User:Informant16/United States Senate career of William Proxmire

United States Senator William Proxmire (D–WI)

The United States Senate career of William Proxmire began on August 28, 1957 and ended on January 3, 1989.

Proxmire holds the U.S. Senate record for consecutive roll call votes cast: 10,252 between April 20, 1966 and October 18, 1988. In doing so, he surpassed the previous record of 2,941 which was held by Senator Margaret Chase Smith of Maine.

1950s

In May 1958, Proxmire stated that world events experienced in the last few days had been "the most serious this country has suffered since the early days of the Korean War."

In 1959, Senate Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson offered Eugene McCarthy a position on the Senate Finance Committee, the move surprising Joseph S. Clark Jr. as it meant the more senior Proxmire had been overlooked. McCarthy stated that Johnson had made a point of mentioning having to bypass Proxmire to give him the position, and Johnson recalled Proxmire coming after him for the move when speaking to McCarthy on his desire for the latter to make good on his appointment. Proxmire subsequently publicly criticized Johnson as running a one-man show and not consulting his colleagues.

1960s

At the end of March 1964, Proxmire issued a statement charging naval shipyards with only being financed due to political pressure while wasting federal finances: "On the basis of every statis­tical study, both by the Navy and independent groups. private shipyards can build, repair or modernize five ships for the same number of dollars needed to turn out four ships in navy shipyards." Proxmire stated his favoring of military expenditures being used for bid­ding among private firms and "the advantages of this free enterprise approach" had been recognized by United States Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara.

In March 1969, Proxmire introduced legislation that if enacted would regulate both the credit life and disability insurance industries, stating that Americans were being overcharged 220 million a year by the agencies.

1970s

In March 1970, in a letter to Controller General of the General Accounting Office Elmer Stoats, Proxmire called on the General Accounting Office to compose a review of the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation in addition to its performance on military contracts.

1971

In May 1971, Proxmire charged the Food and Drug Administration with violating federal law through authorizing residues of a cancer‐inducing hormone to come into contact with consumers, asserting the move was in violation of the Delaney amendment and called for an immediate ban on DES.

In September, Proxmire asserted the safety margin of the C‐5A cargo plane was threatened in spite of doubling costs and charged the US Air Force with not disclosing information on the costs to Congress.

1972

In July, Proxmire stated the costs of the new Navy F‐14 jet fighter would be 20.8 million, as opposed to the 16.8 million reported by the Navy, citing his information as being contained in the Pentagon report he previously requested Defense Secretary Melvin R. Laird to make public in May. Proxmire furthered that the production of the Grumman Corporation aircraft was an example of "gold‐plated, unilateral disarmament" given its high cost in comparison to a Soviet MIG‐21 and the information was important as the Senate was weighing appropriations for the Navy F-14 jet fighter.

In December, Proxmire urged Defense Secretary Laird in a letter to cease what he called harassment toward Gordon Rule, arguing federal laws prevented the harassment, intimidation, or retaliation toward witnesses. Proxmire also condemned the nomination of Roy L. Ash by President Nixon for Director of the Office of Management and Budget and Ash opting to accept the nomination, saying the appointment would leave former President Dwight D. Eisenhower twitching in his grave.

1973

In November 1973, after Attorney General Elliot Richardson resigned and Robert Bork took over as Acting Attorney General, Proxmire wrote in a letter that Bork was serving illegally as Acting Attorney General since thirty days had passed with him being in office and not having a confirmation by the Senate, saying that any actions taken by Bork in the period following the thirty days passing could be met by challenge and called on President Nixon to rectify the situaton. Assistant Attorney General Robert G. Dixon Jr. disputed Proxmire's claim, saying that similar occurrences of Acting Attorney Generals that went over 30 days without Senate confirmations had happened six times prior.

