...and Congressional Discretion

THE SENATE BANKING COMMITTEE did well last week in rejecting President Ford's nomination of former Congressman Ben B. Blackburn of Georgia to head the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, the federal agency responsible for overseeing the savings and loan industry. Blackburn's record during his four terms in Congress was that of an old-style racist--he opposed public housing subsidies, voted against open housing guarantees, and described voting as a privilege rather than a right. Since savings and loan associations make more than half the home mortgage loans nationally, and the Federal Home Loan Board is responsible for setting rules governing lending practices by these associations including rules dealing with non-discrimination on the basis of sex or race, Ford's nomination of Blackburn was particularly offensive.

Now President Ford has an appointment to make with far more dire and long-term potential consequences. The resignation of William O. Douglas leaves a vacancy on the Supreme Court, and considering recent Ford appointments--Blackburn is only one example--Congress should look very closely at the personal qualifications and ideological merits of the President's choice for the court position. Ford has no mandate from the voters, he was appointed himself by a discredited President who was driven out of office--any appointment he makes should receive the most serious scrutiny