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JOHN L . M C C L E L L A N , A R K . , C H A I R M A N
JOSEPH R . M C C A R T H Y , W I S .
K A R L E. M U N D T , S . D A K .
MARGARET CHASE SMITH, MAINE
ANDREW F . SCHOEPPEL, KANS.
HENRY C. D W O R S H A K , IDAHO
RICHARD M . NIXON, CALIF.
C L Y D E R . HOEY, N i C .
H E R B E R T R . O'CONOR, M D .
HUBERT H. HUMPHREY, MINN.
W I L L I A M BENTON, CONN.
A. W I L L I S R O B E R T S O N , V A .
MIKE MONRONEY, OKLA.
WALTER L . REYNOLDS, CHIEF CLERK
J£>{cAe&
Veneris
COMMITTEE ON
E X P E N D I T U R E S IN T H E E X E C U T I V E
DEPARTMENTS
February 22, lg>l
Hon* Marriner S# Eccles
Board of Governors
Federal Reserve System
Washington, D* C*
Dear Mr. Eccles:
The attached b i l l , S# 913, would amend the Legislative Reorganization Act of 19h6 to provide for more effective evaluation of the
fiscal requirements of the executive agencies of the Government of
the tfiiited States*
I t closely resembles S* 28$>8, introduced in the
8lst Congress•
Hearings are planned on this proposed legislation i n the near
future•
W i l l you please therefore send the Committee your views and
recommendations, i n triplicate, at the earliest possible date?
Thanking you for your attention to this matter, I am
Sincerely yours,
Chairman
Attachment
JIM:rb
ACONGRESS
1ST SESSION
C F
A
J
^
A
I N T H E SENATE OF T H E U N I T E D STATES
FEBRUARY 19
(legislative day, JANUARY
2 9 ) , 1951
Mr. M C C L E I X A N introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Expenditures in the Executive Departments
A BILL
To amend the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 to
provide for more effective evaluation of the fiscal requirements of the executive agencies of the Government of the
United States.
1
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Represent®~
2
tives of the United States of America
in Congress assembled,
3
That section 138 of the Legislative Reorganization Act of
4
1946, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows:
5
"JOINT COMMITTEE oar THE BUDGET
6
"SEC. 138. (a) There is hereby created a joint service
7
committee, to be known as the Joint Committee on the
8
Budget (hereinafter in this section called the 'joint commit-
9
tee'jT^ncQo be composed of ten members as follows:
2
" (1) Tive Members who are members of the Commit-
1
2 tee on Appropriations of the Senate, three from the majority
3 party and two from the minority party, to be chosen by
4
such committee; and
5
" (2) Five Members who are members of the Commit-
6 tee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives,
7
three from the majority party and two from the minority
8 party, to be chosen by such committee.
9
" (b) No person shall continue to serve as a member
10 of the joint committee after he has ceased to be a member
11 of the committee from which he was chosen, except that
12 the members chosen by the Committee on Appropriations
13
of the House of Representatives who have been reelectedjto
14 the House of Representatives^ may continue to serve as
15 members of the joint committee notwithstanding the expira-
16 tion of the Congress. A vacancy in the joint committee
17
shall not affect the power of the remaining members to
18
execute the functions of the joint committee, and shall be
19 filled in the same manner as the original selection, except
20 that (1) in case of a vacancy during an adjournment or
21 recess of Congress for a period of more than two weeks,
22 the members of the joint committee who are members of
23
the committee entitled to fill such vacancy may designate
24 a member of such committee to serve until his successor
25 is chosen by such committee, and (2) in the case of a
3
1
vacancy after the expiration of a Congress which would
2
be filled from the Committee on Appropriations of the
3
House of Representatives, the members of such committee
4
who are continuing to serve as members of the joint com-
5
mittee, may designate a person who, immediately prior to
6
such expiration, was a member of such committee and who
7 is reelected to the House of Representatives, to serve until
8 his successor is chosen by such committee.
