Congress Still Needs Reorganization

• Date: 01 June 1948
• Published date: 01 June 1948
• Author: George E. Outland
• DOI: 10.1177/106591294800100205
• Subject Matter: Articles

154

CONGRESS

STILL

NEEDS

REORGANIZATION*

by

GEORGE

E.

OUTLAND

San

Francisco

State

College

*This

paper

has

been

written

from

the

outline

of

an

address

given

at

a

meeting

of

Northern

California

political

scientists

held

at

Stanford

University

on

March

13,

1948.

1

The

literature

on

this

topic

is

extensive.

The

best

summary

is

found

in

William

R.

Tansill,

The

Organization

of

Congress,

a

Select,

Annotated

Bibliography

on

the

Organization,

Procedure

and

Reorganization

of

Congress,

79th

Congress,

1st

Session,

Joint

Committee

Print

(Washington:

U.

S.

Government

Printing

Office,

1945).

2

Robert

Heller,

Strengthening

the

Congress

(Washington:

National

Planning

Association,

1945).

3

The

Reorganization

of

Congress,

A

Report

of

the

Committee

on

Congress

of

the

American

Political

Science

Association

(Washington:

Public

Affairs

Press,

1945).

During

the

last

hectic

days

of

the

79th

Congress

there

was

enacted

Public

Law

601.

Popularly

known

as

&dquo;The

Reorganization

of

Congress

Bill,&dquo;

this

measure

was

one

of

the

most

ambitious

attempts

in

American

history

to

bring

up

to

date

the

organization

and

procedure

of

our

national

legislature.

What

did

it

accomplish?

To

what

degree

has

it

succeeded?

What

remains

to

be

done?

These

are

all

questions

that

are

increasingly

being

asked.

The

present

paper

is

an

attempt

to

answer

them,

though

these

answers

necessarily

must

be

brief

even

to

the

point

of

perhaps

appearing

superficial.

<

BACKGROUND

OF

THE

1946

ACT

For

at

least

twenty

years

preceding

the

enactment

of

Public

Law

601,

there

had

been

agitation

among

legislators,

scholars,

and

the

general

public

for

a

modernization

of

Congress.’

Especially

influential

had

been

the

&dquo;Heller

Report&dquo;2

and

the

several

reports

of

the

American

Political

Science

Association.

The

last

report

of

the

latter

group

in

19453

must

be

credited

highly

for

helping

to

secure

passage

of

the

Reorganization

Act.

Its

findings

and

recommendations

are

of

such

importance

as

to

warrant

their

review

here:

SUMMARY

OF

CONGRESSIONAL

HANDICAPS

Summing

up

now

the

principal

conclusions

of

our

survey,

we

find

that

Congress

as

an

institution

is

handicapped

in

the

performance

of

its

proper

functions

in

the

following

ways:

1.

By

being

overburdened

by

many

local

and

private

matters

which

divert

its

attention

from

national

policy-making

and

which

it

ought

not

to

have

to

consider.

2.

By

the

lack

of

adequate,

independent,

technical

advice

necessary

for

wise

law

making,

and

the

lack

of

sufficient

secretarial

service

to

handle

requests

from

constituents

and

routine

chores.