Evening star., 1951-02-25
Boom in Congress and Agencies

~~s $50
tees are getting Into the investi-
eating busineSs,s that investiga-
tions should be channe1ed to GER
tain committees. with the staff to
do the job.
"Can'ts Legisiate in Dark"
But few, if any. legislators pro-
test that there is too much in
vestigating going on. Leaders on
both sides of the aisle argue that
they cant legislate in the dark, ;"
that they need the facts that can
be brought out only through in
|vestigation.
Others contend that the very
fear of exposure may deter those
handling Government funds from
doing anything exposable.
Practically anything can pre-
cipitate an investigation. One
member, on his way to the Capt.
tol through the park, saw some
one riding in the back seat of a
Government automobile. Tha t
was enough to prompt an Appro-
priations subcommittee to inquire
into the use of automobiles by
officials of a certain agency.
A House member received a small
Government pamphlet in a large
envelope. He has launched an in
vestigation into paper wasting.
Another House member overheard
one Capitol employe jokingly ask
another when he would get his
chance at the "slush fund" That
brought on a solo investigation of
payroll padding.
Big Government Blamed.
Big government is blamed by
many legislators for producing big
investigations. As the number of
Government activities and the size
of the budget increase, these
legislators contend, the possibil-
tiles of fraud, corruption, waste
and plain inefficiency burgeon,
too.
So the House Armed Services
Committee gets $4,000 to inyesti-
gate complaints in the letting of
war contracts and the Senate In
vestigations Subcommittee girds
itself for another five percenter"
inquiry. The Senate Armed Serv-
ices Committee gets $4,000 for
its preparedness subcommittee
and the Senate Post Office and
Civil Service Committee launches
an investigation into why the
Government is busy recruiting new
employees when workers in nom
defense agencies might be shifted
to defense agencies.
Communism, subversive influ-
ences and the whole loyalty pro-
gram have brought on a spate of
investigations. The House Com
mittee on Un-American Activities
currently has at least three in
vestigations on the fire and the
Senate Judiciary Committee's new
internal security subcommittee
can be expected to start investi-
eating as soon as a staff is organ
lied.
Other Investigations.
Then there are the studies,
surveys and investigations that 60
on at any time-labor- manage
ment relations, health, insurance,
social security, foot and mouth
disease. current infestations by
the European corn borer," our re-
lations with the Indians. to -.ame
eonly a few.
Paralleling the official congress
sional Investigations - frequently
inspiring them and sometimes
competing with them are the
ones done by individual members,
Their activities are usually kept
strictly confidential until some
body on the fringe of their in
qliry conf1des that he is t''investi-
eating for Senator --" or they
make a speech on or off the floor.
Some of them do their own in
vestigating. Some Senators use
their administrative assistant or
put research man" on the pay
roll. Occasionally, one hires an
investigator but that is more rare
and is usually for a special short
time purpose. Many of them try
to get results through a. COM
mittee staff and virtually all of
them use the Library of Congress
Legislative Reference Service.
DR.. Ernest S. Griffith, director
of the reference service, says his
staff Of experts will investigate
anything or anybody except an
other member of Congress.
Some Go on Missions
Helping the minority legislators
are the minority aides. Their serv-
ices range from filtering out and
dispatching to various members
the more promising complaints"
that come their way to going on
missions" at the request of mem
bers with a yen to find some
thing out.
| why NOT? |