9
"(c) The joint committee shall elect a chairman and
10 vice chairman from among its members at the first regular
11 meeting of each session: Provided,
however, That during
12 even years the chairman shall be selected from among the
13
members who are Members of the House of Eepresentatives
14
and the vice chairman shall be selected from among the
15
members who are Members of the Senate, and during odd
16 years the chairman shall be selected from among the mem17
bers who are Members of the Senate and the vice chairman
18 shall be selected from among the members who are Members
19
of the House of Representatives.
20
" ( d ) A majority of the Members of each House who
21 are members of the joint committee shall together con-
22 stitute a quorum for the transaction of business, but a lesser
23
number, as determined by the joint committee, may con-
24
stitute a subcommittee and be authorized to conduct hear-
25
ings and make investigations.
Any member of a sub-
4
1
committee so designated shall constitute a quorum for the
2
conduct of any hearing or investigation, but the concurrence
3
of a majority of the members of such subcommittee shall
4
be necessary before any report or findings may be siib-
5
mitted to the joint committee.
6
7
"(e) It shall be the duty of the joint committee—
"(1)
(A) to inform itself on all matters relating
8
to the annual budget of the agencies of the United
9
States Government, during and after the preparation
10
thereof; (B) to provide the Committee on Appropria-
11
tions of the House of Representatives and the Com-
12
mittee on Appropriations of the Senate with such in-
13
formation on items contained in such budget, and the
14
justifications submitted in support thereof, as may be
15
necessary to enable said committees to give adequate
16
consideration thereto; and (C) to consider all available
117
information relating to estimated revenues,[hicluding
J.8
revenue estimates of the Joint Committee on Internal
19
Revenue TaxationTjessential programs, and changing
20
economic conditions, and, on the basis thereof, report to
21
said committees findings relating televisions in apprp-
22
priations required to hold expenditures to the minimum ,
23
consistent with the requirements of Government opera-
24
tions and national security^
25
"(2)
to recommend to the appropriate standing
5
1
committees of the House of Representatives and the
2
Senate such changes in existing laws as may effect
3
greater efficiency and economy in government;
4
" ( 3 ) to make such reports and recommendations
5
to any standing committee of either House of Congress
6
or any subcommittee thereof on matters within the
7
jurisdiction of such standing committee relating to devia-
8
tions from basic legislative authorization, or in relation
9
to appropriations approved by Congress which are not
10
consistent with such basic legislative authorization, as
11
may be deemed necessary or advisable by the joint
12
committee, or as may be requested by any standing
13
committee of either House of Congress or by any sub-
14
committee thereof.
15
The j 0 i n t committee, or any subcommittee thereof,
1® shall have power to hold hearings and to sit and a€t any17
where within or without the District of Columbia whether
1® the Congress is in session or has adjourned or is in recess;
to require by subpena or otherwise the attendance of wit20 nesses and the production of books, papers, and documents;
21 to administer oaths; to take testimony; to have printing
22
and binding done; and to make such expenditures as it deems
advisable within the amount appropriated therefor.
24
Sub-
penas shall be issued under the signature of the chairman or
S. 913
2
6
1
vice chairman of the committee and shall be served by Any
2 person designated by them.
The provisions of sections 102
3
to 104, inclusive, of the Revised Statutes (U. S. 0., title 2,
4
sees. 192-194)
5
any witness to comply with any subpena or to testify when
6
summoned under authority-^f-this section.
C^l
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
j
/
16
17
18
19
20
21
/
"(g)
;25
—
~
The joint committee shall, without regard to the
civil-service laws or the Classification Act of 1949, as
amended, employ and fix the compensation of a staff director
and such other professional, technical, clerical, and other
employees, temporary or permanent, as may be necessary to
carry out the duties of the joint committee, and all such
employees shall be appointed without regard to political
affiliation and solely on the ground of fitness to perform the
duties to which they may be assigned: Provided,
however,
That/the services of any such employee/may be terminated
by the concurrence of a majority of the members of the joint
committee.
No person shall be employed by the joint com-
mittee until a thorough investigation as to loyalty and security shall have been made by the Federal Bureau of
Investigation and a favorable report on said investigation
submitted to the chairman or vice chairman.
