force on Education urges that "special
attention" be given quickly to the serious deficiencies
of education in the large cities, cogently arguing that
many other major urban problems will not be solved unless
urban schooling is improved. The Task Force foresees no
possibility of an adequate marshalling of state and local
resources to overcome deficiencies, and it believes that
Federal aid to disadvantaged children under present law
is not sufficiently concentrated in the cities to be of
much help.
This matter deserves attention in connection with
the machinery of the Elementary and Secondary Education
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Act, which is scheduled to expire on June 30, 1970.
Planning for renewal must begin soon because of the com-
plexity of this piece of legislation.
One way of strengthening Federal support for urban
education would be to revise ESEA's distribution formula
to provide for a greater diversion of moneys to central
cities. This route is complicated, however, by a strong
feeling in some Congressional circles that the present
distribution is already weighted too heavily in favor
of states such as New York, Illinois, and California.
Congressman Ayres, for instance, feels that to be the
case. The Task Force, mindful of the battle that would
in all probability erupt over revision of the distribution
formula, expresses a preference for entirely new legis-
lation that would be exclusively concerned with channel-
ing moneys to inner-city schools. However, the addition
of another piece of legislation to the maze of statutes
already in existence is not a very attractive prospect.
The very fact that no easy solution to the problem
or urban education is in sight underscores the importance
of an early review by the Secretary of HEW, in consulta-
tion with Congressional Republican leaders. You should
direct that this be started promptly.
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3. Student-Teacher Corps
You have proposed to create a "National Student-
Teacher Corps of high school and college students; care-
fully selected, paid volunteers who would work at the
tutoring of core-city children. "
This instrumentality could make a significant contri-
bution to the improvement of disadvantaged youth; but
great care will need to be taken to make sure that this
activity does not fall into the hands of radical trouble-
makers. The Secretary of HEW should be asked to prepare
a plan which promises to attain the desired objective
with a minimum of political risk.
4. Institute for Educational Future
During the campaign you indicated that you wished
to "create a National Institute for the Educational Future
to serve as a clearing house for ideas in elementary and
secondary education and explore the revolutionary possi-
bilities that modern science and technology are making
available to education. " The Task Force on Education has
strongly endorsed your proposal for a National Institute
for the Educational Future.
Since it will inevitably take many months to bring
this project to fruition, it is desirable to ask the
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Secretary of HEW to seek at once the counsel of educa-
tors and scientists on the manner and scale of implement-
ing this project. The following comment by the Task
Force on Education is highly relevant on procedure:
"We strongly urge the new Administration to
set up a small working party to draw up plans for
the Institute for the Educational Future, this
group to report back as soon as possible as to the
Institute's functions, organization, budget and
location inside or outside government. We also
recommend that Mr. Nixon consider mentioning the
Institute in a special education message to the
Congress should he decide to deliver one. We would
hope that the working party would come up with a
plan of operation for the Institute sufficiently
specific and feasible to enable legislation to be
introduced in this session of Congress establish-
ing it. "
Urban Affairs
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XII - URBAN AFFAIRS
1. Council for Urban Affairs
The new Council for Urban Affairs is a highly pro-
mising instrument for making Presidential leadership more
effective in improving our cities.
The Task Force on Urban Affairs expresses the hope
that the Council will "subject the 400-odd existing
urban programs to cold, hard scrutiny, eliminating all
that can be spared and consolidating those that should
be saved"; further, that the Council will "enforce a
rule of restraint upon the bureaucracies whose natural
tendency is to magnify their callings. " An early for-
mal communication by you to the Council along such lines
may well be constructive.
The Task Force observes that the "urban problem"
originated in rural areas, not in the cities. Accor-
dingly, it recommends that the Secretary of Agriculture
should have a place on the Council for Urban Affairs.
This recommendation should be rejected. However, the
Director of the Council should be instructed to keep
in constant touch with the activities of the Department
of Agriculture and, indeed, to invite the Secretary of
Agriculture to join in its deliberations whenever the
agenda of the Council deal, as they frequently must,
with the interrelations between urban and rural life.
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2. Office of Economic Opportunity
The Economic Opportunity Act, commonly known as the
Poverty Program, was signed into law on August 20, 1964.
The bill covered a broad range of poverty programs, in-
cluding the Job Corps, Community Action Agencies, and
several work and rehabilitation programs. All programs
under the bill are under the supervision of the Office of
Economic Opportunity.
You, and Republicans generally, have supported Head
Start. Republican criticism against OEO has been directed
chiefly at the high cost and lack of effectiveness of the
Job Corps. Since the authority of OEO to finance its
programs will expire on June 30, 1969, you and the Congress
will have the opportunity to revamp OEO.
You indicated emphatically during the campaign that
you planned to abolish the Job Corps. There is a strong
case on grounds of economy for doing this. Moreover, the
elimination of this rather unpopular program will give
heart to the many citizens who still remain hopeful that
the strong trend toward ever larger Federal spending can
be curbed. However, when you move to abolish the Job
Corps, it would be highly desirable to make clear that you
have other programs that will promote the objectives sought
through the Job Corps far more effectively than that pro-
gram has done.
