LETTER TO JERRY LEWIS FROM WILLIAM J. CASEY
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Document Creation Date:
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Publication Date:
July 11, 1985
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DOCUMENTS CROSS-REFERENCED
ATTACHED:
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The Director of Central Intelligence
Washington. D. C. 20505
ER 85-2551/1
The Honorable Jerry Lewis
Chairman
Republican Research Committee
House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
Thank you for your interest in the Intelligence Community as
expressed in the Committee's book 'Policy Alternatives: Ideas for
Tomorrow, Choices for Today.'
Due in large measure to the efforts of the Administration and the
Congress, the past few years have been a period of restoration for the
Community, both in capabilities and spirit.
Because of this support, the Community has made advances on many of
the issues espoused in your report. For example, we continue to enhance
the capabilities of our technical means of acquiring information and have
plans for significant capabilities for the future. Efforts to improve
our access through human sources are equally vigorous. I can also assure
you that gains continue to be made in the coordination of intelligence
community activities.
We appreciate the opportunity to comment on the book. If you need
further assistance, please feel free to call. .
Act.EA/ExDir/JM:sg (5 July 85)
Distribution:
Orig - Addressee
1-ER
1 - OLL
1 - ExDir
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STAT
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EXECUTIVE SWRETARIAT
ROUTING SLIP
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CHMRM'AN
JERRY LEWIS, M.C.
35TH DIETIIMT. CMNOMNU
ROOM Isis
LONOWOMIN MOUSE OPPICE BUILOMIO
(202) 225-0M71
Republican Regeartb !Committee
6.6. out of 1epregentatibeg
Ra%bingtton, b.d. 20515
June 24, 1985
The Honorable William Casey
Central Intelligence Agency
Washington, D.C. 20205
B. ROBERT OKUN
ExECLIT1vE DMIECTOM
Dear Mr. Casey:
In early January the House Republican Research Conmittee released a
a book of policy alternatives entitled "Ideas for Tomorrow, Choices for Today."
Many of the book's ideas require legislative action, and the Committee is
tracking their progress through the 99th Congress. In addition, a number of
the proposals entail administrative action. Please review the enclosed
sections, which bear on your agency's work. I would be most grateful if you
could tell n of any recent action eabodying proposals listed in these pages.
I shall look forward to hearing from you. If the Research Committee can
be of any further assistance, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us.
Sincerely,
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Regulatory Process
The Setting
Federal rules and red tape, despite their good intentions, cost the
US economy over $ 100 billion a year-an expense consumers ulti-
mately pay. In past years, the absence of a workable regulatory
oversight process led to inefficiency, because bureaucrats had no
incentive to consider how their rules would affect economic growth.
In 1981, President Reagan set up the first systematic process for
managing federal regulation. Under Executive Order 12291, execu-
tive agencies must gauge the likely economic effects of all proposed
and final rules, and the Office of Management and Budget must
review them before they are issued. A new problem has cropped up,
however. In 1983, the Supreme Court declared existing legislative
vetoes unconstitutional, thereby depriving Congress of a check on
agency discretion. Furthermore, President Reagan's review process is
not yet statutory and thus could be scrapped by a future administra-
tion.
Current Policy
President Reagan continues to back regulatory reform. Because of
his work to date, the growth of new regulations has been cut by more
than a third, and government-imposed business paperwork has
shrunk by several hundred million man-hours a year.
In spite of progress in specific regulatory areas, overall process
reform has had a hard time on Capitol Hill. In 1982, the Senate
unanimously passed a bill requiring cost-benefit analysis and au-
thorizing a two-house legislative veto. This bill did not reach the
House floor. The 98th Congress had hearings on regulatory reform,
but took no major action.
Policy Alternatives
? Authorize the congressional veto by use of a joint resolution of
approval for major rules and a joint resolution of disapproval for
others.
? Require agencies to undertake regulatory analyses for new major
rules and their alternatives. Agencies would have to choose the
most cost-effective alternative unless otherwise forbidden by law.
? Provide for a regulatory budget: a ceiling on the amount of
regulatory costs that could be imposed on those subject to federal
regulation.
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Intelligence
The Setting
Since the formation of the House and Senate Select Committees on
Intelligence, Congress has increasingly influenced intelligence policy.
Congress has curbed covert action in Central America and elsewhere.
Lawmakers have criticized intelligence agencies for apparent failures
to forecast the Shah's downfall, the Soviet invasion of
and attacks on US diplomatic posts, to name a few. intelligence has indeed had its shortcomings-stemming lely from
an erosion of morale and support, which hit bottom in the 1970s. But
the intelligence community did better than that period's headlines
suggested. As President Kennedy once told CIA officials, "Your
successes are unheralded, your failures are trumpeted."
Current Policy
The Administration has restored the intelligence community's
vitality, but skepticism and even hostility linger among congressional
Democrats. Under their pressure, Congress has hampered operations
through curbs on intelligence-gathering and covert action, and
through news leaks calculated to torpedo operations. The Intelligence
Committees were intended to be non-partisan, but politics has col-
ored their work, especially when intelligence activities have involved
foreign policy controversies. On the positive side, Congress has
responded to Administration requests for improved intelligence re-
sources, and has exempted certain sensitive intelligence files from the
Freedom of Information Act.
Policy Alternatives
? Revise Intelligence Committee appointment procedures to en-
sure an orderly transition of membership. And to protect the
intelligence community's budgetary interests, the Committee
should continue to emphasize its current policy that some of its
members serve on either the Appropriations, Armed Services,
Judiciary or Foreign Affairs Committees. Before the establish-
ment of the Intelligence Committees, each of these bodies had
exercised oversight in this field.
? Ensure that sensitive classified material from the Intelligence
Committee is shared with other committees on a case-by-case
basis only.
? Establish criminal penalties for unauthorized disclosure of classi-
fied information by those with access to sensitive information.
Criminal penalties currently apply only to unlawful disclosure of
communications intelligence, identities of covert agents and
energy-restricted data.
? Continue procurement of technical intelligence systems and im-
prove recruitment of intelligence agents, with an emphasis on
ethnic and native-speaking candidates.
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Ideas For Tomorrow,
Choices For Today:
POLICY INITIATIVES OF THE COMMITTEE
ON THE FIRST ONE HUNDRED DAYS
House Rtpublican
Research Committee
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Contents
Preface
v
Introduction
vii
Economic Growth and Opportunity
1
Tax Reform
2
Congress and the Deficit
3
Further Budget Reform
4
Monetary Reform
5
Regulatory Process
6
Banking
7
Communications Deregulation
8
Transportation
9
Industrial Innovation
10
Job Opportunities
11
Housing and Community Revival
12
International Trade
13
Export Controls
14
Free Individuals and Strong Families
15
Women
16
Civil Rights
17
Crime and Punishment
18
Excellence in Education
19
Financing Education
20
Adoption
21
Child Care
22
Protecting America's Youth
23
Home Care for the Elderly
24
Handicapped and Disabled
25
Welfare
26
Natural Resources and Human Frontiers
27
Space
28
Basic Research
29
Energy Innovation
30
Fossil Fuels
31
Nuclear Energy
32
Critical Materials
33
The Land
34
Environmental Protection
35
Soil Conservation
36
Commodity Stabilization Programs
37
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Fair and Efficient Government
38
Sunshine in the House
39
Fairness and Efficiency in the House
40
Campaign Finance
41
Federalism
42
Voluntarism
43
A Strong America in a Peaceful World
44
US-Soviet Relations
45
Arms Control: Soviet Compliance
46
Strategic and Theater Nuclear Forces
47
Strategic Defense
48
Anti-Satellite Warfare
49
Legislating War Powers and Foreign Policy
50
Terrorism
51
Intelligence
52
The Americas
53
Asia
54
Africa
55
Middle East
56
NATO and Western Alliance
57
United Nations
58
Armed Forces
59
Unconventional Warfare
60
Manpower and Veteran Issues
61
Defense: Economy, Efficiency, and Management
62
Conclusion
63
Legislative References
64
Suggested Readings
69
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Preface
Children born this year will cast their first vote in the twenty-first
century. Will they be struggling with scarcity and insecurity? Or will
they be building upon growth and strength? This year could start to
tell the tale.
The American people have already chosen which path they want. In
giving President Reagan a mandate, they approved his record and
endorsed his principles: hope, opportunity and peace through
strength.
House Republicans won an even greater victory than our seat gain
would suggest. About half the people voted for our candidates; and in
contested races, Republicans won a clear majority of the total popular
vote. Were it not for congressional districts sculpted to favor the other
party, Republicans might be running the House already.
Someday soon, we will. Looking to that day, we enter the 99th
Congress with a vision of the future, in which government encourages
initiative, protects family values, maintains a strong national defense,
and joins with private and community organizations in helping the
needy. This document, prepared by the Committee on the First 100
Days of the House Republican Research Committee, presents a road-
map of where we want to lead America. The House's Democratic
rulers may try to obstruct our proposals, but by drawing a roadmap,
we can show America where the roadblocks are-and who put them
there.
This is an outline of things to be done, not a rigid schedule of
legislation. Our responsibility as a party demands that we prepare for
the future we envision. Even if some of our proposals must await
further economic improvement, the vision remains to inspire our
party and, we believe, a majority of Americans.
The agenda consists of five major sections:
-Economic Growth and Opportunity
-Free Individuals and Strong Families
-Natural Resources and Human Frontiers
-Fair and Efficient Government
-A Strong America in a Peaceful World.
Each section comprises a number of one-page issue papers. Each
paper is organized as follows:
-"Setting" discusses the issue's historical background.
-"Current Policy" describes recent efforts to remedy the problem.
-"Policy Alternatives" outlines future options. (The document's
final pages contain a list of relevant sample bills from the 98th
Congress.)
In drafting this document, the Committee on the First 100 Days
solicited ideas from scholars, public policy institutes, private sector
groups, congressional committees and their staffs. Although they do
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not bear responsibility for the final document, their insight and
variety are reflected here: like a roadmap, each set of options offer
several routes to the same destination. Given this abundance of ideas,
no one should expect that every Republican will endorse them all.
Our party enjoys both a sense of common direction and an exciting
diversity of thought, so the agenda does not exhaust the range of
issues and options that House Republicans are going to consider.
(Because of the complexity of the titlements issue a special task force
of the Research Committee will be issuing a supplementary report.) As
new challenges arise, we will craft new solutions. President Kennedy
put it this way: "All this will not be finished in the first one hundred
days. Nor will it be finished in the first one thousand days, nor in the
life of this Administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this
planet. But let us begin."
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A Dream Coming to Birth
An Introduction
The Democratic leaders have a problem with Franklin Roosevelt:
grasping for his ghost, they have lost his spirit. Unlike them, FDR
believed in change. Forty-eight years ago, he started his second
Administration with words that echo true today: "With this change in
our moral climate and our rediscovered ability to improve our
economic order, we have set our feet upon the road of unending
progress. Shall we pause now and turn our back upon the road that lies
ahead? Or, shall we continue on our way? For'each age is a dream that
is dying or one that is coming to birth."'
FDR's party has run out of dreams: it only offers recurring night-
mares. It was sometime in the 1960s that Democratic policies went
bad. The "Great Society" promised hope to the poor, but its programs
ultimately spawned dependency and despair. Indeed, the poverty rate
stopped falling just when social spending hit new highs. Joblessness
and inflation also worsened under the policies born in the 1960s. Even
so, the House Democratic leaders want to turn back to that road,
carrying a satchelful of taxpayer dollars. They paint a glossy picture of
what would happen if only we had more of the same; but that reality
lies in the gutter, where the glitter doesn't glow.
The Democrats failed because they have a mythology instead of a
philosophy. They believe that coercion works better than incentives,
that progress comes gift-wrapped in red tape. Bureaucratic values
must outweigh individual values, they assume, so all power must flow
to Washington, DC.
The Atari Democrats lay claim to new ideas. But upon a close look,
most of their "new ideas" are antiques touched up with varnish and
gilt. What else is "industrial policy" but a disinterred Reconstruction
Finance Corporation, an idea that wore out decades ago? The party is
a loveless marriage between the New Deal and the Big Chill, who live
in a house with shuttered windows.
The House Republicans offer a better way.
Our premise is simple: America's real energy comes not from
government, but from millions of good hearts and creative minds.
Our country is embarking on a massive peaceful revolution-and the
revolutionaries range from scientists closing in on cancer cures to
children tapping their ABCs on a computer keyboard. Government's
role is to encourage this revolution and help bring its benefits to all
Americans.
In many ways, government can best welcome the future just by
getting out of the way. We propose long-range procedural reforms to
curb government spending and return the money to its rightful
owners, the people. Their savings and investments can do far more
good than Congress's obese appropriation bills. We will take a fresh
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look at regulatory reform. Because of technological innovation, many
rules that may have still made sense only a few years ago are now
going stale.
Government should also provide entrepreneurs with incentives
and support. Enterprise zones could bring jobs and hope to communi-
ties that some write off as burnt-out cases. NASA's efforts and other
research programs could make way for discoveries that will change
our lives. Who knows what diseases could be cured and what re-
sources could be found?
Even as America masters the changes in the material world, it must
stay anchored to the traditional values of family and fairness. We
think government can play a positive role in helping families find
opportunities for adoption, day care and good education. Children
have the right to mature into this great era unscarred, and we propose
policies to guard them from abuse. Although the future belongs to the
children, America should never leave the old and the handicapped
behind; the benefits of technology should be channeled to their aid.
Compassion also entails respect for individual liberties. We support
equal opportunity for women, minorities and all other Americans.
Americans have no monopoly on such aspirations. People every-
where are seeking peace, freedom and opportunity. Democracy has
spread beyond the North Atlantic nations to countries in Asia and
Latin America. We look forward to a day when the term "Free
World" applies to the entire globe. Yet, there still remain many
national rulers who do not share our values. They employ terror,
subversion and aggression; mounting evidence suggests that they
have dropped "yellow rain" onto Afghan soil and spilled the Pope's
blood onto Roman pavement.
House Republicans hope that the next century will be free from
violent conflict. But we agree with President Eisenhower. "No matter
how earnest is our quest for guaranteed peace, we must maintain a
high degree of military effectiveness at the same time we are engaged
in negotiating the issue of arms reduction. Until tangible and mutu-
ally enforceable arms reduction measures are worked out, we will not
weaken the means of defending our institutions." This is also Presi-
dent Reagan's path, and we should keep to it.
Our country once enjoyed a bipartisan consensus on foreign policy.
Since the late 1960s, some Democratic leaders have turned their backs
on the tradition exemplified by Harry Truman, Hubert Humphrey
and Henry Jackson. Yet House Republicans do not despair. The
principle of peace through strength is still embraced by most Demo-
cratic voters, as well as many Democratic officials. We invite them to
join with us in restoring consensus. After all, a democracy's security
rests not so much on hardware or strategy as on the people's unity and
will.
Novelists warn us that the future could go wrong. In one story,
reading is forbidden. In another, the people are drugged into docility.
And in the most famous tale of this kind, 1984, Big Brother watches
everyone's thoughts and deeds. The real 1984 has come and gone
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without any of these disasters coming true, but we should not lapse
into complacency. It is hard work to build a good future: idleness
could cost us all the opportunities described above. House Republi-
cans are unafraid of tough challenges, and we stand ready to clear the
way for a better world. We believe that the future is not a matter of
chance; it is a matter of choice. It is not something to be waited for; it
is something to be achieved.
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Economic Growth and Opportunity
President Reagan inherited a sickly economy in 1981. Inflation,
unemployment and interest rates were all up; productivity, savings
and investment were all down. After four years of President Carter
and twenty-six years of Democratic congressional rule, America
needed strong medicine. And the Reagan Administration provided it,
in the form of a four point Economic Recovery Program:
-a three-year, across-the-board cut in personal income taxes;
-an effort to brake federal spending;
-a plan to reform burdensome and outdated regulations;
-a reformed monetary policy to ensure price stability through
steady, predictable growth of the money supply.
The House Democratic leadership balked much of this program,
but the President did win some victories, especially the tax cut. As a
result, the economy rebounded. Now as we enter the first 100 days of
the second Reagan Administration, Congress should consider a five
part Economic Growth and Opportunity Program that builds upon the
policies of the past four years. Aimed at bolstering our productive
strength and preventing a resurgence of inflation, this new program
includes:
-simplifying the tax code, which would broaden the tax base,
permit lower marginal rates and provide incentives for savings
and investment;
-improving the budget process so as to curb spending for well-
intended but inefficient programs;
-supporting monetary policy that would allow greater public
scrutiny of Federal Reserve Board policy and enable the Fed to
control the money supply more coherently and predictably;
-reforming regulation to encourage competition and offer con-
sumers the widest choice at the lowest price, yet also to protect
consumers where necessary;
-nurturing opportunities for employment, enterprise, innovation
and trade.
