Evening star., 1962-04-29

...0n Co-ordinuting
The Co-ordinutors
By JOHN McKELWAY
Star Staff Writer

~ Va sAAAAsASC "a @A@4SA
nation, sit actually was ura-
nium!"
His eyebrows went up. his
mustache trembled and while
he is a large man, the CO.
ordinator's genial head was all
that could be seen bobbing up
behind a vast pile of unco-
ordinated information on his
desk.
He obviously relished the
uranimum story. It had a
good ending and a screwball
start. And Lawrence Sullivan,
who by title actually is a CO.
.ordinator of information as
well as a number of other
things for 437 members of the
House of Representatives, had
rendered a service, which Is
what he's supposed to do. The
memory was pleasant.
Many mornings ago, the story
goes, a Colorado Congressman
received in the morning mail
a package Of rocks. Luckily,
there was an explanation in
side. There are probably some
people who would want to send
rocks to a Congressman and let
it go at that.
But on this day, there was a
note from a constituent which
asked, simply "Is this ura-
nium?"
CONGR ES MEN, LIKE
CONSTITUENTS, do not really
have all the answers. What
they do have-following their
elections a co-ordinator OF
information, and the co-ordi-
nator has a staff of nine other
co-ordinators. They have two
offices. Mr.. Sullivan's is down
in the bottom of the Capitol
and his assistants are up on
the fifth floor of the Old House
Office Building.
So, on that morning, a call
was Immediately put in to Mr..
Sullivan. Perhaps it ran some
thing like this:
my God. Sullivan what
should I do about these rocks?"
Sullivan & Co. went into ac-
ton. They had the rock pack
age dispatched to the National
Bureau of Standards. By that
afternoon, the answer came
back. Mr.. Sullivan. as indi-
Gated earlier. still finds it hard
to believe. It was uranium!
And the Congressman, who so
Informed the rock sender, can
probably count on at least one
sure vote as long as he chooses
to run-perhaps a little fl
nancial backing to boot.
The co-ordinator's life is
rarely filled with such excite
nent. The service, set up by
q House Resolution in 1947.
provides the quick, frequently
iull items a Congressman
might need shortly before rush.
ing on the floor to attack Fed
sral aid, Castro or the United
Nations. Because of the CO.
ordinators' office, he can feel
!actually comfortable when he
begins his charge by saying
(Slowly):
ION June 13, 1901. in this
very chamber, the House passed
by a vote of 1872 to 181. :"
MR.. SULLIVAN EMPHA-
SIZES he's not in competition
with the Legislative Reference
Service of the Library of Con-
gresS-an institution he de-
scribes as IAN academic re-
search operation" That serv-
ice is able to produce, for a
Congressman, over q period OF
several weeks, a scholarly treat
nent of, for example, why
Home Rule?" But Mr.. Sullivan
and his lieutenants would stick
n this case to how many times
home rule bills have been in
iroduced, by whom and in what
Iear. They can find out in a
lew hours.
Mr.. Sullivan, g., a former
lewspaperman who has been
:o-ordinating since 1858, passed
,ut some sample questions the
,ther day. He was able to find
hem in the middle of a great
:lutter of prison statistics, a
aew booklet on Togo, and sew
sral old annual reports from
several old foundations.
Most frequently asked in re-
cent months: How many peo-
pie were added to the Federal
payroll last year?"
Others
When is the primary in Ala
oama?
Where do you send an appli-
.ation for benefits due for a
;erm in a Jap POW camp?
Where can I get the State
Departments white paper on
;he Yalta Conference?
Who can a constituent con-
tact for advice on fluorida-