As you know, the President of the United States has turned to the private sector to survey Federal government expenditures and recommend cost saving measures that, if successful, will alleviate the trend toward greater deficits and, at the same time, increase operating effectiveness. An Executive Committee is being formed that includes the Chief Executive Officers of many of the leading companies in America. They and other business executives will be devoting a great deal of their time free of charge over the next 4-6 months.

It is the aim of this project to recommend improvements

in the efficiency of the Executive Branch of the Federal government. It is planned to have about 32 individual task forces, each headed by two Executive Committee members. Each task force will be assigned responsibility for surveying a particular department

or agency.

They will examine in cooperation with officials of the particular department or agency opportunities for savings. In many instances, these opportunities have already been identified by the officials themselves and the survey will give the additional thrust needed to put them into effect.

In addition to the business volunteers, there will be

a need for a coordinating office in Washington and for professional and clerical assistance. The President has requested that the survey be conducted with virtually no expense to the Federal government and so there has been created a charitable foundation which will receive tax deductible contributions. The foundation will then defray the expenses of the survey. I have agreed to

serve as an advisor to this charitable foundation and therefore
I am soliciting your company's financial support in the amount
of $
All of us have been complaining

for this endeavor.

about the share of the GNP going to the public sector. Here is a chance to do more than complain, so I hope we can count on your support.

Please make your check payable to "Foundation for the President's Private Sector Survey on Cost Control, Inc." and send it to the attention of Mr. Kenneth Millian, Treasurer of the Foundation, International Square Building, Suite 1150, 1850 K St. N.W., Washington, DC 20006.

As you undoubtedly have read, the President has requested Peter Grace to become Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Private Sector Survey and Peter is going all out to make this effort a success. Your support of the Foundation and this effort by businessmen will go a long way towards making the survey a success and will be appreciated by the President, by Peter Grace, and by me.

Sincerely,

Reginald H. Jones

I have received your letter of September 23, 1982, transmitting certain information requested by this Committee during the September 15 hearing on the President's Private Sector Survey on Cost Control.

While I appreciate your furnishing the list of the individuals who comprise the staff personnel of the 35 task forces, I do not agree with your counsel's opinion concerning the duty of this Committee to protect the privacy of such personnel.

I am enclosing a copy of an opinion of the Acting General Counsel of the General Accounting Office. The opinion concludes that the task forces of the Survey are subcommittees or subgroups of the Survey's Executive Committee and, therefore, are subject to the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act.

The provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act require that the Congress and the public be kept informed with respect to the membership and activities of all advisory committees. Additionally, the Act requires that all advisory committee meetings shall be open to the public and that all records, reports, working papers, drafts, or other documents which are made available to, or prepared by or for, each advisory committee shall be available for public inspection and copying.

In view of the GAO opinion and the clear intent and purpose of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, I must insist upon full compliance with the provisions of that Act by the members of the Executive Committee and the personnel of the various task forces. In that regard you are requested to forward to this Committee, no later than 6 p.m. on Monday, September 27, 1982, copies of the "work plans" of the Task Force on Personnel and the Task Force on Business-Related Boards and Commissions. I trust that it will not be necessary for this Committee to obtain the requested documents by other legal means.

Your cooperation with respect to this matter will be appreciated.

With kind regards,

Sincerely,

WILLIAM D. FORD
Chairman