(Archived document, may contain errors)
APRIL 1977
MEMBERS OF CONGRESS FOR PEACE THROUGH LAW
AND MEMBERS OF CONGRESS FOR PEACE THROUGH LAW EDUCATION FUND
(Executive Summary)
MCPL bills itself as bicameral and bipartisan, although there is no semblance of philosophical diversity. Rather, MICPL is an aggres- sively liberal apparatus that has acted to some considerable effect in creating and maintaining a growing liberal consensus on foreign policy and defense issues in both houses of Congress; (A recent case is the passage of H.R. 1746, which bars importation of chrome from Rhodesia; 11CPL's own literature reflects that the organization views this as a clear victory for its membership and objectives.)
MCPL currently has 164 members, 33 members of the Senate' and 131 members of the House. This figure is down from the 175 claimed at the end of the 94th Congress. The group relies on contributions for most of its financing and appears to be short of funds to the extent that Members of the House have had to defray some of MCPL's staff ' salaries. The 14CPL educational affiliate is the MCPL Education Fund, self-described as "a non-partisan, non-profit charitable and educa- tional corporation." Contributions to the MCPL Education Fund are tax-deductible, and the Fund is classified as a Section 501(c)(3) organization under the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. According to MCPL literature, "a modest portion of our budget will be chargeable, for staff and office services actually rendered, to" the Fund. MCPL's aims are, in summary, greater arms limitation, the develop- ment of a global economy, strengthening of the United Hations. and abolition of war. In Dractice. MCPL has opposed virtually every major new weapons system, including the ABM, MIRV, the B-1, and the cruise missile. The group works tirelessly to cut the "sacro- sanct" defense budget. One of its primary areas of emphasis at this point seems to be "Food for Peace".(Public Law 480 and related legislation), to which end the Education Fund has inaugurated a newsletter this year. MCPL holds frequent meetings for its members to hear guest speakers like Robert McNamara, Paul Warnke, and Zbigniew Brzezinski, and there is also an annual visit to the UN in New York; at this year's U11 visit, the MCPL members and staff were briefed by Ambassador Andrew Young and his staff.
MCPL acts to a great extent through issue committees, all of which have staff consultants who exercise workina su of Members' -pervision staff work on selected projects, thus assuring a "correct" result. The MCPL Director has said that Members tend to vote "in line with" MCPL's positions, which indicates that this process works well from MCPL's standpoint- This process has been described as follows by MCPL Director Sanaford Persons in an article written in December 1975:
Each committee has its own MCPL staff consultant who works with the chairman and vice-chairman to arrange the com- mittee's meetings, speakers, and program of work. When a MCPL committee undertakes a detailed project, it assigns responsibility to its most interested members. Each mem- ber in turn assigns a member of his or her own staff to work on the project in close cooperation with the other members' assigned staffers and with the MCPL staff consul- tant as resource person, coordinator, and expediter.. Mem- bers and their staffs are thus intimately involved from the start with the result that ihey have a thorough knowl- edge of the material and a parental feeling for the end product. This contrasts with the many voluminous studies made by outside groups which tragically, but all too often, never get into the bloodstream of the legislators or' their staff.
14CPL members occupy influential positions in Congress, especially in the House of Representatives where the Speaker, Majority Leader, and Majority Whip are all MCPL members. Within the House Committee on International Relations, obviously a key to 11CPL success in the House, MCPL members chair six of the nine standing subcommittees, while MCPL members are second-ranking majority members of four, all of them particularly important to our international relations. Seven subcommittees have k1CPL members as third-ranking majority members; and on four, MCPL members occupy all but one of the majority posi- tions. One, the Subcommittee on International Organizations, is entirely MCPL on the majority side. Republican MCPL members hold ranking minority membership on two of the subcommittees and both seats on one,
MEMBERS OF CONGRESS FOR PEACE THROUGH LA14
AND MEMBERS OF CONGRESS FOR PEACE THROUGH LA14 EDUCATION FUND
INTRODUCTION
Members of Congress for Peace Through Law (MCPQ is, in its own words, "a bicameral and bipartisan organization in the U.S. Congress whose membership is concerned with coordinating Congressional concern for world peace by way of specific legislative activity." Research and other support comes in part from another organization, the MCPL Edu- cation Fund, described in an MCPL report as "our educational affili- ate." A booklet issued by the MCPL Education Fund in 1976 reflects that the goals of the Fund are as follows:
Substituting law for war in human society. Improving and developing institutionsfor just and peace- ful settlement of international disputes. Strengthening the United Nations and other international institutions. Reducing world armaments. Advancing human rights and equal justice under law for all peoples. Developing a global economy-where every person enjoys the material necessities of life and a reasonable op- portunity for the pursuit of happiness.
Because of the relationship admittedly existing between MCPL and its MCPL Education Fund, the above statement of aims clearly applies to both organizations.
14CPL claims a membership roughly equivalent to one-third of the United States Congress. Outgoing 11CPL chairman Dick Clark, Demo- cratic Senator from Iowa, stated in a letter dated January 21, 1977, that:
At the end of the 94th Congress, MCPL had 175 :-tembers-- 35 Senators and 140 Representatives--or about Lne third of the Congress. We intend to surpass that membership in the 95th and to increase our effectiveness as an edu- cational and legislative force on foreign policy and global issues.
