Letters, statements, etc., submitted for the record by-Continued Donohue, F. Joseph, Commissioner of the District of Columbia, letter Excerpt from a task force report of the Hoover Commission re Excerpt from dissent of Justice Brandeis in Myers v. United Excerpt from Hoover Commission report on General Manage- Excerpt from Senate Expenditures Committee on Reorganization Excerpt from Supreme Court opinion in the Steel Seizure case, Excerpt from Supreme Court opinion re Federal Trade Commis- Task force report analyzing advantages and disadvantages of an 87 Three important functions to be performed on behalf of the Inter- Lanham, Hon. Henderson, a Representative in Congress from the Lea, Hon. Clarence F., Washington, D. C.: McCormick, Robert L. L., Research Director, Citizens' Committee Letter from Morris Sayre, to Congressman William L. Dawson, Exhibit II-Memorandum on savings estimated and achieved 271 Exhibit I—Analysis of reorganization bills before the House 272 277 70 Excerpt of a statement made to a subcommittee of the Com- 67 70 225 150 Osmers, Hon. Frank C. Jr., a Representative in Congress from the Rowe, James H. Jr., attorney, former member of the Commission on ment Thurston, John L., Deputy Administrator, Federal Security Agency, 164 21 154 Letter from V. C. Burke, Acting Postmaster General, to Congressman William L. Dawson, June 10, 1952.. 285 Letter from J. W. Donaldson, Postmaster General, to Senator John 286 Letter from A. Devitt Vanech, Deputy Attorney General, Depart- 286 287 Letter from Michael J. Galvin, Acting Secretary of Labor, to Con- 288 289 H. R. 3676_ 289 Letter from A. Wetmore, secretary, Smithsonian Institution, to Congressman William L. Dawson, June 11, 1952. 289 Letter from John A. Remon, Chairman, National Capital Park and Planning Commission, to Congressman William L. Dawson, June 17, 1952. 291 Letter from David E. Finley, Chairman, Commission of Fine Arts, to 291 H. R. 3678. 292 Letter from Donald W. Nyrop, Chairman, Civil Aeronautics Board, to 294 H. R. 3683 294 Letter from Raymond M. Foley, Administrator, Housing and Home Letter from Hon. Charles Sawyer, Secretary of Commerce, to Congressman William L. Dawson, June 13, 1952. 299 Letter from Congressman John F. Kennedy to Congressman William Statement in re H. R. 5879, January 8, 1952. H. R. 6243_. Letter from Lt. Gen. Lewis A. Pick, Chief of Engineers, Department of the Army, to Congressman William L. Dawson, June 12, 1952-Comments on the bills pertaining to recommendations made by the Commission on Organization of the Executive Branch of the Government follow: Letter from Arthur S. Flemming, Assistant to the Director (Manpower), Office of Defense Mobilization, to Congressman William L. Dawson, June 2, 1952 300 300 301 302 302 Letter from Clarence R. Miles, manager, legislative department, 303 Letter from Congresswoman Reva Beck Bosone, to Congressman William 304 LEGISLATION PERTAINING TO RECOMMENDATIONS MADE BY THE COMMISSION ON ORGANIZATION OF THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH OF THE GOVERNMENT TUESDAY, JUNE 3, 1952 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, IN THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS, Washington, D. C. The committee met, pursuant to call, at 10:20 a. m., in room 1310, New House Office Building, Hon. William L. Dawson, chairman, presiding. Present: Representatives Dawson, Hardy, Karsten, Burnside, Bolling, Lantaff, Harden, Brownson, and Church. Also present: Christine Ray Davis, chief clerk; Annabell Zue, minority clerk; Thomas A. Kennedy, general counsel; and William A. Young, staff director. The CHAIRMAN. The committee will kindly come to order. The purpose of these hearings will be to hear the testimony of witnesses who desire to testify upon the remaining recommendations of the Commission on Organization of the Executive Branch of the Government, commonly called the Hoover Commission. There are before us about 10 bills to be considered. To my mind, the appointment of the Hoover Commission marked a forward step in reorganizing the executive branch of our Government. The work of the Hoover Commission will live in the memory of the American citizen as long as the history of legislative effort is kept, because of the fine work it did, the intensive study, the time spent, and the recommendations made. The vast majority of the recommendations of the Hoover Commission have now become the law of the land. There remain some very important recommendations not yet acted upon, and it is the purpose of this committee to hear testimony upon those bills involving the recommendations of the Hoover Commission now pending before us. We had invited Mr. Hoover to be present, but he could not come in person, as indicated by a telegram received by your chairman, which is as follows: NEW YORK, N. Y., May 29, 1952. DEAR MR. CONGRESSMAN: I regret I will not be able to appear in person before the committee for the hearing on the bills pending as to the reorganization of the executive departments. I am, however, trying to prepare for the committee a memorandum upon the bill. The time is very short and, in fact, it might be more useful after the hearings HERBERT HOOVER. 