434 HISTORY OF Till COMMITTEE ON S< II \( 1 AND TECHNOLOGY 



various members visited the Interpol headquarters in St. Cloud near 

 Pans, France There followed an interesting illustration of how a 

 jurisdictional clash was averted. DISPAC planned to hold oversight 

 hearings late in June 1977 on the Federal role in criminal justice and 

 crime research. Following staff conversations with the Judiciary 

 Committee's Subcommittee on Crime, Scheuer received a negative- 

 phone call from Representative John Conyers, Jr. (Democrat of Michi- 

 gan), contending that his jurisdiction was being invaded and the 

 hearings should not be held. Scheuer took three steps: He had it 

 checked out with the House Parliamentarian's office to verify that 

 DISPAC had the special oversight jurisdiction, he got together for a 

 private confab with Conyers in the Rayburn reception room off the 

 House floor, and he wrote to Conyers: 



I sincerely hope that you will lend our subcommittee the full weight of your 

 prestige and wise counsel by opening our hearings with me on the morning of June 21, 

 1977. 



When the big day arrived, there was Conyers with his gavel, 

 starting off the joint hearings and adding after his opening statement: 



And I now introduce the cochairman of these hearings, the distinguished 

 gentleman from New York, and my colleague, Jim Scheuer, who has, with his staff, 

 played a very primary role in lining up the witnesses and preparing for this analysis 

 of the Federal role in criminal justice and crime research. 



The subcommittee's recommendations following the hearing were 

 highly influential in the President's decision to move on the establish- 

 ment of a National Institute of Justice within the Department of 

 Justice, and they also set a standard for cooperative joint hearings. 



The President's interest in the work of DISPAC was expressed in 

 a letter from President Carter to Chairman Scheuer on December 28, 

 1977. The President noted: 



My staff has brought to my attention your committee's excellent draft report on 

 the subject, and I appreciate your committee's work in its preparation. Many of its 

 recommendations speak to important problems in the area of justice research, and I 

 feel confident that, working together, we can begin to solve these problems. 



The subcommittee's interest in comparative criminal justice re- 

 search was evidenced by the presence of a DISPAC staff member, 

 Jonah Shacknai, at the November 1977 symposium in Berlin, Germany 

 sponsored by the Aspen Institute. As a direct result, the subcom- 

 mittee published a report on "Comparative Criminal Justice Research" 

 in June 1978, which laid down a challenge to the nations of the world, 

 as well as to international cooperative mechanisms, on what yet had 

 to be accomplished in this area. 



