Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1952-02-17
he Remedy

The Remedy
The only way to get Congress
back to Its primary Job Is to ret
it out Of the retail business. Spe-
cifcally, this means that Congress
must concentrate on the big, policy I
making aspects Of legislation, leav-
ing the more mechanical tasks OF
governing society to the executive
agencies.
Dr.. George Galloway, senior Cow
eminent specialist at the Library
of Congress, estimates that between
80 and 80 per cent Of the Flaw"
made by the Federal Government
already Is made by the executive
branch. This includes not only
law in the strict legal sense, but
also rulings, regulations and de-
cisions which have the practical
effect Of law.
The point Is, however, that even
the 10 or 20 per cent still done by
Congress is too big load. e. e.
Schattschneider, leading student
of Government, speculates that the
essential work of Congress might be
boiled down to 10 or 100 major
decisions year. The number Of
!. decisions is unimportant; it is their
nature that counts.
Congress long ago got on the
right track in turning over broad
mission, with adequate regulatory
powers, to the Interstate Com.
merce Commission. ICES power to
FIX tariffs, the granting OF franz
chises by the Federal Power Conn
mission, the ALLEGATION Of radio
and television channels by the Fed
eral Communications Commission.
the establishment Of home build-
ing criteria by the Veterans ADJ
ministration, the fixing Of rent
ceilings by the ONCE Of Rent
Stabilization-all these are ex-
amples Of Congress "wholesaling"
law and allowing the agencies to
'.retail" it.
Acc as ExompIe
The latest and probably the best
example Of Congress making this
forward step was in the case Of
Atomic Energy Commission legisla.
tion. The reason for the Acc set
up. was one Of national security
rather than legislative practicality.
bat the example holds good from
either point Of view. A policy was
made; an objective established;
money was parceled out and a joint
watchdog committee vetted the
whole operation.
In The case of Acc, Congress
does not-as 1t should not-concern
itself greatly with whether, for in<-
stance, there is enough carbon IL
available. It settles the big ques-
tions, such as whether 1t wants
atomic energy used mainly for war
or peace purposes. It leaves to the
others the details Of how to carry
out the job.
Congressman pretty generally
feel that the Acc formula has
worked-as regards Acc. But many
are leery of retiring to an ivory
tower Of policy-making in other
branches Of Government. This
question was asked of one Of the
leading advocates Of congressional
reform, Senator Monroney, Demo-
crat, of Oklahoma:
1T Congress can, in effect, give
so many billions to Acc with In
structions to squeeze every bit Of
knowledge outrof the atom while q
watchdog committee looks on,
couldn't Congress also tell the
Pentagon, Here is $50 billion. Your
job is to defend the Nation and
prepare it for the future. We want
you to proceed along these general
lines: /. !. Go about your business:
Congress Is watching your"
# we did that" Senator Mon.
roney replied, they'd all 60 out
and start building golf courses"
A Shortening Revealed
This may be an amusing answer.
but 1t reveals basic present short
coming Of Congress. If Congress
were doing its job, even under
such a setup as was suggested to
Senator Monroney, the military
would not build golf courses with
gun money. Congress would have
time to give thoughtful attention
to its duty-not only Of telling the
military In general terms what to
do, but also Of seeing to 1t that
the military did what it was told.
BY adopting such a program Of
broad, rather than detailed, law
making-and applying 1t to all
parts Of Government Congress
might even find itself with little
time on its hands.
Time for what? Time, essen-
TALLY, to think. Time to reconcile
531 varying viewpoints in q work.
able policy for the good Of the Ma
ton: time to concentrate on great
questions Of domestic and foreign
policy; time to study inteIligentlv