Ask the Scholar
Document scope · 1 page
Scholar
Ask about this object, its catalog metadata, its source description, or the page inventory.
For page-specific OCR and visual context, open one of the page chats.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
559235907
label
03/29/1973 - 12/17/1973
core
doc
dtoType
document
citationUrl
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
559235907
contentType
document
title
03/29/1973 - 12/17/1973
citationUrl
collections
White House Staff Member and Office Files (Nixon Administration)
Kenneth Cole's Files
largeImageUrl
imageCount
1
hasImages
yes
source
import
hasTranscription
no
Source extras
naId
559235907
levelOfDescription
fileUnit
recordType
description
ocrSource
nara-archive
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
document
mediaId
aa541ab9d667e6e2
ocrText
THE WHITE house
Speech
WASHINGTON
March 29, 1973
MEMORANDUM FOR:
BILL BAROODY
KEN CLAWSON
KEN COLE
DICK COOK
KEN DAM
TOM KOROLOGOS
FRED MALEK
PAUL O'NEILL
BILL TIMMONS
FROM:
ROY L. ASH
SUBJECT:
Impoundment
Attached, for your information, is a fact sheet
outlining some of the important issues related to
the Presidential impoundment of funds appropriated
by the Congress. I trust you will find it both
informative and useful.
Attachment
Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
March 26, 1973
SOME FACTS ABOUT THE IMPOUNDMENT ISSUE
-- President Nixon has declared the following posi-
tion with regard to the Executive withholding of funds:
"The Constitutional right of the President of the United
States to impound funds, and that is not to spend money,
when the spending of money would mean either increasing
prices or increasing taxes for all the people
is
absolutely clear. "
-- The Anti-deficiency Act (31 U.S.C. 665) authorizes
the President to withhold funds "to provide for contingen-
cies, or to effect savings whenever savings are made pos-
sible by or through changes in requirements, greater ef-
ficiency of operations, or other developments,' subsequent
to the date on which the funds were made available. There
are also occasions when specific provisions of other laws
(1) require that available funds not be fully apportioned for
use in the current year, or (2) authorize the use of funds
only under certain circumstances.
-- All recent Presidents have impounded Congressional
appropriations in the course of administration of the
Executive Branch. End of year reserves as a percentage of
total budget outlays for the years of the Nixon Administration
Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
2
have actually been less than the average of similar figures
for the previous three Administrations, as shown by the
following table:
RESERVES AND TOTAL OUTLAYS
Fiscal Years 1959-1973. ($ in billions)
Total
Reserves
Percent:
budget
(at end
Col (2) 1.
outlays
of year)
Col (1)
Fiscal Year
(1)
(2)
(3)
Eisenhower:
1959
$ 92.1
$ 6.9
7.5%
1960
92.2
8.0
8.7
Kennedy:
1961
97.8
7.6
7.8
1962
106.8
6.5
6.1
1963
111.3
4.5
4.0
Johnson:
1964
118.6
4.2
3.5
1965
118.4
5.6
4.7
1966
134.7
8.7
6.5
1967
158.3
10.6
6.7
1968
178.8
9.9
5.5
Nixon:
1969
184.5
9.6
5.2
1970
196.6
11.5
5.8
1971
211.4
12.1
5.7
1972
231.9
10.6
4.6
Latest (Jan. 29, 1973)
249.8 (est.)
8.7
3.5
--- Most impoundments are simply temporary withholdings
in order to assure efficient and effective use of the tax-
payers' dollars. The practice is one of long standing and
traditionally has been exercised as a customary part of
Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
3
financial management. The full apportionment of appropriated
funds often awaits: (1) development of approved plans and
specifications, (2) completion of studies for the effective
use of the funds, (3) establishment of necessary organiza-
tional and administrative structures and designation of
accountable officers to manage the programs, or (4) the
arrival of certain contingencies under which the funds must
by statute be made available. Funds are reserved (impounded)
to assure the availability of the appropriated funds when
these events do come about.
-- Appropriations by the Congress have, for the history
of the Republic, been understood to be permissive rather
than obligatory. The Constitution provides that "No Money
shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in consequence of appro-
priations made by law." It is silent upon the issue of
whether the President must spend all of the funds which have
been appropriated. On the other hand, the Constitution says
that "the executive power shall be vested" in the President.
This provision has been interpreted to mean that the Presi-
dent has the authority to manage the financial operations
of the Government in an effective and prudent manner within
the appropriations provided by the Congress.
-- The Constitution provides for a system of checks and
balances. The powers granted to each Branch of the Government
Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
4
were intended to check the excesses of the other Branches.
Thus, when a President asks for more funds than the Congress
considers necessary, the Congress is expected to appropriate
only that amount which it believes to be needed. Conversely,
when the Congress appropriates more than the President
believes is necessary--particularly as it affects the
economy of the country and the debt level of the Government-
the President should exercise his responsibility not to add
to inflationary pressures or lead the country further into
debt.
--- Deputy Attorney General Sneed, when questioned
regarding a possible legislated mandatory spending provision
said,
"
there is doubt whether Congress can legislate
against impoundment
when to do so results in substantially
increasing the rate of inflation. To admit the existence
of such power deprives the President of a substantial por-
tion of the 'executive power' vested in him by the
Constitution
I question whether Congress has the power
to convert the Chief Executive into 'Chief Clerk, ' a position
which he has never held under our Constitution. "
-- The President must assure that all laws are obeyed.
The Constitution requires that the President "shall take care
that the laws be faithfully executed. " The restrictive
Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
5
nature of a debt limit (or other law which effectively
restricts spending in the aggregate) must obviously take
precedence over the permissive nature of appropriations.
Given the current tax structure, the current debt limit will
allow total expenditures of approximately $250 billion in
the current year. In order to obey the debt limit, the
President of necessity must spend less than was appropriated
by the Congress. If Congress fails to make the decisions
on the detail but imposes a restriction in the aggregate,
the President is left with no alternative but to cut the
programs which he believes are the most inefficient, inef-
fective, or outmoded.
-- The public is overwhelmingly behind the President
on the issues of no tax increase and no new inflation. A
recent Harris Poll, which found the public concerned about
cutbacks in individual programs, nonetheless found a 59-28
majority in favor of the statement, that "President Nixon is
right in saying that inflation cannot be controlled unless
Federal spending is cut to the bone. " The Gallup Poll found
a lopsided majority in favor of no tax increase as against
new Federal programs.
-- At least two important Democratic Senators side with
the President on the impoundment issue. Senator William
Proxmire, Chairman of the Joint Economic Committee, said
Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
6
"I am perhaps one of the very few Northern Democrats who agrees
with impoundment. I think it is correct; the President has
no alternative if he is to be fiscally responsible." Senator
Russell Long said, "If we can't restrain ourselves from spend-
ing $30 billion more than we are taking in, in good times, by
either raising taxes or cutting spending, one way or the
other, then we shouldn't complain about a fellow who refuses
to bankrupt the country."
--- One of the most definitive statements on the meaning
and intent of the Anti-deficiency Act in relation to Con-
gressional appropriations can be found in the report by the
House Appropriations Committee which discussed the 1950 amend-
ments to that Act. The report, attributed primarily to
Rep. Clarence Cannon, then Chairman of the Committee, main-
tained, in effect, that an appropriation is not a mandate to
spend, but only an upper limit on spending. The relevant
portion of the report reads as follows:
"Economy neither begins nor ends in the Halls of Congress.
Under the Budget and Accounting Act, it is the responsi-
bility of the executive branch of the Government to sub-
mit annually to the Congress the estimates of the amounts
which officials in the executive branch feel are required
to support the necessary activities of the Government.
The Congress reviews these estimates and decides the
maximum amounts which must be appropriated for these
various activities, and the annual appropriation bill
provides the sums so determined by the Congress.
Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
7
"Appropriation of a given amount for a particular activity
constitutes only a ceiling upon the amount which should
be expended for that activity. The administrative of-
ficials responsible for administration of an activity for
which appropriation is made bear the final burden for
rendering all necessary service with the smallest amount
possible within the ceiling figure fixed by the Congress.
