DOCSLIB.ORG

The Congressional Black Caucus and American Policy Toward

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Congressional Black Caucus and American Policy Toward THE CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS AND AMERICAN POLICY TOWARD SOUTHERN AFRICA, 1970-1980 by BRADLEY RIVERS (Under the Direction of William Stueck) ABSTRACT This paper is a response to the growing literature surrounding ethnic group influence on American diplomacy, as well as the call from those historians who have broken new ground with respect to African American influence on foreign policy. It does not, however, attempt to draw conclusions about the perceptions of the entire black community during this period. Instead, it focuses on the attitudes and perceptions of African American members of Congress during the 1960s and 1970s as they tried to reorient American policy toward Africa. The Congressional Black Caucus has been active on foreign policy issues since its founding in 1971, although its role in domestic affairs has been more widely publicized. Studying the organization’s attempts to reorient American policy in Africa provides a unique opportunity to analyze the limits and possibilities of ethnic group influence on American diplomacy. As a national black organization, the CBC has been inextricably linked to the socioeconomic and political fortunes and the evolving policy priorities and preferences of the African American community. As a minority group within Congress, however, the caucus has had to rely on coalition-building and cooperation with other members to achieve its objectives. This has required a certain pragmatism and willingness to compromise not demanded of other African American interest groups. INDEX WORDS: Congressional Black Caucus, Charles Diggs Jr., Andrew Young, Southern Africa THE CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS AND AMERICAN POLICY TOWARD SOUTHERN AFRICA, 1970-1980 by BRADLEY WILLIAM RIVERS B.A., Kalamazoo College, 2001 A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree MASTER OF ARTS ATHENS, GEORGIA 2005 ©2005 Bradley William Rivers All Rights Reserved THE CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS AND AMERICAN POLICY TOWARD SOUTHERN AFRICA, 1970-1980 by BRADLEY W. RIVERS Major Professor: William Stueck Committee: Robert Pratt Chana Kai Lee Electronic Version Approved: Maureen Grasso Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia April 2005 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................................1 CHAPTER 1 THE RISE OF THE CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS ...................................18 2 THE RHODESIA LOBBY, THE CBC, AND THE BYRD AMENDMENT.............71 3 THE CBC AND PORTUGUESE AFRICA ..............................................................126 4. THE CBC, JIMMY CARTER, AND LIBERAL INTERNATIONALISM...............166 CONCLUSION............................................................................................................................246 iv Introduction In recent years it has become fashionable to suggest that ethnic interest groups play an important role in the formulation of American foreign policy. This has particularly been the case since the end of the Cold War and what were commonly referred to as the “convincing demons” that guided American foreign policy during that period. “It is doubtful that there has ever been a democratic society,” commented Senator Charles Mathias Jr. on the rising influence of ethnic interest groups, “that lived untroubled by conflict between the preferences and aspirations of one group within the society and the requirements of the general good. If the problem has been more constant and intense in the United States than in other democracies it is because of the nature of American society – diverse and heterogeneous, a nation of nations, a melting pot in which the constituent groups are never fully melted – and because of the American constitutional system with its separated power and numerous points of access thereto.”1 The depth of interest in the power of ethnicity in American diplomacy has been the result of a growing awareness among scholars that domestic politics are an integral part of foreign policymaking. Traditionally, literature concerning U.S. diplomacy has focused on the personalities, motivations, and ideologies of a small policymaking elite. This group of elites was narrowly defined as consisting of various administration officials and a few independently powerful nongovernmental figures. Therefore, it was common 1 Charles McCurdy Mathias Jr., “Ethnic Groups and Foreign Policy,” Foreign Affairs 59, 5 (Summer 1981): 975. The most recent and comprehensive discussion of ethnic group influence is found in Tony Smith, Foreign Attachments: The Power of Ethnic Groups in the Making of American Foreign Policy (Cambridge, Mass: Harvard Press, 2000). 1 within policy circles, as well as among scholars, to dismiss the public sector – including Congress – as ignorant and disruptive actors in the decision-making process. Gradually, this perspective has fallen out of favor as historians have begun to assert a more prominent role for Congress and the public in the formulation of foreign policy. 