PRESCRIPTION FOR CONGRESS
Follette, Sen. Robert M. La Jr.
Prescription For Congress By SEN. ROBERT M. LA FOLLETTE, Jr. EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the second of two articles by Sen. La Follette, who is chairman of the special Joint Congressional Committee now...
...They would participate in discussions of policies involving their departments...
...they would have an opportunity to present their views and would subject themselves to questioning by members of Congress...
...The bills cover the complete range of all governmental activity, and it is physically impossible for a member of Congress to be fully informed, to offer desirable amendments, to debate the merits, or to vote intelligently thereon without a competent staff to assist him...
...There is no good reason why the Congress in this day and age should act as the common council of the District of Columbia...
...Another proposal along this line that deserves serious consideration is a suggestion that was made many years ago by my close friend, the late Sen...
...The Office of the Legislative Counsel—-each branch of Congress has its own Office—is primarily a bill-drafting service where members of Congress may get their ideas put into legal language consistent with existing law...
...The technicalities and complexities of many pieces of legislation are almost overwhelming...
...Weaken or destroy it, and the liberties of the people will go by the board...
...I have recollections of Senate debate on private bills many years ago when members of Congress were able to keep abreast of private bills as well as public bills...
...Passage of an enabling statute or a municipal charter would rid Congress of this thankless job and put it squarely in the hands of those who are-directly and vitally interested in the affairs of the District...
...International affairs, including the ramifications of the atomic bomb, demand not only statesmanship of the highest order but an efficient and adequately staffed Congress...
...THE Congress should divest itself of certain secondary functions which take valuable time both in committees and on the floors of both Houses...
...Congress has already made a start in that direction by granting some of the executive departments the right to settle certain claims, under restricted conditions...
...As the name suggests, the organization is a staff that will do specific reference and research work for members of Congress upon request, using the facilities of the Library of Congress...
...It would dissipate much of the distrust that Congress has towards the departments, and vice versa...
...We cannot hope to cope satisfactorily with all these problems as they arise unless we have a Congress that is organized and equipped to do the job...
...Primarily, it would provide the machinery by which high policy-making functions could be exercised on a continuous and sustained basis...
...Once the committee structure is reorganized, I believe the standing committees should be directed by the respective Houses of Congress to maintain continuing oversight on the administration and application of the legislation which they have originated...
...Neither is a satisfactory method of developing a unity and continuity of national policy...
...Upwards of 15,000 bills are introduced in each Congress...
...THE question is, "What can be done to improve the situation...
...Military problems, compulsory military training, and social and economic problems of all sorts are raising issues that require close reasoning and careful thinking...
...Instead of continually leaning on the Executive branch, the Congress should provide itself with its own experts and sources of information...
...After the legislation is on the books, (or for that matter with reference to any Government activity), the Congressman or Senator is a personal liaison with the Administrative agencies...
...This procedure would have the advantage that the entire membership of either House could get first-hand Information...
...It is not enough for an individual member of Congress to inquire and request to be kept informed for the benefit of his constituents...
...Let us be aware of the fact that upon a stronger and more effective Congress may well depend the preservation of individual liberty and democracy in the United States...
...It is unfortunate that their offices are not better equipped to give him better service...
...IPERSONALLY feel that the establishment of a Legislative-Executive Council composed of party leaders in Congress and the members of the President's Cabinet offers many possibilities for improving the present relationships between the Congress and the Executive branches of the Government on the high policy level...
...In many areas of the world, there is no such thing as individual human rights left...
...a tax bill of pages and pages of legal language, with immense economic implications lurking behind each phrase...
...Then, properly equipped, the Congress should establish a formal framework for close liaison with the Executive branch...
...The Congress as an institution is your major bulwark against oppression...
...More recently, the idea has been ably advocated by Rep...
...It might avoid much of the petty quarreling that often occurs...
...In addition, the %taff compiles digests of all current bills and assembles for ready-reference various material relating to current legislation...
...A revision of the GI Bill of Rights, and other veteran^ legislation, an overhaul of the Social Security program, and a general tax revision are imminent and will require careful analysis of multitudinous details...
...I mentioned at the beginning of these articles that the march of current events was imposing an ever-enlarging burden on Congress in the legislative field...