) 23
24
—
shall apply in the case of any failure of
J^h) The joint committee shall assign members of its
staff (1) to assist the staff of the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the several sub-
7
1
committees thereof during the periods when appropriation
2
bills are pending in the House of Representatives, and (2) to
3
assist the staff of the Committee on Appropriations of the
4
Senate and the several subcommittees thereof during the
5
periods when appropriation bills are pending in the Senate.
6
At other times the staff of the joint committee shall serve the
7
joint committee directly.
(jf)
8
" (i) Employees of the joint committee, upon the writ-
9
ten authority of the chairman or vice chairman, shall have
10
the right to examine the books, documents, papers, reports,
11 preliminary and other estimates of budget requirements, or
12
other records of any agency of the United States Govern-
13
ment within or without the District of Columbia:
Provided,
14 however, That such employees shall not be permitted access
15 to books, documents, papers, reports, estimates, records, or
16 any other thing containing information classified for security
17 purposes unless specifically authorized by the joint com18 mittee to receive such types of classified information.
19
" (j ) It shall be the duty of each agency of the Govern-
20 ment to supply to the joint committeeman^)copies of any
21 budgetary request submitted to the Bureau of the Budget,
22 |which the joint committee or any subcommittee thereof may
23 request^ either for regular or supplemental appropriations
24 required for each fiscal year, with the detailed justifications
25 in support thereof. ^Members of the staff of the joint com
8
1
mittee are authorized to attend hearings of the Bureau of
2 the Budget at which representatives of agencies justify their
3 budgetary requests.^J
" (k) Qualified members of the staff of the Bureau of
4
5 the Budget shall, at the request of the Committee on Ap6 propriations of the House of Representatives or the Senate,
!
1
^
or any subcommittee thereof, be assigned to attend executive
! 8 sessions of the subcommittees of the Appropriations Com-
9 mittees and to explain the content and basis of proposed
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
appropriations.
CM
r
(tyyWhen used in this section, the term 'agency' means
any executive department, commission, council, independent
establishment, Government corporation, board, bureau, division, service, office, officer, authority, administration, or other
establishment, in the executive branch of the Government.
Such term includes the Comptroller General of the United
States and the General Accounting Office, and includes any
and all parts of the municipal government of the District of
Columbia except the courts thereof.
^(mpThere are hereby authorized to be appropriated
such sums as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of
this section.
Appropriations for the expenses of the joint
committee shall be disbursed by the Secretary of the Senate
upon vouchers signed by the chairman or vice chairman."
Jfcroh 8, 1951.
HonoraDI* Jahm U ;«Cl*ilan#
United - t a t - e n a t a ,
Washington
C«
j*slr : «aiitor .cOIslien:
tbis will «cknowledge your letter of February
1/5>1, *itn
which wa® attached youi olLl
yl3 wbich would attend ti® Legislative
heor^enlsatioa Act ax lyU6 to provide for trie sore effective evaluation
the fiscal requirement* of tow ej&ecutive agencies of
jovirB»s(«
i f youFTUV#
is similar In t r a y :*tb~taaUai respect
to
introduced in the dint usogroas.
Icu nay recall taat at your request 1 soon!tted ay views
on * •
by latter dated February i j f
copies oi wslch 1 an
enclosing for /our ready reference, rjy vieva «ith reference to i • yl3
are genera 1.1/ eisLlar to tfcote *hich I &*prs&sed eith reference to •
1 fc*l t&at son* legislation of fcbis *ind i* aeede-2 and tact you arc to fee
contended for your S3&& tractive efforts in UiU direction, The b i l l pro*
videt for an organisation and adequate procedures vhicn snoul4 enable the
Con&resirecurs information estential to proper consideration jf the
complex problem Involved in tee appropriation requests of the various
executive agencies.
If 1 canfeeof an/ further aseist&nce to you in connection with
tbi* natter, please let m know,
*ita kindest personal regards, I an
incerel/ yours.
.v. eccles*
iitto«igw
WHTsclh
2/28/51
@FedFRASER