As of this writing (April 1977), however, such gains have not been achieved. Lists of the current membership of MCPL obtained from the MCPL staff offices reflect that, to date, there are 164 members; of this number, 33 are members of the U.S. Senate and 131 are members of the U.S. House of Representatives. The decline may fairly be attributed to the normal processes of political attrition. Several members simply retired or failed to win reelection in 1976. One mem- ber, Rep. William Cohen of Maine, is still a member of the House but has apparently withdrawn from 11CPL for reasons not readily discerni- ble. Former Rep. Gilbert Gude of Maryland now serves as head of the Library of Congress's Congressional Research Service (CRS), while two other members of MCPL during the 94th Congress, former Rep. Brock Adams of Washington and former Rep. Bob Bergland of Michigan, are now members df President Carter's Cabinet. Another MCPL member, former Minnesota Senator Walter Mondale, is now Vice President of the United States, while MCPL alumna Bella Abzug has recently been selected by President Carter to head the commission responsible for our observance of International Women's Year.
MEMBERSHIP
Members of MCPL from the United States Senate so fa r in the 95th Congress are as follows, as shown by an official list of members ob- tained from the 14CPL staff offices:
Abourezk, James (D-SD) Javits, Jacob K. (R-NY) Bayh, Birch (D-Ind.) Kennedy, Edward M. (D-Mass.) Biden, Joseph (D-Del.) McGovern, George (D-SD) Brooke, Edward W. (R-Mass.) Mathias, Charles (D-Md.) Church, Frank (D-Idaho) Matsunaga, Spark (D-Hawaii) Clark, Dick (D-Iowa) Metcalf, Lee (D-Mont.) Cranston, Alan (D-Calif.) Muskie, Edmund S. (D-Me.) Culver, John (D-Iowa) - Nelson, Gaylord (D-Wisc.) Eagleton, Thomas F. (D-Mo.) Packwood, Robert (R-Ore.) Gravel, Mike (D-Alaska) Pell, Claiborne (D-RI) Hart, Gary (D-Colo.)- Proxmire, William (D-Wisc.) Haskell., Floyd (D-Colo.) Riegle, Donald Jr. (D-Mich.) Hatfield, Mark 0. (R-Ore.) Sarbanes, Paul S. (D-Md.) Hathaway, William D. (D-Me.) Schweiker, Richard (R-Pa.) Heinz, H. John III (R-Pa.) Stevenson, Adlai III (D-Ill.) Humphrey, Hubert H. (D-Minn.) Williams, Harrison Jr. (D-NJ) Inouye, Daniel K. (D-Hawaii) Of the members of MCPL who serve in the United States Senate, none presently serves in a leadership position on the Republican side. On the Democratic side of the aisle, three MCPL members are cur- rently serving as part of their party's Senate' leadership: Humphrey as Deputy President Pro Tempore, Cranston as Majority Whip, and Inouye as Democratic Conference Secretary. Eight currently serve as chairr.-a of standing Senate committees: Proxmire (Banking, Hous- ing, and Urban Affairs), fluskie (Budget), Stevenson (Ethics), Williams (Human Resources), Inouye (Select Intelligence), Nelson (Select Small Business), Church (Special Aging),.and Cranston (Vet- erans Affairs). Each Senate committee has at least one member of 14CPL on its roster, but a few enjoy especially heavy concentrations of MCPL strength. Not surprisingly, Foreign Relations has one of the largest groups of 14CPL members: Church, Pell, McGovern, Humphrey, Clark, Biden, Sarbanes, and Javits. Thus, of the 16 members of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee for the 95th Congress, 5070 are members of MCPL. The Human Resources Committee also has an especially high percentage of 11CPL members; ten of the Committee's 15 members belong to MCPL. MCPL's strength on the Senate Armed Ser- vices Committee, however, is small, despite strong MCPL interest in defense matters from the liberal perspective. Only two members of MCPL, Culver and Hart, currently serve on Armed Services, and they rank seventh and eighth, respectively. Of the 17 members of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, which has jurisdiction over our most sensitive intelligence problems and secrets, seven are members of MCPL, including Chairman Daniel Inouye and the three top- ranking majority members of the committee:.Bayh, Stevenson, and Hathaway. Eight of the 25 members of the Senate Appropriations Committee are MCPL members: Proxmire, Inouye, Bayh, Eagleton, Brooke, Hatfield, Mathias, and Schweiker. Among ranking majority members of Senate committees, four are members of M.CPL: Church (Energy and Natural Resources and Foreign Reldtions), Muskie (En- vironment and Public Works and Special Aging), Bayh (Select Intel- ligence), and Pell (Rules and Administration).