2 Expanding the scope of diplomatic history has usually involved efforts to stake out space for the flows and interactions between new kinds of agents beyond the nation- state. Many historians have come to realize that American diplomacy is the result of complex social, economic, cultural, and political interactions of foreign as well as domestic origin. Due to the fluidity between the public and the private sectors in the United States, such non-state actors as corporations, missionaries, and interest groups have not only influenced state policy but in some instances actually assumed the role of the state itself. Thus previous assumptions that foreign and domestic policymaking processes differ no longer hold. As Samuel Huntington has recently observed, “For an understanding of American foreign policy it is necessary to study not the interests of the American state in a world of competing states but rather the play of economic and ethnic interests in American domestic politics. At least in recent years, the latter has been a superb predictor of foreign policy stands. Foreign policy, in the sense of actions consciously designed to promote the interests of the United States as a collective entity in relation to similar collective entities, is slowly but steadily disappearing.”3 Scholars who contend that ethnic interest groups play an integral role in American foreign policymaking generally separate this influence into three stages. The first, from 2 See Philip Brenner, The Limits and Possibilities of Congress (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1983); Gary Orfield, Congressional Power: Congress and Social Change (New York: Harcourt Brace, 1975). 3 Samuel Huntington: “The Erosion of American National Interests,” Foreign Affairs 75, 1 (Sept/Oct 1997): 42. 2 roughly the beginning of the twentieth century until the 1930s, witnessed growing ethnic conflict in response to events in Europe. As the continent moved toward war after 1914, ethnic constituencies in the United States naturally divided, some favoring American involvement in the conflict and others (which were better organized) calling for a policy of neutrality. Americans of German, Scandinavian, and Irish descent tended to favor American neutrality in the war and isolationism in its aftermath, while those of British, Russian, Polish, Yugoslav, and Czechoslovak descent generally favored American participation in the war and involvement in world affairs after 1918. The former groups and the Irish in particular were central to America’s reluctance to enter both the First and Second World Wars. Speaking about Great Britain’s policy in Ireland, Woodrow Wilson told an advisor before World War I that, “there can never be any real comradeship between American and England until this issue is definitely settled and out of the way.”4 Nor did American Jews escape the rise of ethnic consciousness characteristic of so many other groups during this period, although their emergence as a strong political lobby was not completed until after World War II.5 The divisive impact of European affairs on American domestic politics changed completely after 1945. Historian Tony Smith has observed of the period, “Not simply the national unity created by the war, but even more importantly the struggle with the Soviet Union that broke out thereafter, served to blur distinctions between ethnic and national identity and to fuse the European Americans together in a common national identity…. Internationalism, not neutrality or isolationism, became the hallmark of this new stage of 4 Mathias, “Ethnic Groups,” 982. 5 See Smith, Foreign Attachments, 48-54; also Elliot P. Skinner, “Ethnicity and Race as Factors in the Formation of United States Foreign Policy,” reprinted in Michael P. Hamilton (ed), American Character and Foreign Policy (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdsman Publishing Co., 1986), 89-119. 3 ethnic activism, providing a firm domestic underpinning to U.S. steadfastness in fighting Soviet communism.”6 For this reason, the Cold War period has commonly been viewed as one of relative consensus in American foreign policy. The dominant world view of this period, which many scholars have labeled conservative internationalism, centered around anti-communism, containment of the Soviet Union and military preparedness. Italian and German Americans worried about communist encroachment in their home countries, and Jewish Americans came to view the security of Israel as interconnected
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Barbara-Rose Collins 1939–
    FORMER MEMBERS H 1971–2007 ������������������������������������������������������������������������ Barbara-Rose Collins 1939– UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE H 1991–1997 DEMOCRAT FROM MICHIGAN longtime community activist and single mother, Shrine Church pastor, Collins campaigned for a seat in the A Barbara-Rose Collins was elected to Congress in 1990 state legislature in 1974, hyphenating her name, Barbara- on a platform to bring federal dollars and social aid to Rose, to distinguish herself from the other candidates.2 her economically depressed neighborhood in downtown Victorious, she embarked on a six-year career in the Detroit. In the House, Collins focused on her lifelong statehouse. Collins chaired the constitutional revision and advocacy for minority rights and on providing economic women’s rights committee, which produced Women in the aid to and preserving the family in black communities. Legislative Process, the first published report to document The eldest child of Lamar Nathaniel and Lou Versa the status of women in the Michigan state legislature.3 Jones Richardson, Barbara Rose Richardson was born Bolstered by her work in Detroit’s most downtrodden in Detroit, Michigan, on April 13, 1939. Her father neighborhoods, Collins considered running for the U.S. supported the family of four children as an auto House of Representatives in 1980 against embattled manufacturer and later as an independent contractor downtown Representative Charles Diggs, Jr.; however, in home improvement. Barbara Richardson graduated Collins’s mentor Detroit Mayor Coleman Young advised from Cass Technical High School in 1957 and attended her to run for Detroit city council instead, and she did Detroit’s Wayne State University majoring in political successfully.4 Eight years later in the Democratic primary, science and anthropology.