In working with Congress on these programs, the President should
have access to expert advice that looks to the general interests of the
American economy. The Council of Economic Advisers, uncon-
strained by the institutional perspectives of other agencies, has per-
formed this role in the past. Having a strong, possibly reformed, CEA
to help formulate and promote sound policies could aid the Adminis-
tration in winning legislative approval for its economic agenda.
In short, the plans outlined here show that economics need not be
the dismal science. It can also be the science of hope, growth and
opporunity.
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Tax Reform
The Setting
In 1962, President Kennedy said, "Every dollar released from
taxation that is spent or invested will help create a new job and a new
salary. And these new jobs and new salaries can create other jobs and
other salaries and more customers and more growth for an expanding
American economy." The subsequent Kennedy tax cut proved just
that. But Congress soon forgot the lesson and indulged in the ruinous
cycle of tax-and-spend. By 1980, average and marginal tax rates had
risen to levels that threatened economic growth.
Current Policy
The Economic Recovery Tax Act (ERTA) of 1981 cut income taxes
by 25% over three years. Much of this reduction, however, has been
offset by other revenue measures: the Tax Equity and Fiscal Respon-
sibility Act (TEFRA) of 1982, the gasoline tax increase, the Social
Security tax increases in 1983, and the 1984 Tax Reform Act. Still, the
Reagan tax cut has contributed to an unprecedented growth in the
American economy.
Now as we prepare to spur more growth by further reducing
government's reach, we also face the separate challenge of tax reform.
Fairness and simplicity are important goals in their own right, and
they require prompt attention.
Policy Alternatives
To encourage investment and innovation, several other papers in
this document recommend tax incentives, which are less costly and
more efficient than bureaucratic outlays. Obviously, such proposals
would be modified as we simplify the tax code.
? Enact a modified flat tax such as the Treasury Department
proposal or the Kemp-Kasten "Fair and Simple Tax" to simplify
the tax code, broaden the tax base, permit lower marginal rates
and close loopholes that allow some rich people and corporations
to escape their fair share of taxes.
? Along with a modified flat rate, provide enhanced savings incen-
tives that broaden the use of IRAs, and create a super savings
account (Roth-Moore BEST Tax).
? Increase tax-free ceilings on IRAs to encourage further saving.
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Congress and the Deficit
The Setting
The federal government is running huge deficits because it spends
too much, not because it taxes too little. In 1966, federal revenues
amounted to 18.1% of the gross national product; in 1983, the figure
stood at 18.6%. Yet at the same time, outlays shot up from 18.6% to
24.7%. Consequently, the deficit has risen from less than 1% of GNP
to slightly under 5% today. (Fiscal 1969 brought a small surplus.)
Under the Constitution, Congress holds the power of the purse, so
much of the responsibility for deficits belongs on Capitol Hill. Since
1981, Congress has promised spending cuts if tax increases were
enacted to deal with the deficit. Despite the promises, congressional
deficit-reduction packages have tended to emphasize revenues over
savings.
High deficits have propelled the economy into uncharted waters.
There is no consensus on the exact nature and magnitude of the
effects, but some things are clear. Excessive government spending
uses up productive resources that could be put to more efficient use by
private business or made available to future generations. We are
burdening our children with more than a trillion dollars of debt; the
interest alone already takes up more than a tenth of the budget.
Congress's immediate task is to prevent an exponential growth in
the debt, the deficit and federal interest expense.
Current Policy
The Reagan Administration has carried out a number of Grace
Commission recommendations to improve management and effi-
ciency. For the next fiscal year, the President is proposing significant
budget savings. The House Democratic leadership, however, has
done little to improve the congressional budget process.
Policy Alternatives
? Enact broad-based spending reductions. Specifically, give careful
consideration to the President's proposed savings.
? Stimulate economic growth. Reform of taxation, regulation and
monetary policy-described in other issue papers-will encour-
age savings and investment, and thereby generate more revenue.
? Amend congressional rules to require that legislation allocating
new funds would have to provide a source for those funds, either
in the form of new revenue or a cut in existing programs.
? Streamline the congressional budget process by providing for a
single budget resolution to control discretionary budget authority
and establishing a Joint Budget Committee.
? To ensure greater openness in the budget process, require appro-
priation bills to be marked up and made public seven days before
a floor vote.
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Further Budget Reform
The Setting
The troubles described in the previous paper signal a deeper
problem: Congress is biased toward overspending. Budgets are set by
adding expenditures for separate programs. People with a stake in
each program work to get it funded; the majority of people, each
paying only a few tax dollars for that program, might not fight it.
Congress takes few political risks by voting the funds, but the costs
add up.
Some costs are not immediately obvious. Many off-budget outlays
have virtually the same economic impact as direct expenditures, but
are not treated as part of the budget. Neither are unfunded future
liabilities (e.g., various subsidies). Although it is hard to measure such
items, it is evident that they distort the overall fiscal picture. The
budget cuts and procedural changes outlined earlier can do a great
deal of good over the next few years. But to guard against excess in the
longer run, the government should adopt further reforms.
Current Policy
President Reagan has long advocated structural reforms such as the
item veto and the balanced budget amendment.
Policy Alternatives
? Adopt a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced budget
and limiting the total amount the government can tax and spend.
? Adopt a constitutional amendment allowing the president to veto
line items in appropriation bills.
? Adopt a constitutional amendment requiring a two-thirds vote of
Congress on bills and joint resolutions making appropriations
and on concurrent resolutions on the budget.
? Allow the president limited authority to impound funds. Such
power was removed by the 1974 Budget Act.
? Consider a two-year budget cycle, which would permit longer
planning horizons and more orderly decisionmaking.
? Bring off-budget items into the budget. In 1984, over $14 billion
was not subject to ceilings set in budget resolutions.
? Adopt a capital budget within the unified budget to distinguish
between capital spending and operating costs.
? Require the Federal Financing Bank, after a federal agency has
made a direct loan, to sell the obligation to the highest bidder.
Any difference between the amount lent and the amount sold
would measure the federal subsidy. The current credit accounting
system obscures the true cost of federal credit assistance.
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Monetary Reform
The Setting
A healthy economy depends on a sound dollar. A monetary struc-
ture that fosters a steady and predictable money supply is an essential
condition for growth without inflation. Monetary policy is set by the
Federal Reserve, which acts independently of other federal economic
policymakers. The Fed's key policymaking body, the Open Market
Committee, meets privately each month to review the economy and
determine whether the money supply should be eased or tightened.
The Committee makes its decisions public after an interval of several
weeks; critics say this interval allows for volatile speculation in
financial markets due to uncertainty about Fed policy.
Current Policy
Members of Congress, as well as elements of the domestic and
international business communities, have questioned the Federal
Reserve's short-run discretionary management of the economy. De-
spite a 1979 change in operating procedures to focus on growth in
monetary aggregates, say critics, control of the money supply has been
uneven. According to Milton Friedman, "the problem is not the
person who happens to be chairman, but the system."
Policy Alternatives
? Require prompt disclosure of Fed decisions concerning the future
course of monetary policy.
? Make the Treasury Secretary an ex officio member of the Reserve
System's Board ofGovernors. This proposal would restore a status
the Secretary had for many years until the 1930s.
? Establish a cabinet-level monetary policy advisory task force to
study reforms aimed at improving international stability in prices
and exchange rates. Reforms could include guidelines for the Fed
such as: combined price/quantity rules; freeze of "high-powered"
money; an index of prices to be used an an intermediate mone-
tary target for the Fed; and a constant rate of growth of M 1, the
base measure of money.
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Regulatory Process
The Setting
Federal rules and red tape, despite their good intentions, cost the
US economy over $100 billion a year-an expense consumers ulti-
mately pay. In past years, the absence of a workable regulatory
oversight process led to inefficiency, because bureaucrats had no
incentive to consider how their rules would affect economic growth.
In 1981, President Reagan set up the first systematic process for
managing federal regulation. Under Executive Order 12291, execu-
tive agencies must gauge the likely economic effects of all proposed
and final rules, and the Office of Management and Budget must
review them before they are issued. A new problem has cropped up,
however. In 1983, the Supreme Court declared existing legislative
vetoes unconstitutional, thereby depriving Congress of a check on
agency discretion. Furthermore, President Reagan's review process is
not yet statutory and thus could be scrapped by a future administra-
tion.
Current Policy
President Reagan continues to back regulatory reform. Because of
his work to date, the growth of new regulations has been cut by more
than a third, and government-imposed business paperwork has
shrunk by several hundred million man-hours a year.
In spite of progress in specific regulatory areas, overall process
reform has had a hard time on Capitol Hill. In 1982, the Senate
unanimously passed a bill requiring cost-benefit analysis and au-
thorizing a two-house legislative veto. This bill did not reach the
House floor. The 98th Congress had hearings on regulatory reform,
but took no major action.
Policy Alternatives
? Authorize the congressional veto by use of a joint resolution of
approval for major rules and a joint resolution of disapproval for
others.
? Require agencies to undertake regulatory analyses for new major
rules and their alternatives. Agencies would have to choose the
most cost-effective alternative unless otherwise forbidden by law.
? Provide for a regulatory budget: a ceiling on the amount of
regulatory costs that could be imposed on those subject to federal
regulation.
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Banking
The Setting
The current regulatory system for banking is a green-eyeshade
institution in a microchip world. The nation's banks, working under
rules first developed during the Great Depression, have not been able
to compete in offering all the broad financial services demanded in
today's complex economy. The regulatory agencies, by imposing
uncoordinated and often conflicting requirements, have introduced
serious inefficiencies into the financial industry.
In response to market demand unmet by the banking structure,
nonbanking organizations have moved into financial services, caus-
ing fierce competition for investment funds. Handicapped by rigid
rules, the banking community has had trouble meeting the challenge.
Thus the rise in the number of "problem institutions" and outright
failures often stems from too much government regulation, not too
little.
Current Policy
Current regulatory policies remain much as they were fifty years.
Individual components of financial services are separately regulated
to assure monetary stability, protection of customers, and encourage-
ment of socially desirable investments. The statutory scheme allows
regulators to control entry, determine product lines, fix prices and
limit both expansion and creditor risk (through deposit insurance). In
response to recent economic problems, Congress has modified restric-
tions on interest rates and the expansion of financial services. But the
basic system remains intact.
Policy Alternatives
? Authorize depository institution holding companies to broaden
the scope of their financial services and activities.
? Provide for geographic deregulation of banking by easing restric-
tions on interstate banking operations.
? Realign regulatory responsiblities. The recommendations of the
Vice President's task force provide a useful starting point for such
an effort.
? Provide for variable premium deposit insurance rates that would
take into consideration the nature of the financial services pro-
vided by the institution, as well as its financial health.
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Communications Deregulation
The Setting
Under its 1934 legislative mandate, the Federal Communication
Commission has regulated interstate communication by wire and
airwave. The FCC's creators assumed that communication technol-
ogy was not flexible enough to allow the free play of market forces. But
as we near the year 2000, the airwaves are no longer the "limited
resource" of yesteryear. Changing technologies and new forms of
competition outmode much of the present regulation. Advances in
satellite and cable communications increase capacities, foster compe-
tition, and destroy "spectrum monopolies." Democratic leaders who
cling to the archaic belief that more government is better government
fail to grasp the extent of this competitive environment and the need
to remove government interference.
Current Policy
The FCC and Congress both have moved toward deregulation. In
1981, the FCC deregulated major aspects of commercial radio, and
three years later it took similar action on commercial and public
television. Last year, Congress streamlined regulation of cable TV.
These and other reforms have cut industry paperwork burdens by 17
million hours in the past two years.
The restructuring of the American telephone industry started with
the divestiture of AT&T. The company gave up control of its local
operating companies in exchange for the right to enter more competi-
tive markets. So that local and long-distance rates may reflect actual
costs, the FCC has implemented access charges for businesses and has
planned a one dollar a month charge for residential customers.
Policy Alternatives
? Codify FCC radio regulation rules and extend them to television.
These measures would abolish mandatory compliance in provid-
ing programming formats, learning community needs, keeping
program logs, and restricting commercial advertising.
? Encourage the FCC to create a lottery system for broadcast
licensing and to rely more on markets in spectrum allocation.
? Shift. Broadcasting Fund money from the Corporation for Public
Broadcasting to public radio stations.
? Abolish rules under which Washington dictates the amount and
kind of attention broadcasters give to issues and candidates.
These rules are: the "fairness doctrine," the "equal time" stan-
dard, and the "reasonable access" rule.
? Expedite the Postal Rate Commission's decision that the Postal
Service shall privatize its electronic mail system (E-COM).
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Transportation
The Setting
The Department of Transportation, along with independent agen-
cies such as the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) and the
Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) regulate ships, trucks, buses,
planes and airports. Prudent action on transportation safety can make
good sense, but price and entry regulation has proven harmful to
consumers by stifling competition.
Current Policy
President Reagan aims to replace red tape with free market effi-
ciency, while preserving essential services. Congress has also em-
braced this goal. The 1980 Motor Carrier Act eased trucking regula-
tion; consequently, prices have fallen and quality has improved.
Similar results have come from the 1980 Staggers Rail Act, the 1982
Bus Regulation Reform Act, and the 1983 Shipping Act. The ICC has
carried out surface transportation reform. But it has reached the limits
of administrative deregulation, as evidenced by the recent court
reversal of several decisions.
Indeed, ICC motor carrier rate regulation may be obsolete. In 1982,
more than 750,000 tariffs were filed, but fewer than 300 were pro-
tested. This paper chase does little but keep carriers from charging
market rates. On January 1, 1985, the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB)
was sunset.
Policy Alternatives
? Sunset the ICC and transfer its residual functions. The FTC could
handle consumer protection, while Transportation could meet
the other few legitimate regulatory needs.
? Eliminate further Operating Differential Subsidies for shipping.
ODS subsidizes shippers for differences between foreign and
domestic manning costs. The upshot: reduced incentive to con-
trol costs.
? Allow federal mass transportation capital funding for private
contracting. Program funds now go only for new equipment. If
such funds are available, local officials should be able to use them
to contract with private operators who already own equipment.
This first step would start to promote economy and flexibility.
? Direct the Transportation Department to study proposals to
transfer operation of the air traffic control system from the
Federal Aviation Administration to the private sector. Such a
study should look at potential effects on air safety.
? Relieve the burden on the general taxpayer through increased
reliance on user fees. The inland waterway system, for example,
can expect proposals for increases in the fuel tax or similar user
fees, which better reflect actual costs.
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Industrial Innovation
The Setting
Many Democrats insist that America has become a "zero-sum
society" and that the main goal of economic policy should be well-
shared scarcity. They conclude that the US should write off industries
that have lost ground and concentrate only on new "sunrise" indus-
tries. This diagnosis is misguided and the prescription is wrong-
headed. America can improve its competitiveness in traditional
industries that have global growth potential. To this end, firms must
improve their use of technology and human capital. But if the
Democratic leaders want central planning, they must forsake dyna-
mism and life. A managed economy is a barren one, which can inch
ahead only by copying from abroad.
Innovation cannot be forced. Creative ideas, improved products,
new companies and revitalized factories do not spring from the
furrowed brows of harried bureaucrats. Rather, they are the product
of individuals with the vision and courage to take risks. Innovation
can only be fostered by an economic environment that encourages
growth and the entrepreneurial spirit.
Current Policy
Congressional Republicans and President Reagan have made great
strides in furthering innovation. Among their legislative achieve-
ments: an incremental research and development tax credit; a law
allowing businesses to retain rights to federally-funded research that
would not violate patent laws; modification of antitrust laws to
encourage joint research ventures; and a new intellectual property law
covering semiconductor designs.
Policy Alternatives
? Until a reformed tax code is in place, extend and refine the
research and development tax credit.
? Modify antitrust laws to require greater use of the "rule of
reason" test, which would require that corporate arrangements be
judged by their competitive effects.
? Allow foreign nationals who are trained here in science and
engineering to remain in the United States after receiving their
education.
? Amend the Freedom of Information Act to protect confidential
business information. A business should be notified when a
request is made for information it has submitted, and if it thinks
the information should be withheld, it should have an opportu-
nity to tell the agency why.
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Job Opportunities
The Setting
From 1965 through 1980, Democratic Congresses spent $85.5
billion (1980 constant dollars) on bureaucratic programs for employ-
ment. During that time, unemployment rose from 4.4% to 7.0%. The
Reagan Administration took office determined to chart a more
effective course. During the Reagan recovery, more than six million
Americans have found work. Yet there are still pockets of joblessness.
