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4525536
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Ford Press Releases - Executive, 1971
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4525536
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Ford Press Releases - Executive, 1971
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Gerald R. Ford Congressional Papers
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Bureaucracy
Government reorganization
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1971-03-31
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1971
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1971-03-01
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1971
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The original documents are located in Box D7, folder "Ford Press Releases - Executive,
1971" of the Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R.
Ford Presidential Library.
Copyright Notice
The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of
photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. The Council donated to the United
States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.
Works prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public
domain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to
remain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject to a valid
copyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Digitized from Box D7 of the Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
CONGRESSMAN
NEWS
GERALD R. FORD
HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADER
RELEASE
-FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE--
March 25, 1971
Remarks by Rep. Gerald R. Ford, placed in the Congressional Record of March 25, 1971
Mr. Speaker, in the last four decades more and more power has been
concentrated in the Washington bureaucracy.
During that time the Congress appears to have been fascinated by sheer
numbers--a fantastic increase in numbers of Government programs, numbers of Federal
dollars allocated to those programs, and numbers of Federal workers employed in
those programs.
The problems remain. In fact, the problems have become worse. And in
recent years when Presidents have tried to point to progress they have talked in
terms of increased dollar outlays rather than results.
This has brought crushing disappointment to the American people--a bitter
realization that performance has fallen far short of political promises.
There is an inescapable conclusion--that the system is at fault, that
thorough-going changes are needed in the fundamental structure of the Federal
Government and the federal aid system.
The President has sent us his proposals for Federal revenue sharing--and
these are most welcome.
Today we have received the President's proposal for governmental
reorganization. This, combined with revenue sharing, places us on the threshold
of a new era in American political history, an era in which the people are given
more control over their own destinies.
We need only look at the record and we must recognize that governmental
reorganization is a must. In the past 20 years the number of Cabinet departments
has increased from 9 to 12; the number of major independent agencies has increased
from 27 to 41; the number of Federal employes has increased from 2.1 million to
2.7 million; the Federal budget has increased from $42 billion to more than
$200 billion; and the number of Federal programs has jumped more than 10-fold to
about 1,400.
We need wholesale reorganization of the Federal government. We need to
reorganize the Executive Branch along the lines of the functions served by various
departments and agencies, not the constituencies they now serve.
This is the thrust of the President's plan--to organize the Federal
Government by function. This, I believe, would eliminate overlapping and clear
away the present complicated maze.
Our citizens are sick of the complexity of big government. They are sick of
waste. They are sick of the miles and miles of red tape in which government now is
entangled.
and the people with it.
I urge the Congress to give careful study to the President's proposals and
to bring order out of chaos. The Congress must not stand in the way of progress.
###
GERALD LIVERSA