May 1, 1974
Page 12630
Mr. HUDDLESTON. Mr. President, we are all aware of the three findings which the President must make before he can use the authority granted in this legislation to impose controls on any sector of the economy. We have had time to read and study the factors which the President must take into consideration in making these findings. And, we are aware of the importance of weighing all of these factors carefully lest the controls to be imposed prove more detrimental than advantageous.
My amendment, Mr. President, would add one more item to the list of factors which the President must consider.
In addition to requiring the President to consider the extent to which inflation can be moderated by economic controls on one sector without imposing them on other sectors ; the extent to which competition moderates inflation; the effect of controls on supply and the time frame required for market correction of inflation, my amendment requires the President to consider the extent to which controls on a service-oriented sector of the economy would limit, or otherwise affect, the quality of services rendered by such sector.
As I stated when introducing my amendment, the output of service-oriented activities constitutes 41.5 percent of our approximately $1.3 trillion economy. In current dollars, this percentage represents a figure of $534.3 billion – well over 1½ times the proposed Federal budget for fiscal year 1975.
In view of this, it is, I believe, imperative to include an explicit requirement for Presidential consideration of the service sector: Before imposing any controls, it seems only logical for the President to examine any possible adverse affect such economic controls might have on services.
Mr. President, I believe this amendment is acceptable to the manager of the bill. And I yield whatever time I have remaining to the Senator from Maine.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maine is recognized.
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, the amendment is agreeable to me. And I ask unanimous consent to modify my amendment which would, I think, avoid a vote on it, to include the amendment of the Senator from Kentucky and include it in the context of the bill.
I am delighted to accept it.
I yield back the remainder of my time.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, the unanimous-consent request is agreed to. All time has been yielded back. The question is on agreeing to the amendment as modified (putting the question).
The amendment was agreed to.
Mr. MATHIAS. Mr. President, I have an amendment at the desk which I ask to have stated.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will state the amendment.
On page 17, line 3, after the words "SEC. 214" strike the following: "207 (relating to Administrative procedure),".
On page 17, line 16, after the words "SEC. 216. 11, add the following: "ADMINISTRATIVE
PROCEDURE.
"(a) The functions exercised .under this title are excluded from the operation of subchapter 11 of chapter 5, and chapter 7 of title 5, United States Code, except as to the requirements of sections 652, 555 (c) and (e), and 702 of such title, and except as to the requirements of section 553 of such title as modified by subsection (c) of this section.
"(b) Any agency authorized by the President to issue rules, regulations, or orders under this shall, in regulations prescribed by it, establish procedures which are available to any person for the purpose of seeking an interpretation, modification, or rescission of, or seeking an exception or exemption from, such rules, regulations, and orders. Such regulations shall include provision for a statement of exhaustion of administrative remedies which must be issued within sixty days of a request thereof unless a grant or denial is made. If such person is aggrieved by the denial of a request for such action under the preceding sentence, he may request a review of such denial by the agency. The agency shall, in regulations prescribed by it, establish appropriate procedures, including hearings where deemed advisable, for considering such requests for action under this section, except that such agency shall issue no order which has the effect of reducing wages, or salaries in effect, or proposed to be, in effect, in an appropriate employee unit unless such order is made on the record after opportunity for a hearing. Not less than thirty days after issuance of such an order a statement of explanation shall be directed to the affected parties and made available to the public. Such statement shall include a full explanation of the reasons why the existing wage or salary, or proposed wage or salary adjustment, does not meet the requirements of, or the standards established by, the regulations prescribed by the agency.
"(c) All rules, regulations, or orders promulgated pursuant to this title shall be subject to the provisions of section 553 of title 5, United States Code, except that all rules, regulations, or orders promulgated must provide for the following:
"(1) Notice and opportunity to comment which shall be achieved by publication of all proposed general rules, regulations, or orders issued pursuant to this title in the Federal Register. In each case, a minimum of ten days following such publication shall be provided for opportunity to comment, except that the requirements of this paragraph as to time of notice and opportunity for comment may be waived where strict compliance is found to cause serious harm or injury to the public interest due to rapid inflation or shortages of vital commodities.
"(2) Any agency authorized by the President or by this title to issue rules, regulations, or orders under this title shall hold public hearings on those rules, regulations, or orders which are likely to have a substantial impact upon the Nation's economy or large numbers of individuals or businesses or when such hearings serve to inform the public or aid in obtaining information on actions taken or proposed to be taken. To the maximum extent practicable, such hearing shall be held prior to the implementation of such rule, regulation, or order, but in all cases, such public hearings shall be held no later than 45 days after the issuance of any such rule, regulation, or order, which would have a substantial effect upon the Nation's economy or on large numbers of individuals or businesses.