Now our challenge is to foster investment in human capital, and help
workers develop the skills they need for the coming decades. One
obstacle is the government itself. Certain federal restrictions on
employment may have once made sense, but they clash with the
economic conditions of the 1980s.
Minimum wage requirements for teenagers tend to backfire by
keeping employers from hiring teens for part-time or summer work.
With a youth opportunity wage-set below the adult minimum-
many teenagers could gain the experience they need to start a success-
ful worklife. The National Conference of Black Mayors has endorsed
the youth opportunity wage.
Curbs on household manufacturing date from a time when high-
tech was science fiction and few women worked in business. Today, a
person should be able to work at home as long as there is no health or
safety threat. Household manufacturing would help those who need
to stay home during the day: single parents, the handicapped and the
elderly.
Current Policy
The Labor Department has taken administrative action to reduce
barriers to' household manufacturing; however, legislative action is
desirable to support this decision. President Reagan backs the youth
opportunity wage, which has been blocked by the House Democratic
leadership. His Administration has met great success with the Job
Training Partnership Act, which replaced the CETA program.
Policy Alternatives
? Provide tax incentives for employers to finance worker retrain-
ing, and allow workers to make penalty-free withdrawals from
IRAs to meet retraining expenses.
? Allow the long-term unemployed who now receive federal sup-
plemental compensation payments to opt instead for reemploy-
ment vouchers. Recipients would offer these vouchers to poten-
tial employers, who would thus have an incentive to hire them.
This proposal contains safeguards against displacement of cur-
rent workers.
? Enact a youth-opportunity wage.
? Affirm the legality of household manufacturing.
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Housing and Community Revival
The Setting
Many communities are struggling. Population movements, chang-
ing business patterns and rising service costs all worsen community
decline. Past federal remedies often backfired. Urban renewal, long
championed by big-government Democrats, uprooted neighborhoods
and tore down four homes for every home it built. As a leader of New
Jersey's Puerto Rican community said in 1981, "If, 80 years ago, the
federal government had developed a deliberate plan to destroy our
cities, it would not have been more successful than has been the case."
Current Policy
President Reagan is trying to break the grip of past failures. The
Administration backs enterprise zones, which would revive depressed
areas by cutting red tape, taxes and other government-imposed costs.
Many states are working with this concept, and the results are
promising. The Administration introduced its enterprise zone bill in
1983 with over 100 Democratic cosponsors. The House Democratic
leaders, however, have refused to let such legislation come up for a
vote.
Access to housing and pride in home ownership are also important
components of community strength. Traditional housing policies
have fallen short, so creative new programs are needed. Rental
vouchers and increased ownership opportunities for the poor could
help more people at no additional cost to the taxpayers.
Policy Alternatives
? Provide for enterprise zones. The Administration's bill would
allow the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to name
25 enterprise zones a year for three years.
? Provide further home ownership and resident management
opportunities for families living in public housing. One way
would be to allow tenants or tenant associations to buy their
dwellings at no more than one-fourth of market value and with
no down payment.
? Substitute housing vouchers for low-income housing programs,
with the current voucher demonstration project as a model.
? Direct the Department of Housing and Urban Development to
draft model legislation for states and localities that would encour-
age privatization of selected public services. This approach could
save money and foster the development of small business.
? As recommended by the Grace Commission, direct HUD to
improve accounting practices and internal financial controls.
Accounting systems are primarily manual and even where auto-
mated, are mostly outdated.
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International Trade
The Setting
Over half a century ago, the United States enacted harsh trade
barriers. Intended to help US markets, these barriers instead wiped
out jobs and spread the Great Depression worldwide. Today, the
Democratic leaders would repeat that blunder. They say "domestic
content" would help the auto industry, but in fact it would provoke
retaliation and cost hundreds of dollars per car. Their "industrial
policy" proposals are more insidious: in the name of helping "sun-
rise" industries, industrial policy would offer only porkbarrel and
protectionism.
America does face competition, but we must resist protectionist
pressures. Open trade expands world commerce, which helps Ameri-
cans by improving wages, opportunities and living standards. The
best competitive response is to keep strengthening our domestic
economy.
Current Policy
President Reagan opposes "protectionism and quotas which will
make all of us worse off in the long run." But free trade must be fair
trade: America will not stand still for unfair practices such as the
European Community's agricultural supports or Japan's auto subsi-
dies. Demonstrably victimized domestic markets may need a hand in
countering certain unfair foreign trade practices.
The United States urges other nations to follow our lead in open
trade. President Reagan's Caribbean Basin Initiative opened US
markets to a dozen Caribbean countries. In 1984, he signed a trade
package that includes: extension of a generalized system of prefer-
ences, a US-Israel free-trade area, and expansion of executive author-
ity to respond to other countries' trade policies. As other countries
follow this example, export subsidies, such as those of the Export-
Import Bank, may no longer be necessary.
Policy Alternatives
? Urge the Administration to start a new round of trade talks
among the GATT countries. Areas to be discussed could include:
non-tariff barriers, agricultural products, high-tech products,
trade in services, price-support agreements for commodities.
? Reduce nontariff barriers through strengthening and defining
Multilaterial Trade Negotiation agreements.
? Require economic impact reports to be filed with measures that
restrict imports.
? Establish a free-trade area with Canada.
? Link future trade assistance for US industries to adjustments on
their part, such as facility modernization and worker retraining.
? Reevaluate voluntary auto import quotas.
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Export Controls
The Setting
The United States restricts the export of certain goods for national
security purposes. High-technology firms face extensive rules and
licensing procedures designed to prevent the diversion of sensitive
technology, especially to East Bloc countries. Export licensing ties up
some $20 billion of overseas business each year and handicaps US
firms on the world market.
The president's power to restrict exports is a potential tool of
foreign policy. But President Carter's 1979 grain embargo proved that
good intentions can lead to disastrous results. The only ones who
really suffered were American farmers-and five years later, the
Soviets remain in Afghanistan. Secretary of State Shultz says, "We
should not sacrifice long-term interests in order to express immediate
outrage."
Current Policy
Many current high-tech controls are ineffective. A 700-page De-
fense Department manual of controlled technology lists common
items such as the Apple II computer. It makes little sense to ban the
export of technologies available from any mail order catalog. Says
President Reagan, "With the cooperation of our Western allies, we
should assign the highest possible control to those relatively few
technologies with unquestionable strategic value and worry less about
the most commonly available technologies."
The 98th Congress did not enact an extension of the Export
Administration Act, which authorizes presidential export restriction.
Provisions included: streamlining licensing; assessing foreign avail-
ability; clarifying the roles of the Commerce Department, the Defense
Department, and the Customs Service. The Act attempts to balance
the need to prevent diversion of sensitive technology against the need
to ensure American competitiveness abroad.
Policy Alternatives
? Give a strong legislative mandate to the US Coordinating Com-
mittee (CoCom) negotiators to strengthen controls on critical
technology while decontrolling items freely available to the East-
ern Bloc. Special attention should be given to developing a
coordinated CoCom policy for high-technology trade with the
People's Republic of China.
? Strengthen the Commerce Department's ability to make prompt
determination of the foreign availability of technology.
? Decontrol exports of technology already available overseas.
? Provide relief from export disincentives by amending the Foreign
Corrupt Practices Act.
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Free Individuals and Strong Families
America is a rainbow coalition. This country draws strength from
pluralism, from a great array of minds, talents, energies and faiths.
This variety is too precious to waste; we must not let it be stifled by
prejudice. House Republicans believe in equal opportunity, and we
strive to end discrimination on account of religion, sex, race, or
national origin. We favor continued vigorous enforcement of civil
rights statutes, but the protection of freedom requires more. Policies
for economic growth, described elsewhere in this document, enable
people to fulfill their individual promise. A renewed fight against
crime, started in the 1984 omnibus crime bill, can stem the fears that
restrict every American's liberty.
A society is only as strong as its families. Economic growth begins at
home, because people have traditionally worked, saved and invested
not for their own pleasure but for their families' security. The home is
where children learn the values needed to advance civilization:
integrity, responsibility, compassion. House Republicans fight for
policies that support rather than shatter families. In our vision of the
future, good families have greater opportunities to adopt; parents can
readily find day care and quality education; the old and the handi-
capped can live in dignity; and the young can grow up in safety.
In this section, we suggest policy alternatives to promote all of these
goals. In a few select cases, these key alternatives involve tax incen-
tives. As explained earlier, though, major tax reform would require
modification of such proposals. Similarly, budgetary constraints may
delay implementation of several ideas. Nevertheless, our goals re-
main.
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Women
The Setting
Women have gained from the economic progress of the past few
years. While Americans on average got a 23% tax cut, married
working women received a 31% reduction. Opportunities burgeon
and beckon. Today more than two-thirds of the women between ages
25 and 44 work in paid jobs. And women business-owners make up
the fastest growing segment of the small business community.
Still, equal opportunity does not exist everywhere-especially not
in the House committee system. Women constitute 80% of commit-
tee staff earning $20,000 or less, but only 23% of those earning
$40,000 or more. The Democratic majority's leadership professes
support for equality. Why have they failed to get their own house in
order?
Current Policy
The Economic Equity Act, signed by President Reagan in 1984,
improves the treatment of women in areas such as tax law, insurance
and pensions. The President backs equal pay for equal work, as well as
expanded career opportunities. More than a thousand women di-
rected policy and operations in the first Reagan Administration.
Policy Alternatives
? Provide for spousal IRAs by allowing married individuals to
compute their IRA tax deduction on the basis of the spouses'
earnings.
? Forbid any level of government from enforcing a classification
based on sex unless such a classification is necessary to achieve a
compelling government interest.
? Establish a commission to study sex discrimination in the legisla-
tive branch.
? Amend Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act to extend the ban
on discrimination to cover employees of the House of Represen-
tatives.
? Provide employers with a tax credit for hiring and training
displaced homemakers.
? Require that the Veterans Administration shall effectively inform
female veterans about their benefits. There are more than one
million women veterans, but the federal government has tradi-
tionally neglected their interests.
? Reexamine retirement benefits for spouses of military personnel
who are divorced during active service or retirement. Part of
retirement pay should be guaranteed to spouses, based on length
both of service and marriage.
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Civil Rights
The Setting
President Reagan has said, "Ours is a nation based on the sacred-
ness of the individual, a nation where all women and men must be
judged on their merit, imagination and effort, not on what they are,
but on what they do." Jesse Jackson voiced a similar sentiment at the
Democratic Convention: "Democracy guarantees opportunity, not
success."
America has made progress in extending opportunity to all its
people, especially during the economic recovery. But our country has
yet to achieve total justice. Many undocumented aliens cross our
borders each day, only to be exploited by that handful of employers
who scorn human dignity. Blacks and other minorities still face
hurdles in pursuit of the American dream. And anti-Semitism lives
on. Louis Farrakhan's despicable statements shocked millions of
Americans who thought we had outgrown such bigotry. Neither party
condones anti-Semitism; but because of certain political pressures,
Democratic leaders refused to denounce it in their platform. The
Republicans had no such hesitation: their platform "repudiates and
completely disassociates itself from .... any form of bigotry, racism,
anti-Semitism or religious intolerance."
Current Policy
During the President's first term, the Justice Department brought a
large number of civil rights violators to court. The Administration
continues to back programs to bring jobs and hope to our nation's
inner cities. In 1983, Congress reconstituted the US Civil Rights
Commission and extended it for six years. In 1984, the House did pass
immigration reform legislation, but only after the Democratic leader-
ship had blocked it for a year and a half.
Policy Alternatives
? Enact heavy fines and prison sentences for destruction or theft of
religious property. Recent years have seen thousands of crimes
against synagogues and other religious places.
? Enact immigration reform legislation, along the lines of the
Simpson-Mazzoli bill.
? Support a constitutional amendment making naturalized citizens
eligible for the presidency, provided they have been citizens for at
least 11 years and are otherwise qualified . Naturalized Ameri-
cans-even those brought here as infants-are now barred from
the presidency. The proposed change would be a symbol of
opportunity to all young immigrant citizens, including Mexican
Americans, Cuban Americans and Asian Americans.
? Enact legislation promoting economic and social equity for
women, as described in the section entitled "Women."
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Crime and Punishment
The Setting
In 1975, crime expert James Q. Wilson wrote: "Wicked people
exist. Nothing avails except to set them apart from innocent people. .
... We have trifled with the wicked, made sport of the innocent and
encouraged the calculators. Justice suffers, and so do we all."
The Reagan Administration has moved to create a climate where
the innocent are protected and the guilty are punished. It has in-
creased the federal funds and personnel for crime-fighting. Through
such actions, and by the example it has set for state and local law
enforcers, the Administration has helped to reduce crime.
Current Policy
Overcoming obstruction by the House Democratic leadership,
President Reagan and congressional Republicans spearheaded the
most far-reaching reform of federal criminal law in history. Among
other things, this legislation will: authorize judges to detain dangerous
defendants, abolish federal parole, reform bail and sentencing, curb
the insanity defense, foster the seizure of mob assets, increase penal-
ties for drug dealers, and re-establish grants for state anti-crime
efforts. Unfortunately, Congress failed to enact several other reform
proposals initially included in this legislation.
More criminals are now behind bars than ever before, and justice
reforms will swell their ranks. The nation must move ahead with
creative approaches to its prisons.
Policy Alternatives
? Provide that evidence obtained from a good-faith search shall not
be excluded from a federal proceeding.
? Reform habeas corpus procedures.
? Explore privatization. Amend the Internal Revenue code to
allow firms to build correction facilities and lease them to state or
local governments; the firms would receive tax incentives. Set up
a limited test project to estimate the savings that could result
from the private management of federal penal facilities.
? Permit the transportation of certain domestic prison-made
goods, establish tax and wage criteria for prison industry pro-
grams, and allow for a deduction in prisoners' wages to pay for
their room and board and to reimburse their victims.
? Impose the death penalty for murders committed by federal
prisoners serving life sentences.
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Excellence in Education
The Setting
Between the elections of John Kennedy and Ronald Reagan,
federal spending on education increased fivefold (adjusted for infla-
tion), yet standard test scores plunged. Simply throwing money at the
schoolhouse was not-and is not-the right approach to education.
President Reagan has turned the country's attention to the need for
educational excellence and has encouraged reform at the state and
local levels. Our slide into classroom mediocrity has now halted.
Efforts to increase hours of instruction, lengthen the school year and
re-emphasize the basics have all been part of what one report calls the
"tidal wave of school reform which promises to renew American
education."
Current Policy
States pay about 50% of the cost of public schooling, while localities
pay 42% and the federal government 8%. Although the states and
localities have answered the President's call for improvement, there is
still a need for federal initiatives.
Policy Alternatives
? As a condition of federal aid, require: minimum lengths for the
school day and school year, a system for student promotion based
on achievement and attendance, and a merit pay system for
teachers.
? Allow businesses a tax credit for providing math and science
teachers with summer jobs that acquaint them with the applied
uses of high technology.
? Establish an "Academic Olympics" demonstration project for the
District of Columbia. Students from disadvantaged schools
would compete in tests of academic skill; achievement would be
recognized with monetary and honorary rewards. The program
would also provide incentives to schools for improvements both
in attendance and overall performance on standard tests.
? Provide for the use of federal work-study funds, together with
donations from high-tech industries, to place college students as
teacher's aides in high school math and science courses.
? Direct the Secretary of Education to develop a model proficiency
test, similar to a bar exam, to stiffen teaching standards. State
adoption of this program would be voluntary.
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Financing Education
The Setting
Widespread access to education represents an investment in a
healthy democracy and a growing economy. In the late 1970s, high
interest rates and inflation threatened to put education beyond the
reach of many Americans. Economic recovery has improved the
outlook, but hardships persist. The need for laboratory equipment
and information technology, among other things, continues to boost
the cost of higher education.
Independent primary and secondary education is also hurting.
Many poor and middle-income families send their children to inde-
pendent schools. About 40% of these schools' students come from
families with incomes less than $25,000; two-thirds have incomes
below $35,000. Our public schools must prosper, of course, but there
is room as well for the diversity and competition provided by the
independent sector. Sociologist James Coleman says the tuition bar-
rier to these schools is "almost certainly harmful to the public interest
and especially harmful to the interests of those least well-off."
Current Policy
The Reagan Administration has restored the traditional role of the
student and family in meeting the costs of higher education, and it has
targeted aid to the neediest students. In 1984, over $13 billion in
federally supported student aid was available.
President Reagan supports tuition tax credits for the parents of
children who attend independent primary and secondary schools. He
believes it is a matter of fairness for families that fund public schools
with their taxes and pay again, through tuition, for the education they
choose for their children.
