Back during the presidential campaign last fall, Ronald Reagan established campaign links with pro-family organizations by appointing a Family Policy Advisory Board. After the election, the Board issued a package of excellent proposals, and President Reagan would do himself and the country a good turn by implementing them.
The chairman of the 25-person Board was Mrs. Connaught Marshner, editor of the Family Protection Report. Board members included representatives from Christian school, right to life, and other pro-family groups.
The board recommended a continuing liaison between the White House and pro-family groups through some White House staff person who wholeheartedly supports the Republican Platform. This person’s job would be to keep the President advised on issues pertaining to the family, and to make sure that those groups have access to the White House which they never had under Jimmy Carter.
The Carter Administration did create a White House post called assistant to the President for liaison with religious groups. It wasn’t a very busy office except for some desperate efforts during the last phases of the 1980 political campaign. The Reagan Family Board recommended that this position be used on a permanent basis.
The board urged that the White House give passage of the Human Life Amendment its highest priority and vigorous support at all levels. The board pointed out that Ronald Reagan has consistently supported a constitutional amendment to overturn the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion
While a candidate. Governor Reagan enthusiastically advocated allowing voluntary prayer in public schools. The board urged achievement of this goal by passage of the Helms bill to limit the jurisdiction of the federal courts.
The Family Policy Advisory Board gave a lot of advice on education, since it is through education that family values can be preserved and passed on to the next generation, or questioned and reduced to a shambles. The board stated forcefully that parents should have maximum choice in determining where and how their children should be educated without the financial penalty of having to pay twice for their children’s education. Both the Republican Platform and Reagan endorsed education tax credits.
Candidate Reagan also pledged to get the federal government off the backs of the nonpublic schools. In the last couple of years, the Internal Revenue Service has been trying to deny income tax exemption to religious schools unless they adopt unreasonable and expensive racial quotas for their student body, faculty, and board of directors. The Family Policy Advisory Board strongly urged President Reagan to issue an executive order directing Internal Revenue to stop harassing nonpublic schools.
Many doubting Thomases do not believe any federal agency will ever be eliminated, but the Family Policy Advisory Board is expecting Reagan to keep his promise to abolish the Department of Education. In addition, the board urged him to eliminate the Office for Families in the Department of Health and Human Services.
The board endorsed the Family Protection Act (S. 1808, as amended), which was introduced into the last Congress by Senator Paul Laxalt (R-NV). This bill includes many tax and education provisions to protect the social and economic integrity of the family.
The board came out loud and clear against drafting women, an issue now before the U.S. Supreme Court. “It is hard to imagine anything more revolutionary to the social stability of our nation,” the board said, “than the drafting of women.”
The board expressed deep concern about the hiring of persons in the Reagan Administration who will have supervision over matters of concern to the family. The board’s several constructive recommendations included Dr. C. Everett Koop for Surgeon General.
The board pointed out how, under the Carter Administration, White House Conferences (such as the 1980 WHC on Families) had been manipulated by self-serving groups seeking government programs and grants. The board hopes that the Reagan Administration will give a different direction to the White House Conference on Children and Youth.
The economic problems Reagan inherited from Carter will make it difficult to bring prosperity to the country within the first year, no matter what different policies he adopts. By following the recommendations of the Family Policy Advisory Board, Reagan can assure his leadership in areas of social concerns
