Evening star., 1937-01-07
BUCHANAN URGES
JOINT COMMITTEE
Reorganizing Government
Branches Held Permanent
and Continuing Job.
BY WILL p. KENNEDY.

Reorganization of the administrative
branch Of the Government should be
undertaken as a permanent and con-
tinuing job, with House and Senate
cooperating in joint committee,
Chairman Buchanan of the special
committee appointed by the House in
the last session to study this subject.
reported to the House late yesterday.
His report was accompanied by two
resolutions-one providing for ap-
pointment Of such a committee, and
the other for change in the House
rules to permit appointment Of such
Q committee.
There are three separate committees
ready to make reorganization re-
ports-one named by the President to
make study for him; one authorized
by Senate resolution, headed by
Senator Byrd: and the third, first to
report. by the special House committee,
as recommended in message by the
President. The Buchanan report filed
In the House is signed by the three
surviving members-Buchanan Chair
man Cochran of the Committee on
Expenditures and Representative
James W. Wadsworth, Republican, Of
New York. Representative Prentis
Brown. Republican, Of Michigan,
another member, was elected to the
Senate, and Representative Frederick
r. Lehlbach, Republican, of New
Jersey was defeated.
The committees recommendations
were:
That for the time being the COM
mittee be continued, but only until
there is created regular, permanent
standing committee of the House.
That, if the Senate approves, like
committee Of the Senate be named to
Join with the new House committee
each to be composed Of not less than
i've or more than seven members.
That each of these committees be
given the employe personnel custo-
committees.
That the Joint Committee on
Government Organization be created
by Joint or concurrent resolution.
That this joint committee be per-
nitted to employ a sufficient force Of
It to prosecute the inquiries that it
deems necessary in diligent and
effective manner, their compensation
to be governed by the schedules Of
the classification act.
That this Joint Committee, after
conducting investigations, report its
recommendations to the House and
Senate for reference to the proper
standing committee.
Authority for Hearings.
The Buchanan committee further
recommended that each Of the stand
ing committees. of House and Senate,
be authorized under the rules to con-
duct hearings and to introduce and
report bills, either upon their own
Independent hearings or upon hear
tngs conducted by the joint commit
tee. and that such bills have the same
privileged status as bills reported by
the Appropriations and Ways and
Means Committees.
The Buchanan report emphasized
that this subject has been intermit-
tently considered by committees Of
Congress since the Fifth Congress,
in 1898. only nine years after Con-
gress started to work. OF all these
efforts only one was able to accom-
plish any material good he says
Commission, appointed in March,
1909 rr11ir ir1r ar aI viv
the Fifty-third Congress, but pointed
out that there was still much more
to be accomplished.
The task set before his committee,
Mr. Buchanan pointed out, could not
be adequately accomplished by his
committee which expires by opera
tion Of law slightly more than six
months after its creation" He ex-
planned that the House committee
collaborated with the Presidents
Committee on Administrative Man.
agement and the Senate Select Com
mittee on Investigation of the Execu-
tive Agencies of the Government in
committees contributed $4,000 (the
contribution of the House committee
being $10,00O to be paid to the
Brookings Institution to supplement
amounts to be furnished by the in
stitution with which 1t was to make
studies and report to each Of the
three committees.
The expectation was that the in
etit,tion'S report would be completed
and furnished early enough to be of
use to the House committee in pre-
pairing its report. The institution has
not been able to meet this expecta.
tion so that the House committee, in
order to comply with the terms of its
appointment, has now made its report
without reference to the work Of the
8rookings Institution other than to
say that its information Is that the
institutions report will be completed
during the early part of thiS month,
that 1t will be voluminous and COM
prehensive and will mention numerous
overlappings and conflicts as between
agencies In the executive branch of
the Government with recommended
tions looking to their elimination. It
has been arranged so that the insti-
tutions report, when completed, will
be turned over by Chairman Bu-
chanan. ....--