| Show THE VOICE OF BUSINESS Hows How's t that again i By ny Richard L. L Lesher President Chamber of 01 Commerce of 01 the Untied United Sta States tes Today's quiz Interpret the following sentence For purposes purposes' of ot para paragraph raph 3 an organization described in paragraph 2 shall be deemed to Include include in In- clude dude an organization described in section 4 5 or 6 which would t Be e described in paragraph 2 if il it were an organization described in section That's a sample sample- of the federal tax code It Its It's s 's also an example of ot the kind of language President Carter has sworn to purge from the agencies under his command 1 The President has issued an executive order requiring many federal departments and bureaus to speak speak- and write-comprehensible write English Not only must the regulations they issue be as simple and clear as possible but also agency heads must certify that new rules are needed that they are the most efficient method of achieving the desired end and that the public has been consulted in the drafting process Better Detter still if the proposed regulation will have a substantial financial impact on the national economy generally or oron oron oron on one industry in particular then the agency concerned must prepare an analysis of that effect In issuing these orders the President is recognizing an important trend that extends beyond the federal govern govern- ment Private industry too has been teen revising its encrusted legal jargon to improve communication with customers Many insurance policies loan agreements and warranties are being rewritten in plain English The significance of this trend can scarcely be overestimated When the language of important documents is obscure laymen must hire experts to interpret their obligations for them Then the experts have to go to court for interpretations of the interpretation It all adds to the process of regulatory drag that is estimated to cost the economy upwards of 65 billion a year Lawyers with argue some that justification there is an established precision to legal terminology terminology ter ter- terminology which is lacking in informal English But Dut there are at least two ways around that problem One is to push the informal language through lr Initial court tests until it can be established that something means what it says Another is to use a dual system of or contracts etc In which a plain plain- English text is accompanied by a text in compliance with all prevailing legal technicalities One way or the other a government that functions largely by the voluntary compliance of or the governed can scarcely afford to do 1 loss less ls I salute the President in his determination deter deter- and I wish him every success The federal bureaucracy is quite capable of killing such reform proposals by destructive foot Happily though there are signs that many of the regulators themselves understand the need for change Now if the Congress would get on the bandwagon too we could all burn our legal dictionaries President Carters Carter's Initial order covered all federal agencies including the independent regulatory agencies that Congress considers its own Influential congressmen properly jealous of their prerogatives reminded the President that his writ doesn't run in congressional territory OK Three cheers for the separation of powers But congressional territory covers many of the alphabet alphabet- soup agencies agencies' that are an important source of public frustration So So it seems to me that if Congress wants to block an extension of needed much-needed reforms by the Executive it assumes the clear responsibility to put its own house in equal order We would all be well-advised well to keep keepin in mind James Madison's admonition It will be of little avail to the people that the laws are made by men of their own choice if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read or so incoherent incoherent in in- coherent that they cannot be understood understood understood un un- un- un if they be repealed or revised before they are promulgated or undergo un un- undergo dergo such incessant changes that no noman noman noman man who k knows what the law is today can guess what it will be like tomorrow |