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You should know that several studies of the OEO are
currently under way, as follows:
(a) The Congress has directed the General Accounting Office
to investigate the effectiveness of the major
programs of the OEO. The report is expected to
be ready by the end of February, 1969.
(b) The Vocational Education Amendments of 1968
authorized the Commissioner of Education to
study the feasibility of transferring the Job
Corps and Head Start to HEW. These reports are
to be submitted to Congress by March 1, 1969.
(c) Investigators of the House Education and Labor
Committee are looking into OEO programs in 12
cities because of reports of alleged misuse of
Federal funds. This investigation has been
spurred by Republican members of the Committee.
In view of these several studies, a case can be made
for delay in your final decision concerning the Job Corps.
You should seek promptly the advice of the Secretaries
of Labor and HEW on the best way of handling the Job
Corps and other activities of the OEO.
3. Voluntary Programs
In the past two or three years, many businessmen
have become seriously concerned about the crisis of our
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cities. They are concerned as citizens. They also
realize that the future of their businesses is precarious
if urban decay is not stopped. Hence, a considerable
number of businessmen, particularly leaders of the larger
corporations, are already engaged in efforts to expand
job opportunities for minority groups, to improve housing
in ghetto areas, to foster black entrepreneurship, and
so on.
The time is ripe for greatly increased voluntary
efforts on the part of the business community. To achieve
maximum effect, vigorous and sustained presidential lea-
dership is essential.
V
You might begin by calling a White House Conference
to which businessmen who have already achieved distinc-
tion in broad efforts at urban reconstruction would be
invited. The purpose of the meeting would be, first, to
recognize the achievements of the participants and to
honor them; second, and more importantly, to set out goals
for the future; third, to invite those present to indicate
their thinking on how voluntary efforts can best be pro-
moted; fourth, to explore ways -- for example, through
local chambers of commerce -- of enlisting the efforts of
small and medium-sized businesses; fifth, to announce to
the assembled group, that letters have just gone out to,
say, 1,000 of the top corporations, asking them to inform
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you of projects in the sphere of urban improvement which
they expect to be able to launch within the next six
months. These "projects" need not be confined to employ-
ing people; they may relate to housing, redevelopment of
the ghettos, air pollution, or to any other activity in
which a particular company feels interested and qualified.
You might, moreover, use the occasion of the suggested
meeting to announce the new program of the life insurance
industry (which Roger Hull and Gilbert Fitzhugh will dis-
cuss with you) for extending housing loans and, in con-
junction with SBA, business loans in urban poverty areas.
You may also feel ready to go further and announce
at the suggested meeting the creation of a "national
clearing house for information on voluntary activities --
on what has been tried, what the difficulties have been,
and what the solutions are. " During the campaign you indi-
cated that this would be "one of the first tasks of the
new Administration. "
This clearing house should probably be established in
the Commerce Department, as one unit of a new Office of
Voluntary Efforts to Improve our Cities. The main function
of this Office should be to stimulate the business commu-
nity to greater and more useful efforts. Among other
things, such an Office could plan a system of awards for
excellence to business firms, presidential visits to areas
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of outstanding success, and ways of enlisting the efforts
of those businessmen who are presently participating in
urban programs to stimulate other businessmen to do
likewise in their communities.
It is recommended that you promptly seek the advice
of the Secretary of Commerce on the best ways of proceed-
ing to launch the new voluntary program, on how it might
best be organized, on the role that the National Alliance
of Businessmen might be expected to play, and so on.
After assessing the promise of the voluntary program,
organized around your vigorous leadership, the next task
would be to determine how much and in what ways reliance
should be placed on tax credits, government contracts,
or subsidies to speed the rehabilitation of our cities.
These efforts should probably be directed primarily toward
the smaller businesses; it is quite doubtful if the
larger corporations need that kind of stimulation.
4.
Tax Incentives to Private Efforts
In harmony with your philosophy, the Task Force on
Federal Tax Policy claims that tax incentives can be a
powerful means for enabling private enterprise to over-
come many of the problems besetting ghettos and other
poverty areas in our country.
The Task Force suggests that tax incentives be
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directed toward the following objectives:
(i) To attract new businesses to poverty areas.
(ii) To encourage the active participation of those
living in poverty areas as entrepreneurs and
capitalists.
(iii) To expand employment and improve job skills.
(iv) To improve the housing of residents of poverty
areas.
The Task Force suggests the following devices for
promoting the objectives mentioned:
(a) The poverty area payroll tax credit. This would
amount to, say, 10 per cent of the increase in
payrolls of businesses in certified poverty
areas, to the extent that these increases re-
present increases in employment of poverty area
residents.
(b) On-the-job training tax credit. Under this
proposal an employer newly affording or expand-
ing a program of on-the-job training or appren-
ticeship would be allowed a credit against
income tax equal to 50 per cent on the addi-
tional amount, up to $80 per week, paid to the
additional trainees or apprentices. (The pay-
roll tax credit would be available to employers
irrespective of the location of their facilities
and without regard to the place of residence of