Every official of the Government who has responsibility
for administration of a program must assume a portion of
the burden for the deficit in the Federal Treasury. In
the first place, he must take into account the condition
of the Federal finances when he recommends to the Bureau
of the Budget the amount which, in his judgment, is neces-
sary for supporting his activity. In the second place,
it is his responsibility to so control and administer the
activities under his jurisdiction as to expend as little
as possible out of the funds appropriated.
This language was persuasive to the House on the considera-
tion of a bill introduced by Congressman Hebert which would
have made it unlawful for any officer, agent or employee of
the United States or any agency or Department thereof to with-
hold or impound or otherwise prevent any monies appropriated
by the Congress from being promptly used for the purpose for
which they were appropriated. (See Congressional Record of
March 17, 1958, page 4063, and H.R. 11441, 85th Congress,
2nd Session.)
###
Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
The
52ND YEAR
Reader's Digest
APRIL 1973
An article a day of enduring significance, in condensed permanent booklet form
Springboard for Discussion
"The main trouble with American politics today," says this
world-renowned thinker, "is the failure of our intellectual elite
to recognize that Middle Americans have values, too"
The Unthinkable
Thoughts of
Herman Kahn
BY JAMES NATHAN MILLER
I
N 1961 a book was published,
one of the Western world's most
On Thermonuclear War, that
creative thinkers.
brought on its author one of the
But it looks as if Kahn may soon
most venomous critical attacks in
be back in the intellectual doghouse.
publishing history and overnight
Recently he has been investigating
made his name a dirty word among
a new field-the roles of intellec-
a large group of U.S. intellectuals.
tuals and Middle Americans in
Today the book is recognized as one
present internal problems-and his
of the most important and construc-
conclusions put him on a collision
tive works of our time, and its au-
course with most of the scholars,
thor, a 50-year-old physicist named
editors and writers who make up
Herman Kahn, is widely considered
America's "intellectual elite." Before
73
Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
74
THE READER'S DIGEST
April
examining these conclusions, take a
ing advocate of disarmament, has
brief look at the book that got Kahn
said it is "one of the great works of
into the doghouse the first time. It
our time." Among other things, its
tells a lot about the way he thinks.
concept of a slow and "survivable"
On Thermonuclear War was a
response to a nuclear threat (as op-
cool, objective analysis of a subject
posed to the old idea of quick, "mas-
which, at that time, hardly anybody
sive retaliation") is given major
could think coolly or objectively
credit for the coolness and flexibility
about: how an atomic war might
of our reactions to Russian chal-
start, how many people might be
lenges in Cuba and Berlin.
killed, how it might be avoided. To
But now, once again Kahn is
intellectuals of the era, atomic war
thinking the unthinkable, examin-
meant the end of the world, period;
ing the basic assumptions of our in-
anyone who even speculated on H-
tellectuals and telling them that they
bomb strategies was a madman.
are dead wrong-this time in their
Kahn's book looked squarely at
interpretation of what's wrong with
this basic assumption and found it
America. It is their view that behind
dead wrong. In a series of hard-
all the country's present problems-
headed analyses of blast damage and
violence, moral confusion, the polar-
fallout, Kahn demonstrated that
ization of class against class-lie the
mankind would not be wiped out.
bigotry, narrowness of view and vio-
Therefore, said the book, in order to
lence of temperament of Middle
lessen both the probability and po-
Americans, otherwise known as
tential damage of atomic war, we
hard hats, ethnics or the Silent Ma-
must face up to the realities of how
jority. Kahn has one word for much
to prepare for it, respond to the
of the basic thinking that underlies
threat of it and even how to wage it.
this interpretation: "It's manic."
The critics went wild. One said
Recently I spent a day talking
that Kahn had disqualified himself
about this with Kahn at the Hudson
as a member of the human com-
Institute, the research "think tank"
munity. Another proclaimed himself
he heads, near New York City.*
ashamed to be a citizen of the same
Kahn feels that the country is be-
country as Kahn, and a third said
ing polarized by the failure of what
the book was a collection of "crimi-
he calls the upper-middle class to
nal lunacies, a moral tract on mass
recognize any validity in middle-
murder."
But Kahn never backed down
*Many of the facts and surveys on which
from his views, and today the book
Kahn bases his conclusions are contained in
is widely praised as marking an im-
the Hudson Institute's recent study, The For-
gotten Americans: A Survey of the Values,
portant turning point in the world's
Beliefs and Concerns of the Majority, pub-
thinking about nuclear war. Har-
lished by Frank E. Armbruster (Arlington
House, 81 Centre Ave., New Rochelle, N.Y.
vard Prof. H. Stuart Hughes, a lead-
10801, $9.95).
Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
1973
THE UNTHINKABLE THOUGHTS OF HERMAN KAHN
75
tige college, lives in a city or suburb
on the East or West coast, and reads
Newsweek, the New York Times or
the New Republic. He has a job in
academia, in the media, or as a
teacher or social-welfare bureaucrat.
Politically, he fits into that part of
the middle-to-left spectrum that
runs from the Kennedys to Stu-
dents for a Democratic Society.
The middle-class individual
has "square" values. He is like-
ly to be a city ethnic or to
live in the rural Midwest or
South. He went to a square
college, reads U.S. News &
World Report, The Wall Street
Journal or The Reader's Digest,
has a job as an engineer, business-
man or assembly-line worker, and
is middle-to-right in his politics,
somewhere between Hubert Hum-
phrey and George Wallace on the
one hand or the Buckleys on the
other.
Q. "Manic" is a pretty strong
class values. Because he uses the
word to apply to a group that's
terms upper-middle and middle in a
widely regarded as comprising our
special way, I began my interview
intellectual elite. Do you really
on this point:
mean it?
Q. Whom are you talking about
A. I use the word seriously. It
when you refer to the upper-middle
refers to their lack of touch with
and middle classes?
reality and the intensity of their
A. I use the terms to define atti-
commitment. Take their escalation
tudes, not income levels. In fact, I'd
of the language. The word "geno-
say half the people whose incomes
cide," for instance, means something
put them in the upper-middle class
very specific: the deliberate annihila-
have what I'd call middle-class atti-
tion of a race or nation. Since Hitler,
tudes. Let me give you a sort of
it's become the ugliest word in the
thumbnail sketch of the two groups.
English language. Yet we have intel-
Typically, an upper-middle-class,
lectuals today, people trained in the
"progressive" person went to a pres-
meaning of words, who say that the
Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
76
THE READER'S DIGEST
April
treatment of criminals in this coun-
tually wants to learn than if he's
try the maladministration of our
forced to. Now, there's no question
courts and the backwardness of our
that kids do learn better when a
prison systems-represents a govern-
school can get them interested than
mental policy of "genocide" toward
when it can't. But it's also a very
minority groups.
important purpose of education to
"Fascist" is another word. Intel-
teach kids how to handle the frustra-
lectuals are constantly searching for
tion of working when they're not
things that will show us to be a to-
interested. Progressive educators
talitarian state. In 1970, I had at
often forget this.
least two dozen phone calls from col-
Up to the 1960s, college was the
lege-faculty people asking if it was
first place where many upper-mid-
true that the Hudson Institute had
dle-class kids met frustration and re-
done a study for the Nixon Admin-
sentment in the learning process.
istration on how to call off the 1972
They came out of high schools
elections. It was a crazy rumor, of
where teachers treated them with
course, and nobody paid any atten-
friendship and reassurance, and they
tion to it except for a few of the big-
ran into college faculties who sub-
gest minds on the campuses. When
jected them to skepticism and objec-
you suffer from nightmares like
tive evaluation. This was healthy,
that, you're at least paranoiac if not
but the kids thought it was awful,
manic.
and in the 1960s, when they rebelled,
In judging the United States, the
many colleges caved in and became
upper-middle class has lost the ability
as permissive as the high schools.
to draw lines of gradation between
As a result, for many kids today the
completely good and completely bad.
entire educational experience pro-
Because America isn't perfect, we're
vides no preparation for the frustra-
the world's worst. It is this inability
tions and resentments of the real
to distinguish degrees between best
world.
and worst in things American, com-
Incidentally, we're talking about a
bined with the tendency to lump
very small group of kids mostly in
everything American in the bad
the prestige colleges-but a very
extreme, that I call manic.
important group, because of its priv-
Q. How much responsibility
ileged place in society and high
would you say our educational sys-
visibility in the media.
tem bears for our present problems?