    [Show full text]
  • 9 Chapter 4 a Quick and Simple Refresher on United States Civics
    9 Chapter 4 A Quick and Simple Refresher on United States Civics For most of us, the last time we really needed to understand the process of how a bill becomes a law was in our elementary school civics lessons. In fact, most Members of Congress and their staffers don't have much more formal education about the process than that. You need not have a PhD in political science to become involved and bring about change in the public policy process. You only need to understand the basics. Although the information contained here uses the U.S. Congress as the example, most state legislatures are structured and function similarly. For more specifics on state public policy processes, visit the National Conference of State Legislatures at www.ncsl.org. The United States Congress The U.S. Congress consists of two bodies, called chambers or houses: the Senate and the House of Representatives. National elections are held every two years on the first Tuesday of November in even numbered years (2012, 2014, 2016, etc.). The next national election will be held in November 2012. Every national election, 33 Senators whose six-year terms are expiring and all 435 members of the House of Representatives are open for election.2 Elections held in non-presidential election years (e.g., 2010, 2014) are known as "mid-term elections" because they are held in the middle of a President's four-year term. The next Presidential election year is in 2012. Congressional districts for each state are circumscribed by the state legislature and based on population density.
    [Show full text]
  • Advice and Dissent: Due Process of the Senate
    DePaul Law Review Volume 23 Issue 2 Winter 1974 Article 5 Advice and Dissent: Due Process of the Senate Luis Kutner Follow this and additional works at: https://via.library.depaul.edu/law-review Recommended Citation Luis Kutner, Advice and Dissent: Due Process of the Senate, 23 DePaul L. Rev. 658 (1974) Available at: https://via.library.depaul.edu/law-review/vol23/iss2/5 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the College of Law at Via Sapientiae. It has been accepted for inclusion in DePaul Law Review by an authorized editor of Via Sapientiae. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ADVICE AND DISSENT: DUE PROCESS OF THE SENATE Luis Kutner* The Watergate affair demonstrates the need for a general resurgence of the Senate's proper role in the appointive process. In order to understand the true nature and functioning of this theoretical check on the exercise of unlimited Executive appointment power, the author proceeds through an analysis of the Senate confirmation process. Through a concurrent study of the Senate's constitutionally prescribed function of advice and consent and the historicalprecedent for Senatorial scrutiny in the appointive process, the author graphically describes the scope of this Senatorialpower. Further, the author attempts to place the exercise of the power in perspective, sug- gesting that it is relative to the nature of the position sought, and to the na- ture of the branch of government to be served. In arguing for stricter scrutiny, the author places the Senatorial responsibility for confirmation of Executive appointments on a continuum-the presumption in favor of Ex- ecutive choice is greater when the appointment involves the Executive branch, to be reduced proportionally when the position is either quasi-legis- lative or judicial.
    [Show full text]
  • A Majestic Burden: Discovering the Untold Stories of Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Women and Learning Through Narrative Analysis8
    Kansas State University Libraries New Prairie Press 2006 Conference Proceedings (Minneapolis, Adult Education Research Conference MN) A Majestic Burden: Discovering the Untold Stories of Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Women and Learning Through Narrative Analysis8 Elice E. Rogers Cleveland State University, USA Follow this and additional works at: https://newprairiepress.org/aerc Part of the Adult and Continuing Education Administration Commons This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License Recommended Citation Rogers, Elice E. (2006). "A Majestic Burden: Discovering the Untold Stories of Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Women and Learning Through Narrative Analysis8," Adult Education Research Conference. https://newprairiepress.org/aerc/2006/papers/71 This is brought to you for free and open access by the Conferences at New Prairie Press. It has been accepted for inclusion in Adult Education Research Conference by an authorized administrator of New Prairie Press. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A Majestic Burden: Discovering the Untold Stories of Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Women and Learning Through Narrative Analysis8 Elice E. Rogers Cleveland State University, USA Keywords: Leadership, African American women Abstract: The purpose of this completed research investigation is to articulate three of four final research findings as part of a larger study that investigated diverse leadership among an under-represented group and to extend current research on African American women political leaders. Introduction In this investigation I explored diverse leadership among an under-represented group and, in this effort, I extend current research on African American political leaders. My investigation begins with a profile of The CBC in the 107th Congress and Women Trailblazers of the CBC.