MCPL's primary strength 'lies in the House of Representatives, so it is hardly surprising that most of the organization's staff and other work over the years appears to have been concentrated on that body. As of this writing, the following members of the House of Re resenta- tives are also members of MCPL, as shown by the organization s of- ficial membership roster:
Addabbo, Joseph (D-NY) Anderson, John B. (R-Ill.) Ashley, Thomas (D-Ohio) Aspin, Les (D-Wisc.) Au Coin, Les (D-Ore.) Badillo, Herman (D-NY) Baldus, Alvin (D-Wisc.) Baucus, Max S. (D-Mont.). Bedellf Berkley (D-Iowa) Beilenson, Anthony (D-Calif.) Bingham, Jonathan (D-NY) Blouin, Michael (D-Iowa) Boggs, Lindy (D-La.) Boland, Edward P. (D-1-lass.) Bolling, Richard (D-11o.) Bonker, Don (D-Wash.) Brademas, John (D-Ind.) Brown, George E. (D-Calif.) Burke, James A.'(D-Mass.) Burke, Yvonne (D-Calif.) Burton, John L. (D-Calif.) Burton, Phillip (D-Calif.) Carr, M. Robert (D-Mich.) Chisholm, Shirley (D-NY)
Clay, William (D-Mo.) Collins, Cardiss (D-Ill.) Conte, Silvio (R-Mass.) Conyers, John, Jr. (D-Mich.) Corman, James (D-Calif.) Cornell, Robert (D-Wisc.) Coughlin, R. Lawrence (R-Pa.) Dellums, Ronald (D-Calif.) Diggs, Charles, Jr. (D-Mich.) Dodd, Christopher J. (D-Conn.) Downey, Thomas (D-NY) Drinan, Robert F. (D-Mass.) Eckhardt, Bob (D-Tex.) Edgar, Robert W. (D-Pa.) Edwards, Don (D-Calif.) Eilberg, Joshua (D-Pa.) Evans, Frank E. (D-Colo.) Fenwick, Millicent (R-NJ) Findley, Paul (R-Ill.) Fisher, Joseph (D-Va.) Fithian, Floyd J. (D-Ind.) Ford, William D. (D-Ilich.) Forsythe, Edwin (R-NJ) Fraser, Donald M. (D-Ilinn.) Frenzel, Bill (R-Minn.) Gephardt, Richard (D-14o.) Gibbons, Sam (D-Fla.) Hamilton, Lee (D-Ind.) Hanley, James M. (D-NY) Harkin, Tom (D-Iowa) Harrington, Michael (D-Mass.) Hawkins, Augustus (D-Calif.) Holtzman, Elizabeth (D-NY) Horton, Frank (R-NY) Howard, James J. (D-NJ) Hughes, William J. (D-NJ) Jacobs, Andrew, Jr. (D-Ind.) Jordan, Barbara (D-Tex.) Kastenmeier, Robert (D-Wisc.) Keys, Martha (D-Kan.) Koch, Edward (D-NY) LeFante, Joseph (D-NJ) Leggett, Robert (D-Calif.) Lehman, William (D-Fla.) Lloyd, Jim (D-Calif.) Long, Clarence D. (D-1-4d.) McCloskey, Paul N. (R-Calif.) McCormack, Mike (D-Wash.) McKinney, Stewart (R-Conn.) Maquire, Andrew (D-NJ) Needs, Lloyd (D-Iqash.) Metcalfe, Ralph (D-Ill.)
Ileyner, Helen (D-NJ) Ilikulski, Barbara (D-14d.) Mikva, Abner, J. (D-Ill.) Mineta, Norman (D-Calif.) Minish, Joseph (D-NJ) Mitchell, Parren (D-lid.) Moakley, John J. (D-Mass.) Moffett, Toby (D-Conn.) Moorhead, William-(D-Pa.) Moss, John E. (D-Calif.) Myers, Gary A. (R-Pa.) Neal., Stephen L. (D-NQ O'Neill, Thomas P. (D-Mass..) Ottinger, Richard (D-NY) Pattison, Edward (D-NY) Pease, Donald J. (D-Ohio) Pepper, Claude (D-Fla.) Pike, Otis G. (D-NY) Preyer, Richardson (D-NQ Pritchard, Joel (R-Wash.) Rangel, Charles (D-NY) Reuss, Henry S. (D-Wisc.) Richmond, Frederick (D-NY) Rodino, Peter (D-NJ) Rosenthal, Benjamin (D-111Y) Roybal, Edward (D-Calif.) Ruppe, Philip E. (R-rMich.) Ryan, Leo J. (D-Calif.) St. Germain, Fernand (D-RI) Sawyer, Harold (R-Mich.) Scheuer, James 11. (D-NY) Schroeder, Patricia (D-Colo.) Seiberling, John (D-Ohio) Simon, Paul (D-Ill.) Solarz, Stephen (D-NY) Stark, Fortney (Pete) (D-Calif.) Steers, Newton (R-Md.) Stokes, Louis (D-Ohio) Studds, Gerry (D-Mass.) Thompson, Frank, Jr. (D-NJ) Traxler, Robert (D-Mich.) Udall, Morris K. (D-Ariz.) Van Deerlin, Lionel (D-Calif.) Volkmer, Harold (D-Mo.) Walgren, Douglas (D-Pa.) Waxman, Henry A. (D-Calif.) Weaver, James (D-Ore.) Weiss, Theodore (D-UY) Whalen, Charles (R-Ohio) Wilson, Charles (D-Calif.) Wirth, Timothy (D-Colo.) Wolff Lester (D-NY) I-Ion Pat, Antonio (Guam) Wright, James (D-Tex.) Yates, Sidney (D-Ill.)
MCPL strength among members of the House leadership, both Republican and Democratic, is far more imDressive than it is among comparable leaders on the Senate side. Ainong Republican leaders, only one is a member of MCPL; however, he is an important member. John B. Anderson of Illinois serves as chairman of the House Republican Con- ference and as second-ranking Republican on the House Rules Committee. Among the Democrats, MCPL is very heavily represented. All three majority party leaders in the House of Representatives--Speaker Thomas P. O'Neill, Majority Leader Jim Wright, and Majority Whip John Bradiamas--are members of MCPL. MCPL representation on the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee is also significant. Of the 24 members of the committee, 10 belong to MCPL: O'Neill, Wright, and Brademas (three of the four automatic members); Rosenthal, Jordan, and Metcalfe (three of the eight appointed by the Speaker); and Waxman, Meeds, Bolling, and Bingham (four of the 12 elected by regional caucus procedure).
