GERALD R. FORD CONGRESSIONAL PAPERS, 1949-73 COMMITTEE FILE SUB-GROUP, 1948-65

Committee File, 1948-65. (Boxes H1‑H8, 3.2 linear feet)
GRF served on the Committee on Public Works, which reviewed legislation on federal construction projects from 1949 to 1950.  Beginning in 1951 and continuing until his election as Minority Leader in 1965 ended his committee service, GRF served on the Committee on Appropriations.  Because of the complexity and scope of the committee's work, it was compartmentalized into subcommittees paralleling the structure of the executive branch.  Each subcommittee reviewed budget requests from a federal agency or department and prepared appropriations bills and reports, which were submitted to the full committee for approval.  Subcommittee members also organized and led the debate on the House floor until the bill was passed.  In 1951 and 1952, GRF served on the Deficiencies and Civil Functions Subcommittee (Army) and the General and Temporary Subcommittee (Korean Emergency Agencies).  He was appointed in 1953 to serve on the Foreign Operations Subcommittee, and on the Department of Defense Subcommittee as Chairman of the Army section during the Republican congress and as ranking minority member thereafter.  In 1956, he was given additional responsibility as one of five Congressmen who reviewed the budget requests of the Central Intelligence Agency.  From 1957 to 1958, GRF served on the Select Committee on Astronautics and Space Exploration that drafted legislation creating NASA.

Administrative assistant John Milanowski organized a file in 1949 to contain all material relating to GRF's committee service.  He and his successor, Frank Meyer, continued accumulating committee-related material for each successive Congress, apparently destroying older material as they judged it obsolete.  It was the general practice of the Ford staff to dispose of most records after two years.  Some portions of the formerly complete record survived, were transferred to the Bentley Library and given a preliminary arrangement.

The Committee File contains correspondence on the Public Works Committee, correspondence on GRF's service with the Appropriations Committee from 1952 to 1954 and subcommittee prints, correspondence and related papers from his work with the Defense and Foreign Operations Subcommittees of the Appropriations Committee from 1959 to 1965.  By nature of its fragmented condition, the collection is of limited research value.  Correspondence on both committees mainly reflects support or criticism of a particular Ford position rather than his specific activities.  Other subcommittee material consists primarily of circulars and memoranda sent to all subcommittee members and is not consistent in its documentation of GRF's work.

No materials from Ford's service on the Select Committee on Astronautics and Space Exploration survived, save for bound volumes of hearings and reports located in the Library book collection.  No papers from the Civil Functions, the General and Temporary, or the CIA Subcommittees survived.  Some correspondence, dating from 1963, on general appropriations matters may be found in the Legislative File.

Compiled by Paul Conway, May 1979