Policy Alternatives
? Allow families to establish a tax-deferred savings account (similar
to an IRA) for their child's post-secondary educational expenses.
Such a proposal would include penalties for use of these accounts
for other purposes.
? Establish tuition tax credits. The full tax credit would go only to
parents with taxable incomes of $40,000 or less. There would be
no credit for tuition paid to schools that racially discriminate.
? As recommended by the Grace Commission, merge the National
Direct Student Loan program and the auxiliary-loan program
into the more cost-effective Guaranteed Student Loan program.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, this step would
save $2 billion in outlays over five years.
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Adoption
The Setting
Many couples yearn to adopt children. At the same time, half a
million children live in foster homes, and only a fraction will ever be
adopted. And of the 50,000 children for whom adoption was initiated
in 1983, only a third were actually placed. The unadopted are usually
"special needs" children: older, minority, or handicapped. The foster
care system is not the best path for homeless children: according to
several studies, a disproportionate number of prison inmates are
products of that system.
To compound the tragedy, many couples wanting to be parents are
victimized by fraudulent adoption rings. Such organizations start by
making children available to a small number of couples; this lures the
victims, who pay thousands of dollars only to have their hopes
shattered. Federal attention is justified because these rings typically
cross state or national lines.
Current Policy
The states govern the legal and procedural aspects of adoption. The
federal government provides money to the states to support adoption
services. The Administration is studying methods of improving the
system. Among other things, the Department of Health and Human
Services is undertaking demonstration projects to promote adoption
as an alternative for women who have unwanted pregnancies. And
legislation signed by the President in 1984 provides grants to encour-
age the adoption of handicapped and other hard-to-place children.
Policy Alternatives
? Establish a nationwide information exchange system to assist in
matching children with good adoptive families.
? Provide federal criminal penalties against fraudulent adoption
rings in interstate or international commerce.
? Provide further help for families adopting special-needs children.
Adopting and raising handicapped children may entail significant
expense; modest tax deductions could be an appropriate re-
sponse.
? Direct the Department of Health and Human Services to im-
prove data on adoption practices and procedures. Lawmakers of
both parties want better information in this area.
? Direct the Department of Labor to study the question of parental
leave for new adoptive fathers and mothers. Adoptive families
face strenuous times of adjustment, just as birth families do.
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Child Care
The Setting
Since 1977, the number of preschool children with working moth-
ers has grown by more than half. Day care is thus becoming a basic
American need. Unfortunately, there have been cases of neglect and
abuse by people working in day care centers. State and local standards
for hiring and operation vary widely; more standardization might
assure better care. Mandatory federal guidelines, however, could be so
cumbersome and costly that they would make day care too expensive
for those who need it most.
It is important to distinguish between supervisory and educational
services. The Head Start program has been Washington's best educa-
tional effort on behalf of preschool children. Started in the 1960s,
Head Start provides disadvantaged children with compensatory edu-
cation, medical care and nutritious meals. Unlike most social pro-
grams, Head Start shuns centralized bureaucratic control and it
encourages parental involvement. According to independent analysis,
former Head Start participants are more likely to finish high school,
steer clear of crime and avoid teenage pregnancy.
Current Policy
The Reagan Administration supports Head Start because of its
success in expanding opportunities for underprivileged children.
President Reagan has signed legislation extending Head Start's au-
thorization and increasing its appropriation. He has also signed
measures to expand the program, promote even more parental par-
ticipation and increase incentives for the program's employees.
Policy Alternatives
? Encourage day care by either increasing the tax credit for depen-
dent care services for low and moderate income taxpayers, or
providing modest tax incentives to firms for offering day care as
an employee benefit.
? Aid mobile young parents by establishing a day care information
data base, which would be accessible by home computer. People
who move from one state to another often have difficulty in
promptly finding day care services for their children.
? Continue to provide adequate funding for Head Start.
? Review the federal government's current leave and personnel
policies affecting the parents of newborn infants. The federal
government should strive to be a model employer by way of
easing employees' child care problems.
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Protecting America's Youth
The Setting
Children are in danger. Thousands disappear every year, never
again to be seen by their families. Some are abused, sexually assaulted
or sold on the illegal-adoption market: a healthy child can bring as
much as $30,000. Others, like Adam Walsh, are murdered.
Missing youths are not the only victims of child abuse. Most cases
occur in the home, and only a fraction are ever reported. Abuse may
involve violence, or denial of such basic needs as food and medical
care. Abusers try to cover their tracks by intimidating their victims
into silence, whether in the home or elsewhere.
The American people are increasingly aware of the need to protect
children. They are rebelling against the permissiveness that spawned
child pornography, and they support measures to track down and
punish those who prey upon our children.
Current Policy
President Reagan has said that youths "should have the right and
the opportunity to walk our streets, to play and to grow and to live
their lives without being at risk." In June 1984, he opened the
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which assists
parents and law enforcers in finding missing children. He has also
signed bills to strengthen the federal effort against child pornography
and to support state programs on child abuse and domestic violence.
A number of states are helping children who become wards of the
court. The Court-Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) program is a
community-based effort of trained volunteers serving as advocates of
abused and neglected children. The Reagan Administration is encour-
aging efforts to extend CASA across America.
Policy Alternatives
? Mandate life sentences for those found guilty of kidnaping chil-
dren, and require capital punishment in cases where the victim
dies as a result of the crime. Such legislation should provide for
exceptions in non-violent cases that arise from domestic dis-
putes.
? Amend the Racketeer-Influenced and Corrupt Organizations
(RICO) law to extend its coverage to the sexual exploitation of
children.
? Provide matching grants to states for establishing clearinghouses
for information on missing children.
? Deny federal funds to youth organizations that do not screen
employees for records of crimes against children.
? Direct the Department of Health and Human Services to study
the causes and symptoms of teenage suicide.
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Home Care for the Elderly
The Setting
Thanks to medical innovations, Americans are living longer.
Within sixteen years, the number of Americans over 85 will double.
Increased longevity is good but it brings a challenge, because elderly
people often need help to care for themselves. About 1.3 million now
live in nursing homes. However well-run a nursing home may be, it
cannot supply the freedom of a private dwelling or the emotional
warmth of a family. Many nursing home residents are only moder-
ately impaired, so they could live alone or with family if adequate
assistance were available.
The federal government and the states annually pay $14 billion for
nursing home care under Medicaid. Medicare pays an additional half-
billion dollars for extended care services. Alternatives to institutional-
ization could decrease admissions, save money, and even improve
care.
Current Policy
President Reagan firmly believes in strengthening families and
neighborhoods. For example, the Department of Health and Human
Services is undertaking a demonstration program to compare the
costs of home care and community-based services with the cost of
institutional care.
Policy Alternatives
? Provide tax credits for home care of elderly relatives who would
otherwise be institutionalized. Another alternative would be tax
deductions for home care of elderly relatives suffering from
disabling ailments such as Alzheimer's Disease.
? Establish a nationwide system of long-term care centers to co-
ordinate services for the elderly such as nutrition and homemak-
ing. The program would be national in application but decentral-
ized in administration, involving on a local basis the people who
are to be served.
? Support research and demonstration projects on home care
technologies. Assistive devices can help the impaired elderly
prepare food and perform other household chores. In emergen-
cies, electronic monitoring systems could summon aid to seniors
who are alone.
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Handicapped and Disabled
The Setting
In years to come, American science will conquer deafness, blind-
ness, paralysis and other handicaps. Meanwhile, however, our coun-
try must give a hand up to those who suffer these disadvantages. Over
five million Americans need help in such basic daily activities as
walking and dressing. Thirteen million have work disabilities.
Government has to avoid policies that foster dependency. Handi-
capped people should have opportunities to live and work on their
own-not only for their sake but for the country's. The United States
would have been a poorer place if Franklin Roosevelt or Helen Keller
had not taken up an active life.
Current Policy
President Reagan has declared 1983-1992 the Decade of Disabled
Persons. During his term, minimum accessibility guidelines have
been adopted and he has signed legislation making it easier for the
handicapped to register and vote. He is also committed to enforcing
laws barring discrimination against any otherwise handicapped peo-
ple, in any program receiving federal aid.
The Job Accommodation Network, a computerized system created
by the President's Committee on Employment of the Handicapped,
helps employers determine what physical and other accommodations
are necessary to help handicapped people do their jobs.
Policy Alternatives
? Establish a computerized job bank to match disabled people with
jobs they can perform. For instance, a person who has trouble
walking could be matched with a position that does not require
much mobility.
? Provide a tax deduction for the purchase of teletypewriters for the
deaf and the speech-impaired.
? Hire handicapped youths as congressional pages. The New York
State Legislature has been successful in employing handicapped
people as messengers.
? Permanently authorize the law allowing disabled persons on
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) to work gainfully without
losing medicaid benefits. Disabled program participants cannot
easily buy private health insurance; loss of medicaid would
discourage those who would otherwise want to work. This provi-
sion saves money because SSI does not pay cash benefits to the
self-sufficient.
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Welfare
The Setting
In 1964, big government declared war on poverty-and poverty
won. During the Eisenhower-Kennedy prosperity, the percentage of
Americans in poverty had plummeted, but under Great Society
programs, improvement slowed and then stopped. By President
Carter's last three budget years, poverty was growing at a 9.1 % annual
rate.
Why the failure? The only dependable route from poverty is work,
family and faith in the future. Our welfare system smothers all three.
Transfer payments and social services can add up to a package that
makes work look like a bad bargain. The government encourages
minor unmarried parents to move away from home by offering higher
benefits if they do so. And by stressing redistribution over opportu-
nity, welfare destroys hopes for individual initiative.
Current Policy
President Reagan has started to heal the damage. His economic
policies have created new jobs and have beaten the needy's worst
enemy-inflation-thereby guarding their buying power. His Admin-
istration has launched real welfare reform by targeting benefits to the
needy through tighter eligibility standards. In August 1984, he signed
legislation to address the failure of many absent parents to pay child
support.
Policy Alternatives
? Require minor unmarried parents to stay with their parents or
legal guardian in order to receive welfare benefits.
? Improve income verification in means-tested assistance pro-
grams. The Congressional Budget Office says this step would save
$1.5 billion over five years.
? Require states to adopt workfare programs. A number ofjurisdic-
tions have had great success with workfare, which requires
ablebodied welfare recipients to earn their check in whole or part
by doing community work. According to Senator William Prox-
mire, workfare reminds recipients "of the discipline of work,
getting up in the morning, reporting on time, making an effort
and getting paid for it."
? Authorize pilot projects to integrate human service delivery
systems. There are over 60 federally-funded programs for direct
human service delivery; this maze confuses the needy and tempts
the undeserving to manipulate welfare to their advantage.
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Natural Resources and
Human Frontiers
A century and a half ago, Alexis de Tocqueville described our land
this way: "Those costs so well suited for trade and industry, those
deep rivers, that inexhaustible valley of the Mississippi-in short, the
whole continent-seemed the empty cradle of a great civilization. It
was there that civilized man was destined to build society on new
foundations, and for the first time apply theories till then unknown or
deemed unworkable, to present the world with a spectacle for which
past history had not prepared it."
The spectacle goes on. American genius and American resources
are combining to make life better for generations to come. One
scholar put it well when he spoke of "technologies of freedom."
Scientific progress promises to liberate human beings from the shack-
les of distance, scarcity and disease. To those who talk about limits to
growth, we say, "Look to the skies." American space missions show
that there are no limits to what the human mind can do.
Recent years have also brought renewed respect for the environ-
ment. Our legacy to the future must include cleaner air, water and soil,
as well as more efficient use of natural resources. Our grandchildren
should be able to behold the same natural beauty that Tocqueville
saw.
Here we discuss how government can foster progress in both the
natural world and the world of the mind.
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Space
The Setting
On January 13, 1920, a New York Times editorial scoffed at Dr.
Robert Goddard's prediction that rockets would someday go into
space. Everybody knows that rockets cannot fly in a vacuum, said The
Times, so Dr. Goddard "seems to lack the knowledge ladled out daily
in high schools." As we know now, Goddard's work laid the founda-
tion for modern rocketry and space exploration.
Shortsighted criticism continues to this day, but space flight has
brought benefits in communications, weather forecasting and many
other areas. And most recently, the space shuttle missions have
boosted national pride and inspired a new generation of Americans.
Space holds boundless promise. With zero-gravity and a near-
perfect vacuum, people working in space could make products that
are difficult or impossible to manufacture on the ground. Interferon,
which could help in cancer treatment, now is very expensive but
could be produced in orbit at a practical cost.
Current Policy
In his 1984 State of the Union address, President Reagan an-
nounced that he was directing NASA to develop a manned space
station. Supporters of the project say that a manned station would
outperform an unmanned one by allowing a greater variety of experi-
ments and more flexibility in fixing sudden technical problems.
Congress has appropriated $155 million for initial work on the
program; NASA will issue a report this spring.
The President has also signed legislation providing for the commer-
cialization of land remote-sensing satellites, an early step toward
extending private enterprise into space.
Policy Alternatives
? Support continued development of a manned space station,
maximizing the private sector's role in defining the American
mission in space.
? Adopt a policy of recovering the full cost of space shuttle services
from commercial users, and encourage development of alterna-
tive launch services by private business.
? For tax and tariff purposes, treat articles made aboard American
spacecraft as if made in the United States. Currently, space-based
businesses could not enjoy the same treatment as their earth-
bound counterparts.
? Promote marketplace efficiency in space by having firms bid for
orbital slots for their communication satellites. (Allocation of
slots is now a complex bureaucratic decision.) Competition
would produce lower telecommunication costs for consumers.
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Basic Research
The Setting
Basic research is the quest for scientific knowledge that does not
necessarily have short-term applications. In the long run, however,
investments in basic research pay huge practical dividends. Just as the
development of penicillin stemmed from a seemingly arcane study of
bread molds, the twenty-first century's medical cures and technical
breakthroughs hinge on today's basic research.
The congressional budget process has handicapped federal efforts in
this field. Scientific research projects often take years to carry out, but
Congress budgets the money one year at a time; long-range planning
suffers as a result. Numerous and lengthy congressional hearings also
take a significant amount of time from agency officials involved with
research.
Current Policy
Federal support for civilian basic research rose 23% in real terms
between fiscal 1982 and 1984. The Administration has re-established
a traditional approach to this area by strengthening basic research and
allowing the private sector to fund potentially profitable ventures in
applied research. The Special Analyses volume of the 1985 budget
stated the Administration's position this way: "The continued growth
of scientific knowledge in fields such as mathematics, physics, chem-
istry, biology and the various engineering disciplines provide the
foundation for the achievement of long-term national objectives of a
strong defense, economic security, and an enhanced quality of life."
Policy Alternatives
? Retain a strong commitment to the funding of basic research, as
reflected in the Administration's recent budgets.
? Improve the budgeting process for research and development.
Among steps recommended by the Grace Commission: initiate
multiyear budgeting, reduce the level of detail required in re-
search budgets, and tighten the budget review cycle. According to
the Commission, the resulting increase in efficiency would save
$3.7 billion over three years.
? Allow scientific and education organizations to issue tax-exempt
bonds to finance scientific facilities and equipment for colleges
and universities.
? In research funding decisions, expand the use of peer review by
scientists and engineers. Peer review would help prevent the
misallocation of research funds for political purposes.
? Provide further incentives for creativity by giving federal labora-
tory employees greater proprietary rights to technology they
develop.
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Energy Innovation
The Setting
The federal government has spent billions of tax dollars to develop
new energy sources and wring more energy from existing sources. The
results to date have been disappointing. According to the Grace
Commission, federal energy research is hampered by duplication of
effort and unseemly competition for funds. Indeed, the greatest boon
to applied energy research thusfar has been President Reagan's com-
mitment to deregulation, which encourages private entrepreneurship
and industrial creativity.
One specific problem area has been the Synthetic Fuels Corpora-
tion, created under the Carter Administration to help finance the
production of synthetic oil and gas. Poor management and a changing
energy market have hobbled the Corporation.
Current Policy
The Reagan Administration wants to curb direct government
involvement in the commercialization of new energy technologies.
Accordingly, it has sought to reduce funding for a number of applied
research programs. Nevertheless, it backs basic research.
In 1984, the President recommended a $9 billion cut for the
Synthetic Fuels Corporation. Although Congress approved a smaller
cut, there would have been no reduction at all if the House Demo-
cratic leadership had prevailed.
Policy Alternatives
? Abolish the Synthetic Fuels Corporation.
? Charter a private energy research trust fund, voluntarily financed
by the energy industry, to take over most of the applied research
that our taxes now support. This approach would remove politics
from this research and reduce federal outlays.