Affluence is another factor insu-
A. A great deal. One reason is
lating them from reality. For ex-
that many progressively run schools
ample, most kids growing up in this
in upper-middle-class suburbs put
class never come into involuntary
too much emphasis on the principle
contact with the human condition:
of self-actualization-the truism that
they're never hot, never cold, never
a person will learn better if he ac-
hungry, never wanting of anything
Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
1973
THE UNTHINKABLE THOUGHTS OF HERMAN KAHN
77
within reason-like a bike at the
advantaged family fails to learn at
age of 10, or a car at 20.
school, or if he causes trouble in the
Now, these three elements-
classroom, it's never the child's or
manic thinking on the part of par-
the family's fault, it's the school's. If
ents and teachers, plus an educa-
we've got junkies in the streets,
tional system and an affluence that
they're not guilty; the police are
insulate against the reality of dis-
guilty for not catching the pushers.
comfort-make a pretty explosive
If there's a high crime rate in the
mixture when exposure to the real
ghetto, it's not only understandable
world suddenly comes. When these
(which, of course, it is) but largely
kids finally do see human tragedy,
justified (which, of course, it isn't)
they can't believe it. They think it's
because of society's guilt.
totally unfair. Because they can't
Q. Would you, then, put more
cope with it, they can't conceive of
faith in the values and judgments
anyone coping with it or accepting
of the middle class than in those of
it as part of the human condition. So
the "elite"?
they rebel and demand an immedi-
A. I would on what I call black-
ate cure for everything that isn't
and-white issues, but on gray issues
perfect, and they don't understand
the upper-middle class is often bet-
why the working class and the mi-
ter equipped to make decisions. First
nority groups aren't rebelling with
let me give you an exaggerated ver-
even greater intensity.
sion of what I call a black-and-white
Q. A recurrent theme in your lec-
question.
tures is the upper-middle class's feel-
You see it's raining. No prob-
ing of guilt. Where does this guilt
lem. You put on a raincoat. But if
come from?
you're a really bright guy and have
A. It stems mainly from their
graduated summa cum laude from
emphasis on conscience rather than
a prestige university with a degree
punishment. A middle-class parent
in raincoat science, you know it's
spanks his child; an upper-middle-
not that simple. You figure maybe
class parent withdraws his love or
the raincoat will leak, or keep in
approval. Also, upper-middle-class
water rather than keep it out, or
people are actually trained to feel
maybe poor people will resent your
guilt even when the conditions are
having a raincoat. All kinds of crazy
not their fault and there's nothing
arguments. Now, maybe one of these
for them to feel guilty about. And
ideas will turn out to be right, but
this guilt makes it impossible for
99 percent of the time they're wrong
them to rebuke a member of a mi-
and you just tie yourself in knots
nority group; instead, they tend to
thinking about them. The smarter
absolve the poor and the minorities
you get, the harder it becomes to
of any responsibility for their acts.
make simple decisions. This is what
For example, if a kid from a dis-
I call educated incapacity, and it's
Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
78
THE READER'S DIGEST
April
what paralyzes the upper-middle
stand it. Can we actually create more
class on simple issues.
jobs in the United States if we buy
Q. What are some real black-
from overseas than if we just buy
white questions?
at home? Yes, at least when the
A. Is fornication on the stage por-
other side buys from us where we
nography, and should it be banned?
have a comparative advantage.
Given the current and continuing
These are questions on which mid-
value systems of the great majority
dle-class judgment tends to be bad.
of Americans, and the unchanged
Now, in a well-run society the
legal system, it is and it should be.
black-white issues are taken care of
But the courts and the upper-mid-
almost automatically, and the coun-
dle class don't know where to draw
try can give its attention to the gray
the line between what's racy and
issues. Which gets us to the root of
what's dirty, between soft-core and
the real sickness in America today:
hard-core, so they don't draw any
the upper-middle class has done such
line at all.
a bad job with the black-white issues
Are you a racist if you object to
that the country is still being polar-
being mugged or raped? It happens
ized by them. In fact, 95 percent of
that at the moment a good deal of
today's polarization has been caused
this crime is by Negroes. When it
by upper-middle-class failure to rec-
was by whites, nobody criticized
ognize that the middle class possess-
you for not wanting to be a victim
es intelligence, judgment and moral
of it. But until the last year or two,
values. Let me give you an example.
when they finally learned better, the
During the last election, Senator
people who are terribly smart and
McGovern told a union audience
guilt-ridden said that if you talked
that he wanted to impose a 100-
about law and order you were using
percent inheritance tax on all lega-
a racist code phrase.
cies over $500,000. He was amazed
The basic thing is, you have to be
to find that these working people
smart in a reasoned way. If you're
flatly opposed the idea. The reason
smart in an illusioned way, you're
they opposed it was purely moral.
smart and crazy. That's today's
They knew that few of them would
American upper-middle class.
ever be affected by such a law; they
Q. What are the gray-area issues?
just felt it wasn't fair to use their
A. These are the genuinely com-
votes to take someone else's money
plex questions, like the need for con-
away.
tra-cyclical spending or the economic
But McGovern couldn't under-
harm that tariffs can do. Should the
stand this. You know what his ex-
government spend more in a depres-
planation was? "They must think
sion than in boom times? Yes. The
they're going to win a lottery." You
upper-middle class knows this, but
have no idea how mad union people
the middle class still doesn't under-
get when they hear this story. But it's
Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
1973
THE UNTHINKABLE THOUGHTS OF HERMAN KAHN
79
a sincere and typical upper-middle-
the middle class back into the pic-
class viewpoint. They think they're
ture, which is very important. But
the only moral people around, and
they have not tried hard enough to
everybody else just has biases and
explain to the upper-middle class the
prejudices. Their idea of uniting the
legitimacy of their message, and
country is for the majority to adopt
that's essential.
the minority view on issues like
This failure is the most legitimate
pornography laws and busing, am-
part of the polarization charge
nesty for draft evaders, capital pun-
against the Administration. There's
ishment and legalizing marijuana.
a difference between telling the
I think a classic case of this kind of
truth and telling it persuasively, and
upside-down thinking has been the
much of what Nixon spokesmen say
response to some of Vice President
is said in a way that is persuasive
Agnew's speeches analyzing upper-
only to middle-class voters. You
middle-class attitudes-the papers
don't get people to listen by calling
they read, their interests and preju-
them effete snobs, even if the term
dices, and so forth. Some of these
happens to be accurate.
speeches are as accurate as a sociol-
I think one of the most important
ogist's research report, and I've
jobs facing President Nixon and
shown them to people who accuse
Mr. Agnew is to initiate some proc-
Agnew of polarizing the country by
ess of genuine communication with
saying these things. I've asked them
the upper-middle class. They should
to show me one line that was inac-
say, "Look, don't get angry. We're
curate. They can't. They accuse the
not trying to be demagogic. But the
other side of everything from geno-
'forgotten man' really has been for-
cide to a conspiracy to call off the
gotten and really does have some
elections, and then when the other
legitimate kicks. Nor is he as racist,
side replies they accuse it of polar-
violent and selfish as you believe.
izing the country.
And here is the evidence."
Q. Then do you think President
Then maybe we could pull these
Nixon and Mr. Agnew have been
people back to working with the rest
doing what the President says he set
of society, the way they did in Roo-
out to do-to "bring the country to-
sevelt's day. It could be the best thing
gether"?
that's happened to the country in a
A. Only in part. They've brought
long time.
Paradox
MOTHER was studying her son's report card, trying to figure out how
he got a D in conduct at the same time he got an A in courtesy. Finally,
shaking her head, she said, "I guess it means that when he beats some-
body up, he apologizes."
