Congressional Intent

This volume examines the shift in the emphasis of the United States Congress from a deliberative body to a focal point for political pressures. The Executive, other federal departments, special interest groups, and professional lobbyists exert increasing and, what some believe is undue, influence on Congress. The result has been to distract the Congress from its primary responsibilities of representation and law making. Invisible handshakes with special interests and political action committees--as opposed to study and deliberation--have an increasing impact on the drafting of legislation. This work analyzes these and other problems and offers some recommendations for change. It also gives a firsthand account of some of the important debates and issues that have shaped Congressional procedures.

This work will be of interest to scholars in U.S. history and government, political science, and contemporary issues. It will also be of interest to legislators at all levels of government.

THOMAS B. CURTIS is an attorney with the firm of Curtis, Oetting, Heinz, Garrett & Soule, P.C. and was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1951 to 1969. In the House, he served on the Ways and Means Committee, the Joint Economic Committee, the Joint Committee on Internal Revenue Taxation, and the Joint Committee on the Organization of Congress.

DONALD L. WESTERFIELD is a Professor in the Graduate School of Webster University. He is the author of Mandated Health Care: Issues and Strategies (Praeger, 1991) and more than ninety published articles and technical papers. He is on the editorial board of two scholarly journals, The Journal of Economics and Finance and The Journal of Business and Economic Perspectives.