William Helms: “Mr. President, back in the middle of the 20th century--and when I say that I sound like I'm talking about a long time…”

“Mr. President, back in the middle of the 20th century--and when I say that I sound like I'm talking about a long time ago--Congress created a number of temporary, independent federal agencies. I think it was a bad mistake. If I had been here, I would not have voted to do that, having the hindsight that I have. But, of course, members of Congress did not have the hindsight. They had just gone through, not too many years earlier, a horrible World War and were trying to get this Government stabilized, trying to help get the rest of the world stabilized. This seemed like a good idea, to create these specialized, independent Federal agencies. Ronald Reagan, when he was President, had to deal with what these independent agencies had become--and they did grow mighty independent. He would say, ``There is nothing so near eternal life as a temporary Federal agency.'' I read the other day that the responsibilities of just one of these agencies is duplicated by about 42 other entities in the Federal Government. And of course the cost of running the U.S. bureaucracy has risen constantly.”