...It would not supplant, but rather supplement, committee hearings •where a mass of detail, important and unimportant, is given consideration...
...One of the suggestions that has met with considerable favor is the expansion of the Legislative Reference Service and the Office of the Legislative Counsel...
...However, this will not obviate the need for better staffing of committees, as reorganized...
...This is highly important because we have learned time and time again in recent years that the administration of laws passed by the Congress results in a misinterpretation or thwarting of the intent of Congress when they were passed...
...Kefauver of Tennessee, who appeared before our committee and discussed the proposal, despite the fact that it is beyond the scope of our investigation in that it involves procedure on the floor cf the Senate or House...
...Sinister pressure groups and lobbyists are usually spotted quickly by members of Congress, and committee cross-examination usually brings out the sponsorship or backing of these groups...
...In the light of these conditions it becomes the duty of every citizen of this Republic to remember that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty...
...Personally, I am very sympathetic toward the individual who, in bewilderment or need of additional assistance, asks his Senators and Representatives in Congress to help him...
...nevertheless, for the protection of the public, it may be desirable to require those who appear before Congress to register and make full disclosure of sponsorship and financial backing...
...Thousands of telegrams, letters, and postcards from the general public daily assist him in his job...
...The proposal is that Cabinet members be given the opportunity to appear, on invitation or regular intervals, before the whole of either or both Houses...
...About 1,000 are passed, usually in language considerably amended...
...First, the Congress has a right to know all the essential facts about those who appear before Congress ©r otherwise to urge the passage or rejection of pending legislation...
...If Congress is to discharge its full responsibility it must follow through to see that its laws are administered as intended...
...The only procedures we have now for such liaison are in the various formal reports (annual and otherwise) to the Congress, and in the appearances of executive officers of the government as witnesses before Congressional committees...
...Similarly, Congress should transfer to some suitable administrative agency the burdensome task of investigating petty claims against the Government which involve the passage of a great number of private bills...
...The Legislative Reference Service is an organization in the Library of Congress...
...Rather, it is essential that Congress as an organization be kept informed continually of important activities, just as a board of directors of any corporation is kept informed...
...Of late, the Congress has been unable to keep pace, and private bills are given careless and indifferent consideration...
...To cite my own personal experience, it frequently takes me more than one hour just to sign my daily outgoing mail...
...La Follette, who is chairman of the special Joint Congressional Committee now preparing its program for the modernization of Congress...
...Such a council would be mutually beneficial...
...The first appeared last week...
...Then, it must be remembered that the legislative mail is only a part of the job in dealing with constituents...
...The persons seeking redress and the Congress too would be better off if this job were given to some special administrative organization...
...Both of these organizations should be expanded to provide greater assistance to the members of Congress...
...No matter how worthy a particular claim nor how assiduously a member of Congress sponsors corrective legislation, it is all to no avail if other members of Congress who must pass on its merits fail to have sufficient opportunity to become acquainted with all the details...
...Bronson Cutting of New Mexico...
...NO less important nor complex is the legislative program that looms just ahead of us...
...There was a time when Congress was able to do this job...
...nor the need for additional clerical assistance for individual members...
...Both lay-down policy and both are entitled to know how that policy is working out...
...But each of these communications entails not only the task of carefully evaluating the advice or opinion, but usually also requires a personal reply, if possible, in return...
...It is the prime pillar of our democracy and free institutions...
...There is one thought, above all, that I want to emphasize...
...ramifications of social legislation, immigration, commerce, or agriculture—these are all in a day's work for members of Congress...
...Both of these are essentially negative approaches similar to that of locking the barn door after the horse is stolen...
...scientific technicalities of patent legislation or atomic energy...
...INSOFAR as the relations of the Congress with the public are concerned, I can mention several situations that deserve some attention...
...Complex treaties such as the recent Mexican water treaty, which required weeks and weeks of hearings...
...In varying degrees dictatorships and police states exercise their unrestrained power over vast numbers of individuals...
...Much as I regret to do so, I am also frequently forced to use a form letter reply to the avalanche of correspondence that may be received on a particularly controversial piece of legislation...
Vol. 9 • December 1945 • No. 49
