Letter from Mark Bittner to Senator James E. Murray, with Attachment

COPY FOR; - PRESIDENT HARRY S. TRUMAN MARK R. BITTNER CARL J. KNAUSS MILES K. PERSON MYRON L. FETTERMAN President RICHARD A. ABBOTT the Secretary Treasurer Vice-Presidents CHARLES H. SHAFER Asst. Secretary Lehigh County Taxpayers' Leaque, Inc. AFFILIATED WITH FRED W. FEGLEY TAX JUSTICE LEAGUE OF PENNSYLVANIA Executive Secretary LEAGUE 1034 Hamilton Street Allentown, Penna. Phone 2-8424 Board of Directors April 2, 1946. Counsel: RICHARD A. ABBOTT RICHARD A. ABBOTT, Atty MARK R. BITTNER Senator Murray(D-Mont),Chairman , ROBERT V. RITTER, Atty. PAUL C. ETTINGER MYRON L. FETTERMAN Senate Labor Committee A. S. GERMAN ALLEN V. HEYL Senate Office Building CARL J. KNAUSS Washington, D.C. 286-a S. E. H. KRATZER BECO RICHARD G. MILLER SERVIL MILES K. PERSON Dear Senator: GOVERT ADAM POTTEIGER WARREN A. SCHADT THOMAS E. SEMMEL The newspapers announce the Senate Labor Committee hearing CHARLES H. SHAFER HARRY J. SPROUT and consideration of legislation to set up a national compulsory health insurance plan, known as the National Health Act of 1945, S 1606 (Murray-Wagner) and H.R.4730 (Dingell). We wish to assure you at the outset of the opposition to socialized medicine. Socialized medicine means that all doctors work as employes of the government, and placing the expenditure of between three and four billion dollars annually into the hands of one man, the Surgeon General, would be 'socialized medicine" in its most vicious form. Nearly 300,000 bureaucrats would be necessary to administer the system. It would establish machinery for the political distribution of Medical Care. The concept is strictly totalitarian. You doubtlessly know why doctors so relentlessly and vigorously oppose these measures. Such a system would not allow physicians standards of ethics of the medicial profession and rob it of its independence and self respect. There should be no imposition of restriction to deprive practitioners of the right to conduct their business under the free enterprise system and the American way of life. This system has always been most advantageous to the general public. If all of the provisions of this proposed legislation were put into operation, the process would destroy the private practice of medicine in the united States. We necessarily oppose government intervention in the field of private enterprise, such as originally proposed in socialized housing bills, HR 4761 and S 1592; in socialized medicine bills, S.0606 and HR 4730; and Federal aid to U.S. Schools, "useless bills" - S 717 and S 863. Such socialized thinking as in the proposed socialized legislation is un-American - simply an attempt to regiment private business and subject it to government control and regulation. Sincerely mark R. Bither