Special Message to the Congress Transmitting Reorganization Plan 4 of 1965: Abolition of Certain Committees, Councils, and Boards

To the Congress of the United States:

I transmit herewith Reorganization Plan No. 4 of 1965, prepared in accordance with the Reorganization Act of 1949, as amended, and providing for reorganizations of .various committees and other similar bodies.

The strength and vitality of our democracy depends in major part upon the Federal Government's adaptability, on its capacity for fast flexible response to changing needs imposed by changing circumstances. If we are to maintain this capacity, we must have a government that is streamlined and capable of quickly adjusting and readjusting its organization and operating procedures to take up and surmount new challenges.

As government grows more complex and programs increasingly cut across traditional agency lines, we must exercise special care to prevent the continuance of obsolete interagency committees and other coordinating devices which waste time and delay action and the undue proliferation of new committees. Interagency committees are a valuable and often indispensable means for facilitating coordination, but we should be sure that a committee is the most efficient way to accomplish a given task and that it is structured to meet current needs effectively.

At my direction, guidelines for the management of interagency committees have been established. I have recently asked the heads of departments and agencies to give their personal attention to a complete review of all the interagency committees in which their agencies participate to determine which ones might be eliminated, consolidated or otherwise reorganized. We will take appropriate action to obtain essential improvements in the organization and use of those committees which have been established by the executive branch.

The reorganizations accomplished by the reorganization plan transmitted herewith will enable us to take similar action with respect to a number of committees which have been established by statute. In many instances the statutory provisions creating these committees are very specific as to membership and describe in detail the functions to be performed. These provisions are rarely sufficiently flexible to permit the membership or role of the committees to be accommodated to changing circumstances or to permit their termination when they have outlived their usefulness.

The accompanying reorganization plan will abolish nine statutory committees. In each case the responsibility for providing suitable arrangements to assure effective consultation and coordination is placed in a specific official. Wherever the continuing need for and usefulness of a committee has been demonstrated, I would anticipate the establishment of a successor committee along the general lines of the body now provided by law. Certainly prompt action will be taken to create successor committees to such bodies as the Board of Foreign Service and the National Advisory Council on International Monetary and Financial Problems. But we will have the flexibility promptly to make such changes in functions and membership as might be required to eliminate overlapping and duplication and to adjust to the development of new programs and shifts in executive branch responsibilities.

A number of the committees affected by the reorganization plan are advisory to the President or have functions which are closely related to responsibilities already vested in the President. The functions of those committees will be transferred to the President by the reorganization plan. The functions of the others will be transferred to the appropriate individual agency heads.

The management and control of interagency committees have been a matter of growing concern to both the executive branch and the Congress. The taking effect of the reorganization plan will contribute significantly to better management of interagency committees and will assist efforts to simplify and modernize coordinating arrangements within the executive branch.

Executive Order No. 10940 of May 11, 1961, provides for the President's Committee on Juvenile Delinquency and Youth Crime. The Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare is required to consult with that committee on matters of general policy and procedure arising in the administration of the Juvenile Delinquency and Youth Offenses Control Act of 1961 and to consider certain recommendations of that committee (4" U.S.C. 2546(b) ). To require the Secretary by law to consult with a committee established by Executive order is clearly anomalous. The plan abolishes the relevant functions of the Secretary with respect to consulting and considering the recommendations of the President's Committee. The reorganization plan does not otherwise affect the Committee; it has no effect upon Executive Order No. 10940. The statutory authority for the exercise of the functions to be abolished by section 13(b) of the reorganization plan is contained in section 7(b) of the Juvenile Delinquency and Youth Offenses Control Act of 1961, 75 Stat. 574.

After investigation I have found and hereby declare that each reorganization included in Reorganization Plan No. 4 of 1965 is necessary to accomplish one or more of the purposes set forth in section 2(a) of the Reorganization Act of 1949, as amended.

Although the reorganizations provided for in the reorganization plan will not of themselves result in immediate savings, the improvement achieved in administration will in the future allow the performance of the affected functions at lower costs and in a more timely manner than at present. It is, however, impracticable to specify or itemize at this time the reductions of expenditures which it is probable will be brought about by the taking effect of the reorganizations included in the reorganization plan.

I recommend that the Congress allow the accompanying reorganization plan to become effective.

LYNDON B. JOHNSON