[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 37 (Thursday, March 20, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2735-S2736]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 AUTHORIZING THE PRINTING OF THE HISTORY MANUSCRIPT OF THE REPUBLICAN 
                    AND DEMOCRATIC POLICY COMMITTEES

  Mr. SANTORUM. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 67 submitted earlier 
today by Senators Craig and Reid.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 67) authorizing the printing of the 
     history manuscript of the Republican and Democratic Policy 
     Committees in Commemoration of their 50th Anniversaries.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection to the immediate 
consideration of the resolution?
  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, I rise to speak on ``A History of the 
Senate Republican Policy Committee, 1947-1997.''
  Fifty years ago, the Senate established the Republican and Democratic 
policy committees. At the end of the Second World War and at the 
beginning of the cold war, U.S. Senators had concluded that this 
venerable old institution needed modernization to enable it to handle 
the increasingly complex foreign and domestic issues on its agenda, and 
to hold its own against an expanding presidential influence.
  From 1945 to 1946, a joint committee chaired by Senator Robert M. 
LaFollette, Jr., a Republican from Wisconsin, and Representative Mike 
Monroney, an Oklahoma Democrat, investigated ways to reform the 
legislative branch. The joint committee proposed creation of 
professional staffs for each standing committee and allowing Senators 
and Representatives to appoint administrative assistants. It also 
recommended expansion of the Legislative Reference Service, now known 
as the Congressional Research Service. Those reforms were incorporated 
into the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946.
  One proposal that was not included in the act was the joint 
committee's recommendation that the Senate and House establish policy 
committees to assist the parties in promoting their legislative agenda. 
House Speaker Sam Rayburn feared that such policy committees 
might threaten his authority and refused to support them. Although the 
idea was dropped from the Legislative Reorganization Act, it was 
shortly thereafter incorporated in an appropriations bill but 
authorized policy committees for the Senate alone. Some time later the 
House also established policy committees.

  Chief credit for the policy committees belongs to Ohio Republican 
Senator Robert A. Taft. As chairman of the Republican Steering 
Committee, from 1944 to 1946, Taft firmly believed in thorough 
preparation and expertise. Although Republicans were then in the 
minority, Taft used the Steering Committee to plan and coordinate the 
party's legislative program, rather that wait to react defensively 
against the initiatives of the President and the majority party. Under 
Taft the Steering Committee helped Republican Senators become better 
informed on pending issues. His staff ran evening meetings that some 
called a night school for Senators. The Republican Steering Committee 
became the model for the proposed policy committees. Indeed, when the 
policy committees were written into law, the Republican Conference 
simply redesignated its Steering Committee as the Republican Policy 
Committee. Chairman Taft and all of the other members of the Steering 
Committee become the first members of the Policy Committee.
  The Republican Policy Committee came into existence at the beginning 
of the 80th Congress, just as Republicans resumed the majority in the 
Senate and House. The 50th anniversary finds Republicans back in the 
majority in both Houses of Congress. Over the years the Policy 
Committee's services and functions have expanded considerably. Since 
1947, it has produced the very useful Record Vote Analyses. Since 1956, 
it has hosted working lunches each week for Republican Senators. Since 
1987, it has operated an in-house bulletin-board cable information 
channel to keep Senators and their staffs apprised of Senate floor 
activities and the upcoming agenda. In 1995, the Policy Committee stood 
among the first Senate offices to develop a home page on the Internet's 
World Wide Web, to provide information inside and outside the Senate on 
its publications, and to share information on key Republican policies.
  The Policy Committee staff prepares both brief and indepth reports on 
the major issues facing the Senate. The Policy Committee conducts 
seminars for new legislative staff members, and holds issue forums and 
roundtable discussions for Senators. It also hosts regular meetings for 
staff directors, legislative directors, and press secretaries.
  During its first 50 years, the Republican Policy Committee grew into 
a thriving operation staffed by a variety of experts. Working directly 
with the

[[Page S2736]]

Senators, and educating the journalists who report on them, the Policy 
Committee has assisted Republican Senators in setting policy, enacting 
legislation, and getting their message out. That is an accomplishment 
entirely consistent with the goals that Robert Taft set in founding the 
Republican Policy Committee. The story of how those goals were achieved 
is contained in the history of the Policy Committee that was prepared 
by the Senate Historical Office, and will now be available for 
Senators, staff, students, and the general public.
  I understand that the Democratic Policy Committee is considering a 
companion publication, and I would like to take this opportunity to 
congratulate its chairman, Senator Tom Daschle, and cochairman, Senator 
Harry Reid, on our mutual 50th anniversary.
  Mr. SANTORUM. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
resolution be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the 
table, and that any statements relating to the resolution appear at 
this point in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 67) was agreed to.
  The resolution is as follows:

                               S. Res. 67

     SECTION 1. PRINTING OF THE HISTORY MANUSCRIPT OF THE 
                   REPUBLICAN POLICY COMMITTEE IN COMMEMORATION OF 
                   ITS 50TH ANNIVERSARY.

       (a) In General.--There shall be printed as a Senate 
     document the book entitled, ``A History of the Senate 
     Republican Policy Committee, 1947-1997,'' prepared by the 
     Senate Historical Office under the supervision of the 
     Secretary of the Senate, with the concurrence of the U.S. 
     Senate Republican Policy Committee.
       (b) Specifications.--The Senate document described in 
     subsection (a) shall include illustrations and shall be in 
     the style, form, manner, and binding as directed by the Joint 
     Committee on Printing after consultation with the Secretary 
     of the Senate.
       (c) Number of Copies.--In addition to the usual number of 
     copies, there shall be printed with suitable binding the 
     lesser of--
       (1) 1,000 copies for use of the Senate, to be allocated as 
     determined by the Secretary of the Senate; or
       (2) a number of copies that does not have a total 
     production and printing cost of more than $1,200.

     SEC. 2. PRINTING OF THE HISTORY MANUSCRIPT OF THE DEMOCRATIC 
                   POLICY COMMITTEE IN COMMEMORATION OF ITS 50TH 
                   ANNIVERSARY.

       (a) In General.--There shall be printed as a Senate 
     document the book entitled, ``A History of the Senate 
     Democratic Policy Committee, 1947-1997,'' prepared by the 
     Senate Historical Office under the supervision of the 
     Secretary of the Senate, with the concurrence of the U.S. 
     Senate Democratic Policy Committee.
       (b) Specifications.--The Senate document described in 
     subsection (a) shall include illustrations and shall be in 
     the style, form, manner, and binding as directed by the Joint 
     Committee on Printing after consultation with the Secretary 
     of the Senate.
       (c) Number of Copies.--In addition to the usual number of 
     copies, there shall be printed with suitable binding the 
     lesser of--
       (1) 1,000 copies for use of the Senate, to be allocated as 
     determined by the Secretary of the Senate; or
       (2) a number of copies that does not have a total 
     production and printing cost of more than $1,200.

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