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Show <iongrcssional Rccord United States oj America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE WASHINGTON, 'THURSDAY, MAY 14, 1964 101. 110 [NTERMOUNTAIN REGIONAL CON SUMER CONFERENCE, SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH Mr. MOSS. Mr. President, on June 16, Utah will be host to the Intermoun j,a.,LU Rcgiu:nal ConSUiiiei' Conferencti sponsored by an impressive array of local organizations and by the President's Committee on Consumer Interests. Representatives of consumer groups, individual consumers from I(Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, Nevada, nd Utah are invited to attend the sessions as well 88th CONGRESS: SECOND SESSION as which will be held at the Newhouse Hotel Salt Lake City. 'l&rID I -, called by 1II)Mrs. Esther Peterson, Special Assistant j() the President for Consumer' Affairs, md is being held at the direction of ?resident Johnson. We proudly remind ;hat Esther is one of Utah's most dis inguished native daughters. Earlier this year when President John son asked Mrs. Peterson, Assistant Sec retary of Labor, to fill his newly created consumer post; he made the point that "For the first time in history, the Amer lean consumer's interests----so closely with the public interest-will ,be directly represented in the White The conference has been Iidentified House." This was good news for every Amer ican. Although we are all consumers, the consumer cause has been the forgot ten cause. Many bills.have been passed to help work out the problems of busi ness and labor, and we have devoted long hours of consider atton to those problems they relate to the advancement of our ,economy. But we have given far too little thought to the important place of the consumer in this picture. The Utah consumer conference-as as the Missouri conference which preceded Ut-will give the consumer a platform on which to express his views, including his complaints and his proposed remedies, and then will allocate time to review them in the light of the consumer's con structive place in our booming economy. The conference will afford an opportu nity first to analyze consumer problems and then to initiate action not only by. th Federal Government, but by local nnvate and public groups. Senate There will be few speeches at the Utah conference. Mrs. Peterson will open the meeting, and then panel sessions will be around small organized discussion groups, about 10, which will consider the concerns of the consumer in the follow ing Iields: iood and uJ."ttg-s, health, financ ing, and family and home purchasing. Representatives of the business commu nity and government-local, State, and Federal-will be present to help answer consumer questions. A late afternoon session will be held to summarize consumer concerns and rec ommend action. For those who feel that they have not received enough informa tion during the all-day meeting, a con clinic will be held in the evening. This conference, as Mrs. Peterson has emphasized, will truly be a gathering for the consumer, a conference to give him a voice where he will be heard, and where something can be done about his anxie ties, his problems, and his ideas. The conference is being held under the direction of the University of Utah. Or ganizations and institutions which will cosponsor include: Brigham Young Un1verslty, Utah State University, Weber College, Utah State Department of Edu cation, Utah Home Economics Associa tion, Utah League of Women Voters, American Association of University Women, Utah Farmers Union, Utah State AFL-CIO, Salt Lake Retail Merchants Association, Utah Council of Retailers, Utah Retail Merchants Association, Utah sumer Automobile Dealers Association, Utah Manufaaturrs Associa-tisE:, Utah Can...-- sumer Finance, Intermountain Imple ments & Hardware Dealers, Utah Phar maceutical Association, Utah Retail Grocers Association, Utah Furniture Dealers, Utah Credit Union League, AFL-CIO Ladies' Utah Auxiliaries, AAUW, Salt Lake City AAUW, Utah Farm Bureau Federation, Better Business Bureau, Utah Medical Association. and Utah Mortgage Bankers Associatton. This conference has my wholehearted support. I strongly approve of its ob jectives and its leadership. I have known Esther Peterson for many years, and she is well equipped as a spokes man in the White House for the Nation's consumers. In 1957, before the late No. 96 President Kennedy chose her as his As sistant Secretary of Labor, she was Washington representative for the AFI. CIO. She is also the wife of a former State Department official and the mother of four children, and has had years of expertenee in meeting consumer prob lems for her family, both here in the United States and in oversea posts which her husband has held. She is already making the voice of the con sumer "loud, clear, uncompromising, and effective." The Salt Lake confer ence is another extension of her mag nificent efforts in this crusade. I sincerely hope that the Intermoun tain Regional Consumer Conference will be well attended by representatives from all of the States involved. Utah's latch string will be out for all, and our neigh bors from Wyoming, Colorado, Nevada, and Idaho will be especially welcomed. |