As is the case in the Senate, every standing committee of the House has representation from MCPL, with 11CPL representation on the Armed Services Committee being less than on the International Relations Committee; it is still significant, however. For example, the second-ranking majority member of each Armed Services Committee sub- committee, with the single exception of Military Personnell is a member of MCPL. Wilson of California serves as second-ranking Demo- crat on the subcommittees for Intelligence and Military Application of Nuclear Energy, Military Installations and Facilities, and Sea- power and Strategic and Critical Materials; Leggett serves in the same capacity on the subcommittees on Investigations and Research and Development; and Aspin serves as second-ranking majority member of the Military Compensation subcommittee. On the House Appropria- tions Committee, three subcommittees are chaired by MCPL members; among these is the Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, chaired by Long of Maryland. The House Budget Committee has very heavy repre- sentation from MCPL, but all on the Democratic side. Of the 17 majority party members of the Budget Committee, 14--all but three-- are members of 11CPL, while seven of the committee's eight subcom- mittees are chaired by 1,1CPL members, including especially the Sub- committee on National Security, chaired by Leggett of California. A similar situation may be found on the Government Operations Com- mittee, where 19 of the committee's 29 majority party members are also members of 11CPL. Only four of the committee's 14 Republicans are MCPL members. Government Operations has seven standing subcom- mittees, of which five are chaired by members of MCPL. These five are Commerce, Consumer, and Monetary Affairs (Rosenthal); Environ- ment, Energy, and Natural Resources (Ryan); Government Activities and Transportation (John L. Burton); Manpower and Housing (Collins of Illinois); and Government Information and Individual Rights (Preyer). On the last subcommittee, seven of the eight Democrats are members of MCPL, and one of the subcommittee's three Republicans (McCloskey) is also an MCPL stalwart. Similar situatiorsexist on virtually every other standing committee of the House. On Merchant Marine and Fisheries, for example, both the chairman and ranking majority member of the Panama Canal Subcommittee (Metcalfe and Leggett) belong to MCPL.
HOUSE INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS COMMITTEE
Most of the above-cited committees and subcommittees are, in the nature of things, of interest tol* 14CPL; however, from the standpoint of MCPL's long-term goals, the one committee that is probably of greatest interest is the Committee on International Relations, which used to be known as the Committee on Foreign Affairs. Of the 25 majority members of this committee, no fewer than 16 are also mem- bers of MCPL; only two of the committee's 12 Republicans belong, although it must be noted that both enjoy seniority and ranking Re- publican status on their'respective subcommittees. Because of the importanceof this committee to the achievement of MCPL's objectives in the foreign policy field, we shall recite the roster of MCPL members in detail:
Diggs serves as chairman of the Subcommittee on Africa, with Whalen serving as ranking minority member; of the other four Democrats on the subcommittee, three (Collins of Ill., Bonker, and Solarz) belong to '211CPL.
Wolff serves as chairman of the Subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Affairs., with two of the remaining four Democrats (M-eyner and Beilenson) also belonging to MCPL.
The chairman (Hamilton) and three of the other four Democrats on the Subcommittee on Europe and the Middle East (Rosenthal, Solarz, and Pease), along with the ranking minority member (Findley), all belong-to MCPL. Only one member of the Subcommi-ttee on Inter-American Affairs (Collins of Ill.) , also belongs to MCP',
Of the majority party members of the International De- J' velopment Subr-mmittee, all but one (Chairman Harrington, Bonker, Studds, and Pease) are also members of MCPL.
The chairman (Bingham) of the International Economic Policy and Trade Subcommittee and one other Democratic member (Bedell) are members of MCPL; both Republican members of the subcommittee (Whalen and Findley) belong to HCPL. * All of the Democrats who serve on the key International Organizations Subcommittee (Chairman Fraser, Harrington, Rosenthal, Hamilton, and Ryan) also belong to MCPL.
* Of the Democrats on the International Operations Sub- committee, all but one (Diggs, Wolff, Ryan, and Meyner) also hold membership in MCPL; the chairmanship, hbwever, is held by Rep. Dante Fascell of Florida, who is not a mem- ber of MCPL.
Neither the chairman (Zablocki) nor the ranking majority member (Fountain) of the International Security and Scientific Affairs Subcommittee is a member of MCPL; however, all three remaining Democrats (Bingham, Studds, and Beilenson) belong to'.11CPL. To summarize, MCPL influence within the House Committee.on Interna- tional Relations must be regarded as more than casual. Of the nine standing subcommittees, six are chaired by members of MCPL, while MCPL members serve as second-ranking majority party members on four, all of them of particular importance to our international relations. Seven subcommittees have MCPL members as third-ranking majority party-members; four have MCPL members in all but one majority party position; and one, International Organizations, is, on the majority side, made up entirely of 14CPL members. When taken in conjunction with the number of prominent House leadership posts held by MCPL members, the above situation must assuredly be regarded by the MCPL leadership and staff with at least cautious optimism.
HISTORY
11CPL literature reflects that the organization was founded in October 1966, as the "impossible dream" of former Pennsylvania Senator Joseph S. Clark and former Oregon Representative Charles 0. Porter. The first Executive Director of MCPL was Joan L. McKinney. Initially a "bipartisan band of 12 members," 11CPL grew to include 175 members by the close of the 94th Congress; as already indicated, its membership is slightly lower at this point in the 95th Congress, with 164 listed in various 111CPL publications to date.
