William Helms: “the amendment now pending is not punitive. It simply authorizes the Secretary of State to operate with the same number…”

“the amendment now pending is not punitive. It simply authorizes the Secretary of State to operate with the same number of Assistant Secretaries and equivalent paid positions as Mr. Christopher had when he was first appointed Secretary of State. I might add, Secretary Christopher is operating with two additional Assistant Secretaries, two more Assistant Secretaries than he had during his last tour of duty with the Carter administration. When Warren Christopher and his Deputy Secretary appeared before our committee for their confirmations about 12 months ago, they promised-- and this is a matter of record--they promised to dedicate themselves to the implementation of what they called a ``broad-based reorganization. * * * which would reduce excessive layering'' of bureaucrats ``within''--I inserted the word ``bureaucrats''--``layering within the State Department and streamline the bureaucracy.'' The President, himself, proclaimed last February that ``it was time to shift from top- down bureaucracy to entrepreneurial government that generates changes from the bottom up.'' To even my surprise, I found myself falling in step with this kind of talk. I was, of course, disappointed as the months passed and we pulled off pages of the calendar and we found that, after all, it was just plain rhetoric. But a year ago I told Secretary Christopher if he was serious about streamlining to count me in. The price was that I would hold him to his promise.”