1978

In February 1978, Proxmire said the United States Navy and United States Air Force had spent "at least $42,000 in the last year transporting 3,500 local community leaders to 31 military bases to lobby for military programs" and labeled these trips an example of local citizens being lobbied for military programs. Proxmire added that these trips had included the Air Force favoring production of the B‐1 bomber and gave an estimate cost of 42,000 as the Air Force had turned down specifying the price. After President Carter nominated G. William Miller for Chair of the Federal Reserve, Proxmire was noted to be a reliable source of contention, though the latter predicted from the start of his confirmation process that Miller would meet little opposition. At the end of the month, eleven members of the Senate Banking Committee pressed for a confirmation of Miller as Federal Reserve Chair, a motion Proxmire rejected while scheduling the vote for another day and admitting the nomination would be easily confirmed by the panel and full chamber. On March 2, Proxmire cast the sole dissenting vote against the Miller nomination, calling him unqualified for the office as he was without experience in economic or monetary affairs while admitting Miller's business success. Proxmire was joined by ranking Republican Edward W. Brooke in indicating the Carter administration had influenced members of the panel to hasten the confirmation process.

In January, President Carter wrote Proxmire on the responsibilities of New York City denizens in his plan to have the city avoid bankruptcy. In April, after New York Senators Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Jacob Javits introduced a Carter administration bill that would provide New York City with 2 billion in loan guarantees, Javits stated he did not believe Proxmire would try killing the measure by bottling it up in committee. In May, Proxmire announced his willingness to hold hearings on continued federal aid to New York City prior to municipal labor unions having their contracts negotiated and the Senate Banking Committee would wait as long as possible to secure information on the labor settlement's impact. Proxmire stated that they were not aware of when the labor contracts would reach a settlement and the potentially years long process could prevent the Senate Banking Committee from being able to take any action. June 1978 had four days of scheduled hearings by the Senate Banking Committee on continued federal aid to New York City. After the June 6 hearing, Proxmire stated he had maintained an open mind in spite of leaning toward opposition, a shift from his prior position of unwavering disagreement with continued aid and that he was not against favorable vote on the legislation by the Banking Committee that would authorize the remainder of the Senate to consider the subject, admitting that the committee was split in the opinions of its members. In days following, Proxmire told reporters that the labor bill's continued filibuster made the chances of the Senate acting on the legislation by the end of the month unlikely given that unanimous consent was required to end the filibuster. Later that month, along with Texas Republican John Tower and Utah Republican Jake Garn, Proxmire was one of three senators who voted against reporting out the bill authorizing 1.5 billion of long‐term loan guarantees for New York City, Proxmire adding that he believed the measure would pass through the Senate in a similar manner to the panel vote.

1979

In February, Proxmire sent a letter to United States Secretary of the Treasury W. Michael Blumenthal calling on the Treasury Department to withhold federal loan guarantees from New York City until incumbent Mayor Ed Koch agreed to larger cuts in the budget for the following year, charging the budgetary assumptions of the city as being too reliant on federal aid increases. In March, Proxmire sent a letter to Federal Reserve Chair Miller regarding his reservations on the establishment of a free trade zone to allow international banking activity in New York City and advocated for the proposal first being submitted to Congress as opposed to unilateral regulatory action. In August 1979, Proxmire was the only senator to vote against the nomination of G. William Miller as Treasury Secretary, saying his vote against Miller was based on the latter's "unwillingness to open a full‐scale investigation of allegations that Textron, the company he once headed, paid bribes to numerous foreign officials while Mr. Miller was in charge". Proxmire acknowledged a lack of evidence to show that Miller was personally involved in bribes. Days later, in response to the Carter administration proposal to invest $88 billion in synthetic fuel development, Proxmire told Senate Democratic leadership that the plan was "much too ambitious, much too costly and might prove to be counterproductive" and wrote a letter to Majority Leader Robert Byrd that the committee had a unanimous view in being opposed to the proposal. At the start of September, Proxmire stated his opposition to the establishment of a federal corporation to develop synthetic fuels, citing the record of the government on both mail service and passenger trains. Later that month, Proxmire endorsed the monetary policies of Federal Reserve Chair Paul A. Volcker as being "exactly right" in spite of their critique and predicting that this would continue throughout their implementation. At the end of October, Proxmire wrote head of the General Accounting Office Elmer B. Staats to request the GAO investigate claims that the Department of Housing and Urban Development authorized the P.I. Properties to steal funds from the federal government and low income tenants. The same day, Proxmire delivered a speech on the Senate floor condemning the failure of the Housing and Urban Development Department to act on recommendation from staff members to terminate funding for the P.I. Properties' 285-unit project at 14th and Clifton Streets.