During the first few years, according to an article by MCPL Director Sandford Z. Persons in the Center Report (official publication of the Center for the Study of Deii0-cratic Institutions and Fund for the Republic) for December 1975, the group operated "as a committee of the whole, under the chairmanship of" former Senator Clark of Penn- sylvania. Under the second chairman, Rep. F. Bradford Morse of Massachusetts, 11CPL decided to "gear all activity to legislation" and to set up "committees responsible for education and action recom- mendations on issues of primary concern." Subject area committees have existed ever since. The April 1, 1977, issue of MCPL Newsletter reflects that, for the 95th Congress, there will be-Iiin"'issue committee" in each of the following eight subject areas:
African Affairs: Chairwoman - Rep. Cardiss Collins Vice Chairman - Rep. Charles B. Rangel Vice Chairman - Sen. Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Staff Consultant - Murray Woldm-an Arms Control & Military Affairs: Chairman - Rep. Thomas J. Downey Vice Chairman - Rep. John F. Seiberling Vice Chairman - Sen. George S. McGovern Staff Congultant - Barry Schneider Food, Population & World Resources: Chairman - Rep. Paul Simon Vice Chairman - Rep. James H. Scheuer Vice Chairman - Sen. "lark 0. Hatfield Staff Consultant - Kirsten Nyrop Human Rights & Foreign Policy: Chairman - Rep. Anthony Moffett Vice Chairman - Rep. Tom Harkin Vice Chairman - Sen. H. John Heinz, III Staff Consultant - Barry Schneider
International Development: Chairman - Rep. Stephen J. Solarz Vice Chairman - Rep. Berkley tedell Vice Chairman- Sen. Hubert H, Humphrey Staff Consultant - Murray Woldman
International Institutions & World Order: Chairwoman - Rep. Millicent Fenwick Vice Chairman - Rep. Newton Steers, Jr. Vice Chairman - Sen. Floyd K. Haskell Staff Consultant - Murray Woldman
Law of the Sea & Oceans Policy: Chairman - Rep. Paul N. McCloskey, Jr. Vice Chairman - Rep. Don Bonker Vice Chairman - Sen. Mike Gravel Staff Consultant - Kirsten Nyrop Middle East Peace: Chairman - Rep. Silvio 0. Con--s Vice Chairman - Sen. Adlai E. Stavenson, III Vice Chairman - Rep. Helen S. Heyner Staff ConsultRnt - Sandford Z. Persons The following tabulation of Congressional committee assignments held by several of the above-listed 11CPL issue committee members may be of interest. Three (Biden, McGovern, and Humphrey) serve on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, McGovern and Humphrey in senior capa- cities; two (Biden and Stevenson) also serve as members of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. On the House side, two (Scheuer and Harkin) serve on the Science and Technology Committee; two (Moffett and McCloskey) serve on Government Operations; one (Downey) is a member of Armed Services; one (Conte) serves on Appropriations; and six (Collins, Rangel, Bedell, Solarz, Bonker, and Meyner) are members of the International Relations Committee.
STAFF
At the staff level, MCPL functions primarily with a Director (Sandford Z. Persons, former Legislative Director for the United World Federalists), an Executive Assistant (June Campagna), and a group of Staff Consultants (Barry Schneider, Murray Woldman, and Kirsten Nyrop). Nyrop also serves as editor for the MCPL Education Fund Newsletter on Food and Population, as shown by tE-e-Tirst issue, Ua-r7ed March l97777_;C9iiFa_gFa__serves as associate editor. The only staff functionary listed for the MCPL Education Fund, as shown by a Fund booklet issued in 1976, is Sandford Z. Persons, who serves as Executive Director. From the above, it is clear that both MCPL and its affiliated MCPL Education Fund operate on the basis of shared staffing, a fact also indicated by the use of the same office ad- dress and telephone number.
STRUCIIURE
While the day-to-day operation of the MCPL offices lies with the staff, primarily those named above, the overall policy-for the or- ganization is set by the steering committee. For example, the April 1, 1977, MCPL Newsletter reports that "On Tuesday, February 8, the new Steering Coimm_1-E`tee @e d its first meeting to consider the issues of greatest interest to the members and of greatest relevance legislatively to the purposes of MCPL. Eight priority issues were adopted and Chairman Whalen moved promptly to appoint the Chairman and the Hous'e and Senate Vice Chairmen of each issue committee...." (It is noted that each issue committee designated to date for the 95th Congress, as shown by the foregoing enumeration, has a member of the House of Representatives as chairman, with one member of the House and one member of the Senate as vice chairmen; it is further noted that, while it is not true in every single case, there ap- parently has been some effort made at appointing members of both the Republican and Democratic parties, in keeping with MCPL's self- described "bicameral and bipartisan" nature.)
At the close of the 94th Congress, the MCPL Steering Committee was comprised of the following: Joseph S. Clark, Honorary Chairman; Senator Dick Clark, Chairman; Rep. Silvio 0. Conte, Vice Chairman; Rep. Patricia Schroeder, Vice Chairwoman; Rep. Bill Frenzel, Secretary-Treasurer; Senators Floyd K. Haskell, Mark 0. Hatfield, Charles McC. Mathias, Frank E. Moss, and Richard S. Schweiker; and Reps. George E. Brown, Jr., Robert F. Drinan, Lee H. Hamilton,
Paul 11. McCloskey, Jr., Joel Pritchard, John F. Seiberling, and Charles W. Whalen, Jr. (The above list is taken from a January 21, 1977, MCPL letter signed by Sen. Dick Clark as outgoing Chairman.) The Steering Committee for the 95th Congress was elected at IICPL'.s biennial meeting on January 27, 1977, and, according, the the HCPL Newsletter for April 1, 1977, is as follows: Rep. Charles W. Whalen, Jr., Chairman; Sen. Alan Cranston, Vice Chairman; Sen. Charles McC. Mathias, Jr., Vice Chairman; Rep. Paul Simon, Secretary-Treasurer; Sens. Dick Clark, Mike Gravel, H. John Heinz, III, and Jacob J. Javits; and Reps. Berkley Bedell, Jonathan B. Bingham; Silvio 0. Conte, Ronald Dellums, Millicent Fenwick, Paul N. McCloskey, Jr., Helen S. Meyner, and Newton I. Steers, Jr. It may readily be seen that, again, there is parti .san balance. The Chairman and one of the two Vice Chairmen are Republicans, while another Vice Chair-man and the Secretary-Treasurer are Democrats; similarly, half of the other members of the Steering Committee, both from the House and from the Senate, are Republicans and the other ha'lf'Democrats. It should be noted, however, that mere partisan balance may be misleading, for there is no attempt at philosophical or ideological balance. Each member of the Steering Committee--indeed, each member of MCPL in general--is demonstrably liberal in orientation, a fact easily gleaned from even hurried perusal of the various vote ratings pub - lished by such organizations as Americans for Democratic Action and the AFL-CIO's Committee on Political Education (COPE).