? Continue to support energy-related basic research.
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Fossil Fuels
The Setting
Coal, oil and natural gas supply most of America's energy. During
the late 1970s, we underwent a fossil fuel crunch, which President
Carter blamed on "a crisis of the American spirit." Under the Reagan
Administration, however, our fossil fuel situation has improved
dramatically. US oil production has gone up and imports have gone
down. Gasoline prices have fallen. Natural gas prices are levelling off.
Coal fulfills a growing share of our domestic energy needs and it
strengthens our foreign trade position. For every ton we import, we
export more than a hundred.
President Reagan's policies have furthered this energy abundance.
During his first month in office, he ended the remaining price controls
on crude oil and petroleum products. Confounding the old-line
defenders of regulation, decontrol helped consumers and spurred new
production.
Current Policy
The Reagan Administration supports efforts to reduce and modify
the federal role in fossil fuel markets. At the same time, it has been
guarding against import disruptions by filling the Strategic Petroleum
Reserve to the equivalent of 200 days of OPEC oil.
Policy Alternatives
? Decontrol enhanced-recovery natural gas. The term refers to
natural gas contained in existing sources but which would not be
available without special techniques.
? Enact a "contract carriage" provision for natural gas pipelines,
which would provide incentives for supplying the least expensive
gas possible.
? Repeal the Fuel Use Act of 1978. This law forbids new
powerplants from using natural gas or petroleum as their main
fuel. Existing plants must go off these fuels by 1990. These
requirements contribute to higher prices and misallocations.
? Abolish mandatory auto fuel economy standards. Such regula-
tion was supposed to hasten production of efficient small cars;
however, it was the marketplace, not the government, that
brought about fuel conservation. Now these standards block
production of large (but relatively efficient) cars and thereby
jeopardize thousands of auto industry jobs.
? Make the coal leasing system more flexible so that developers can
promptly adjust to market fluctuations. Under current law, if
developers cannot find a market for their coal, they cannot mine
it, and must forfeit the lease and all other opportunities despite
their good faith intentions.
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Nuclear Energy
The Setting
Nuclear reactors, which annually generate 300 billion kilowatt-
hours of electricity, could provide America with a virtually inexhaust-
ible energy supply. Utilities, however, are being forced to abandon
nuclear projects worth billions of dollars. Some of the difficulty stems
from valid concerns about safety, but federal red tape is also to blame.
The laws governing this industry have not been overhauled since the
1950s, and a quagmire of federal rules prolong construction time,
divert the industry from vital safety work, and impose new require-
ments without regard to overall plant and industry safety.
As Canada has shown, it is indeed possible to develop nuclear
energy safely and efficiently. No planned reactors have been cancelled
there, compared with 105 US orders dropped since 1972. The Canadi-
ans take half as long to build their reactors as we do, and they are even
exporting nuclear-generated power to the US.
Current Policy
President Reagan supports nuclear power, and the Department of
Energy has proposed reforms to streamline nuclear powerplant licens-
ing. The 97th Congress passed the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, which
sets up a schedule for the building of nuclear waste repositories.
Policy Alternatives
? Encourage the development and use of standardized nuclear
powerplant designs and improve the efficiency of the licensing
process.
? Renew the Price-Anderson Act, which provides government
indemnity to back up companies insuring nuclear powerplants,
and which sets a liability limitation.
? As soon as possible, ratify state compacts for the disposal of low-
level waste.
? Reform the Nuclear Regulatory Commission so it can make
decisions more promptly and effectively. One option is to replace
with present five-member Commission with a single adminis-
trator who has clear authority and is accountable to Congress and
the President.
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Critical Materials
The Setting
American industry relies heavily on foreign suppliers for materials
such as chromium and manganese. This dependence casts a shadow
on national security: for instance, a single jet fighter requires over a
ton of such critical minerals. They also go into essential civilian
technologies, such as pollution control.
Supplies could be disrupted by foreign wars, international political
upheavals or other causes. To buffer the potential blow to national
defense, the federal government has established a stockpile of certain
strategic materials. But the stockpile is now out of balance: there is a
surplus of some materials and a shortage of others.
Current Policy
In July 1984, President Reagan signed the National Critical Materi-
als Act of 1983. This law sets up a council to develop a national
program for research and innovation. The Administration has also
created a special advisory committee, which will make recommenda-
tions on strengthening the domestic minerals industry and reducing
our dependence on imports.
Policy Alternatives
? Make it easier for the government to barter for critical materials.
The Commodity Credit Corporation has $10 billion worth of
surplus agricultural products, many of which could be traded to
other countries in return for the materials we need. And from the
stockpile itself, we could barter surplus materials for those that
are now in short supply.
? Start a salvage program. The government's obsolete machines
and vehicles often contain important metals that could be ex-
tracted before the possessions are thrown away. Cobalt and lead
could be salvaged from jet engines and car batteries, for instance.
? Use strategic materials as collateral. High-debt nations that pos-
sess needed materials could ship them here for storage. The US
government would then issue the depositing country a warehouse
receipt that could help secure credit for the export of American
goods. The United States would not own the materials (therefore,
no budget outlay), but we would reserve the right to buy them
during an emergency.
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The Land
The Setting
Parks, national forests, wilderness areas and other public lands
make up nearly one-third of America's land area-mostly in the
West. Land can often be put to alternative uses, such as recreation or
resource development. Balancing these competing interests-provid-
ing for "multiple use"-is a basic task for public land management.
Until the Reagan Administration, the consensus of those living in
the West was that the federal government had bungled its responsibil-
ities by paying too little attention to local needs.
Current Policy
After President Reagan's election, the federal land agencies started
to regulate more reasonably and take greater account of state and local
advice. The Administration aimed to enhance energy and mineral
production on public lands. This effort originally met with strong
opposition, but Interior Secretary William Clark worked to quell
controversy.
In 1981, the Administration found that past neglect had left our
national parks in shabby shape: many even had health and safety
hazards. The Administration has since undertaken a five-year, $1
billion program to restore the park system. The President supports
further parkland acquisition now that the system is recovering.
In 1984, Congress approved more wilderness bills than at any time
in the past twenty years. The legislation protects a total of 8.3 million
acres.
Policy Alternatives
? Establish a central databank to enable businesses and conserva-
tionists to learn which lands are available for which purposes.
Land use plans are filed in local offices, but the absence of a
central databank has led to confusion.
? Step up sales of unneeded public land, and deposit the receipts in
the general fund. This is a Grace Commission proposal, which
the Congressional Budget Office says will save $130 million over
five years.
? Require federal agencies involved in public land management to
incorporate in their rules provisions for the continuous involve-
ment of state governments in public lands policy.
? Set up a computer directory and registration system for parks,
monuments and recreation facilities. Many are now underused.
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Environmental Protection
The Setting
Our country has gone a long way toward making the environment
safer and healthier. By most measures, the air is cleaner now than
when the Clean Air Act passed in 1970, and we have also seen
improvement in the quality of surface water. But the work is not
finished. In parts of the country, rainfall is more acidic than normal;
many people worry that acid rain may be killing aquatic life and
damaging buildings. The United States produces some 250 million
tons of toxic waste each year. Safe management of these wastes is a
continuing challenge, and many old dumps are polluting the environ-
ment. Before 1981, the federal government had not spent one dollar to
clean up these dumps, but now the Superfund has started to remedy
the problem.
Hazardous waste and other contaminants are getting into our
groundwater. Although the states must have the main responsibility
for carrying out groundwater protection, the federal government
should help.
Current Policy
The 98th Congress did not act on reauthorization of the Clean Air
Act. In 1984, the House voted to reauthorize the Clean Water Act, but
the issue did not reach the Senate floor. Also in 1984, President
Reagan signed a bill strengthening and extending the Resource Con-
servation and Recovery Act (RCRA), the main law regulating hazard-
ous waste management. In that year alone, the Administration spent
$410 million under the Superfund program to clean up toxic waste
dumps. It supports a reauthorization of this program. And the 98th
Congress agreed to President Reagan's request to double acid rain
research funds.
Policy Alternatives
? Enact a strong reauthorization of the Clean Air Act.
? Step up research into acid rain's causes, effects and potential
remedies.
? Enact a strong reauthorization of the Clean Water Act.
? Enact a Superfund reauthorization that would, among other
things, hasten cleanup and encourage development of innovative
environmental technologies.
? Use private inspectors to augment federal and state programs for
hazardous waste site inspection. (Under the RCRA bill, EPA will
soon report on this option.) Insurance companies that write
environmental coverage have a great incentive to take part.
? Strengthen the Safe Drinking Water Act to improve groundwater
quality. In 1984, the House passed such a bill, but the full Senate
did not take it up.
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Soil Conservation
The Setting
One-third of our cropland is eroding at rates that harm its long-term
productivity. Because of depressed farm income, farmers push more
marginal land into production, in an effort to cover their losses with
greater volume. Ironically, this worsens erosion.
Current Policy
The US Agriculture Department provides farmers with technical
and financial help to encourage soil conservation. Yet over two-thirds
of federally financed soil conservation practices have been applied to
land that has little potential for significant erosion. The Department
has developed a targeting program to direct resources where they are
most needed; however, this program requires close monitoring.
Federal commodity programs may conflict with conservation.
Farmers often bring fragile land into production, aiming to expand
their "base" for acreage reduction programs. High support prices
encourage farmers to intensify their production strategies, which
often increases the land's exposure to wind and water.
Tax policy also clashes with conservation. Landowners, often
absentee, reap capital gains benefits by buying fragile rangeland at low
cost, then cultivating and selling it for a higher cost as farmland with
an acreage base. Landowners do not receive tax credits for conserva-
tion practices.
Policy Alternatives
? Support the Sodbuster concept, which would deny participation
in farm programs for erodible land brought into production for
the first time in ten years, unless it has an approved conservation
plan. Conversely, to receive technical soil conservation assis-
tance, farmers should be required to take part in commodity
programs.
? Apply the Sodbuster concept in the tax structure to deny capital
gains benefits to those who bring highly erodible land into
production for the first time in ten years. This could help finance
soil conservation tax credits.
? Develop a conservation base, which would encourage producers
not to plow fragile lands in an effort to increase their acreage base
for commodity programs.
? Support private sector initiatives to foster activities such as
conservation tillage.
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Commodity Stabilization Programs
The Setting
Harvested crop acreage grew by 55 million acres during the 1970s,
and farm indebtedness increased 75% from 1976 to 1980. Hurt by the
Carter grain embargo, a depressed world economy, high interest rates
and inflation, the farm economy fell to its lowest point since the Great
Depression. Surpluses were swollen by farmers who were trying to
produce their way out of the doldrums and were responding to high
price supports. Foreign competitors also responded to high US prices
supports. Between 1979 and 1983, for instance combined wheat
production from foreign sources rose from 38 to 61 million metric
tons.
Current Policy
Commodity stabilization programs try to support prices and stabi-
lize farm income. A principal price tool is the non-recourse loan,
which eligible farmers may obtain by using their crop as collateral. If
the market price tops the congressionally-set loan level, the farmer
sells the crop and repays the loan. If the market price goes lower than
the loan level, the farmer turns the crop over to the Commodity
Credit Corporation in repayment, with no further obligation.
Target prices are an income-stabilization tool. Congress sets a target
price per bushel or pound of a given commodity. When the market
price goes lower, producers receive a "deficiency payment" for the
difference between the two, or the difference between the target price
and the loan level, whichever is less.
In 1981, Congress curbed the Agriculture Secretary's power to set
loan and target rates in response to the market. Congress has since
annually passed a "mini farm bill" to adjust rates. Although these
tools aim to reduce uncertainty, constant changes actually increase it.
Policy Alternatives
? Enact a new farm law to replace the 1981 legislation. Without
new legislation in 1985, many outdated laws would go back into
effect and important programs such as Food for Peace would
expire.
? Set the loan rate as a percentage of the 5-year moving average
price, with the high and low years disregarded. This will orient
the loan rate to the market, and reduce the chance that it will
interfere with world markets.
? Authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to set target prices.
? Provide that high carryover stocks of major commodities will
trigger increased export credit for those commodities. Any result-
ing cost would be offset by lower outlays for target prices.
? Phase out paid land diversion.
? Disqualify small "hobby" farms from price support programs.
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Fair and Efficient Government
As James Madison wrote, "If men were angels, no government
would be necessary" Today, people are still not angels, but their
government can be fair and efficient. House Republicans believe in
the power of ideas rather than the idea of power. Debates should be
settled by the strength of ideas, not by artificial rules contrived to tilt
the playing field. This principle is at risk in today's House of Repre-
sentatives. A Democrat of the past once called for a "Fair Deal," but
the House Democratic leadership has used the rulebook to magnify its
already-formidable power. Fair?
A truly representative government is close to the people. House
Republicans heed President Eisenhower's warning against con-
centrating too much power in a policymaking elite. Citizen participa-
tion and decentralization continue to be guiding principles.
Government also has a duty to be efficient. People work hard to pay
their taxes, so every needless government expenditure cheats them of
their labor.
In two years, America will celebrate its Constitution's bicentennial.
By enacting proposals outlined here, Congress can remain true to the
standard of statesmanship that was born in Philadelphia during the
hot summer of 1787.
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Sunshine in the House
The Setting
The House of Representatives belongs to the people, but the people
cannot get an accurate picture of its workings. The printed record is
open to distortion and the televised record is incomplete. Able to
work in the shadows, the Democratic leadership has managed to keep
the House from even considering such vital issues as the balanced-
budget amendment. The public is aware that something is amiss, and
increasingly distrusts the institution. Since 1966, says the Harris Poll,
trust in Congress has fallen by more than half.
Current Policy
Not long after assuming the Speakership, Mr. O'Neill said, "We
need a system which insures accountability" (Congressional Record,
October 12, 1977, p. 33443). His tone then changed. In a 1979
interview, he said, "We have too much openness" (New York Times,
June 4, 1979, p. D10). The Democratic leadership has since refused to
take reform seriously.
Policy Alternatives
? Provide for full and unedited broadcasting of House proceedings.
Viewers should be able to see who attends floor debate and how
each member votes. Under current procedures for televising floor
debate, the camera shows only the member who is speaking.
? Require honesty and accuracy in the Congressional Record. A
member may now drastically alter her or his floor remarks before
the Record goes to press.
? End the secrecy surrounding discharge petitions, the device by
which members may dislodge a bill from a committee. Citizens
are currently kept from learning who has signed such a petition
unless and until it has gathered the required 218 signatures.
? Abolish proxy voting in committees. Members may now aban-
don a committee meeting and hand their proxies to a ranking
colleague. Often, a couple of majority members can dominate a
meeting simply because they have the proxies.
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Fairness and Efficiency in the House
The Setting
The House of Representatives has become a wasteful bureaucracy
whose autocratic and partisan Democratic leaders have held the reins
tightly for too long. No institution can stay in the same hands for
more than thirty years without giving way to tyranny and excess.
Under Democratic mismanagement, the legislative process has suf-
fered and the people have been denied the representation they
deserve. Committee ratios are but one example: Democrats hold a
disproportionate share of committee assignments. One House Demo-
crat recently conceded that the Republicans won 41.8 percent of the
House seats "and they ought to have close to 41.8 percent of the
committee assignments in order that the House will more fairly reflect
the American electorate."
The bloated cost of running Congress-seven times what it was in
the mid-1960s-is another symptom of institutional senility. The cost
of the franking privilege more than doubled between 1981 and 1984.
Serious efforts for equity and efficiency must be undertaken to right
past wrongs and to ensure that, no matter which party governs, the
minority party is treated fairly.
Current Policy
The Democratically controlled House undertook no major institu-
tional reforms in the 98th Congress.
Policy Alternatives
? Make committee ratios proportionate to party strength in the
House.
? Stem the proliferation of subcommittees and other legislative
panels. Consolidate those whose jurisdictions overlap.
? Require each House committee to adopt an oversight agenda.
These agendas would then be incorporated into a resolution for
full House consideration. This requirement would bring order
and clarity to what is now a haphazard process.
? Make waivers of House rules harder to obtain; ensure that such
waivers are publicly recorded.
? Establish a bipartisan committee to screen proposals before they
are made eligible for consideration under a suspension of the
rules.
? Stop excessive use of the congressional frank. Methods might
include: limiting personal office allowances for computer lists
and use of computers for targeted mailings; and reducing the
annual number of postal patron mailings from six to four.
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Campaign Finance
The Setting
America needs strong political parties to focus political debate and
encourage citizen participation. Federal law hampers our parties by
limiting the sums they may directly give their federal candidates or
spend on their behalf. At the same time, the law allows wealthy
individuals and groups to spend unlimited amounts on independent
expenditures. These sources have every right to participate, of course,
but they should not supplant broad-based political parties as the main
factor in campaigns.
