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New York; Campaign Manager, Mathias for Senate Committee; 1969-John K. Tabor Mayoralty Campaign, Pittsburgh).

February 1965 to September 1967: Executive Director, Republicans For Progress, Washington, D.C., research organization to aid members of House, Senate and Governors.

June 1954 to February 1965: Executive Assistant, Legislative Assistant, Press Secretary to Senator Clifford P. Case of New Jersey.

December 1953 to June 1954: Press Assistant and Legislative Assistant to the late Senator Robert C. Hendrickson of New Jersey.

March 1949 to December 1953: Correspondent, Washington Bureau, Newhouse Newspapers.

August 1948 to March 1949: Reporter, Newark, N.J., Star-Ledger.
August 1946 to August 1948: Reporter, Syracuse, N. Y., Post-Standard.
February 1943 to April 1946: U.S. Navy.

PERSONAL HISTORY

Graduate, Syracuse University, A.B., 1948; Post-graduate, George Washington University.

Married former Martha Hildebrandt, four children; home address: 5210 Wapakoneta Road, Glen Echo Heights, Md.; date of birth: February 17, 1924. Clubs: National Press Club; Administrative Assistants and Secretaries Club; and Sigma Delta Chi (Professional Journalism Fraternity).

POSITION DESCRIPTION FOR ASSISTANT DIRECTOR (OFFICE OF SPECIAL PROGRAMS), OFFICE OF ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY

1. INTRODUCTION

The incumbent of this positions serves as Assistant Director for Special Programs, reporting directly to the Director, Office of Economic Opportunity. He holds the title of Assistant Director for Older Persons and Assistant Director for Rural Affairs.

II. DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Advises the Director of the Office of Economic Opportunity on matters concerning rural affairs, volunteerism, problems of youth, and the older poor. Determines the directions in which these programs are going, and makes recommendations for basic changes in emphasis and direction when situations indicate a need for modification.

2. Represents Office of Economic Opportunity at inter-governmental conferences, and represents the Administration before Congressional Committees at public forums on matters relating to these areas. Speaks as the Directors' representative throughout the country, appearing alone or jointly with the Regional Representatives of Office of Economic Opportunity.

3. Stimulates and reviews staff recommendations, and makes final decisions on broad policy framework and on programming. Determines intermediate and long range plans and objectives for the Office of Special Programs. Reviews and approves or disapproves recommendations on funding, manpower, space, reporting and management systems, and other requirements.

4. Maintains a comprehensive understanding of the current and proposed programs of other components of Office of Economic Opportunity. Develops proposals for new approaches through studies of evaluations prepared by the Office of Economic Opportunity staff or by contractors. Keeps aware of current trends in coping with poverty among the youth, aging, and rural population through review of professional treatises and through contacts with experts in the fields.

5. Maintains liaison with counterparts who administer related activities in other Federal Agencies, and develops support and cooperation as necessary. Is sought out and consulted by experts and leaders in and outside of the Federal government. Integrates the work of the Office of Special Programs with that performed in other Office of Economic Opportunity offices.

6. Develops effective working relationships with leaders in state and local government, educational institutions, farm organizations, religious and charitable groups, corrective and welfare agencies, and allied groups. Applies a comprehensive understanding of the situations which are encountered by the poor in the aging, youthful, and rural categories in order to devise new solutions to the problems. Provides leadership in developing and utilizing sources of voluntary assistance to improve the status of people in poverty-stricken areas.

7. Directs the performance of the staff, ensures timely completion of assigned missions, establishes standards of performance, determines priorities as required, selects key staff members, identifies developmental needs, and makes decisions on crucial personnel problems which may affect the quality of the work performed. S. Performs other related duties as required.

III. CONTROLS OVER WORK

The incumbent receives general supervision from the Director of the Office of Economic Opportunity. Instructions are normally brief, and are often received through staff meetings, with broad objectives stated rather than specific projects. Guidance on the intent and characteristics of anti-poverty programs is obtained from the enabling legislation. New approaches, projects, and methods are selfgenerated. The policy framework within which operations are conducted is established by the Director.

