Research Interview Notes of Richard F. Fenno, Jr. with Members of the U.S. House of Representatives, 1959-1965
Interview Notes Index
Access to this interview is subject to the deed of
gift of December 14, 1993.
Interview with Rep. Walt Horan (R-WA)
June 5, 1959
General remarks: A complete bust--impressed me as the least competent man on the committee.
Why on Committee? To get overall picture.
How on the Committee? "I had friends on the Committee on Committees. . . . I had a lot of contact with government programs in my area of fruit producing, for instance." Not very coherent.
He speaks of specialization within subcommittees--He and foreign agriculture--Alfred E. Santangelo (D-NY) and school lunch--H. Carl Andersen (R-MN) and the Soil Conservation Service (SCS) and the Farmer Cooperative Service (FCS).
You reserve the right to protest a program, and you may speak against it on the floor, but you may not ask for a vote on it so that you don't prejudice action in the Senate--That is, if you put something to a vote in the House and lose, the Senate won't consider your case.
Not much partisanship on Appropriations.
Regarding SCS: In order to avoid a supplemental, they sometimes plan ahead--this may help to account for boosts here.
Regarding constituents: They don't understand the procedures of the committee, he said, unless they are interested in something. When I asked whether his constituents knew he was on the committee, he said yes--"Yes, it's on the letterhead. . . ."
Budget Bureau does a good job.