    [Show full text]
  • Retired United States Congressmen from the State of Michigan
    Retired United States Congressmen from the State of Michigan Submitted by Joshua Koss To The Honors College Oakland University In partial fulfillment of the requirement to graduate from The Honors College 1 Abstract Conventional wisdom in the study of members of Congress, pioneered by Richard Fenno, argues that one of the chief goals of elected officials is their reelection. However, this theory does not account for those who willingly retire from Congress. Who are these former members and what activities do they pursue once they leave office? To answer the first question, this project analyzes data on retired members of Congress from the state of Michigan regarding the years they served, party identification, and their age of retirement. The second and perhaps more interesting question in this research, examines the post-congressional careers of former members of Congress and whether their new line of work has any connections with their time in Congress through committee assignments and issue advocacy. In addition to quantitative analysis of the attributes of former members and their post-congressional careers, a qualitative analysis is conducted through a comparative case study of retired Senator Donald Riegle and former Representative Mike Rogers. This aspect of the study more closely examines their respective career paths through congress and post-congressional vocations. 2 Introduction In 1974, Democratic Congresswoman Martha Griffiths announced her retirement from the House of Representatives citing her age, 62, as a key motivation for the decision. After this, Griffiths would serve two terms as Michigan Lieutenant Governor before being dropped off the ticket, at the age of 78, due to concerns about her age, a claim she deemed “ridiculous” (“Griffiths, Martha Wright”).
    [Show full text]
  • Minting America: Coinage and the Contestation of American Identity, 1775-1800
    ABSTRACT MINTING AMERICA: COINAGE AND THE CONTESTATION OF AMERICAN IDENTITY, 1775-1800 by James Patrick Ambuske “Minting America” investigates the ideological and culture links between American identity and national coinage in the wake of the American Revolution. In the Confederation period and in the Early Republic, Americans contested the creation of a national mint to produce coins. The catastrophic failure of the paper money issued by the Continental Congress during the War for Independence inspired an ideological debate in which Americans considered the broader implications of a national coinage. More than a means to conduct commerce, many citizens of the new nation saw coins as tangible representations of sovereignty and as a mechanism to convey the principles of the Revolution to future generations. They contested the physical symbolism as well as the rhetorical iconology of these early national coins. Debating the stories that coinage told helped Americans in this period shape the contours of a national identity. MINTING AMERICA: COINAGE AND THE CONTESTATION OF AMERICAN IDENTITY, 1775-1800 A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Miami University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Department of History by James Patrick Ambuske Miami University Oxford, Ohio 2006 Advisor______________________ Andrew Cayton Reader_______________________ Carla Pestana Reader_______________________ Daniel Cobb Table of Contents Introduction: Coining Stories………………………………………....1 Chapter 1: “Ever to turn brown paper
    [Show full text]
  • Arizona Constitution Article I ARTICLE II
    Preamble We the people of the State of Arizona, grateful to Almighty God for our liberties, do ordain this Constitution. ARTICLE I. STATE BOUNDARIES 1. Designation of boundaries The boundaries of the State of Arizona shall be as follows, namely: Beginning at a point on the Colorado River twenty English miles below the junction of the Gila and Colorado Rivers, as fixed by the Gadsden Treaty between the United States and Mexico, being in latitude thirty-two degrees, twenty-nine minutes, forty-four and forty-five one- hundredths seconds north and longitude one hundred fourteen degrees, forty-eight minutes, forty-four and fifty-three one -hundredths seconds west of Greenwich; thence along and with the international boundary line between the United States and Mexico in a southeastern direction to Monument Number 127 on said boundary line in latitude thirty- one degrees, twenty minutes north; thence east along and with said parallel of latitude, continuing on said boundary line to an intersection with the meridian of longitude one hundred nine degrees, two minutes, fifty-nine and twenty-five one-hundredths seconds west, being identical with the southwestern corner of New Mexico; thence north along and with said meridian of longitude and the west boundary of New Mexico to an intersection with the parallel of latitude thirty-seven degrees north, being the common corner of Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico; thence west along and with said parallel of latitude and the south boundary of Utah to an intersection with the meridian of longitude one hundred fourteen degrees, two minutes, fifty-nine and twenty-five one- hundredths seconds west, being on the east boundary line of the State of Nevada; thence south along and with said meridian of longitude and the east boundary of said State of Nevada, to the center of the Colorado River; thence down the mid-channel of said Colorado River in a southern direction along and with the east boundaries of Nevada, California, and the Mexican Territory of Lower California, successively, to the place of beginning.