One proposed remedy-public financing-has serious drawbacks.
Not only would it further weaken parties and allow bureaucrats to
control elections, it would give incumbents an even greater edge than
they enjoy already. To match incumbents' local fame, challengers
must make greater campaign efforts-which would be hard to do
under the expenditure caps entailed by public financing schemes. And
to be truly effective, such proposals would have to cover primaries as
well as general elections; this would mean enormous expense.
Current Policy
The House Democratic leadership brought no major campaign
finance legislation to the floor during the 98th Congress.
Policy Alternatives
? Convert the current 50% credit for contributions into two sepa-
rate credits: a 100% credit for small contributions to congres-
sional candidates from the taxpayer's home state; and a 50%
credit for contributions to political parties. This would end the
existing credit for other sorts of political contributions and it
would suspend the new credits should the revenue loss exceed
that for the existing credit. By broadening the contributor base, it
would strengthen parties and give them an advantage over fund-
raising organizations not entitled to the tax credit.
? Remove limits on the amounts that party committees may spend
on behalf on congressional candidates, and raise the limits on
how much they may directly give to the candidates. This would
foster a closer relationship between parties and their candidates.
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Federalism
The Setting
Washington, DC, is no place to make choices for Kansas City or
San Jose. As much as possible, domestic public policy should be made
in the statehouses and town halls, where the people can best keep an
eye on their public servants. In the years before the Reagan Adminis-
tration, the federal government restricted state and local discretion by
developing hundreds of categorical grant programs, each tightly bun-
dled with rules and red tape. According to New York Mayor Edward
Koch, federal directives amounted to a "mandate millstone" that
stifled creativity and imposed needless costs. As he put it: "As a
member of Congress, I voted for many of [these programs] with every
confidence that we were enacting sensible permanent solutions to
critical problems. It took a plunge into the Mayor's job to drive home
how misguided my congressional outlook had been."
Current Policy
"The federal government did not create the states," said President
Reagan in his first inaugural, "the states created the federal govern-
ment." In 1981, he persuaded Congress to consolidate 57 categorical
grant programs into 9 block grants, which are broader and less
restrictive. This consolidation cut annual paperwork by six million
hours and allowed federal agencies to reduce the staff associated with
the predecessor categorical programs by 80%. His Administration has
also improved intergovernmental relations by giving state and local
officials greater opportunity to air their views of federal aid programs
before final decisions are made.
Policy Alternatives
? Further consolidate federal assistance into block grants.
? Require the federal government to report the total direct costs
imposed on state and local governments by federal rules.
? Forbid the federal government from imposing further mandates
unless it reimburses states and localities for the resulting costs.
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Voluntarism
The Setting
The big-government era hinged on the notion that government
programs are the only way to handle social problems. That philoso-
phy implied a cynical view of our country's spirit: civic responsibil-
ities have to be squeezed out of Americans in the form of tax dollars.
Nonsense. Americans have always been the world's most generous
people. In the 1830s, Tocqueville observed that citizens were forever
forming associations to improve community life. Today there are
some 375,000 charitable organizations-ranging from the Red Cross
to small local service clubs-which spend over $100 billion a year.
And millions of Americans serve their fellow citizens either through
informal groups or as individuals.
Voluntary efforts can be far more sensitive than bureaucratic social
programs in addressing social needs. Government's challenge is not to
supplant these efforts but to nurture them.
Current Policy
President Reagan has used the moral authority of his office to
encourage voluntarism. His Task Force on Private Sector Initiatives
amassed a databank of innovative efforts and organized local task
forces throughout the country.
Despite the President's commitment to voluntarism, IRS bureau-
crats have deemed volunteer officials of charities to be personally
liable for the charities' tax problems. This can only serve to discourage
volunteer service.
Policy Alternatives
? Authorize a test of the semi-postal device. Used throughout
Europe, semi-postals are postage stamps with a surcharge, whose
proceeds go to charity. (They are issued in addition to, not instead
of, regular stamps. Purchase is voluntary.) This way, the govern-
ment could help private organizations for the aged, handicapped,
or homeless without raising taxes or appropriating funds.
? Allow federal agencies to accept the voluntary services of individ-
uals and nonprofit organizations to carry out any appropriate
agency activities.
? Provide that volunteer officials of a charity shall not be person-
ally liable for any failure of the charity to pay taxes.
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A Strong America in a Peaceful World
In 1956, President Eisenhower said: "The force and impact of one
word-Peace-reach all persons, all problems in our land. Its mean-
ing embraces past achievements, present problems, future hopes. It
touches all things in our life and knowledge: from home and school,
factory and farm, to the most distant points on earth-a frontier in
Europe, an island in the Pacific, a canal in the Middle East. And this
meaning reaches, too, from the highest kind of principle to the most
personal kind of fact."
House Republicans are guided by the related principles of peace
and freedom. We aim to keep our children out of war, and we hope for
a world where all children can grow up in a true democracy. Indeed,
ensuring individual freedoms can promote peace both at home and
abroad.
Pursuit of our principles must be grounded in realism. Unlike the
now-dominant wing of the Democratic Party, we know that the Soviet
leaders are not like Americans. These leaders think of "security" only
as communist control, and they will snatch every chance to further
such control. Only through strength can we bring the Soviets to just
and lasting agreements.
Warfare and terror can erupt from other countries, too; our govern-
ment must keep a watchful eye on places such as Libya and North
Korea. But we also realize there are opportunities for peace and
partnership. The United States should deepen its friendships with
emerging nations in Latin America, Asia and Africa, as well as with
our traditional allies.
President Reagan has done much to advance peace and freedom
across the globe. He has rebuilt our defenses, raised our prestige and
restored realism where his predecessor had wandered. Now we are
poised to bargain from a position of strength across the range of arms
control issues.
No matter how much we have done, America will have much more
to do in the years to come. Congress ought to back the Administra-
tion's basic principles rather than undercut them. While exercising
proper oversight, lawmakers should refrain from disrupting the daily
workings of diplomacy and defense. Within budgetary constraints,
Congress must keep strengthening our armed forces.
This section explores ways of improving national security and
foreign relations.
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US-Soviet Relations
The Setting
In 1939, Winston Churchill called the Soviet Union "a riddle
wrapped inside a mystery inside an enigma." Its internal decision
processes remain shrouded, and its rhetoric-by turns encouraging
and threatening-can still puzzle the most learned Kremlinogist. But
the character of its actions is utterly clear. Soviet foreign policy has
always been ruthless and aggressive. Over the years, some political
leaders have ignored this simple fact, preferring to believe that "the
Soviets will see their interests the same as we see ours," as one put it.
Because of the pressure exerted by these leaders, especially during the
1970s, the United States did not always resist Soviet power. The result
was predictable: continued Soviet support for terrorism and guerrilla
warfare against democracies, and an unrelenting military buildup.
The Reagan Administration, however, has taken a different tack
resulting in a more realistic and stable relationship. By recognizing the
basic differences in American and Soviet goals, the Reagan Adminis-
tration has sought to work with the Soviet Union in areas such as
arms control while at the same time refusing to bow to Soviet
demands.
Current Policy
Until recently, the Soviet Union refused to meet with American
negotiators unless the United States made unilateral concessions.
Scheduled talks between Secretary Shultz and Foreign Minister Gro-
myko, however, have added a hopeful note to the situation. In any
future talks, the Administration will not sacrifice its basic principles
on arms control, trade and Soviet aggression and adventurism in the
free world. The President reasserted this policy in his victory speech
on election day.
Policy Alternatives
? Carry out confidence-building measures such as: establishment
of risk reduction centers in Washington and Moscow; accelerated
improvement in the "hot line"; mutual agreement for advance
notification of all strategic test launches and training exercises
involving American, Soviet, Warsaw Pact or NATO forces.
? Expand cultural and scientific exchanges with the Soviet Union.
? Maintain the credibility of the American security guarantee to
our allies in Western Europe, Asia and the Americas.
? Provide regular and systematic consultation between the United
States and its allies to maintain unity in the face of Soviet
diplomatic and military pressure.
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Arms Control: Soviet Compliance
The Setting
In a 1984 news story, a working man from House Speaker O'Neill's
home area was asked about arms control. Nobody wants war, he said,
but "a lot of people don't trust the Russian government-not the
Russian people, the government; it has murdered millions of its own
people..... Look at Poland and Afghanistan. If we're going to get rid
of these nuclear bombs, we have to strike a bunch of deals with a
murderous dictatorship, and be damn sure they keep to their side of
the agreement!" His comments reflect America's mood: a desire for
arms control, and a concern for verification. Over the years, the
United States and the Soviet Union have reached a series of arms
control agreements, most notably the SALT I and SALT II accords.
Recent intelligence revelations, however, indicate that the Soviets
have violated many agreements, both in spirit and letter.
Current Policy
The Administration has proposed: reducing the number of strategic
warheads to 5,000 on both sides, abolishing intermediate nuclear
forces in Europe (and limiting forces that could substitute for them),
curtailing conventional forces in Europe, and banning chemical and
biological weapons. The Administration has also sought procedures
to assure Soviet compliance with the Nuclear Threshold Treaty.
According to Administration policy, any agreement must be verifi-
able and enforceable. Soviet compliance remains the obstacle to arms
control.
Policy Alternatives
? Oppose needless congressional constraints on arms control.
? Provide greater opportunities for public presentation of evidence
on Soviet non-compliance.
? Strengthen the compliance oversight office of the Arms Control
and Disarmament Agency while creating similar offices in the
Department of Defense and the National Security Council.
? Pending improvement in verification and introduction of a
policy for ensuring Soviet compliance, avoid agreements need-
lessly limiting American options on strategic defense and anti-
satellite warfare. But press for talks on the future of such systems.
As in all arms talks, avoid hard-to-verify provisions.
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Strategic and Theater Nuclear Forces
The Setting
One of the Reagan Administration's first goals was restoring our
strategic deterrent by rebuilding and improving the nuclear arsenal.
The Administration responded to Soviet deployment of 378 SS-20
intermediate range nuclear missiles by continuing the deployment of
the Ground-Launched Cruise Missile and the Pershing II missile in
Western Europe. The SS-20 missiles, each carrying three warheads,
can strike all NATO military targets and European population cen-
ters, as well as similar targets in Japan. The past four years have seen
improvement in the Trident submarine and the missiles it carries.
The strategic triad's land and air-based legs have not fared as well.
Congress has approved only a fraction of the 100 MX missiles the
President has requested, linking funding in the next fiscal year to
arms-control progress. The 99th Congress should promptly address
the issue of strategic weapons if the United States is to improve its
strategic position.
Current Policy
In the continuing resolution passed at the end of the 1984 session,
Congress approved 21 MX missiles for production, pending reautho-
rization in the next Congress. The B-1 bomber has been funded for
production through fiscal 1985; total procurement will reach 52
bombers by the end of that year. In addition, the Trident submarine
and cruise missile programs have received modest support from
Congress. The air-launched cruise missile, however, has been can-
celled in anticipation of the stealth cruise missile.
Policy Alternatives
? Continue deployment of the MX. Congress should approve funds
to harden existing silos and, in light of Soviet silo improvements,
upgrade present MX warheads. Minuteman missiles, including
guidance and warheads, should also be improved. Continue the
maneuverable warhead (MARV) program.
? Support research and development of the Midgetman, a single-
warhead mobile ICBM that should serve first as a follow-on to
MX and then as its replacement.
? Meet the fiscal 1988 deployment goal of 99 B-1 bombers.
? Support development of the stealth bomber, which will give the
United States a significant penetrating capability well into the
twenty-first century.
? Procure additional Tridents with new and improved ballistic
missiles and continue with plans to deploy sea-launched cruise
missiles.
? Continue to improve strategic command and control functions.
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Strategic Defense
The Setting
The Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty of 1972 orginally allowed
the United States and the Soviet Union to maintain two ABM sites
each. A subsequent agreement between President Nixon and Chair-
man Brezhnev reduced that number to one. The United States built,
then dismantled, a nuclear ABM interceptor system around a Minute-
man installation. The Soviet Union continues to maintain an ABM
network around Moscow. Early in the Reagan Administration, presi-
dential advisors and organizations raised the question of renewed
ABM defense. In March 1983, the President outlined plans for
research into a strategic defense program. Congress has provided
limited funds for research, none for procurement. To date, testing has
yielded positive results: a missile launched from the continental US
was intercepted and destroyed by a non-nuclear ABM projectile over
the South Pacific. In the 1960s, ABM systems compensated for
shortcomings in guidance by using nuclear devices to increase the
interceptor's destructive range. Because of the improved guidance of
today's systems, the intercepting missile does not now require a
nuclear warhead.
Current Policy
Administration policy has focused on research and development.
When seeking $1.7 billion in the Defense Authorization bill, the
Administration had indicated that the funds would be used only for
continued development and testing of alternative ABM systems.
House-Senate action on the 1985 Continuing Resolution set the figure
at $1.4 billion.
Policy Alternatives
Policy alternatives are limited by the President's intention to abide
by the 1972 ABM Treaty. With the Treaty's scope, however, several
policy options are available:
? Promptly study the requirements of deploying a point defense
ABM system around an existing Minuteman field as allowed by
the Treaty. This would provide experience in ABM management
and increase the survivability of part of our land-based ICBM
force.
? The President, in consultation with Congress, should review the
ABM Treaty and continued US adherence, given the changes in
strategic offensive systems in the last decade, and the shift in
relative strength of Soviet and US strategic forces.
? Emphasize the development of a credible strategic defense
through the establishment of an agency within the Defense
Department to evaluate and test the technical and strategic
aspects of ballistic missile defense.
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Anti-Satellite Warfare
The Setting
Anti-satellite warfare is a phenomenon of the highly technical
character of strategic weaponry and intelligence-gathering in the
1980s. As military planners have tried to deal with the changing
nature of conflict, satellites have become increasingly important to
national security. Satellites now track missiles, detect troop move-
ments, provide rapid communication, forecast combat-relevant
weather, and provide electronic sensing and highly detailed photogra-
phy of once inaccessible parts of East Bloc countries. The United
States and the Soviet Union have come to rely on space-borne
systems as a source of information in peacetime and an active
military element in any possible conflict.
Current Policy
President Reagan has designated Lt. Gen. James Abrahamson as
Director of the Strategic Defense Initiative with responsibility for
coordinating space weapon and anti-satellite (ASAT) efforts. Con-
gress has shown reluctance toward ASAT, and in the fiscal 1985
Continuing Resolution, limited the number of tests. Furthermore,
these tests cannot be conducted before March 1985, so that Congress
and the President may reconsider their impact on arms control.
Policy Alternatives
? Promptly approve testing of ASAT systems in excess of the
current three-test limit.
? Support continued development of Strategic Defense and ASAT
systems. Limited procurement funds should also be approved
upon presidential assessment that the Soviets will not make
reasonable agreements in this area.
? Defend current satellites by: storing replacement satellites in
space or on the ground for quick launch; hardening satellites
against attack; providing satellites with evasive capability; de-
ploying more satellites with backup capabilities.
? Improve and harden ground-based communications networks as
backups to satellite systems.
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Legislating War Powers
and Foreign Policy
The Setting
The Constitution provides both the president and Congress a role
in foreign policy and national security. But as Alexander Hamilton
wrote in The Federalist #47, "Of all the cares and concerns of
government, the direction of war most peculiarly demands those
qualities which distinguish the exercise of power by a single hand."
Resolving this tension is a perennial problem of American govern-
ment. The War Powers Resolution, passed in 1973, requires the
President to consult with Congress before sending troops into hostil-
ities, and curbs executive authority to keep those forces in hostile
situations. The law was enacted in reaction to the Vietnam War, but
there is little evidence that it would have prevented American in-
volvement in Southeast Asia: Congress consistently and continually
supported such involvement. Congress has enacted many other re-
strictions on foreign policy. Currently, 17 House committees and 19
Senate committees have some jurisdiction over foreign affairs. Sup-
porters of strong executive authority say this fragmentation of power
hampers our role in the world. According to President Ford, "You
can't have 535 commanders in chief. You can't have 535 secretaries of
state."
Current Policy
In the 1983 Chadha decision, the Supreme Court cast doubt on the
War Powers provision allowing Congress to force withdrawal of
troops fighting overseas. President Reagan has questioned the con-
stitutionality of other provisions as well.
Policy Alternatives
? Amend the War Powers Resolution to eliminate the 48-hour
notification provision and the 60-day deployment limitation.
? Establish a presidential-congressional closed committee to allow
for formal dialogue on foreign policy.
