September 25, 1974

HR Judiciary Subcom on Criminal Justice considers several proposals aimed at insuring full disclosure of Watergate evidence and events leading up to Nixon pardon; 1 proposal would require Watergate prosecutor Leon Jaworski to file public rept of all evidence his office has collected concerning Nixon; 2 other proposals would demand from Pres Ford answers to series of questions about circumstances surrounding decision to grant pardon to Nixon; subcom chmn Repr W L Hungate and Repr D Edwards comment; proposals, sponsored by Reprs B S Abzug and J Conyers Jr, are called resolutions of inquiry; subcom decides informally to request once more specific written answers to questions and to ask White House to provide testimony on matter; request for testimony from Ford aide, possibly Philip W Buchen or John O Marsh Jr, means that Ford will have to face, for 1st time, question of exec privilege; HR Govt Operations Com adopts measure that would nullify formal agreement between Ford Adm and Nixon governing Nixon's tapes and documents; bill would allow Nixon access to tapes but would leave them under Govt control forever and would prohibit their destruction without further legis; measure was sponsored by Sens G A Nelson, S J Ervin Jr and J K Javits (M)

Gromyko addresses UN Gen Assembly; illus

NYC Mayor Beame, at new conf, announces filing of class action suit on behalf of students in NYS's 3 largest cities, NYC, Buffalo and Rochester, challenging constitutionality of NYS's educ aid formula; suit, filed in NYS Sup Ct in Nassau County, accuses state of discriminating against large cities because formula does not take into consideration cost of non‐educ services and urban concentration of disadvantaged, handicapped and non‐English‐speaking students; 3 cities, under a ct order, were permitted to intervene in an earlier suit filed June 17 by Levittown Educ Bd, and were given opportunity to explain their charges against educ formula, even though they differed from allegations by Levittown in its original suit; cities’ suit contends that if educ formula were restructured to consider all additional urban costs, state would have to provide an additional $412.2‐million for NYC, $7.8‐million for Rochester and $13.1‐million for Buffalo; NYC Educ Bd total budget for fiscal yr was $2.7‐billion, of which city contributed $1.3‐billion, Fed Govt $254‐million and state $785‐million; suit also contends city must support other necessary and mandated municipal services such as health care, welfare and public safety; says state aid formula also penalizes large cities by distributing funds on basis of avg student attendance rather than enrollment; Educ Bd pres James F Regan notes that absenteeism in city schools ‘runs 2 or 3 times higher than neighboring suburbs; other aspects of suit noted; Beame says that lawsuit against state represents 1st major urban school finance test in country (M)

Luncheon; French Min Jean Sauvagnargues speaks

US Agr Dept repts worsening of outlook for world grain production during past mo, noting that wheat prospects for crop yr that began July 1 have declined 8.9‐million tons below Aug forecast, while prospects for feed grains are down 3.5‐million tons; cites adverse weather in global grain‐producing areas;