IV. OTHER SIGNIFICANT FACTS

The incumbent must be thoroughly grounded by education and experience in one or a combination of professional fields, such as Economics, public administration, sociology, psychology, or other social science discipline. He must have had responsible administrative experience which has demonstrated ability to unify the efforts of diverse groups using varying approaches. He must have persuasive ability and sufficient stature in the groups in the anti-poverty effort to obtain respect for and acceptance of his proposals.

LEGISLATIVE AUTHORITY FOR OFFICES OF DEPUTY DIRECTOR AND ASSISTANT DIRECTORS

Section 601(a) (42 U.S.C. 2941)

"There is hereby established in the Executive Office of the President the Office of Economic Opportunity. The Office shall be headed by a Director who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. There shall also be in the Office one Deputy Director and five Assistant Directors who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the consent of the Senate. The Deputy Director and the Assistant Directors shall perform such functions as the Director may from time to time prescribe."

The CHAIRMAN. I know you have previously read the memorandum of the duties and responsibilities of this office.

You are accompanied by a Senator from your State. Before asking you for any statement, I am going to first call upon Senator Mathias. STATEMENT OF HON. CHARLES McC. MATHIAS, A U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF MARYLAND

Senator MATHIAS. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee first of all, I want to express my very real appreciation to you for scheduling this hearing and moving it forward 'so promptly in spite of the press of other committee business.

It is a pleasure to introduce Mr. Abrahams to the committee. We consider him a distinguished citizen of Maryland. We think that his previous experience in New Jersey has only enhanced his luster as a citizen of Maryland. We are very proud of him and we are very proud that the President has given him this commission.

As the chairman has already pointed out, he has had broad legislative experience with the distinguished members of the Senate. I think that this is a remarkable background that he brings to the duties that he will have to discharge at the Office of Economic Opportunity. I believe he is highly qualified for this position. I have known him as a person for a number of years, very intimately in the past several years, and I can recommend him to the committee without qualification.

Thank you very much.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Senator Mathias.
Senator Williams, do you have any questions?

Senator WILLIAMS. I have no questions, Mr. Chairman.

I have known Mr. Abrahams for many, many years now, and if I had any questions, they have all been answered and very favorably from my viewpoint. I am most pleased that the President has named Mr. Abrahams to this very important position.

The CHAIRMAN. As one of the original sponsors of the Office of Economic Opportunity, Senator Williams, I feel the same way and I commend the President for appointing him. I feel he will be in sympathy with the objectives of the antipoverty law.

Mr. Abrahams, you have submitted the customary financial statement. It will be submitted to Senator Javits, the ranking minority member of this committee, and it will be available for any other Senators who desire it. There appears to be no conflict of interest. None of the interests in which you own shares has any contract with the Office of Economic Opportunity.

Mr. ABRAHAMS. None whatsoever.

The CHAIRMAN. Senator Pell, Mr. Abrahams, nominated as an Assistant Director of the Office of Economic Opportunity, is here and he is available for questions.

Senator PELL. I had the pleasure of chatting with Mr. Abrahams the other day and I am delighted to see that members of the legislative branch are being taken on by the executive branch of the Government. I think it is a good sign.

The CHAIRMAN. Are there any further questions? If not, thank you, Mr. Abrahams. The record will be complete at this point and when we have a quorum we will put your nomination first on the agenda. We hope to be able to reach it today.

Mr. ABRAHAMS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am terribly grateful for the speed with which this hearing has been scheduled, and I appreciate it very much.

The CHAIRMAN. We wish you success in the broader objectives of this program to aid the 15 to 20 percent of our population that are in the poverty grouping. I think one very encouraging sign is that in the past 10 years the percentage of people in the poverty bracket in this country has diminished appreciably. There are still too many millions and millions in that bracket, but we have whittled away at that percentage. The poverty situation has not worsened and many more people have lifted themselves out of poverty when given the opportunity.

Mr. ABRAHAMS. Twelve million more since the program began. Thank you, Senator.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Mr. Abrahams, we will reconvene in executive sessions in a few moments.

(Whereupon, at 10:20 a.m., the public open session was adjourned.)

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