As previously indicated, the first Chairman of MCPL was former Sen. Joseph Clark of Pennsylvania, who was followed during the 91st Congress (1969-1970) by Rep. F. Bradford Morse of Massachusetts. (currently, Under Secretary General of the United Nations). In January 1971, Sen. Mark Hatfield of Oregon was elected Chairman, to be followed in January 1973 by Rep. John F. Seiberling of Ohio. Sen. Dick Clark of Iowa became Chairman of MCPL upon his election to the post in January 1975, at the opening of the 94th Congress, and he has in turn been followed by Rep. 'Whalen of Ohio for the 95th Congress. There is also some continuity of leadership, as indicated Lj by the fact that Sen. Dick Clark and Reps. Silvio Conte, Paul Mc- Closkey, and Charles Whalen have been carried over as members of the MCPL Steering Committee from the 94th Congress into the 95th.
FINANCING
Financing is a difficult question. The MCPL ReDort for September 1976 reflects a budget for 1976 amountinT -to @130,699.00, or $10,891.00 per month. (The budget for 1977 is .,,,t available as yet.) After an itemization of this budget, the following appears: Explanatory Note: As it has in past years, MCPL intends to meet this budget through private gifts and the sup- g ort of its members. An acute shortage of funds last year, owever, resulted in our having to ask various House members to take MCPL staffers onto their payrolls when, as, and if they could, on a month-by-month basis .... It should also be noted that a modest portion of our budget will be chargeable, for staff and office services actually rendered, to the 11CPL Education Fund, our edu- cational affiliate.
With reference to the 14CPL Education Fund, it is noted that a 1976 Fund publication, New Directions in United States Foreign Policy, Defense Policy, anT-Arms Contr Fo-111-c-refl-ects Th-at-Trie-Fund- a non-partisan, non-protit ch ie and educational corpora- tion...." According to a spokesman in the MCPL office, the Fund is classified as a Section 501(c)(3) organization under the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, and all contributions to the Fund are tax- deductible. The Fund's statement of aims has already been cited. As noted above, the only staff person officially listed is Sandford Z. Persons, who serves as Executive Director. The Board of Direc- tors includes, among others, Rep. John Seiberling, President,and Joseph S. Clark and Sen..Mark 0. Hatfield.
ACTIVITIES
MCPL carries on a variety of activities, including briefings and an annual visit to the United Nations in New York City; but the pri- mary focus of MCPL activity appears to be the various issue commit- tees. The December 1975 article by 14CPL Director Sandford Persons in the Center Renort has the following to say about this very impor- tant aspect _Of@_ @IC@ s program:
Each committee has its own MCPL staff consultant who works with the chairman and vice-chairman to arrange the commit- tee's meeti'ngs, speakers, and program of work. When a MCPL committee undertakes a-detailed project, it assigns responsi- bility to its most interested members. Each member in iurn assigns a member of his or her own staff to work on the pro- ject in close cooperation with the other members' assigned staffers and with the MCPL staff consultant as resource person, coordinator, and expediter. Members and their staffs are thus intimately involved from the start with the result that they have a thorough knowledge of the mattrial and a parental feeling for the end product. This conLtrasts with the many voluminous studies made by outside groups which tragically, but all too often, never gen into the blood- stream of the legislators or their staff.
It is obvious on the face of it that, with such constant involve- ment at every juncture, MCPL, acting in this instance primarily through its professional staff personnel, is in an extremely advan- tageous position to affect the thinking of members of Congress and, perhaps more importantly as a practical matter, their key staff people, who carry so much of the day-to-day burden in a Congressional office, including committee staff offices. That this is probably the case is indicated by Persons' assertion in the same. article that, while MCPL's bylaws state that members are to be free to act "as they may individually decide" while favoring "the general purposes of the organization.."
It is remarkable, however, the degree to which MCPL members vote in line with the views or recommendations of its com- mittees or in keeping with its general purposes. The record is seldom-100 per cent and sometimes much lower. No attempt has ever been made to ascertain the degree to which 11CPL members' views have been modified or changed by their participation in MCPL activities. What can be said with assurance is that participation in MCPL increases its members'.0knowledge, better prepares them for floor debates and bolsters their conviction and courage to sup- port "peace through law" positions.
The following passage frcm the December 1975 article by MCPL Direc- tor Sandford Z. Persons provides a number of representative examples of what 11CPL sees as "peace through law positions:"
For example, on June 4, 1975,.the Senate voted on a McGovern amendment to cut funding for the B-1 bomber from the Defense Procurement Bill. It lost 32-57, but of the thirty-two Senators who supported the cut, twenty-four were MCPL members. Of the fifty-seven who opposed, six were MCPL members. On May 19th of this year, the House voted on a similar amendment offered by a member of MCPL, Rep. Les Aspin (D-Wis.). it lost 164-227, but of the 164 who voted for the cut, ninety-eight were MCPL members and of the 227 who voted against it, nineteen were MCPL members Again, on June 4, the Senate voted on Senator Alan CrLston's amendment to the Defense Procurement Bill to make an across-the-board cut by imposing a ceil- ing figure.' It lost 36-59, but of the thirty-six votes in favor twenty-four were members of MCPL and of the fifty-nine, three were members.