? Convene regular informal meetings on foreign policy between
members of Congress and executive officials.
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Terrorism
The Setting
Concrete barriers surround the Capitol. Citizens must pass through
metal detectors to visit their lawmakers. And all over the world,
tyranny's opponents worry that they will be silenced by a bullet or a
bomb. Terrorism is spreading. The past decade has brought 6,500
terrorist incidents, and 2,500 were directed against Americans. The
carnage in Beirut underscored the human cost. And the attempted
murder of the British cabinet in Brighton showed once again how
hard it is to prevent terrorist attacks. State-sponsored terrorism-
which Senator Henry Jackson called "warfare by remote control"-is
a new and dangerous development. Countries such as Libya and
North Korea sponsor terrorism to gain strategic advantage when
conventional methods fail. Behind them often stands the Soviet
Union, which provides training and financial support, and which
remains ready to scavenge the wreckage the terrorists cause.
Current Policy
In 1984, the President signed legislation providing for a number of
steps to fight terrorism, including rewards for those who furnish
information that helps the government catch terrorists. The Adminis-
tration's policy is to take the initiative against known terrorists, so it
can stop them before they can act.
Policy Alternatives
? Continue to improve our ability to gather intelligence about
terrorist groups and consider the use of pre-emptive force against
terrorists on a case-by-case basis.
? Explore an international agreement for consultation in the event
of a nuclear incident brought about by a terrorist act.
? Ensure that American military and diplomatic personnel con-
tinue to take the proper steps, through administration and train-
ing, to protect themselves against terrorists.
? Improve security at all American embassies and overseas offices.
? Provide for federal punishment of diplomats who use firearms to
commit felonies. Diplomatic immunity could now be abused so
as to shield terrorists: in 1984, a Libyan hit man killed a British
police officer but could leave the country unpunished because he
had diplomatic immunity.
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Intelligence
The Setting
Since the formation of the House and Senate Select Committees on
Intelligence, Congress has increasingly influenced intelligence policy.
Congress has curbed covert action in Central America and elsewhere.
Lawmakers have criticized intelligence agencies for apparent failures
to forecast the Shah's downfall, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
and attacks on US diplomatic posts, to name a few. American
intelligence has indeed had its shortcomings-stemming largely from
an erosion of morale and support, which hit bottom in the 1970s. But
the intelligence community did better than that period's headlines
suggested. As President Kennedy once told CIA officials, "Your
successes are unheralded, your failures are trumpeted."
Current Policy
The Administration has restored the intelligence community's
vitality, but skepticism and even hostility linger among congressional
Democrats. Under their pressure, Congress has hampered operations
through curbs on intelligence-gathering and covert action, and
through news leaks calculated to torpedo operations. The Intelligence
Committees were intended to be non-partisan, but politics has col-
ored their work, especially when intelligence activities have involved
foreign policy controversies. On the positive side, Congress has
responded to Administration requests for improved intelligence re-
sources, and has exempted certain sensitive intelligence files from the
Freedom of Information Act.
Policy Alternatives
? Revise Intelligence Committee appointment procedures to en-
sure an orderly transition of membership. And to protect the
intelligence community's budgetary interests, the Committee
should continue to emphasize its current policy that some of its
members serve on either the Appropriations, Armed Services,
Judiciary or Foreign Affairs Committees. Before the establish-
ment of the Intelligence Committees, each of these bodies had
exercised oversight in this field.
? Ensure that sensitive classified material from the Intelligence
Committee is shared with other committees on a case-by-case
basis only.
? Establish criminal penalties for unauthorized disclosure of classi-
fied information by those with access to sensitive information.
Criminal penalties currently apply only to unlawful disclosure of
communications intelligence, identities of covert agents and
energy-restricted data.
? Continue procurement of technical intelligence systems and im-
prove recruitment of intelligence agents, with an emphasis on
ethnic and native-speaking candidates.
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The Americas
The Setting
"It must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples
who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by
outside pressures," said President Truman in 1947. Today, that
principle is being tested in Central America. Communists are trying to
topple El Salvador's democratic government. Nicaragua's Sandinista
regime abets this effort, in addition to repressing religious and politi-
cal liberty within its own borders. Throughout the region, Cuba and
the Soviet Union supply freedom's enemies with arms and ammuni-
tion. Countries elsewhere in the Americas possess vast natural re-
sources, but most lack the funds and technology needed to use them
effectively. As a result, these nations have relied on US economic and
military assistance. The international debt crisis has grown worse as
South American countries such as Bolivia continue to borrow from
the International Monetary Fund and other lending institutions.
Current Policy
The bipartisan Jackson Commission advised long-term support for
democratic development in Central America through economic and
security assistance and strong-willed diplomacy. President Reagan is
working to carry out the Commission's recommendations, with 70%
of his aid program earmarked for social and economic development.
He has encouraged the Contadora group's efforts at regional talks, and
he supports the democratic aspirations of the Nicaraguan people.
Relations between the US and South America have improved. The
1984 US-Brazil Cooperation Pact, covering economic and cultural
issues, signaled renewed US interest in the continent.
Policy Alternatives
? Continue economic and security assistance to El Salvador, Hon-
duras, Guatemala, Costa Rica and friendly South American
nations.
? Supply military and non-military support to the anti-Sandinista
freedom fighters in Nicaragua and Honduras.
? Establish a scholarship program to enable Central American,
South American and Caribbean students to attend colleges in the
United States.
? Consider reestablishing a "School of the Americas" in a friendly
country in the region.
? Continue to improve diplomatic and unofficial exchanges on the
range of issues affected the United States and its South American
allies, with particular emphasis on drug trafficking and its link to
international terrorism.
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Asia
The Setting
Once dependent on American aid, Asia's free nations now have the
fastest-growing economies in the world. Japan has become one of
America's main trading partners, while economic exchange with the
Republic of Korea has risen over 4,000% in the last twenty years. This
rapid increase in trade has also brought diplomatic and economic
strain between the United States and its Asian allies. At the same
time, our common security interests remain strong.
Current Policy
Relations with the People's Republic of China continue to improve
while we maintain a strong commitment to the Republic of China on
Taiwan. American military forces are in Korea, Japan and the
Philippines. Our goal remains to ensure a peaceful Asia, and there is
concern over increased Soviet military strength in the region. The
Administration has urged Japan to improve its self-defense. Ameri-
can policy also emphasizes the growth of the free Asian economies,
along with robust and fair trade.
Policy Alternatives
? Review the current disposition of US forces in Asia. Consider the
addition of another naval fleet dedicated to Northeast Asian
defense, thereby freeing the Seventh Fleet to patrol the Indian
Ocean and Southeast Asian waters.
? Continue to back the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN). Encourage the discussion of a joint ASEAN-US accord
in addition to the present bilaterial arrangements.
? Before considering normalized relations with Vietnam, seek a full
accounting of the remaining American MIAs and POWs, as well
as the removal of Vietnamese forces from Cambodia.
? Encourage the continued growth of democracy in Asia.
? Provide further impetus to Asian economic growth through
support of current Administration efforts to reduce trade protec-
tionism in Asia.
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Africa
The Setting
The continent of Africa has posed difficult policy questions for the
United States since the end of the Second World War. During its
transition from colonial status to complete independence, Africa has
suffered problems that also plague other quarters of the Third World:
political instability, economic stagnation, armed conflict and wide-
spread starvation. One foreign policy challenge is to help Africa solve
its problems so that it may use its great natural resources for economic
development. Another is to stand firmly for freedom and democracy.
We must never watch idly as a government denies basic human rights
to the majority of its people simply because of the color of their skin.
Current Policy
The Administration has engaged in diplomatic efforts to resolve
international conflicts on the African continent and has directed
significant aid to the starving people of Ethiopia. Its goal is to assist
Africa in becoming economically competitive, resistant to Soviet
influence, and receptive to human rights. As President Reagan said
when congratulating Bishop Tutu on his Nobel Prize: "All Americans
join me in recognizing your labors in seeking to promote non-violent
change away from apartheid, toward a form of government based on
consent of the governed and toward a society that offers equal rights
and opportunities to all its citizens without regard to race. The United
States has heard the appeal for justice voiced by South Africans who
suffer under apartheid rule."
Policy Alternatives
? Continue US relief to those suffering from famine, especially in
the Horn of Africa. Oppose the misuse of US and international
funds.
? For the longer run, join with African nations in preventing such
disasters. Specifically, US aid programs should persuade them to
move away from policies that worsen economic decline. Instead
of subsidizing socialism, we should seek to export democratic
capitalism.
? Continue to speak out against national policies that codify preju-
dice, such as apartheid. Although the United States should
acknowledge improvements in human rights where they have
occurred, our country is in a unique position to press for further
positive change.
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Middle East
The Setting
The United States has long tried to bring peace to the Middle East.
Despite our best efforts, Lebanon remains in turmoil. At the same
time, however, our determination to play an active role in the Camp
David process has won us support from moderate Arab countries.
Israel's partner in the Camp David Accords, Egypt, has been a force
for stability. The Administration has supported Egypt and other
moderate regimes against subversion, and it wants them to take part
in efforts seeking a long-term settlement of the region's disputes. For
three decades, the United States has had a strong relationship with
Israel. We are allies in defense of freedom. Our country helps Israel
maintain its strength not just because it is in our national interest to
do so, but because it is morally right.
Current Policy
President Reagan continues the American effort at making peace.
His willingness to stand up to Libya has made moderate nations in the
region feel more secure. The Administration's skillful crisis manage-
ment throughout the Iran-Iraq war has kept that conflict from damag-
ing our vital interests. As the President has said, "We'll keep open the
Straits of Hormuz, the vital lifeline through which so much oil flows
to the United States and other industrial democracies. Making this
clear beforehand, and making it credible, makes a crisis much less
likely."
Policy Alternatives
? Reaffirm that the United States should not recognize or negotiate
with the Palestine Liberation Organization so long as it continues
to promote terrorism, rejects Israel's right to exist and refuses to
accept UN Resolutions 242 and 338.
? Continue economic and military aid to Israel while encouraging
the Israelis in their efforts at constructive dialogue with their
Arab neighbors.
? Promote political reform in Lebanon and encourage the
estblishment of security arrangements that will allow for an
Israeli withdrawal.
? Continue working for better relations with the moderate Arab
world while seeking to isolate radical states such as Libya and
Iran.
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NATO and the Western Alliance
The Setting
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is one of the
strongest alliances the world has known. While NATO's basic unity
remains firm, the United States and its allies have had differences on
certain issues. There has also been debate as to Western Europe's
contribution to defense efforts. We must encourage these nations to
assume responsibilities that more closely match their capabilities.
Some European political forces advocate neutralism, equating the
United States and the Soviet Union because of their superpower
status. But neutralism's popular support does not run deep. In recent
European elections, victory went to parties that support deployment
of intermediate range missiles. Only the Dutch leaders have chosen to
delay deployment. In handling differences with our Western allies,
then, a serious policy of persuasion and cooperation will bring results.
Current Policy
The Administration strongly supports NATO. According to Am-
bassador Kirkpatrick: "There is no perfect alliance. There are no
perfect friends, and as James Reston commented concerning this
debate on NATO defense improvement: `There is no perfect security.
There is only the struggle. With friends at our side doing the best we
can.' The American Government and the people it serves have every
intention of continuing that struggle, side-by-side with our European
friends."
Policy Alternatives
? Continue current deployments of Pershing II and cruise missiles.
? Encourage Western European nations to shoulder a greater bur-
den of their own conventional defense.
? Establish a monitoring bureau to evaluate the political, economic
and security aspects of NATO and its relationship to the Soviet
Union and the Warsaw Pact.
? Encourage our European allies to support democratic initiatives
in Central America.
? Strengthen NATO by encouraging France to contribute military
support.
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United Nations
The Setting
During what would be the last 100 days of his life, Franklin
Roosevelt announced the formation of the United Nations. In doing
so, he voiced his hope that the UN would be a force for liberty and
peace. Since then, however; the democracies have often stood in
lonely opposition as the forces of collectivist tyranny have bent the
UN to their will. In 1983, Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick put it this
way: "Americans still believe in the ideals and goals of the UN
Charter. As in the past, the people of this country are ready to serve
and support them-with our efforts and our money. But we will not
be accomplices in a betrayal of those ideals and goals. To do so would
mock the good faith of all the Americans whose tax dollars support
our activities here."
Current Policy
The Administration supports continued American participation in
the United Nations, but with reservations about its politicization and
occasional "radicalism." Congress has echoed this concern with
legislation requiring the State Department to report annually on UN
members' voting records. The February 1984 report shows that
countries receiving substantial American aid consistently supported
the Soviet Union against American policy objectives. The US has
withdrawn from the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organi-
zation, citing "endemic hostility toward the institutions of a free
society."
Policy Alternatives
? Curb US contributions to the UN. Options include a freeze on
contributions, or rollback to 1980 levels.
? Continue the accountability policy, linking foreign aid to UN
members' voting records.
? Stem espionage by Soviet Bloc employees, through strict enforce-
ment of PL 47-357.
? Work with other free nations to study formation of a United
Nations of the Democracies. A world body composed of coun-
tries sharing our values might be a better forum for confronting
concerns now slighted by the UN, such as terrorism. (Formation
of such a body would not imply contemplated withdrawal from
the UN.)
? Review the option of capping US contributions to the World
Bank and International Monetary Found. Study the possibility of
a rollback to 1980 levels.
? Refrain from returning to UNESCO until it resumes its original
purposes and principles.
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Armed Forces
The Setting
Under President Reagan's leadership, the armed forces are recover-
ing from the declines they suffered during the Carter Administration.
Improvements in morale, weaponry and training have bolstered
readiness and combat sustainability. In the Air Force, tactical sortie
time is up 70%, and adversary combat training is up 30%. With
congressional approval, the Administration is on its way toward
meeting the goal of a 600-ship Navy. Marine recruitment has been at a
peak and recruits' test scores stand at record levels. For the Army, the
Administration has stressed improved battlefield weapon systems.
Current Policy
The Administration backs further development of the armed
forces. It continues to review the use of high technology in national
defense.
Policy Alternatives
? Give immediate attention to the systematic upgrading of aging
naval vessels. By planning to replace them, Congress can keep up
a reasonable production pace, improve military capability and
cut costs by avoiding disruption of production facilities.
? Propose that the Marine Corps consider an experiment with
British model unit assignments, in which soldiers may spend
their entire career in a single unit. Such assignments should be
limited and experimental, pending evaluation. If successful, this
effort would build on the Marines' comradery and other basic
strengths.
? Renew emphasis on the purchase of light attack and transport
helicopters for the Army. Current inventory is aging. The light
unidesign helicopter is an inexpensive option for strengthening
anti-armor capabilities, especially in Europe.
? Provide officers and enlisted personnel with greater opportunities
to learn the languages and cultures of areas of possible conflict.
This would improve combat and intelligence capabilities.
? Increase production and stockpiling of modern ammunition and
supplies. Through false economies in these important accounts,
past Congresses hindered improvements in readiness and com-
bat sustainability.
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Unconventional Warfare
The Setting
Mao Zedong explained the guerrilla's philosophy: "Make wiping
out the enemy's effective strength our main objective; do not make
holding or seizing a city or place our main objective." Since the
Korean War, the United States and its allies have often had to
confront such military opposition. Vietnam and insurgencies against
friendly governments such as El Salvador are but two examples.
Terrorism places new responsibilities on American forces, which
remain oriented toward the traditional World War II style warfare.
The renewed emphasis on the Army Rangers and Special Forces,
Navy SEALs and the secret DELTA force has had some triumphs in
opposing unconventional foes. Yet US forces in the field basically
remain unable to confront what has become the combat technique of
the 1980s.
Current Policy
The Reagan Administration has increasingly emphasized the cre-
ation of forces dedicated to unconventional combat. As a result, the
Army Special Operations Command and the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Special Operations Agency were formed. The Special Forces have
increased manpower ceilings and non-traditional units such as Delta
Force have received favorable consideration.
Policy Alternatives
? Organize a coordinating task force in the office of the Secretary of
Defense to assess the military requirements and develop mission
responsibilities for non-conventional warfare by selected units.
? Tailor military assistance to guerilla-besieged countries to the
special requirements of such warfare. Instructors should be thor-
oughly schooled in guerilla strategy and tactics. Military assis-
tance should be predicated on the special needs of combat with
emphasis on small arms, night fighting and detection devices,
and helicopter gunships and transports.
? Initiate research on special warfare weapons and tactics that
would allow the United States to take the offensive against
guerrillas.
