It is my hope that as they are formally submitted to the Congress, the proposals I announced in this year's address on the State of the Union will generate a constructive and far-reaching discussion on the best way to organize many of the domestic activities of the Federal Government. As a contribution to such discussion, I have decided to make available to the Congress and to the American people these two memoranda that were prepared for me last year by the President's Advisory Council on Executive Organization (the Ash Council). One concerns the Department of Natural Resources, and the other concerns organization for social and economic programs.
The earlier memorandum reached me on May 12, 1970 and the latter on November 19, 1970. I withheld action on the earlier document until I had had a chance to see the full scope of the Council's proposals for the reorganization of related domestic departments and their functions.
These memoranda are basic to the proposed changes that I outlined in my address on the State of the Union, but they are not the only sources for my proposals. Consequently, there will be differences between the specific legislation which I will recommend to the Congress and the proposals made by the Ash Council. The differences will reflect conclusions I have reached as a result of my own experience in government, as well as proposals for executive reorganization made earlier in this Administration and in previous administrations.
For example, one department which was not touched by the Ash Council's proposals, the Department of Transportation, will be included in the reorganization legislation I will send to the Congress because I believe that the principles which underlie the Ash proposals justify this inclusion.
The Congress and the American people, in my view, should have the benefit of the relevant studies of the Advisory Council on Executive Organization in order that they may better evaluate the legislation I will be proposing. It is particularly important that the rationale supporting the basic departmental structure I will recommend be well understood.
I am in basic agreement with the principles of government organization expressed in these memoranda. They reflect both the need to organize structures on the basis of purposes and the desirability of decentralizing decision-making at the operating level to the Federal regions and to States and localities wherever possible. With these thoughts, I commend the memoranda to your attention. I believe that you will find them a useful and informative guide as we prepare for the task of governmental reorganization which remains before us.
Sincerely,
RICHARD NIXON
Note: The statement, dated February 5, 1971, was made available to the press on February 6 as part of a 160-page pamphlet entitled "Memoranda for the President of the United States: Establishment of a Department of Natural Resources; Organization for Social and Economic Programs, Submitted by the President's Advisory Council on Executive Organization."
On February 5, the White House released the transcript of a news briefing on the two memorandums by John D. Ehrlichman, Assistant to the President for Domestic Affairs, and George P. Shultz, Director, Office of Management and Budget.
Richard Nixon, Statement About Memorandums Recommending Proposals for Executive Reorganization Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/240584