In another field, on December 18, 1973, the Senate voted on a Rhodesian Chrome bill to cut off imports in keeping with UN sanctions. The bill passed 54-37. Of the fifty-four, thirty-one were MCPLers. Of the thirty- seven, none were. In 1974, an effort was made by MCPL- to reverse a House vote which had denied replenishment funds requested by the Administration for the Interna- tional Development AssociationS the soft loan window of the World Bank. The Senate had passed the bill 55-27, with twenty-five 11CPLers for and two against. After months of hard work, the House reconsidered the measure and approved it 225-140 with eighty-six MCPLers support- ing passage and six against.
During 1976, as shown by the September 1976 MCPL Report, MCPL members maintained an active posture in opposing maj-or weapons developments; indeed, it is fair to say that IICPL has opposed every major new weapons system, whether it be the B-1 bomber, the Anii-Ballistic Missile, the so-called MIRVs (multiple independently- tar geted re- entry vehicles), and the cruise missile. During 1976, according to the Report, "A number of MCPL Members organized to stop the produc- tion of the B-1 bomber and to postpone the B-1 decision until next year.... Representative John Seiberling_Ied the fight in March to delay the B-1 decision until next year /emphasis in originalT." Senator John Culver was also cited as b-eing particularly efTective in this controversy from the IICPL standpoint, as were Senator William Proxmire and Rep. Joseph Addabbo. The same document reflects that while MCPL members Seiberling, Addabbo, Culver, and Proxmire "did not directly succeed in stopping the B-1 program from going into pro- duction, they did come so close to success that they made funding the B-1 a national issue...." According to the Report, several ef- forts were made by I4CPL members to cut the defenTe- budget, although Rep. Bob Carr, chairman of MCPL's Military Affairs.Committee at the time, "achieved the only outright victory on an amendment -to the Defense Authorization Bill by convincing the House to delete funding for the Carrier On-Board (COB) aircraft, which Carr showed to be far too highly priced for the aircraft delivered. Unfortunately, the Senate did not incorporate the change and the amendment was lost in conference."
MCPL's general attitude toward national defense issues is encapsu- lated in the following passage taken from Persons' December 1975 article in the Center Report:
The Military Spending Committee, chaired by Senator Mark Hatfield (R-Ore.), decided /during the 91st Congress7 the only way that concerned MemFers, usually not serving on the Armed Services Committees, could begin to get a handle on the huge and sacrosanct Defense Budget was by collabo- rating on selected portions of it. Thus was started a major aspect of IICPL's work which has, since 1969, pro- duced forty reports and resulted in publicatioi by a . major publishing house in 1976 of The Economics of De fense --A Bipartisan Review of Military Snending by M PL s Military Spending C6_mmI_tt_e_e_`w`I`Ffi an introliction by Senator Hatfield. --, can fairly be said that this effort by MCPL members played a substantial role in arousing millions of Americans to a concern for the'size and nature of our country's military spending and engendered a height- ened and more critical concern in the Congress. MCPL has also taken a very active interest in arms control questions in general, including the banning of chemical weaponry, the curbing of nuclear proliferation, setting limits on arms introduced into the Indian Ocean area, and placing a moratorium on arms sales to the Persian Gulf region. With reference to the Middle East, MCPL has made use of material produced by the Brookings Institution. Accord- ing to the September 1976 MCPL Report, "On July 26, the Brookings Institution Study Group's Re-port entitled 'Toward Peace in the Middle East' was distributed to all /Special Committee on Middle East PeaceT members for their study and r'gaction. Sandford Z. Persons, MCPL's Executive Director, serves as Staff Con tant to tFlls -committee."
MCPL members have inserted a number of position papers into the Con- gressional Record, many of them dealing with various aspects of ZTu--r defense policy-and arms control. In addition, the organization annually visits the United Nations in New York City and conducts a series of meetings with what one MCPL document refers to as "appro- priate officials and other experts in government, international or- ganizations, research groups and the academic world." These meetings, which MCPL describes as "informal and off-the-record," are regarded by the group as "one of the most significant functions MCPL can per- form for its members." Among those in government and from the so- called "private sector'! who have participated in these meetings at various times have been Dr. C. Fred Beegsten, Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution; Paul C. Warnke, former Assistant Secretary of Defense and presently President Carter's chief arms control negotiator; Morton Halperin, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense; John Scali, former U.S. Representative to the United Nations; and a considerable number of other figures from the State Department, in- ternational agencies, the World Bank, the Defense Department, and such private groups as the Council for a Liveable World.