? Establish a coordination mechanism with the Office of the
Director of Intelligence at the cabinet level to insure that Defense
Department efforts complement the paramilitary operations of
the intelligence services.
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Manpower and Veteran Issues
The Setting
Much of the Defense budget goes to manpower and personnel.
Military analysts say these expenses are justified because conven-
tional deterrence hinges on the human element. Aside from pay,
personnel expenditures include: retirement and veteran benefits,
hospital and medical benefits, commissary and PX privileges, and
education benefits. Service personnel may attend college in off-hours
at reduced cost or save for their post-service schooling through the
military participatory education fund, which requires a small individ-
ual contribution. Policy analysts have suggested alternatives to the
current military retirement system. But the system's defenders argue
that the military's purpose is to fight, which requires young and
dynamic people who voluntarily stay in the service. Retirement at
twenty years guarantees a young force and is a key element of
personnel retention.
Current Policy
The all-volunteer force has seen dramatic improvement in the
number and quality of its recruits. Retention remains high and force
levels remain strong. The Administration's policy is to increase
salaries and benefits to keep pace with the private sector, with an eye
toward holding onto those finishing their first or second term of
service.
Policy Alternatives
? Preserve the all-volunteer force, with emphasis on retention in
critically short areas. Study the increased use of pay bonuses for
recruitment and retention.
? Increase pay for enlisted personnel, particularly in the non-
commissioned officer ranks and hard-to-fill occupational areas:
combat troop assignments and drill sergeants.
? Review the Veterans Administration's medical construction re-
quirements for increased future need and provide funds to
improve outpatient services.
? Encourage the formation of a working group of private pension
plan representatives and Defense Department officials to study
alternatives to the current military retirement system. Such
alternatives, however, should not reduce the level of benefits for
those now serving in the armed forces.
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Defense: Economy, Efficiency
and Management
The Setting
From President Kennedy's heyday to President Carter's nadir, the
Defense Department's share of the budget sank from almost 40% to
less than 25%. The Reagan Administration has addressed this decline
by proposing increases in the defense budget. As a result, the way the
Pentagon spends money has come under closer scrutiny. But the
allocation of resources is not the only area of defense management
that needs study. The organization of the Department itself, both its
civilian and military structures, requires investigation to determine
whether procedural and structural changes are warranted.
Current Policy
The Administration has ferreted out areas of mismanagement and
waste. The Carlucci initiatives and the Planning Programming and
Budget System (PPBS) revisions have both addressed the Pentagon's
shortcomings in budgeting and acquisition. The Defense Department
has carried out internal reviews aimed at improving fiscal practices.
Policy Alternatives
? To improve management and save costs, establish two-year
cycles for budgeting, authorization and appropriation for defense.
? Consolidate overlapping offices in the Defense Department.
? Review the Department's organizational structure, which has not
significantly changed since the National Security Act of 1947.
? Consolidate strategy planning under a National Security Council
group. This group would have expanded powers for and review.
Currently, most cabinet departments many agencies share
responsibility in this area.
? Consider placing the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the formal military
chain of command with responsibility for all services and the
various unified, specified and joint commands.
? Improve procurement: strengthen the Defense Resources Board
to coordinate service and agency budgets; establish an indepen-
dent agency to evaulate weapons; require guarantees on weapon
systems whenever it is cost-efficient to do so; implement multi-
year contracting based on quality and cost; improve computer
systems for procurement.
? Consider cost-saving initiatives: close underused military facili-
ties and consolidate operations; standardize parts, equipment
and inventory procedures.
? Work toward consensus between the legislative and executive
branches on a stable level of growth for the defense budget.
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Conclusion
A longtime Democratic operative recently noted "the country is in
transition. The Republicans understand this better and they're setting
the national political agenda." He was right. America is in transi-
tion-from an age of big government to an age of individual initia-
tive, from a period of vacillation on the world stage to an era of peace
and freedom buttressed by American strength. Republicans do under-
stand this better. Our party is setting the national political agenda. As
political scholar James Q. Wilson has observed, "the Republican
party has become the party of change." This document helps continue
the Republican commitment to progress and points to new directions
for the future. Here we have offered ideas for tomorrow and practical
choices for today. Our proposals can open the way for a better future,
but they are only a start. Government cannot-and should not-set
down a narrow path for society to follow. Each American must be free
to make his or her own future. Government's challenge is to nurture
that freedom. The Committee on the First One Hundred Days
recognizes the need for leadership that stimulates individual creativ-
ity and therefore presents Ideas for Tomorrow, Choices for Today as a
set of policy alternatives for the 99th Congress and beyond.
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Legislative References
A number of bills introduced in the 98th Congress made proposals
similar to ones put forth here. Below is a list of such bills. Note that
changing conditions-especially reform of the tax code-may require
some modification of this legislation.
Economic Growth and Opportunity
Tax Reform
? Flat Tax Proposal: Kemp/H.R.5533; Heftel/H.R.6420
? Broader Use of I.R.A.'s: Roth-Moore BEST Tax
? Tax-Free Ceilings: Daub/H.R.765
Further Budget Reform
? Balanced Budget Amendment: Lagomarsino/H.J.Res. 112; simi-
lar proposals by Lent, Shumway, and Hartnett
? Line-Item Veto: Archer/H.J.Res.52; similar proposals by Hyde,
Bereuter, Soloman, Bateman
? Two-Thirds Majority on Concurrent Resolutions:
Lewis/H.J.Res.593
? President's Authority to Impound Funds: Michel/H.R.5000
? Two-Year Budget Cycle: Quayle/S.95
? Capital Budget: Clinger/H.R. 1244
? Sale of Loans by the Federal Financing Bank: Gradi-
son/H.R.5288
Regulatory Process
? Congressional Veto: Lott/H.R.3939
? Cost-Benefit Analysis: Lott/H.R.3939
? Regulatory Budget: Durenberger/S. 1736
Banking
? Broaden Activities of Holding Companies: Garn/S.2851
? Geographic Deregulation: D'Amato/S.2107
Communications
? Codify FCC Regulations: Goldwater/S.55
? Shift Broadcasting Fund Money: Broyhill/H.R.5248
? Abolish the Fairness Doctrine, Equal Time Standard, and Rea-
sonable Access rule: Packwood/S. 1917
Transportation
? Federal Mass Transportation Capital Funding: Moody/H.R.5165
Job Opportunities
? Worker Retraining: Johnson/H.R.5159
? Reemployment Vouchers: Quayle/S.Amdt.518
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? Youth-Opportunity Wage: Campbell/H.R.485; Pack-
wood/H.R.5721
? Household Manufacturing: Snowe/H.R.6026
Housing and Community Revival
? Enterprise Zones: Conable/H.R.1955
? Home Ownership of Public Housing: Kemp/H.R.6317
International Trade
? Strengthen Multilateral Trade Negotiation Agreements:
Roth/S.Res.463
? Economic Impact Reports for Import Restrictions: Cha-
fee/S.Amdt.4337
Export Controls
? Amend the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act: Heinz/S.414
Free Individuals and Strong Families
Women
? Spousal R.A.'s: Michel/H.R.4500
? Forbid Government Classifications Based on Sex:
Kramer/H.R.1131
? Sex Discrimination Study: Snowe/H.Con.Res.355
? Include House of Representative Employees under Civil Rights
Act: Solomon/H.R. 1916
? Tax Credit for Employment of Displaced Homemakers: Hatch-
Hawkins/5.2143
Civil Rights
? Destruction or Theft of Religious Property: D'Amato/S.2816
? Naturalized Citizens Eligible for Presidency: Eagleton/S.J.Res.72
Crime and Punishment
? Evidence From Good-Faith Searches: Lungren/H.R.2239
? Reform Habeas Corpus Procedures: Lungren/H.R.2238
? Explore Privatization: D'Amato/S.2933
? Prison Industries Reform: McCollum/ H.R.3362
? Death Penalty Provision: Petri/H.R.4905
Excellence in Education
? Improvements as a Condition of Federal Aid: M. Ed-
wards/H.R.3192
? Business Tax Credits: McCurdy/H.R.836, with GOP cosponsors
Financing Education
? Tax-Deferred Savings: L. Martin/H.R.4147; Fields/H.R.4794
? Tuition Tax Credits: Gradison/H.R. 1730
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Adoption
? Nationwide Information Exchange System: Fish/H.R.572
? Criminal Penalties for Fraudulent Adoption Rings: Dole-Den-
ton/S.2299; Brooks/H.R.5030, with GOP cosponsors
Child Care
? Increase Tax Credit for Dependent Day Care Services:
Michel/H.R.4500
Protecting America's Youth
? Life Sentences Mandatory for Kidnapers: McCain/H.R.5842
? Expand RICO to Cover Exploitation of Children: Haw-
kins/S.3043
? Clearinghouses on Missing Children: T. Lewis/H.R.5826
? Crimes Against Children: Regula/H.R.5486
Home Care For The Elderly
? Tax Credits for Home Care: Conte/H.R.3797; Fiedler/H.R.965;
Tauke/H.R.2094. Home Care for Ailing: Snowe/H.R.4274
? Establish Long-Term Care Centers: Conable/H.R.5726
-Handicapped and Disabled
? Tax Credit for Teletypewriters: Hammerschmidt/H.R.612
? SSI Workers with Medicaid Benefits: Bartlett/H.R.6263
Welfare
? Minor Unmarried Parents and Welfare Benefits: Petri/H.R.5093
? Workfare Programs: Stangeland/H.R.695
? Human Service Delivery Systems: Campbell/H.R.2563
Natural Resources and Human Frontiers
Space
? Articles made aboard American Spacecraft: Bateman/H.R.5975
Basic Research
? Financing Scientific Facilities for Colleges: Brown/H.R.2118
Energy and Innovation
? Abolish the Synthetic Fuels Corporation: Broyhill/H.R.5761;
Weber/H.R.3380
Fossil Fuels
? Repeal the Fuel Use Act of 1978: Nickles/S.512
? Abolish Mandatory Auto Fuel Economy Standards:
P Crane/H.R.514
? Coal Leasing Flexibility: Kogovsek/H.R. 1530
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Nuclear Energy
? Standardize Nuclear Power Plant Design: Broyhill/H.R.5053
Critical Materials
? Foster Bartering for Critical Materials: C.Evans/H.R.3991
Environmental Protection
? Acid Rain Research: Rahall/H.R.1405
? Strengthen the Safe Drinking Water Act: Madigan/H.R.5959
Soil Conservation
? Support the Sodbuster Concept: Jones/H.R.3457, with GOP
cosponsors
Fair and Efficient Government
Sunshine in the House
? Full Broadcasting of House Proceedings: Lott/H.Res.580
? Honesty and Accuracy in Congressional Record:
Brown/H.Res.518
? End Secrecy surrounding Discharge Petitions: Brown/H.Res.518
? Abolish Proxy Voting in Committees: Brown/H.Res.518
Campaign Finance
? Restructure Current Tax Credits for Contributions: McCugh-
Conable/H.R.3737
? Remove Limits on Party Committees: Frenzel/H.R.3081
Federalism
? Block Grants: Michel-Lott/H.R.2647-H.R.2650
? Costs of Federal Rules: Durenberger/S.2401
? Federal Reimbursement of Costs: Durenberger/S.2401
Voluntarism
? Voluntary services for agency activities: M.Edwards/H.R. 1323
? Remove Personal Liability of Volunteer Officials: Con-
able/H.R.4494
A Strong America in a Peaceful World
US Soviet Relations
? Risk Reduction Centers: Courter/H.Res.475
Strategic Defense
? Ballistic Missile Defense within DOD: Kramer/H.R.3073;
Whitehurst/H.Res.215
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Anti-Satellite Warfare
? Development of Strategic Defense and ASAT: White-
hurst/H.Res.215; Bennett/H.Res.259
Terrorism
? Punishment of Diplomats who use Firearms to Commit Felo-
nies: Broomfield/H.R.5928
The Americas
? Scholarship Program: Regula/H.R.4677
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Suggested Readings
In developing ideas for this project, the Committee consulted a
number of books and articles. Space does not permit a full listing, but
for those who want to do further reading on our themes, here is a
sample of useful works. (We do not necessarily endorse every argu-
ment made in each of these works, nor do we expect that each author
would automatically endorse every proposal in this document.)
Domestic Policy and Economics
Anderson, Martin. 1978. Welfare. Stanford: Hoover Institution.
Berreuta-Clement, John R., et. al. 1984. Changed Lives. Ypsilanti,
Michigan: High/Scope Educational Research Foundation.
Butler, Stuart M. 1981. Enterprise Zones. New York: Universe.
Friedman, Milton. 1962. Capitalism and Freedom. Chicago: Univer-
sity of Chicago Press.
Friedman, Milton. 1984. The Tyranny of the Status Quo. San Diego:
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
Gilder, George. 1980. Wealth and Poverty. New York: Basic.
Hashimoto, Masanori. 1981. Minimum Wages and On-the-Job
Training. Washington: American Enterprise Institute.
Hayek, Friedrich. 1944. The Road to Serfdom. Chicago: University of
Chicago Press.
Hayek, Friedrich. 1960. The Constitution of Liberty. South Bend:
Gateway.
Koch, Edward 1980. "The Mandate Millstone." The Public Interest,
61 (Fall): 42-57.
Litan, Robert E., and William D. Nordhaus. 1983. Reforming Federal
Regulation. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Moore, John H., ed. 1984. To Promote Prosperity. Stanford: Hoover
Institution.
Murray, Charles. 1984. Losing Ground: American Social Policy 1950-
1980. New York: Basic.
Poole, Robert W, Jr., ed. 1982. Instead of Regulation. Lexington,
Massachusetts: Lexington Books.
Schambra, William A. 1982. "The Roots of the American Public
Philosophy." The Public Interest, 67 (Spring): 36-48.
Sowell, Thomas. 1981. Ethnic America. New York: Basic.
Sowell, Thomas. 1981. Markets and Minorities. New York: Basic.
Wilson, James Q. 1977. Thinking About Crime. New York: Vintage.
Wolf, Charles, Jr. 1979. "A Theory of Non-Market Failures." The
Public Interest 55 (Spring): 114-133.
Wright, Nathan, Jr. 1983. "The Moral Imperatives of Conservatism."
Lincoln Review, 4 (Fall): 21-27.
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Foreign Policy and National Security
American Security Council Foundation. 1984. A Strategy of Peace
Through Strength. Washington: The Foundation.
Bark, Dennis L., ed. 1984. To Promote Peace. Stanford: Hoover
Institution.
Brzezinski, Zbgniew. 1984. "From Arms Control to Controlled Secu-
rity." Wall Street Journal, July 10, 26.
Butler, Stuart, et al. 1984. Mandate for Leadership. Washington:
Heritage Foundation.
Committee on the Present Danger. 1984. Can America Catch Up?
Washington: The Committee.
Dougherty, James E., and Robert L. Pfaltzgraff, Jr. 1971. Contending
Theories of International Relations. Philadelphia: Lippincott.
Godson, Roy, ed. 1979. Intelligence Requirements for the 1980s.
Washington: National Strategy Information Center.
Hoxie, R. Gordon, ed. 1984. The Presidency and National Security
Policy. New York: Center for the Study of the Presidency.
Ikle, Fred Charles. 1961. "After Detection-What?" Foreign Affairs,
January, 208-220.
Kirkpatrick, Jeane J. 1982. Dictatorships and Double Standards. New
York: Touchstone.
Kirkpatrick, Jeane J. 1983. The Reagan Phenomenon-And Other
Speeches on Foreign Policy. Washington: American Enterprise
Institute.
Kissinger, Henry A. 1984. "How Will We Measure Progress?" Wash-
ington Post, December 16, F8.
Krauthammer, Charles. 1983. "Deep Down We're All Alike, Right?
Wrong." Time, August 15, 30-32.
Krauthammer, Charles. 1984. "The Moral Equivalent of..." Time,
July 9, 87-88.
Luttwak, Edward N. 1977. "Churchill and Us." Commentary, June,
44-49.
Luttwak, Edward N. 1985. "Delusions of Soviet Weakness." Com-
mentary, January, 32-38.
Morgenthau, Hans J. 1978. Politics Among Nations. 5th ed. New
York: Knopf
Novak, Michael. 1983. "Moral Clarity in the Nuclear Age." National
Review, April 1 (entire issue).
Reichart, John F, and Steven R. Sturm. 1982. American Defense
Policy. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Sakharov, Andrei. 1983. "The Danger of Thermonuclear War."
Foreign Affairs, Summer, 1001-1016.
Summers, Harry G., Jr. 1984 [1982]. On Strategy. New York: Dell.
US Department of Defense. 1983. Soviet Military Power. Washing-
ton.
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1 I ' 1 1
INUM,
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