- Yamhill County, Ore., News-Advertiser
Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
Shot Down in
North Vietnam!
BY JOSEPH P. BLANK
HE dangled in his parachute
through branches to a halt-his
A
40 miles northwest of Hanoi,
boots barely touching the earth.
Capt. Roger Locher's first
The tall, slim 25-year-old had
stunned reaction was, This can't be!
taken off that morning, last May 10,
Getting shot down was something
from a. Thailand airbase and sped
that happened to others. Like all
toward the Hanoi area. He was fly-
fliers, he had never believed it could
ing his 407th mission as a navigator-
happen to him.
weapon-systems operator. The mis-
But it had. The gag of helpless
sion was to prevent enemy fighters
fear he felt was real. So were the two
from attacking our bombers. Back-
sleek, silvery MIGs whipping past
seater in the lead two-man F-4 Phan-
him I000 feet away. Then jungle
tom jet, Locher had already been
trees loomed below, and he crashed
credited with shooting down two
80
Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
Date
For
From John Ehrlichman any
KEN-
Korlogos distributing
this Water + Server fact
sheet to the Hill TODAY - -
X
speech
Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
April 5, 1973
Rural Water and Sewer Grants - -H.R. 3298
Basic Objections to H.R. 3298
-- It seeks to establish mandatory spending of the full
amount appropriated and thereby to tie the hands of
the President, and make it impossible to attain
fiscal policy objectives, i.e., avoid higher taxes,
more inflation, and higher interest rates.
- - It is fiscally irresponsible.
°Restoration of water and sewer grants at the
appropriated level would increase FY 1973
program obligations by almost $120 million.
Outlays would be increased by about $50 million
in FY 1973 and by about $100 million in FY 1974.
°If the full authorization were appropriated in
FY 1974, obligations would be increased by $330
million and outlays by more than $150 million
over the budget.
Unchecked spending will lead to further inflation
and a loss of faith in the stability of the
dollar.
-- Provision of water and sewer systems is not an appropri-
ate use of Federal tax dollars.
°The provision of local water and sewer systems
can be regarded as strictly a local government
responsibility.
°The benefits from these facilities accrue almost
exclusively to those persons and businesses
directly served by them; the average taxpayer
gets no benefit from them.
-- Federal grants for water and sewer lines construction
are not necessary.
°Since benefits from water and sewer facilities are
enjoyed by those persons served by the facilities,
adequate incentive to provide and pay for them
already exists through user charges at the local
level; Federal grants are not needed.
Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
- 2 --
°In fact, the presence of a Federal water and sewer
grant program may delay the construction of these
facilities, since localities, which otherwise
would finance the costs on their own, choose
instead to wait in line for a Federal grant.
°More than half of the grant applicants which did
not receive grants, nevertheless, proceeded with
the project.
-- The Federal subsidy is unrelated to individual needs.
°A Federally aided water or sewer system provides
equal benefits to all persons served by it; hence,
even those who can afford to pay in full for the
service receive instead a Federal subsidy.
-- The program is unfair to the taxpayer.
°The average taxpayer must carry a double burden:
not only must he pay his share of the water and
sewer facilities serving his own needs; he must
also pay part of the through his Federal
taxes- of someone else's facilities.
- - The program duplicates and proliferates other Federal
grant programs.
°EPA grants total $2 billion for fiscal year 1973
and $3 billion for fiscal year 1974 for waste
disposal facilities in urban and rural areas.
While waste treatment per se has high priority,
States have a dominant role in selecting projects
for funding under the EPA program. Local com-
munity applications will be accorded consideration
by States in the context of waste treatment require-
ments which can include collection sewers as well
as waste treatment plants and interceptor sewers.
-- The program does not allow decentralization of decision-
making to State and local governments.
°Termination is in keeping with the Administration's
philosophy of moving away from narrow categorical
grants with their associated Federal decision-
making toward more decision making at the State and
local level.
Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
- 3 -
- - Adequate loan funds will be available in fiscal years
1973 and 1974 in lieu of grants.
°It is recognized that some small communities
face problems in financing sewer facilities
even when they are willing to bear reasonable
costs.
°The availability of insured Federal loans at
interest rates comparable to those paid by
larger governments will permit these communities
to meet their financing needs.
Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
F)
April 6, 1973
MEMORANDUM FOR:
FRANK GANNON
HANK PAULSON
FROM:
CRAIG GOSDEN
SUBJECT:
Herman Kahn's Meeting
with the President
Herman Kahn recently had a long and successful meeting with the
President covering a number of topics among which was Kahn's
request for Federal funding of his "Prospects for Mankind Study.''
Ken would like you to review Kahn's project in detail and send him
your comments or recommendations regarding the substance of the
project.
Frank, I am sending the file on this to you first -- would you let
Hank see it as soon as possible.
Would you also recommend the best way for the project to be
financed by the government (please see attached Kahn letter to
Ehrlichman discussing Kahn's financing problems and needs).
You might want to begin by considering NSF or NEH as possible
financing vehicles (note attached Petersmeyer memorandum to
Ehrlichman regarding funding).
Am also sending you for background the memorandum which the
President received from Kahn after their meeting (interesting
reading). Would appreciate your comments by close of business
Thursday, April 12.
Many thanks,
Attachments
Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
THE WHITE HOUSEAPR
2 1973
ACTION MEMORANDUM
WASHINGTON
LOG NO.:
Date: March 30, 1973
Time:
FOR ACTION: John Ehrlichman
CC (for information): Roland Elliott
Cols -
H.R. Haldeman
FROM THE STAFF SECRETARY
DUE: Date: April 3, 1973
Time:
SUBJECT:
Letter from Herman Kahn, enclosing materials promised
at meeting on March 16
ACTION REQUESTED:
For Necessary Action
For Your Recommendations
Prepare Agenda and Brief
Draft Reply
For Your Comments
Draft Remarks
REMARKS:
Please work with Roland Elliott to prepare a letter to acknowledtement
to Herman Kahn and forward the letter to the Office of the Staff
Secretary.
Thank you.
Craig -
Is this the strept
that Paulson d bannon are
writing on ? ) Pls drops a note
received & is under review, if
to Kahu saying material was
this is the appropriate response
PLEASE ATTACH THIS COPY TO MATERIAL SUBMITTED. now.
If you have any questions or if you anticipate a
Thanks Ken
delay in submitting the required material, please
telephone the Staff Secretary immediately.
BRUCE A. KEHRLI
Staff Secretary
Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
ON THE RIGHT
No one, on reflection, can safely say that we have not.
To do so would mean to interrupt his own criticism of the
high price of meat for one thing. All Democrats deplore the
William F.
effects of inflation, and all Democrats recognize that the
dollar's humiliation in the money markets abroad is the di-
rect result of inflation at home.
Buckley Jr.
3. Did the Democrats suggest that the billion-dollar aid-
to-the-handicapped bill take the place of a billion dollars
AGAINST THE HANDICAPPED?
already appropriated for another social service? Did Sen.
Humphrey propose that Congress reduce by a billion dol-
lars appropriations for medical aid to the elderly? For edu-
The reaction to Richard Nixon's veto of the aid-to-the
cation for the young? For the purification of our water and
handicapped bill brilliantly illustrates a difference between
our air?
the Democratic and the Republican modes of operation; in-
We nudge up against the argument that we should
deed, a difference between the always elusive "liberal" and
commensurately reduce the military budget.
"conservative" ways of looking at things.
4. As a matter of fact, the military budget has been
Never mind for a moment any structural defect in the
reduced. In constant dollars we would need to spend $105
proposed law. Consider it simply as a means of helping the
billion to maintain the same level of spending the Demo-
handicapped by voting federal dollars for their use.
cratic Congress judged necessary when Nixon assumed of-
Sen. Humphrey emerged as the best, i.e., the quintes-
fice, subtracting the cost of the Vietnamese operation. Now,
sential, spokesman for the Democratic approach to such
spending on defense is what a society resolved to maintain
questions. For Humphrey it was very simply this: Do you
its sovereignty begins with, even as you begin a house by
or do you not believe in helping handicapped children? Pure
building a foundation. To economize by pouring more sand
and simple. The Senator went SO far as to personalize the
and less concrete into the cement is to be compared with
argument, going even beyond his abstract identification
economizing by offering the sick man a half-million units
with the cause of the handicapped. He spoke his rage over
of penicillin when the doctor has prescribed one million.
