weening governmental power poses to their own hopes for personal fulfillment. Through all the ages of man, one of the greatest threats to individual freedom and individual progress has been concentrated power-whether that power has resided in the State, the church, big business, big labor, or whatever. Now more young people are frequently telling us and rightly so, I believe that our democracy's vast and growing governmental machinery is rapidly becoming a new menace to individual freedom in the United States. In my generation, there are many men and women who are struggling to reform and preserve the democracy that you will inherit. We are trying to introduce a greater sense of discipline in government spending so that our Nation will not drown in the red ink of budget deficits and there will be enough money to invest in the future. We are trying to lift the dead hand of government regulation so that the spirit of free enterprise can flourish again. And as we work to end those abuses which do exist in the business community, we are also trying to educate more Americans about the unparalleled virtues of our political and economic system. Yet my generation knows full well that even if we can stop the tide running toward a government managed economy, it will be up to your generation to reverse that tide and to rebuild and revitalize our democracy for the twenty-first century. Our challenge is a great one, but yours perhaps will be greater still. The world will long remember the chapter that you write into human history. There is an old, familiar story-perhaps you have heard it—about a wise man in Damascus who could answer any riddle in life. One day a young boy decided to play a trick on the old man. The boy said to himself: "I will capture a bird, hold it cupped in my hand, and ask the old man if it is dead or alive. If he says dead, I shall let it fly away, but if he says alive, I shall crush it in my hands. The old man shall certainly give me the wrong answer." So the young boy caught a bird and went to the wise old man. “Is the bird dead or alive?” he asked. "My son," said the man, "the answer to that question is in your hands." Shall freedom live or perish in America? My friends, the answer to that question is in your hands. Thank you. AUGUST 15, 1975. Hon. WILLIAM E. SIMON, DEAR MR. SECRETARY. The other day you spent a morning in Bloomington at the national convention of Junior Achievement. I am writing to invite you to spend perhaps two hours here in Washington with the Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs testifying on statements you made before that convention with respect to the Food Stamp Program. As you may know, the Congress, like the Administration, is engaged in a thorough review of the program. We need all available accurate and reliable information in order to make effective reforms. Therefore, during your testimony, it would be very helpful if you could discuss the factual and data base of the following specific statements in your Bloomington address: A. It was reported that you characterized the Food Stamp Program as a "haven for the chiselers and rip-off artists." 1. What is your definition of "chiselers and rip-off artists" and how many recipients meet that definition? 2. Since Department of Agriculture surveys indicate that the rate of fraud is less than one tenth of 1%, what contrary data do you have which led you to conclude that there was widespread "chiseling?" 3. What factors account for whatever degree of "chiseling" in fact exists, according to data in your possession? -Has the Department of Agriculture failed to administer the program efficiently; and if so, what recommendations would you make to the Congress and Secretary Butz to correct the nonfeasance of his Department? -Alternatively, have state agencies mal-administered the program; and if so, would you recommend a strengthened federal role in administration, and in what specific ways? B. It was reported that you cited the Food Stamp Program as an example of "government spending (which has) exploded," of "social programs that are spinning out of control." 1. As you certainly understand, virtually all growth of food stamp costs and coverage has been caused, first, by the program's expansion between 1962 and 1974 from a pilot program which included only a few counties to a fully national program to feed the hungry and the malnourished; and second, to a current rate of unemployment unprecedented since the Great Depression. Since Department of Agriculture data indicate a decline in the number of food stamp recipients between 1975 and 1980, and no further increase and perhaps a decrease in the total cost of the program, what contrary projections support your conclusion that the program is "spinning out of control"; and what are the predicted costs and coverage of the program in what specific years, according to those projections? 2. If Treasury_Department or other projections which contradict the Agriculture Department data in fact exist, what unemployment and food inflation rates during what years do those projections assume? C. It was reported that you cited a magazine advertisement "that told people how to obtain food stamps even if they earned as much as $16,000 a year." 1. Since Department of Agriculture statistics indicate that the number of food stamp recipients with incomes in excess of $10,000 is negligible as a percentage of the total program, what contrary data persuaded you to lend credence and the prestige of your high office to a magazine advertisement which Secretary Butz has referred to the FTC with a request to consider charges of misleading and deceptive advertising? (Indeed, if you possess such data, I suggest that you forward it to the FTC, so that the advertiser in question will not be prosecuted in the federal courts.) 2. What eligibility requirements for food stamps would you recommend? How many recipients would be eliminated? What is their employment status now, and what was it before the current recession? D. It was reported that you cited the Food Stamp Program as an example of "willing (ness) to assign to the government the responsibility for solving many of the problems that people should be solving for themselves." 1. According to data in your possession, what percentage of food stamp recipients could provide a nutritionally adequate diet for their families without the assistance of food stamps? 2. Since you call for "self-reliance," how many unemployed food stamp recipients could obtain jobs now or in the immediate future in the "free enterprise system" which you define as "the foundation of our economy"? I welcome your involvement in the food stamp dialogue. This Committee, and the Congress, need the benefit of your interest, your information, and ycur insight. Since your statements in Bloomington are sharply at odds with all other available data, your testimony can make a unique contribution. I realize that you might not be familiar with previously suppressed chapters of the July, 1975, U.S.D.A. Food Stamp Report to the Congress, which contain the most recent food stamp statistics and projections and which my office released a week ago. I am enclosing a copy of the chapters, in case they were withheld from you as well as the Congress. If your Indianapolis address was drafted in ignorance of these data and statistics, which directly refute your remarks about food stamps, a simple retraction would make your testimony unnecsary. I can understand how a public official might be misled by careless or uninformed advice from his own department. Or perhaps you unknowingly misstated the facts at the direction of other officials in the Executive Branch, which recently seems to have engaged in a concerted campaign of false charges and scare tactics against the Food Stamp Program. Of course, if your statements have a basis in fact, we look forward to hearing your testimony at the earliest possible date. The usual format includes presentation of a statement by the witness, followed by questions from Committee members. We would appreciate receiving one copy of your statement at least 72 hours prior to the hearing. A transcript of your testimony will be mailed to you for corrections and insertions the morning after your appearance. The corrected transcript should be returned to the Committee within 10 days of the date of the hearing. The members of this Committee expect a retraction or some factual substantiation of your Bloomington attack on the Food Stamp Program. Sincerely, GEORGE MCGOVERN, Chairman. |