Letter to the President of the American Bar Association, Requesting an Appraisal of the Federal Trade Commission.

Dear Mr. Gossett:

As you may be aware, this Administration is conducting an extensive review of the Federal Government's activities in the field of consumer protection. Consumer protection has become a matter of major public concern, in part it appears, because existing agencies charged with the protection of consumer interests may have failed to discharge their obligations satisfactorily.

The Federal Trade Commission has broad consumer protection responsibilities under the Federal Trade Commission Act and several more specialized statutes as well as important responsibilities in the field of anti-trust.

The American Bar Association has a number of eminent experts who are familiar with the Federal Trade Commission and its work. It would be of great assistance to this Administration if the Bar Association would undertake a professional appraisal of the present efforts of the Federal Trade Commission in the field of consumer protection, in its enforcement of the anti-trust laws, and of the allocation of its resources between these two areas. I would hope that such a study would make recommendations for the future activities and organization of the Commission.

It would be most helpful if the report could be made available to me by September 15 so that I may consider it together with a review of consumer protection activities of the Executive Branch now in progress.

May I express in advance my great appreciation for your cooperation in this important effort.

Sincerely yours,

RICHARD NIXON

[William T. Gossett, Esq., President, American Bar Association, American Bar Center, Chicago, Illinois]