Nixon's veto on the floor of the Senate, saying: "I am the
5. Since approximately one half of the states of the
grandfather of a mentally retarded child. Our family can af-
union pay more money for social expenditures to Wash-
ford to take care of that child, but many families can't. I
ington than they receive for social expenditures from Wash-
ask every Senator here to search his own conscience. I
ington, what is to keep these states from appropriating
don't believe the President of the United States knew what
their own funds for the help of the handicapped? Sen.
he was doing. If he did, he ought to be ashamed of him-
Javits, for instance, who voted to override President Nix-
self." Such language is highly volatile. It spreads like wild-
on's veto, comes from a state that sends to Washington
fire through the college campuses.
$1.60 for every dollar it gets back. Why doesn't Sen. Javits
*
*
*
satisfy himself to recommend to New York State that it
From such an onslaught the conservative reels. If the
look after its own handicapped?
critic will listen, the conservatives can patiently ask a few
*
*
*
questions.
In his classic book, "Economies In One Lesson," the
1. Do the Democrats believe that there is as much pub-
economist Henry Hazlitt remarks that it is distinctively the
lic money available as there are worthy causes in the world
conservative who looks beyond the immediate effect of any
on which it might be spent?
particular expenditure; that the liberal foreshortens his
No one, on reflection-not even Teddy Kennedy-would
perspective, so that he is able to talk only in terms of are
answer that question with a categorical yes.
you or aren't you in favor of helping invalids? It is an
2. Do the Democrats acknowledge that we have at this
onerous responsibility that the conservative needs to bear
moment in American history strained the safe level of gov-
under the pressure of such demagogy, and we can only be
ernment spending?
grateful that Nixon and a few Senators have had the cour-
age to think in strategic terms.
10,1973
Na
Post
AMX
redued
4-11-73
Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
REC'D
EDUCATION SPECIAL REVENUE SHARING (BETTER SCHOOLS ACT)
1. Question:
Why does the proposal not provide any funds for developing
and enhancing State administrative capabilities?
Answer:
Our aim all along in developing revenue sharing is to
provide the States with flexibility to use those funds to
enhance the actual education of children in local schools.
Quite frankly, it has always been felt that the best way to
prevent any large unwieldy, unmanageable State govern-
mental bureaucracies from developing in the education
field was to not earmark specific funds for administrative
purposes but rather leave this responsibility to the actual
States where it would be subject to regular scrutiny by the
Governor, the State legislature and other interested
individuals and groups.
2. Question:
According to the House Education and Labor Committee
estimates, the States would receive almost half a billion
less
dollars under the Better Schools Act as opposed to what
they would receive if the categorical programs continued
to be funded at their present level under these conditions,
how can the State be expected to support this legislation?
Answer:
Well, you should remember that a large part of that half
billion dollars was in impact aid funds. It was also felt
that during the first year of operation the impact on the
actual education of students in local schools would not be
affected by the remaining reduction, in that the States
and local school districts would have the flexibility to use
Federal funds for the first time at their discretion within
the five broad new categories rather than in the 32 existing
narrow categories. To put it another way, we felt that
there were some categories where Federal funds were
being expended only because they were made available
and could only be used for that purpose. If the local
school district really had a choice we felt that they would
either drop those expenditures or put them into programs
which would have more meaningful impact.
Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
- 2 -
We would hope that the dollar authorizations contained
in the Administration's Better School Act would not be
the primary determinant of whether or not States and
localities support this legislation. First, we would
suggest that the principles in the Better Schools Act
be considered and if agreement is found here we can
then discuss the specific dollar authorizations that
should be included in the next fiscal year.
Let's remember one objective that I think we both have
in discussing the Better Schools Act. It's time that the
Congress and the Federal Government got out of the
business of serving as the State and local school board
for the entire nation.
Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
Dana Mead
June 1, 1973
1
Better Communities Act
Question: (Number 1)
Why does the proposal not contain any funds for State initiated projects for
community development?
Response:
The seven community development categorical grant programs which BCA
would replace were practically never used by states in the past. The
recipients of these grants were cities and to a lesser extent, counties.
The Administration, therefore, proposes a role for states in which a portion
of the BCA funds can be allocated within each state in accordance with state
priorities and in recognition of the states' considerable authority to affect
community development, e.g., through state land use policy, tax policies,
etc.
Question: (Number 2)
Why is the State required to pass through 50% of all funds to cities and
counties within SMSA's?
Response:
This is in keeping with the urban orientation of the bill. It is frankly a
metropolitan, growth-center bill.
All of the urban community development revenue sharing bills, those
introduced in the last session of Congress and in the present session, were
heavily weighted toward SMSA fund distribution.
The BCA proposal would assign half of a state's total discretionary fund to
the SMSA's within it. Each SMSA would be reserved a dollar amount based
on the objective needs formula, i. e., population, poverty (counted twice),
and overcrowded housing. While the state retains full discretion as to
where it may chose to assign funds within the different SMSA's, the distri-
bution according to a needs formula concentrates funding in the neediest
areas of the state.
Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
2
Question: (Number 3)
Why is the State role limited to administering required pass-through funds ?
Response:
Same answer as in Number 1 above.
Question: (Number 4)
What is the expected Congressional reaction to this proposal?
Response:
None of the community development revenue sharing bills introduced in the
last session of Congress or in the current session provided an important
role for states. They were simply "eligible recipients" of discretionary
funds.
Since the BCA proposes for the first time, guaranteed funding to states on a
needs basis, with great latitude in determining how the funds should be
apportioned, we would expect that Congressional rea ction to this proposal
will depend greatly on the interest and willingness of the states to take on
the new role.
Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
3
Disaster Preparedness and Assistance Act of 1973
Question:
What provisions are made to assist governors to prepare for a disaster
that seems certain to arise such as the Mississippi River flooding?
Response:
Under the Disaster Act, Title III provides for emergency assistance upon
the request of the governor to provide fedeal assistance necessary for
the protection of life including public health and safety. The Corps of
Engineers has separate authority to provide emergency assistance under
these circumstances which was provided in the case of the Great Lakes
flooding and the Mississippi River flooding.
Question:
What actions have been taken by Congress regarding the disaster legislation?
Response:
It has been introduced in the House by the Chairman of the Public Works
Committee and is H. R. 7690. No hearings have been scheduled as yet
in the House. The bill was introduced in the Senate jointly by the Chairman
of the Banking Committee and the Public Works Committee and is S 1840.
The Banking Committee will hold hearings first beginning June 11. The
Public Works Committee will hold hearings later.
Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
squech
July 10, 1973
MEMORANDUM FOR:
GENERAL ALEXANDER HAIG
FROM:
TERRENCE O'DONNELL
VIA:
DAVID N. PARKER
SUBJECT:
Summary of Presidential Activity
January 1 through July 10, 1973
The following is a summary of the President's schedule since January 1,
1973, with emphasis on numerical groupings of events.
1. Total number of Major Presidential Events: 502
Note: This included scheduled Oval Office events,
Congressional and Cabinet contacts and trips. Routine
staff contacts have not been included.
2. Meetings with Heads of State: 10
2/1 - 2/2
-
Prime Minister Heath
2/6
- King Hussein
4/2 - 4/3
- President Thieu
4/10
- Prime Minister Lee
5/2 - 5/3
- Chancellor Brandt
5/15
- Emperor Selassie
5/30
- President Eldjarn
5/31 - 6/1
- President Pompidou
6/5
- President Tolbert
6/18 . 6/24 - General Secretary Brezhnev
Note: The President and Brezhnev spent a total of 47
HOURS together: 8 3/4 hours in formal sessions with
advisors; 9 1/2 hours alone; 28 3/4 hours in informal
gatherings, social functions and signing ceremonies.
Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
2
3. Other Meetings with Senior Foreign Representatives: 35
Note: These include representatives from Israel, South
Korea, Ireland, Philippines, PRC, Indonesia, South Vletnam,
Japan, Great Britain, Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan, Soviet Union,
Bangladesh and France.
4. Received the Credentials of 20 Ambassadors.
5. Cabinet Meetings: 16
6. Meetings with individual Cabinet Members: 71
7. Meetings with Major Congressional Groups: 27
8. Other Congressional Meetings: 48
9. Press Conferences: 3
10. Major Trips: 12
1/26
- Homestead AFB, Florida (POW/MIA families)
2/16
- Jacksonville, Florida (Tour USS Albany)
2/17
- Tour Cape Florida Park
2/19
- Lauderhill, Florida (Inverrary Country Club-
Address Jackie Gleason Golf Classic)
2/20
- Columbia, South Carolina (Address South Carolina
General Assembly)
4/27
- Meridian, Mississippi (Dedicate Stennis Center)
5/19
- Norfolk, Virginia (Armed Forces Day)
5/30 - 6/1
- Iceland (Pompidou Summit)
6/8
- Orlando, Florida (Florida Tech Graduation)
6/15
- Pekin, Illinois (Dirksen Library)
6/22
- San Clemente (Brezhnev Summit)
7/9
- Kansas City, Missouri (Kelley Swearing In)
11. Major Addresses: 10
12. Major Economic Meetings: 18
Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
13. Miscellaneous
Other noteworthy events included meetings with Governor Evans,
Governor Reagan, Governor Rockefeller, Governor Holton,
Governor Scranton, Governor Walker, Mayor Helms, Mayor
Perk, Mayor Parrish, Dr. DeBakey, UN Ambassador Scali,
Ambassador Bruce, PRC Journalists, Chinese Acrobats,
George Allen, and the Labor Management Advisory Committee.
Also, the Distinguished Service Medal Award Ceremony,
posthumous presentation Citizens Medal to Roberto Clements,
POW Reception and dinner, and the swearing in of Secretary
Schlessinger and Attorney General Richardson.
Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
Probably the most absolute and blanket depiction of the Executive's
power of impoundment of funds was authored by Congressman Claronce
Cannon, Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee in the House
Appropriation Committee Report on the Anti-Deficiency Act, Report No.
1797, 81st Congress, 2nd Session at page 9, as follows:
"Economy neither begins nor ends in the Halls of Congress.
Under the Budget and Accounting Act, it is the responsibility
of the executive branch of the Government to submit annually
to the Congress the estimates of the amounts which officials
in the executive branch feel are required to support the
necessary activities of the Government. The Congress
reviews these estimates and decides the maximum amounts
which must be appropriated for these various activities,
and the annual appropriation bill provides the sums so deter-
mined by the Congress.
"Appropriation of a given amount for a particular activity
constitutes only a ceiling upon the amount which should be
expended for that activity. The administrative officials
responsible for administration of an activity for which
appropriation is made bear the final burden for rendering
all necessary service with the smallest amount possible
within the ceiling figure fixed by the Congress. Every
official of the Government who has responsibility for
administration of a program must assume a portion of the
burden for the deficit in the Federal Treasury. In the first
place, he must take into account the condition of the Federal
finances when he recommends to the Bureau of the Budget
the amount which, in his judgment, is necessary for supporting
his activity. In the second place, it is his responsibility to
so control and administer the activities under his jurisdiction
as to expend as little as possible out of the funds appropriated. 11
This language was persuasive to the House on the consideration
of a bill introduced by Congressman Hebert which would have made it
unlawful for any officer, agent or employee of the United States or
any agency or Department thereof to withhold or impound or otherwise
prevent any monies appropriated by the Congress from being promptly
used for the purpose for which they were appropriated. (See Congressional
Record of March 17, 1958, page 4063, and H.R. 11441, 85th Congress,
2nd Session. )
Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
August 2, 1973
BACKGROUND PAPER: THE PRESIDENT'S DECISIONS O₁ THE
TAPES AND OTHER PRESIDENTIAL
DOCUMENTS
(1) Reasons for Protecting the Confidentiality of Presidential
Documents
The President's decisions on the tapes and other Presidential
documents are based on solid grounds of both a legal and practical
nature:
-- Disclosure would do serious and lasting damage to the
Presidency: The fundamental issue here is whether a President
of the United States may continue to conduct his conversations and
receive advice in private. Heretofore, all three branches of
Government have recognized that such privacy is vital to the way
that decisions are made by the most powerful leader in the world,
and it has been protected by the doctrine of "Executive privilege. 11
President Nixon put it this way in his July 6th letter to Senator
Ervin:
"No President could function if the private papers of his office,
prepared by his personal staff, were open to public scrutiny.
Formulation of sound public policy requires that the President and
his personal staff be able to communicate among themselves in
complete candor, and that their tentative judgments, their explora-
tion of alternatives, and their frank comments on issues and
personalities at home and abroad remain confidential. 11 In our
tripartite system of government, such communication is on an
equally important plane with a legislator's communications with
his assistants or a judge's with his clerk.
-- Power to protect Presidential documents must remain with
the President: The power to decide what papers to release in the
public interest has always resided solely in the President, and it
must remain there if the Chief Executive is to be ensured of the
Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
-2-
privacy of his own office. The attempt to pierce into uniquely
Presidential powers is an attempt to assert powers which lie only
with the Presidency. The President has already cooperate.' by
releasing a great many documents such as logs, calendars, and other
papers to the Ervin Committee, but the release of those papers
stem from judgments by the President as to particular Presidential
documents. His decision to release them is a decision based on
powers that are vested in the executive branch.
-- Release of two tapes to H.R. Haldeman: In public testimony
before the Ervin Committee, former Presidential assistant H.R.
Haldeman testified as to his recollection from notes he took when
listening to two of the tape recordings. Senator Ervin and others
have objected that if Mr. Haldeman is allowed to listen to selected
tapes, the Ervin Committee and others should also have access to
those tapes. All questions of access to the tapes were decided by
the President based on his judgment of who could best assist him
in determining the facts of the Watergate matter without jeopardizing
the confidentiality of the tapes. That decision amounts to an exercise
of a power which resides solely in the President, and a decision
made prior to public knowledge of the existence of the tapes.
-- Release of the tapes would not resolve the central issues of
Watergate: The President's power over disclosure of Presidential
documents is a basic, fundamental power of his office. It cannot
be disregarded or overruled by another branch of the Government.
In compelling situations, as a matter of Presidential discretion,
and in response to the most compelling considerations, the President
may volunteer access to Presidential papers. If there were but
one document or one tape in question, easily isolated, which could
end all doubt on all questions, there then might possibly be a
compelling consideration to overcome the President's power of
determining disclosure. However, the President cannot be forced
to disclose such papers without doing violence to the doctrine of
separation of powers. Here, the interests are notbalanced. The
President's authority over Executive office documents clearly
outweighs any countervailing interest of proving or disproving
guilt. Quite the contrary, balancing against the President's power
over disclosure is the question of a melange of tapes and documents
Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
-3-
which could be inconclusive and simply raise more questions --
an ambiguity arising naturally from different points of view and
interpretation. As the President said in his July 23 letter to Senator
Ervin: "The tapes are entirely consistent with what I know to be
the truth and what I have stated to be the truth. However, as in
any verbatim recording of informal conversations, they contain
comments that persons with different perspe ctives and motivations
would inevitably interpret in different ways. 11
-- The tapes contain materials wholly unrelated to Watergate
and clearly within the realm of Executive privilege: As the Presi-
dent wrote to Mr. Ervin, "There are inseparably interspersed in them
a great many very frank and very private comments on a wide range
of issues and individuals wholly extraneous to the Committee's
inquiry."
-- Release of the tapes would lead to an endless process of
disclosure and explanation of private Presidential records: Because
of misunder standings which might arise over an initial release, there
would inevitably be strong pressure to release more and more mater-
ials until every single Presidential conversation would be threat-
ened. It would be a field day for those less interested in the truth
than in bringing down the President.