"(d) In addition to the requirements of section 552 of title 5, United States Code, any agency authorized by the President or by this title to issue rules, regulations, or orders shall publish in the Federal Register all internal rules and guidelines which may form the basis, in whole or in part, for any rule, regulation, or order. Such agency shall also support any grant or denial of a request for exception or exemption from rules, regulations, or others provided for in subsection (b) above with a written opinion setting forth its findings of fact and a specific statement explaining the rationale for such grant or denial. Such opinions shall be published with such modifications as are necessary to insure confidentiality of information protected under section 55(b) of title 5, United States Code.
"(e) All rules, regulations, or orders issued pursuant to this title shall include the following:
"(1) Findings of fact and a specific statement explaining the rationale for each provision contained in such rules, regulations, or orders; and
"(2) Administrative definitions of the terms used in this title when pertinent to the rule, regulation, or order.".
On page 17, line 16, change the number "216." to "217.".
On page 17, line 18, change the number "217." to "218.".
Mr. TOWER. Mr. President, a parliamentary inquiry.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator will state it.
Mr. TOWER. Mr. President, is this amendment in order?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Chair states that this amendment is to the second part of the amendment. Consequently, the amendment is not in order at this time. It will be in order when the second part of the Muskie amendment is pending.
Mr. MATHIAS. Mr. President, I withhold the amendment for the time being.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The amendment is withheld.
Mr. TOWER. Mr. President, regular order.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the first part of the amendment of the senior Senator from Maine, as amended by the amendment of the junior Senator from Maine.
Mr. HATHAWAY. Mr. President, I have an amendment at the desk which I ask to have stated.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will state the amendment.
The legislative clerk proceeded to state the amendment.
Mr. HATHAWAY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that further reading of the amendment be dispensed with.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The amendment reads as follows:
At the end of section 205, insert the following:
(d) (1) Except as provided in. paragraph (2), all information reported to or otherwise obtained by any person exercising authority under this title which contains or relates to a trade secret or other matter referred to in section 1905 of title 18, United States Code, shall be considered confidential for the purposes of that section, except that such information may be disclosed to other persons empowered to carry out this title solely for the purpose of carrying out this title or when relevant in any proceeding under this title.
(2) (A) Any business enterprise with annual sales in excess of $25,000,000 shall make public any information which relates to a substantial product and which is required under this title to be reported to the President or any person or agency exercising authority under this title. As used in this subparagraph, the term "substantial product" means any single product or service which accounted for 5 per centum or more of the gross sales or revenues of a business enterprise in its most recent full fiscal year.
(B) A business enterprise may exclude from any report made public pursuant to subparagraph (A) any information or data reported to the President or any person or agency exercising authority under this title, proprietary in nature, which concerns or relates to the amount or sources of its income, profits, losses, costs, or expenditures but may not exclude from such report, data, or information, so reported, which concerns or relates to its prices for goods and services.
(C) Immediately upon enactment of this title, the President or his delegate shall issue regulations defining for the purpose of this title what information or data are proprietary in nature and therefore excludable under subparagraph (B), except that such regulations may not define as excludable any information or data which cannot currently be excluded from public annual reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 by a business enterprise exclusively engaged in the manufacture or sale of a substantial product as defined in subparagraph (A). Such regulations shall define as excludable any information or data which concerns or relates to the trade secrets, processes, operations, style of work, or apparatus of the business enterprise.
Mr. HATHAWAY. Mr. President, my amendment is simple, and would merely continue the policy of the act in the form in which it expired yesterday. It provides for administrative regulations to determine which information in the possession of the agency or officials administering the act shall be held confidential and which shall be subject to disclosure.
Trade secrets, work styles, suppliers and customer lists, and other types of operating information – including that information covered by the confidentiality requirements of title 18, U.S.C., section 1905 – would be confidential as a matter of law.
Such information as single line-of-business firms may not omit from an annual report to the SEC under sections 13 and 15 of the 1934 Securities Act would be subject to public disclosure. In no event would any other information be disclosable under this provision than numerous business enterprises already make public annually. As a matter of practice, much less would be made public, because the economic stabilization program has required fewer types of information to be reported than does the SEC. Therefore, the disclosure would not be burdensome.
The provision basing disclosure on quarterly price increases exceeding 1.5 percent has been eliminated since that figure is no longer a goal of the Government's efforts to stem inflation.
Limitation of the disclosure requirements to the Nation's larger firms has been retained.
Mr. President, the public will not tolerate the Government's operating in the dark. Hearings last year chaired by my colleague, the Senator from Maryland (Mr. MATHIAS) produced evidence of much dissatisfaction concerning the inability of both smaller business firms and associations to know the factual premises upon which stabilization programs decisions were based.
To lessen the available information could only exacerbate that situation and further lessen citizens' trust of Government. Retention of the basic provisions of section 205 of the act is essential to maintaining the credibility of even a limited program.
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, the Senator is correct when he says that the amendment is substantially similar to what' was in the Economic Stabilization Act.
I ask unanimous consent to so modify my amendment.