6 0C H A P T E R 4 ■ T h e A r t o f C l o s e A n a l y s i sThe Clerk read the resolution as follows:
Resolved, That effective April 1, 1961, there shall be paid out of the contingent
fund of the House, until otherwise provided by law, such sums as may be
necessary to increase the basic clerk hire allowance of each Member and the
Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico by an additional $3,000 per annum,
and each such Member and Resident Commissioner shall be entitled to one
clerk in addition to those to which he is otherwise entitled by law.
Mr. FRIEDEL. Mr. Speaker, this resolution allows an additional $3,000 per
annum for clerk hire and an additional clerk for each Member of the House
and the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico. Our subcommittee heard
the testimony, and we were convinced of the need for this provision to be
made. A few Members are paying out of their own pockets for additional
clerk hire. This $3,000 is the minimum amount we felt was necessary to help
Members pay the expenses of running their offices. Of course, we know that
the mail is not as heavy in some of the districts as it is in others, and, of course,
if the Member does not use the money, it remains in the contingent fund.
Mr. KYL. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. FRIEDEL. I yield to the gentleman from Iowa [Mr. Kyl] for a statement.
Mr. KYL. Mr. Speaker, I oppose this measure. I oppose it first because it is
expensive. I further oppose it because it is untimely.
I do not intend to belabor this first contention. We have been presented a
budget of about $82 billion. We have had recommended to us a whole series
of additional programs or extensions of programs for priming the pump, for
depressed areas, for the needy, for the unemployed, for river pollution projects,
and recreation projects, aid to education, and many more. All are listed as
“must” activities. These extensions are not within the budget. Furthermore, if
business conditions are as deplorable as the newspapers indicate, the Govern-
ment’s income will not be as high as anticipated. It is not enough to say we are
spending so much now, a little more will not hurt. What we spend, we will
either have to recover in taxes, or add to the staggering national debt.
The amount of increase does not appear large. I trust, however, there is no
one among us who would suggest that the addition of a clerk would not en-
tail allowances for another desk, another typewriter, more materials, and it is
not beyond the realm of possibility that the next step would then be a request
for additional office space, and ultimately new buildings. Some will say, “All
the Members will not use their maximum, so the cost will not be great.” And
this is true. If the exceptions are sufficient in number to constitute a valid ar-
gument, then there is no broad general need for this measure. Furthermore,
some Members will use these additional funds to raise salaries. Competition
will force all salaries upward in all offices and then on committee staffs, and
so on. We may even find ourselves in a position of paying more money for
fewer clerks and in a tighter bind on per person workload.
This measure proposes to increase the allowance from $17,500 base cleri-
cal allowance to $20,500 base salary allowance. No member of this House
can tell us what this means in gross salary. That computation is almost97364_ch04_ptg01_059-078.indd 60 15/11/13 9:50 AM
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