The other factors which the Board weighs appear in the regulations as Sections 102.3 and 102.4.

The Board has been diligent in creating procedural and substantive rules which can be readily understood by a layman who gives them a careful reading, as well as by a lawyer or other counsellor who has not specialized in Selective Service or military law. We have tried to use simple and clear language, and we have tried to bring the greatest practical degree of due process to a procedure which is, constitutionally, inherently discretionary on the part of the President.

PROTECTION OF APPLICANTS

Anyone calling or writing in to the Presidential Clemency Board is guaranteed that his name, address, telephone number, and any other information which he gives us will be held in the strictest confidence, unless he has committed a serious non-draft-related or non-AWOL-related criminal offense such as homicide. The Justice Department has agreed that with this exception, we may keep our own records completely sealed to other agencies.

Since most evaders and deserters within our jurisdiction apparently do not read the Washington Post or watch Harry Reasoner frequently, we took pains to spread information as widely as possible to persons who might be eligible for the President's program. We mailed information about the program to the last known addresses of 7,000 persons convicted of draft evasion and eligible for Board consideration, thanks to the very fine cooperation of the Federal Probation Service and the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. We then arranged with the Department of Defense to review each court-martial record that oecurred between 1964 and 1973. They retrieved from their storage and reviewed some 28,500 records. Over 20,000 appeared to have some possibility of eligibility and so they were each mailed information about the program.

In addition, the Board prepared Public Service Announcements in early January and mailed them to over 2,200 radio and 260 TV stations. A second set of Public Service Announcements was prepared in February and mailed to 6,500 commercial radio stations and 260 TV stations in the United States. We received fine cooperation from the media in helping us with this massive emergency effort. The electronic media contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars in air time.

Board members visited nearly 25 major cities and metropolitan areas in an effort to inform the press and the public about the program and to encourage people to learn more about it. In one week in March, 9 staff members visited 33 cities, and held information conferences with a total of over 3,000 veterans counsellors attending.

Considering the short time available to inform the public of the program, and the fact that we have had a small staff and a limited budget, our efforts to inform. I believe, were extraordinarily successful. As the chart I attached to the testimony will show, our rate and number of applications jumped dramatically as a result. As a consequence, the Board must process over 18,000 cases between now and September 15, the anniversary date of the Proclamation. After that date, the emergency statutory authority which the President uses to provide the Board with funds, staff, and support is no longer available.

This large number of cases must be handled on a case-by-case basis, and we must give each applicant the same thorough review and deliberation as every other one receives. To do this in the limited time available, the President has ordered an expansion of the Board and its personnel. We will climb from 9 members and about 50 staff to 18 members and a staff of about 600. We must do this quickly-we must be fully staffed by May 1 and we do not have the luxury of dispensing with our work while we expand. We must locate lawyers in other government offices, train them, and get them to preparing cases in a matter of days, not weeks or months.

By September, we fully expect to have completed the recommendation process for all 18,900 cases.

Let me conclude with the observation that I believe President Ford has acted in the tradition of Presidents Truman, Wilson, Lincoln, and Washington. I hope that this hearing today will help make more Americans aware of the deep historical roots of clemency and the country's need for it now. Perhaps, if it serves that purpose, our being here today will make it just a little bit easier for those who do come back to integrate themselves fully, with dignity and with pride, as Americans and as members of their community.

Administrative Procedures and Substantive Standards

The Presidential Clemency Board published its proposed administrative procedures and substantive standards on November 27, 1974 (39 FR 41351). Since that time, the Board has considered the first military cases before it, and has had the benefit of more than 40 comments on its proposed regulations. With the benefit of this additional experience and these comments, the Board publishes the final regulations setting out its procedures and standards.

It is the intent of the Board to provide notice to the pubic of the standards it uses to make recommendations to the President concerning individual application for clemency. The Board also wishes to ensure equity and consistency for applicants under the President's clemency program.

Because it is a temporary organization within the White House Office, the sole function of which is to advise the President with respect to the exercise of his constitutional power of executive clemency, the Board does not consider itself formally bound by the Administrative Procedure Act. Nonetheless, within the time and resource constraints governing it, the Board wishes to adhere as closely as possible to the principles of procedural due process. The administrative procedures established in these regulations reflect this decision.

