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Special Message to the Congress Proposing Establishment of a Nonpartisan Commission on Federal Election Reform

May 16, 1973

To the Congress of the United States:

A thorough-going reform of campaign practices in our Federal elections ranks high on our list of national priorities.

Many separate proposals for such reform are now pending before the Congress; in light of recent disclosures of widespread abuses during the Presidential campaign of 1972, many more will doubtless soon be made.

I believe that reform is essential, and urgent; I also believe it is vital that these proposed reforms be carefully considered not singly, but in their relation each to the others, and that this be done in a non-partisan context.

Therefore, I recommend creation of a Non-partisan Commission on Federal Election Reform, to be established as quickly as possible and to be charged with examining our entire pattern of campaign practices and with recommending a comprehensive set of reforms. A proposed Joint Resolution to accomplish this accompanies this Message.

The Commission I propose would be composed of seventeen members. Eight of these would be chosen by and from the Congress, two Democrats and two Republicans from the Senate and two Democrats and two Republicans from the House of Representatives. It would also include the national chairmen of the two principal political parties, and seven other, public members, to be selected by the President. No more than four of seven public members shall be members of the same political party. To further ensure its complete independence, the chairman and vice-chairman would be selected from among the members of the Commission, by the Commission itself.

The Commission's mandate would be as broad as the Federal election process itself. Nothing would be excluded. It would be authorized to examine the cost and financing of campaigns, including proposals for alternative methods of financing; laws on reporting and disclosure; the elimination from campaigns of violence and the threat of violence, and infringements on the right of privacy; curbing vote frauds; the length of political campaigns; the use and abuse of techniques such as television commercials, polling and computerized direct mail; methods of curbing the entire range of unfair or unsavory campaign practices; and anything else the Commission might consider desirable for a comprehensive reform of Federal elections and campaign practices.

It would be directed to make its final report to the Congress and the President no later than December 1, 1973. It would also be encouraged to make interim recommendations during the course of its work, in order to expedite their consideration by the Congress.

Because it bears an intimate and vital relationship to campaign reform, I recommend that the Commission also consider the question of whether the length of the terms of office of members of the Senate, of the House of Representatives or of the President should be changed.

If the Commission is to complete its work promptly, in order to allow the Congress time to consider and possibly to act on its recommendations prior to the 1974 Congressional campaigns, it is, of course, essential that the Commission begin its work soon and pursue it expeditiously. For my part, I shall do all that I can to facilitate this, and I urge the Congress to take swift and favorable action on this proposal.

RICHARD NIXON

The White House,

May 16, 1973.

Note: On the same day, the White House released the transcript of a news briefing on the message by Leonard Garment, Special Consultant and Acting Counsel to the President.

Richard Nixon, Special Message to the Congress Proposing Establishment of a Nonpartisan Commission on Federal Election Reform Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/255472

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