    [Show full text]
  • Maryland” of the Richard B
    The original documents are located in Box 16, folder “Convention Delegates - Maryland” of the Richard B. Cheney Files at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library. Copyright Notice The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Gerald Ford donated to the United States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections. Works prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public domain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to remain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject to a valid copyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library. Digitized from Box 16 of the Richard B. Cheney Files at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library +<+····~ ..... _ ...:... .;..:. ....... ; r .c~ ·- ...__ 4 ·~·. THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON MEETING WITH MARYLAND DELEGATION Monday, July 26, 1976 5:00 PM (30 minutes) The State Dining Room From~m Field I. PURPOSE To meet informally with the Maryland delegates. II. BACKGROUND, PARTICIPANTS AND PRESS PLAN A. Background: At the request of Rog Morton you have agreed to host a reception for the Maryland delegates. B. Participants: See attached list. c. Press Plan: White House Photo Only. Staff President Ford Committee Staff Dick Cheney Rog Morton Jim Field Jim Baker Paul Manafort Roy Hughes .. f ,. ' ' ' President Ford Committee 1828 L STREET, N.W., SUITE 250, WASHINGTON, D.C. 20036 (202) 457-6400 July 20, 1976 INFORMATION ON THE MARYLAND DELEGATION RICHARD ALLEN DEAR DICK Salisbury 1.
    [Show full text]
  • The Senate in Transition Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Nuclear Option1
    \\jciprod01\productn\N\NYL\19-4\NYL402.txt unknown Seq: 1 3-JAN-17 6:55 THE SENATE IN TRANSITION OR HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE NUCLEAR OPTION1 William G. Dauster* The right of United States Senators to debate without limit—and thus to filibuster—has characterized much of the Senate’s history. The Reid Pre- cedent, Majority Leader Harry Reid’s November 21, 2013, change to a sim- ple majority to confirm nominations—sometimes called the “nuclear option”—dramatically altered that right. This article considers the Senate’s right to debate, Senators’ increasing abuse of the filibuster, how Senator Reid executed his change, and possible expansions of the Reid Precedent. INTRODUCTION .............................................. 632 R I. THE NATURE OF THE SENATE ........................ 633 R II. THE FOUNDERS’ SENATE ............................. 637 R III. THE CLOTURE RULE ................................. 639 R IV. FILIBUSTER ABUSE .................................. 641 R V. THE REID PRECEDENT ............................... 645 R VI. CHANGING PROCEDURE THROUGH PRECEDENT ......... 649 R VII. THE CONSTITUTIONAL OPTION ........................ 656 R VIII. POSSIBLE REACTIONS TO THE REID PRECEDENT ........ 658 R A. Republican Reaction ............................ 659 R B. Legislation ...................................... 661 R C. Supreme Court Nominations ..................... 670 R D. Discharging Committees of Nominations ......... 672 R E. Overruling Home-State Senators ................. 674 R F. Overruling the Minority Leader .................. 677 R G. Time To Debate ................................ 680 R CONCLUSION................................................ 680 R * Former Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy for U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid. The author has worked on U.S. Senate and White House staffs since 1986, including as Staff Director or Deputy Staff Director for the Committees on the Budget, Labor and Human Resources, and Finance.