-- Release of the tapes would also jeopardize our relations
with foreign leaders: Once the tapes become part of the public
domain, no foreign leader can be wholly assured that his own
conversations with the President will not similarly be revealed.
It is not inconceivable, for instance, that suits could be brought
by anti-war activists to reveal previous conversations relating
to the conduct of the Vietnam war.
-- Mr. Cox has no better claim on these documents than the
Senate Committee: Some observers have fallaciously argued that
since the Special Prosecutor appears to work within the executive
branch, he should not be subject to the same separation-of-powers
Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
-4-
arguments that apply to the Ervin Committee. Professor Charles
Alan Wright, a consultant to the White House counsel, has supplied
two answers to that argument in his letter to Mr. Cox of July 23.
First, in Mr. Wright's words to Mr. Cox: 11
if you are an
ordinary prosecutor and thus part of the executive branch as well
as an officer of the court, you are subject to the instructions of your
superiors, up to and including the President, and can have access
to Presidential papers only as and if the President sees fit to make
them available to you. 11 Second, it is clear that the reason that
Mr. Cox is seeking the tapes is to make use of them in the courts,
another branch of Government to which all separation-of-powers
considerations clearly apply. Indeed, the so-called "Cox subpoena"
was actually issued by the Grand Jury, an arm of the judiciary.
-- Purported Waiver of Executive Privilege: Mr. Cox also
has contended that he has a right to tapes and documents under the
theory that by permitting former White House aides to testify, the
President has waived executive privilege. Of course, the President
has done no such thing. There is an important distinction between
testimony on one hand and tapes and papers on the other. As the
President stated in his letter to Senator Ervin on July 6th: 'While
notes and papers often involve a wide-ranging variety and intermingling
of confidential matters, testimony can, at least, be limited to matters
within the scope of the investigation. For this reason, and because
of the special nature of this particular investigation, I have agreed
to permit the unrestricted testimony of present and former White
House staff members before your Committee.' 11 There is control
over verbal testimony -- relevant information is filtered from
irrelevant information. But materials in papers and on tapes are
physically intertwined and often inseparable. The very good reason
for the President to allow testimony while not releasing tapes and
certain documents is the very reason that he cannot be judged to
have waived his powers to invoke executive privilege.
-- On balance, the national interest in protecting the confi-
dentiality of Presidential documents outweighs the interest in
punishing any one individual: As Mr. Wright pointed out: "The
Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
-5-
successful prosecution of those who have broken the laws is a
very important national interest, but it has long been recognized
that there are other national interests that, in specific cases, may
override this. When Congress provided in the Jencks Act, 18 U.S. C.,
Section 3500 (d), that the United States may choose to refuse to
disclose material that the court has ordered produced, even though
in some instances this will lead to a mistrial and to termination of
the prosecution, it was merely recognizing that, as the courts had
repeatedly held, there are circumstances in which other legitimate
national interests requiring that documents be kept confidential
outweigh the interest in punishing a particular malefactor. 11 It is
up to the President, and the President only, to decide whether the
public interest would be served by disclosure of Presidential
documents. In this instance, the President has decided that the
incremental advantage that would come to the Ervin Committee and
to the prosecution from release of these tapes and documents would
be far outweighed by the damage that such disclosure would do to
the effective functioning of the Presidency.
It is also said that executive privilege must yield in this case
because remarks others made to the President may have been
pursuant to a conspiracy on their part to obstruct justice. Executive
privilege cannot be invoked to shield executive officers from crim-
inal prosecution, but the President's role in these conversationswas
in the course of his Constitutional duty to see that the laws are faith-
fully executed, and it is the President who is invoking executive
privilege, not those who may have committed crimes. The
Supreme Court has repeatedly held that the United States cannot
be required to produce confidential documents in a criminal case,
although it may have to choose either to produce or to have the
prosecution dismissed. It is for the President to determine whether
it is more important to have a criminal brought to book or to
protect confidential information that the Executive Branch has,
including the most confidential conversations of the President
himself.
-- The Preservation of confidentiality is a paramount consti-
tutional consideration: History is made up of more than momentary
Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
6 -
passions or transitory headlines. At stake is the most central
doctrine of the American Government. Setting a new precedent --
one which would allow the fishhook of the legislative and judicial
branches to be cast over an historic executive barrier -- would
breach 200 years of established rule and bring into question the
very ability of a President to govern. Even the apparently re-
levant attempt here to remake history will, in the long run, do
irreparable damage to the pillars upon which our democracy
rests.
(2) Cooperation Already Provided to the Committee
As the President stated in his letter to Senator Ervin on July 6,
the cooperation of the Administration with the Senate Committee
has already been "genuine, extensive, and, in the history of
such matters, extraordinary. 11
-- Members of the President's staff have been instructed to
cooperate fully with the Committee in furnishing information
pertinent to the inquiry.
-- The President on May 22 directed that Executive privilege
no longer be invoked for present or former members of the
White house staff "as to any testimony concerning possible
criminal conduct
in the matters presently under investigation. "
-- He has waived the attorney-client privilege with regard to
his former Counsel John Dean.
-- On July 25, the President told Senator Ervin that this
"cooperation has continued and it will continue. 11
# # #
Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
speck
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
December 17, 1973
To: WHITE HOUSE STAFF
From: Ken W. Clawson
I thought you would be
interested in the attached.
you
Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
OTTO E. PASSMAN
COMMITTEES:
2108 RAYBURN OFFICE BUILDING
CONGRESSMAN
APPROPRIATIONS
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20515
5TH DISTRICT, LOUISIANA
CHAIRMAN:
DISTRICT OFFICE 1:
FOREIGN OPERATIONS
NEW POST OFFICE BUILDING
Congress of the United States
SUBCOMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
P.O. Box 6000
MONROE. LOUISIANA 71201
Douse of Representatives
MEMBER:
PUBLIC WORKS-A.E.C.
DISTRICT OFFICE 2:
OLD COURTHOUSE BUILDING
SUBCOMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
NATCHITOCHES, LOUISIANA 71457
Mashington, D.C. 20515
MARTHA K. WILLIAMS
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT
November 1, 1973
My Fellow Americans:
FACTS AS A DEMOCRAT UNDERSTANDS THEM
Without intending to be offensive, the record should be put in the
proper perspective. In doing so, it will be necessary to refer to certain
unpleasant incidents of the past and recognize that some of the prospective
presidential candidates of today must conceal the past records of some Democrats
well, otherwise, embarrassing incidents will shine through even with the radical
segment of the news media assisting in obliterating past incidents.
The radical element of the news media can, when they so determine, take
the greatest public official in America, put him in the gutter and convince a
majority of the people that he is a crook. The same segment of the news media
can take the biggest phony in America and make him appear superior to a combi-
nation of Einstein and Solomon. We are seeing this happen in America today.
Let us look at the record:
1 - When Judas betrayed Christ, he had his followers, and according to
Biblical history his views were effective, but we all know now that those
claims did not alter the facts of what Christ represented and why he was
sent here and finally crucified by those who followed Judas's thinking. I
mention this as an example and not for the purpose of comparison.
2 - When it was reported that certain segments of the Democratic Party
(and there is available information to support this contention) stole the election
from Richard M. Nixon in 1960 by the manipulation of the votes in New Mexico,
Illinois and probably Texas, did the Republicans try to impeach and destroy
President Kennedy for the actions of certain segments of the Democratic Party?
The answer is no!
3 - When Senator Lyndon Johnson's trusted aide, Mr. Jenkins, got caught
in an act of indecency, and the Senator had him released, did the Republicans
jump on Senator Johnson? No! When President Johnson's aide, Mr. Jenkins, got
caught in a similar situation with a male Russian, did the Republicans make
this a public issue and try to involve Mr. Johnson, including threat of
impeachment? The answer is nol
4 - Of course, as unpleasant as it is to mention the episodes of Billy
Sol Estes, Bobby Baker and others, I cannot find where the Republicans exploited
these issues in trying to destroy Democratic candidates for any public office.