1 are over. However, Mr. Hoover did prepare a statement. I am not going to just introduce this statement into the record, because of the personal respect I have for the person who wrote it and because of the sentiments involved in the message. I think that we can best open these hearings by reading the message to the committee from Mr. Hoover, and I am going to ask Mr. Kennedy, the general counsel for the committee, to read this letter. Mr. KENNEDY. It is addressed to the Honorable William L. Dawson, chairman, Committee on Expenditures in the Executive Departments, 1501 House Office Building, Washington, D. C., and is dated June 2, 1952, The Waldorf-Astoria Towers, New York, N. Y., and reads as as follows: MY DEAR Mr. CONGRESSMAN: I am most appreciative of your committee's courteous invitation for me to appear before it in connection with the 10 different reorganization proposals set forth in the bills on which hearings are now being held before you. I regret that previous commitments make it impossible for me to be present. I have instead prepared a few comments which I hope may be of assistance to you. Your committee and the Congress 6 years ago created the Commission on Organization of the Executive Branch and 3 years ago the Commission made its recommendations. Many of them have been enacted. This 6 years' labor represents great progress in these problems. There are before you some 29 separate legislative measures, representing parts of the Commission's recommendations. You will, as in all the enactments you have already made, be confronted with opposition. They will have the familiar form "reorganize everybody but me” or "don't touch that agency, it's sacred.' I note below my comments on these bills in groups related to the same purpose. (1) General management of the executive branch, H. R. 3674, H. R. 3304.—The most important part of this bill is title I, part I, which states the organizational responsibilities of the President in executing the laws under article II of the Constitution. The President is the only official of the executive branch to whom specific Executive authorities are given in the Constitution. Were title I, part I, to be enacted, his authority over the executive branch of the Government, except in quasi-judicial matters, would be established as the Constitution intended, and would follow the Commission's Report on General Management of the Executive Branch. Title I, part II, provides for a realinement of the Executive Office of the President. This part follows the recommendations of the Commission, but I would suggest that the authority be made permissive rather than mandatory as it is in the present draft. Title I, part III, provides for a Federal Director of Personnel. Since the Civil Service Chairman is already fulfilling this function de facto, under Reorganization Plan No. 5 of 1949, I suggest that this part be deleted. Title I, part IV, would abolish the Council of Economic Advisers and would substitute in its place an Economic Adviser. That was recommended by the Commission, since at that time the annual budget was about $40 billion, and it is now near $90 billion. With this economic expansion of Federal activities and the economic effects, I do not believe this action is desirable at the present time. Title I, part V, provides for the creation of a Presidential Staff Secretary. I commend this part to you for favorable action. Titles II and III, Executive Agency Management, would effect other beneficial recommendations of the Commission. (2) Transfer of civil functions of Army Corps of Engineers to the Department of the Interior, H. R. 6243.-This bill conforms with the recommendations of the Commission. Effectuation of this reform is 25 years overdue. With the enormously expanded demands upon the Army Engineers by our increased Military Establishment, this would seem even more urgent. |