In 1976, the MCPL-Education Fund conducted a series o f lectures on the overall subject of "New Directions in Foreign Policy, Defense Policy, and Arms Control Policy." The speakers for this series, held from February 4 through May 19, 1976, constituted an impressive group. Among those listed were, in part, James Schlesinger, Paul Warnke,and Zbigniew Brzezinski, all currently serving at the highest levels of the Carter Administration, and a number of other leading spokesmen from the academic, science, and other communities. The lectures were inserted into the Congressional Record and later reprinted in booklet form by the'Education Fund.- TE-e-T-ooklet reflects that its publication "was arranged by Donald Mansfield, Administrative Assis- tant to Congressman Seiberling." The Fund has recently begun publi- cation of a newsletter, the MCPL Education Fund Newsletter on Food and Population. The first i-ssue of thiW__n_ew__s1etter is 2ra-t-e-3 Ma-rch M77 and indicates that a primary focus of interest is to be issues related to Public Law 480, the so-called "Food for Peace" program. MCPL is actively concerned with maintaining the "Food for Peace" program in the 95th Congress as a priority consideration. The MCPL Food, Population, and World Resources Committee also considered P.L. 480 at its initial meeting on April 1 of this ye ar. In addition to publishing the newsletter, which contains a detailed recitation of pending legislation related to P.L. 480, the MCPL Education Fund is running a "Food and Population Speaker Series." The first meeting in this new series was held on March 30, 1977, in the Rayburn House Office Building, with Robert S. McNamara, President of the World Bank, as the speaker. The second meeting in the series is scheduled for April 20, with John-J. Gilligan, newly appointed head of the Agency for International Development (AID), as guest speaker. MCPL's activities so far in the 95th Congress are summarized in the MCPL Newsletter for April 1, 1977, which reports that 15 MCPL mem- E-ers, the MCP7-staff, and "assorted spouses and progeny" participated in the tenth annual MCPL visit to the United Nations headquarters and to the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. Included in this visit were "extremely informative briefings by our new Ambassador Andrew Young and his senior staff and a private meeting with UN [email protected] We-w-ere hosER at a_1un_c_Fe_oR_in the Nelegates' Private Dinin& Room by -tFe-0n-1t-eT -Natian-s-Association- -6-f- the U.S.A. and our guests 1-n-cTuU-ed_W 'Securit Council Ambass s and senior UN officials L/7emphasis in original@- According to the Newsletter, the MCPL Arms Control and Military Af- fairs Committee projects in- ambitious program for the immediate future:
The committee has agreed to focus its attention on the passage of good legislation on: 1) H.R. 4409, a compre- hensive nuclear antiproliferation bill co-sponsored by Rep. Bingham and seven other MCPL Members, 2) insuring a strong but lean defense budget, which in the House means supporting the Carter, as opposed to the Ford, defense budget package within the Armed Services Committee and Appropriations Committee, 3) Resolutions, bills, and amendments which give the Congress greater oversight over arms sales abroad, 4) and legislation which supports the goals of prudent arms control including support for the activities of the U.S. Arms Control & Disarmament Agency (ACDA) in the ACDA Authorization Bill. It may readily be seen that the above is entirely cor,sistent with the .many previous 11CPL positions in this crucial area outlined in earlier sections of this memorandum. Dovetailing with this program is an ex- tensive program of guest speakers. As stated in the Newsletter, ... Since February the Committee has heard the views of Dr. Harold Brown, Secretary of Defense; Hon. Paul Warnke, ACDA Director and Chief U.S. Negotiator at SALT /-Strategic Arms Limitation TalksT, and Rep. Jonathan Bingham on his comprehensive nucleaF antiproliferation bill. There has also been a panel discussion on "A Critical Assessment of the FY 1978 Defense Budget" conducted in a meeting for MCPL Legislative Assistants .... Another major area of emphasis for MCPL during the 95th Congress will obviously be the situation in Southern Africa. The MCPL Newsletter for April 1 reports that the MCPL African Affairs Coiiiittee "has already worked on the repeal of the Byrd Amendment and plans to focus on other Southern African problems in this 'Year of Africa."' In this connection, the Newsletter reflects that MCPL regards the recent passage of H.R. 1746, legisla n halting the importation of Rhodesian chrome by the United States, as a signal victory for MCPL and the organization's objectives: H.R. 1746 ... was passed-by the House on March 14 by a vote of 250-146, a solid majority (all but two MCPL members supported it) and by the Senate on March 15 by a vote of 66-26 and the support of all MCPL Senators present for the vote. MCPL Chairman Rep. Charles W. Whalen, Jr. and the Chairwoman of our new African Affairs Committee, Rep. Cardiss Collins, joined by MCPL Member Rep. Donald Fraser, had written to all our House members and MCPL Senators Dick Clark, Hubert Humphrey and Jacob Javits to all our Senators urging their support for this important bill. After six years of work to repeal the Byrd Amendment, we have succeeded. With events moving as quickly as they are in Southern Africa, the vote came just in time .... Staff support for this MCPL effort played an important role in the victory, but our Members' interest and hard work provided almost half of the winning votes! This victory on this first foreign policy vote of the 95th Congress gives us great hope for real achievement in many areas in the next two years. What conclusions are to be drawn, based on the foregoing evidence? It is clear that Members of Congress for Peace Through Law operates as an activist research and policy-making apparatus for the most aggressively liberal members of Congress, both House and Senate, in the vitally important area of United States foreign policyand national defense. MCPL, both by itself and through its affiliated MCPL Education Fund, has worked most assiduously to create and to sustain a growing liberal consensus on national defense and foreign policy. The distinctionsbetween MCPL and the MCPL Education Fund are vague and ill-defined. The Congressional funding for some staff salaries also tends to blur the distinction between the parent or- ganization and the Education Fund. Despite the overlapping struc- ture,theirefforts have been extremely professional and executed with great competence, which makes MCPL, despite its being relatively little known, a major force in the shaping of Congressional positions in the liberal mold. Based on MCPL's past record of activity, partial successes, and actual victories, it is fair to state that no American concerned with the direction of our foreign and national defense policies can afford to be uninformed as to MCPL, its objectives, and how those objectives are realized.
(ApriZ, 1977) The foregoing anaZysis is one in a series prepared by the Research Staff of the Heritage Foundation. This pubZication is intended as a background anaZysis of an important organization which affectspubZic poZicy. Any comments shouZd be addressed to the Director of Research at 1'he Heritage Foundation, 5Z3 C Street, NE, Washington., DC 20002.