The Board may publish changes in individual sections as it deems necessary. The Board welcomes continuing comment on problems which may arise in the application of particular sections of these procedures and invites recommendations on how best these problems may be resolved.

Several dozen technical changes have been made in these regulations in response to new circumstances that were presented to the Board. Some clarify significantly the rights and procedures available to applicants. The following is an explanation of those changes which seem to the Board to be most significant:

Jurisdiction. Section 101.3 has been added in order to incorporate the criteria for determining whether or not a person is eligible for consideration by the Presidential Clemency Board. It restates the criteria established in Proclamation 4313 (Announcing a Program for the Return of Vietnam Era Draft Evaders and Military Deserters) and repeated in Executive Order 11803 (Established a Clemency Board ***).

Remedies. Section 101.4 has been added to explain the remedies available from the Presidential Clemency Board. It states the authority with which the Board is vested by Executive Order 11803, issued pursuant to Proclamation 4313.

A Presidential pardon restores those federal civil rights lost as a result of a felony conviction. State law recognizes Presidential pardons as a matter of comity, usually restoring the right to vote in federal and state elections, to hold public office, and to obtain licenses for trades and professions from which convicted felons are barred under state law. Since conviction by military court-martial is treated as a felony conviction by many states, and since an Undesirable Discharge may have the same consqeuences as a court-martial conviction, the benefits of a pardon apply to former servicemen as well as to civilian draft evaders. A Clemency Discharge neither entitles its recipient to veterans benefits nor bars his receiving those benefits to which he is otherwise entitled. The Veterans Administration and other agencies may extend veterans' benefits to some holders of a Clemency Discharge, but it is contemplated that most will not receive veterans benefits.

Availability of files to applicant and his representative. Section 101.7(c) clarifies which files an applicant and his representative have a right to see. At the offices of the Board, information collected by the Board independently of any other government agency is readily available to an applicant or his representative. All files obtained from other agencies are available to the extent not barred by the rules of the agency owning the file. For example, the Selective Service System file is available to him and his representative. Files from another agency are cited in a summary when they are used as the basis of statements in that summary. Reason for denial of access to any of these files is stated in writing upon request. This subsection is in response to comments that §§ 201.5(b) and 201.6 (c), read together, were either unclear or overbroad.

Completed case summary. The completed case summary consists of the initial case summary, amendments as described in the §§ 101.8 (c) and (e), and the materials submitted by the applicant and his representative as described in § 101.8 (b). Where, in the opinion of the Board, there is a conflict of fact, false statement. or omission material to the Board's consideration of an aggravating or mitigating circumstance, as specified in §§ 102.3 and 102.4, the case is tabled. The action attorney is instructed to obtain additional facts.

This is in response to comments from the private bar.

Hearing before the Board. Subsection 101.9 (c) provides for a personal appearance as a matter of right if an applicant can show that an oral presentation is necessary to the Board's understanding of a mitigating circumstance or an aggravating circumstance which applies to his case. The Board has provided a right to personal appearance in response to several comments.

Reconsideration. Subsection 101.11 (b) has been amended in order to add standards which must be met if the Board is to consider an applicant's petition for reconsideration. In the proposed regulations, consideration of such petition by the Board was a matter of discretion. This amendment limits the circumstances under which reconsideration will be granted, but provides that when an applicant shows that any of those circumstances are present, reconsideration will be granted as a matter of right.

Transmittal to other agencies of Presidential decisions. Section 101.12 provides that grants of immediate pardon by the President are transmitted formally to other government agencies, as appropriate. Pending completion of the alternative service requirement, grants of conditional clemency are communicated to another federal agency only to the extent this information is necessary for the agency to perform its functions under the clemency program or for other necessary action respecting the applicant. Upon completion of alternative service, notification of the pardon is forwarded to all appropriate agencies. Denials of clemency by the President are held confidential by the Board.

The intent of this section, adopted here in response to several comments is that a person who applies for clemency should not be prejudiced in his pursuit of other remedies through the military services discharge review processes or elsewhere. Other remedies available to applicant. Section 101.15(b) requires that Board staff inform both applicants to the Board and persons who inquire about the clemency program, but are clearly not under the Board's jurisdiction, of the remedies available to them under military discharge review processes and through the judiciary. Applicants to the Board or to one of the other agencies administering part of the clemency program may pursue such other remedies simultaneously or subsequently to, or instead of their remedies under the clemency program. The Board's staff informs them of their other options.