    [Show full text]
  • At NALC's Doorstep
    Volume 134/Number 2 February 2021 In this issue President’s Message 1 Branch Election Notices 81 Special issue LETTER CARRIER POLITICAL FUND The monthly journal of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LETTER CARRIERS ANARCHY at NALC’s doorstep— PAGE 1 { InstallInstall thethe freefree NALCNALC MemberMember AppApp forfor youryour iPhoneiPhone oror AndroidAndroid smartphonesmartphone As technology increases our ability to communicate, NALC must stay ahead of the curve. We’ve now taken the next step with the NALC Member App for iPhone and Android smartphones. The app was de- veloped with the needs of letter carriers in mind. The app’s features include: • Workplace resources, including the National • Instantaneous NALC news with Agreement, JCAM, MRS and CCA resources personalized push notifications • Interactive Non-Scheduled Days calendar and social media access • Legislative tools, including bill tracker, • Much more individualized congressional representatives and PAC information GoGo to to the the App App Store Store oror GoogleGoogle Play Play and and search search forfor “NALC “NALC Member Member App”App” toto install install for for free free President’s Message Anarchy on NALC’s doorstep have always taken great These developments have left our nation shaken. Our polit- pride in the NALC’s head- ical divisions are raw, and there now is great uncertainty about quarters, the Vincent R. the future. This will certainly complicate our efforts to advance Sombrotto Building. It sits our legislative agenda in the now-restored U.S. Capitol. But kitty-corner to the United there is reason for hope. IStates Capitol, a magnificent First, we should take solace in the fact that the attack on our and inspiring structure that has democracy utterly failed.
    [Show full text]
  • House Concurrent Resolution No. 91
    SECOND REGULAR SESSION House Concurrent Resolution No. 91 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE POGUE. 6118H.01I D. ADAM CRUMBLISS, Chief Clerk WHEREAS, the Founders of our Constitution empowered state legislatures to be 2 guardians of liberty against future abuses of power by the federal government; and 3 4 WHEREAS, the federal government has created a crushing national debt through 5 improper and imprudent spending; and 6 7 WHEREAS, the federal government has invaded the legitimate roles of the states 8 through the manipulative process of federal mandates, most of which are unfunded to a great 9 extent; and 10 11 WHEREAS, the federal government has ceased to live under a proper interpretation of 12 the Constitution of the United States; and 13 14 WHEREAS, it is the solemn duty of the states to protect the liberty of their people - 15 particularly for the generations to come - and to propose amendments to the United States 16 Constitution through a convention of states under Article V to place clear restraints on the federal 17 government’s abuses of power; and 18 19 WHEREAS, under Amendment XVI of the Constitution of the United States: 20 21 “The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever 22 source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any 23 census or enumeration.”; and 24 25 WHEREAS, the states and the people they serve would be better protected from 26 governmental abuse and better served if the federal government was forced to reign in its 27 uncontrolled spending; and 28 HCR 91 2 29 WHEREAS, the federal government functioned without the power of Amendment XVI 30 of the Constitution of the United States and without the power to tax incomes for one hundred 31 twenty-four years; and 32 33 WHEREAS, under Amendment XVII of the Constitution of the United States: 34 35 “The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, 36 elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote.
    [Show full text]
  • Congressional Membership and Appointment Authority to Advisory Commissions, Boards, and Groups
    Congressional Membership and Appointment Authority to Advisory Commissions, Boards, and Groups Updated February 12, 2021 Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov RL33313 Congressional Membership and Appointment Authority to Advisory Bodies Summary Over the past several decades, Congress, by statute, has established a wide array of commissions, boards, and advisory bodies to provide it with assistance in meeting various legislative, investigative, and administrative responsibilities. Some of these entities are temporary and created to serve specific functions, such as studying a discrete policy area or performing one-time tasks. Others are permanent, serving an ongoing purpose, such as overseeing an institution or performing a regular administrative function. The majority of these congressional bodies provide that Members of Congress, particularly the leadership, be intimately involved in the appointment process, either through direct service on a commission, or by appointing or recommending candidates for membership. The choice of a particular mechanism for membership appointment may have implications for the ability of these entities to fulfill their congressional mandates. Examination of the statutory language creating these bodies reveals several common approaches to membership selection. Each alternative schema has its advantages. For example, a commission or board composed entirely of Members permits a high degree of congressional control over the entity’s operations. Bodies composed mainly of qualified private citizens or executive branch appointees may provide a broader expertise than Member-only bodies. Assemblages of mixed membership provide some of the advantages of both Member and citizen-only appointment schemes. This report contains a compilation of existing commissions and boards that demonstrates the range of alternative membership-appointment structures.
    [Show full text]