Therefore, it is wrong to try to destroy our President through innuendo and false
accusations about incidents which he had nothing to do with.
Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
- 2 -
5 - I say without equivocation or mental reservation that in my considered
judgment, President Richard M. Nixon's integrity is unimpeachable. His greatness
has been established--so much so that certain segments of the Democratic Party,
of which I am a member, and for political reasons, are trying to. destroy his
greatness. Does it not appear that there are prejudiced judges who, through a
subconscious urging, may be making themselves a party to the scheme to destroy
President Nixon, and acting as prosecutors rather than judges?
6 - When Mr. Nixon was sworn in as President, we were in the midst of
one of the most destructive and expensive wars our nation had ever been
engaged in. Evidently, President Johnson could not develop a formula to con-
clude the war so he left the White House a broken-hearted man, and I believe
that President Johnson felt he was turning the nation over to a man who had the
ability and determination to conclude this terrible war that was claiming 300
precious American lives weekly. Could this have so embarrassed the Democrats
that they are trying to blot out this great accomplishment?
7 - When Mr. Nixon was sworn in, there were 543,000 troops in Vietnam;
the cost of the war was running at $32 Billion a year; and there were no plans
to conclude the war. However, Mr. Nixon quickly formulated a plan to conclude
the war that started under a Democratic Administration. Not only did he live
up to every promise he had made and reduce the number of troops in Vietnam
from 543,000 to zero, he secured the release of all of our prisoners of war
who were deteriorating in dungeons in far-off lands. My, my, but what an
accomplishment for a great American President.
8 - When Mr. Nixon was sworn in as President, crime was running rampant
in this country we love so much. He is slowly but surely bringing crime under
control. Will this trend be reversed by present-day court decisions? What is
the explanation for a judge to sentence a man to 35 years in prison for the
Watergate break-in, a crime that was not an act of personal violence, and in
the same city or perhaps in the same court, a prejudiced judge released those
who have confessed to armed robbery, rape and arson, maybe with the trial
judges blaming society for the criminal acts. Where is justice?
9 - When Mr. Nixon was sworn in as President, the Supreme Court was so
distorting the Constitution by erroneous interpretations, that they were turn-
ing our nation into a socialistic state. Mr. Nixon is replacing such Justices
with men who render opinions based upon the Constitution, and such a court will
ultimately benefit all Americans.
10 - When President Nixon assumed command, he recognized that China with
its 800 million population, representing 25% of the total population of the
world, was developing in every sense, even in the nuclear field, at an
unbelievable pace. He knew that for the preservation of our nation we could
not afford to permit China to affiliate with the Russians. His decision to go
to Peking and establish a friendly relationship with China will keep them out
of the Russian orbit and could prove to be the greatest decision ever made by an
American President. History will take care of this accomplishment adequately.
Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
- 3 -
: I 11 Mr. Nixon is trying hard to put our fiscal affairs back on a business
basis, but somehow without exception, every time he moves in that direction the
liberals and socialistic-minded try to embarrass him and stop him, and in too
many instances they have been successful.
12 - May I refer you to the infamous Daniel Ellsburg, who no doubt should
have been convicted of treason for stealing top-secret documents and passing them
along so that they came into the possession of the Communists. He peddled them
to the left-wing press and doubtless others. Instead of being convicted of trea-
son, what happened? A liberal judge set him free without a completed trial.
Where has he been recently? In Washington, appearing before a Senate committee
receiving almost a hero's welcome. What is going on in our country? Look at
those who are trying to destroy our President! Do you wish to turn this country
over to the type of people who by majority nominated George McGovern as the Demo-
cratic nominee in Miami? We are in trouble in this country. We are being misled,
and some of our best people are having their minds slowly but surely shaped by
prejudiced commentators, and the radical segment of the news media. From experi-
ence, I can tell you that America's national broadcasters are obliterating
anything favorable to our President, spending their time clouding issues, making
false accusations and, in some instances, downright misrepresentations. Listen
to some of these broadcasters for verification of this statement.
13 -- I do not condone what some of President Nixon's aides have done, but
remember that they did not break into Democratic Headquarters looking for silver
or gold. It was a political act. Doubtless, they were looking for political
information, perhaps trying to find out how the people who later appeared in
Miami to support McGovern had gotten control of the Democratic Party. (This
statement is completely free of racial implication.) Without attempting to
defend their actions, these actions did not involve the security of our country.
I am thoroughly convinced that President Nixon had no knowledge whatsoever of
the Watergate break-in. Let us prosecute the guilty, but not involve our
President when there is no indication that he had any knowledge of their actions.
14 - Now, how about Archibald Cox? He is a liberal Democrat. He was
Solicitor General in the Cabinet of President John F. Kennedy. When Mr. Nixon
appointed him Special Prosecutor, he thought that this man would be fair and
impartial and would ferret out the truth, but what happened? It was discovered
that this liberal Democrat evidently had one thing in mind and that was to
destroy Richard M. Nixon, and no doubt try to help elect former President John
F. Kennedy's brother, Ted Kennedy, to the Presidency. Why did former Special
Prosecutor Archibald Cox spend so much time talking with Ted Kennedy while he
was investigating? When the U.S. Court of Appeals sustained the lower court,
in effect it said to our President, comply with the decision or offer an accept-
able compromise. As we read the record, we see where Senator Ervin, Senator
Baker, the Attorney General and the President had reached a compromise and
had prepared to submit it to Judge Sirica. We are also led to believe that
Judge Sirica would have accepted the compromise, enabling the President to
Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum
- 4 -
protect the confidentiality of the Presidency, but then this liberal, vindictive
Democrat, Archibald Cox, balked. In effect, by his actions, he said I am after
a full bucket of blood, nothing less. So, the President had to fire him.
May I say again I believe deeply, based upon facts, that President Richard M.
Nixon's integrity is unimpeachable. It is almost unbelievable that this great
man has been able to accomplish so much for America with the prejudiced commen-
tators, the radical element of the news media, the Communists and other left-
wingers out to destroy him. President Nixon's troubles began when he started
fighting Communism and with his success in putting that all-time Communist,
Alger Hiss, in jail.
I could have remained silent during this crisis had. I been a political coward,
thinking only of the Democratic Party and my personal political interests. Cer-
tainly I would have been spared some criticism, but to have been silent would
have violated every principle by which I have lived my life. I sincerely believe
that in the end right will prevail--if not before man--certainly before God, and
I am just as convinced that in the end the position I have taken in support of
my President will be the correct one.
Repeating, at no time has President Nixon been in noncompliance with the
laws of our land. However, our great President, because of public pressure and
the misunderstanding of the American public, including some members of the
Judiciary, is on the verge of being forced to violate his obligation by reveal-
ing highly sensitive and confidential information. It is to be regretted that
some members of the Judiciary do not look at executive privilege in the same
manner as lawyer and client privilege, confidential audience between priest and
parishioner and highly confidential conversations between man and wife. Again,
where is justice and reason, and how far will the lunatic fringe go to destroy
a great President?
I am a lifelong Democrat, but I am an American first. I shall support right
as I understand it. I am proud that my President has the courage, wisdom and
determination to do what is right, knowing well that his greatness will shine as
a bright example to generations yet unborn, and when finally he has gone to his
reward, hundreds of millions of people throughout the world will know that this
world is indeed a better place in which to live for President Nixon's having
lived in it.
Finally, may I urge you to read the Constitution of the United States and
then ponder this question prayerfully. WHAT CRIME HAS OUR GREAT PRESIDENT
COMMITTED TO WARRANT THE ABUSE HEAPED UPON HIM BY LUNATICS, LIBERALS AND
BLOODTHIRSTY HATERS AND, IN MANY INSTANCES, MISGUIDED GOOD AMERICANS? Please
do your duty and get your communication off to leaders of the House of Repre-
sentatives, protesting the unwarranted action that a few propose.
Sincerely,
OTTO E. PASSMAN
Member of Congress
Reproduced at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum