EXTEND LIFE OF NELSEN COMMISSION

TUESDAY, MAY 11, 1971

U.S. SENATE,

COMMITTEE ON THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA,

Washington, D.C.

The committee met at 9:40 a.m., in room 6226, New Senate Office Building, Senator Thomas F. Eagleton (chairman) presiding. Present: Senators Eagleton, Weicker, and Buckley.

Also present: Robert Harris, staff director; Gene E. Godley, general counsel; and James S. Medill, minority counsel.

The CHAIRMAN. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.

This hearing is to consider S. 1229 and H.R. 5765, bills to extend for 6 months the life of the so-called Ancher Nelsen Commission. That Commission is to inquire into the efficiencies of the District of Columbia government and to make recommendations as to how its efficiency can be improved. I understand that the justification used for this extension in the House of Representatives was the delay in the Senate in naming several of the members to the Commission. Whether this was in fact the case is unimportant. What is important. is that by the time the Commission was organized its working time had almost run out.

At this time I will place in the record copies of S. 1229 and H.R. 5765, the bills under consideration this morning.

(S. 1229 and H.R. 5765, the bills referred to, follow:)

(1)

92D CONGRESS 18T SESSION

S. 1229

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 12, 1971

Mr. MATHIAS (for himself and Mr. SPONG) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the District of Columbia

A BILL

To extend for six months the time for filing the comprehensive report of the Commission on the Organization of the District of Columbia.

1

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 That section 103 (b) of the Act entitled "An Act to establish

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a Commission on the Organization of the Government of the 5 District of Columbia and to provide for a Delegate to the 6 House of Representatives from the District of Columbia," 7 approved September 22, 1970 (85 Stat. 845), is amended 8 by striking out "six months" the first place it appears and 9 inserting in lieu thereof "twelve months".

92D CONGRESS 1ST SESSION

H. R. 5765

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

APRIL 29, 1971

Read twice and referred to the Committee on the District of Columbia

AN ACT

To extend for six months the time for filing the comprehensive report of the Commission on the Organization of the Government of the District of Columbia.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 3 That section 103 (b) of the Act entitled "An Act to estab4 lish a Commission on the Organization of the Government 5 of the District of Columbia and to provide for a Delegate to the House of Representatives from the District of Colum7 bia," approved September 22, 1970 (85 Stat. 845), is 8 amended by striking out "six months" the first place it

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appears and inserting in lieu thereof "twelve months".

Passed the House of Representatives April 27, 1971.

Attest:

W. PAT JENNINGS,

II

Clerk.

The CHAIRMAN. We are very pleased to have Congressman Ancher Nelsen with us, and to testify. He has taken the time to come here, of course, to explain the reasons for the extension.

Mr. Congressman, if you will come forward. It is always a pleasure to see you, especially when you are in a cooperative mood at a conference committee hearing, and we welcome you here today. You may proceed.

STATEMENT OF ANCHER NELSEN, A U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM THE STATE OF MINNESOTA, AND CHAIRMAN, COMMISSION ON THE ORGANIZATION OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Mr. NELSEN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and in response you might say that I have sat in conference committees with the chairman. I have always had delightful rapport and I think in every case any bill on which we conferred we worked it out in the best interest of the District of Columbia.

May I introduce John Hogan, our minority counsel, and also the most attractive part of the House side, Mrs. Butler, who is our secretary on the minority side.

My statement pursues almost the same line as your opening statement. But I appear here today in my capacity as Chairman of the Commission on the Organization of the Government of the District of Columbia in support of H.R. 5765, a bill that would extend for 6 months the time for filing the comprehensive report of the Commission.

I might point out that Senator Mathias, a member of your committee, and Senator Spong, a former member of your committee, introduced an identical bill in the Senate, S. 1229. Both of these Senators are also members of the Commission.

In the 91st Congress, I introduced H.R. 18725, a bill that created the Commission and also provided a nonvoting delegate for the District of Columbia. That bill, as I recall, passed the House on August 10, 1970, and was reported favorably by the Senate District Committee without hearings on August 13, 1970. The bill was promptly signed by the President on September 23, 1970, after passage by the Senate on September 9, 1970, and became Public Law 91-405.

I introduced H.R. 5765, cosponsored by Congressman Don Fuqua, of Florida, also a member of the Commission, to amend Public Law 91-405 as noted above.

Rather than unduly take up the time of this committee, I would request that a copy of House Report 92-130, the report which accompanied H.R. 5765 when the bill was considered on the floor of the House, be inserted in the record accompanying this statement. The report points out the fact that the need for the 6-month extension in the life of the Commission arises because of an apparent unavoidable delay in the appointment of Commission members and not by reason of any delay or any other act of omission or commission by the Commission or its members.

Because of this delay, the Commission was not formally organized until February 5, 1971, and it was not until after that date that the Commission elected officers, began hiring a staff, and performing as a Commission.