Editing 79-03-B1 (section)

=== Transcript ===
Just recently the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs launched
what one man has called a vendetta against the social and service clubs of America.
These clubs such as Rotary, Kiwanis, Lions, Jaycees and so forth are typically male
clubs, but there are feminine counterparts such as Zonta, Business & Professional
Women and so forth. They all have one thing in common -- they truly provide great
service to our country and communities, ranging from ongoing permanent charities to
resolution of one-time problems where a neighborly helping hand is needed.

James G. Schneider, President of the Kankakee Federal Savings & Loan association
of Kankakee, Illinois, is the man who decided to speak out and act -- or perhaps I
should say refuse to act -- when he received a request to file a report for the Senate
committee.

The Committee wanted to know if Kankakee Savings & Loan paid membership dues in
private clubs for employees, directors and officers. Of course, the query was not
aimed at this one institution alone. It was part of a broad survey to determine
whether such companies were subsidizing memberships for their people in organizations
that practice discrimination. Remember most of these clubs are strictly male or female.
Now it is a general practice for many such businesses to pay for employee memberships
in service clubs. The companies that do this consider it a kind of public
service, a form of corporate citizenship to aid in the good works performed by such
clubs. There is no question but that the employees could afford such memberships
themselves. This is just the companies' way of encouraging worthy causes.

I'll wager that a great many if not most of the firms receiving the Senate
Committee's request, dutifully sent it back with all questions answered. ,Very probably
some of them pushed the panic button and informed directors, officers and employees
they were now on their own.

But not Kankakee Federal Savings & Loan. President Schneider addressed a letter
to Senator William Proxmire. His letter did not waste words. He wrote "Last week
I received a request from the Federal Home Loan bank to complete your survey. I am
not completing it because I object to both its intent and its content." He went on
to say, "Although it smacks of comparing apples and oranges, I am willing to hazard
a guess that during the last 10 years the service clubs of just your state alone have
done more collective good for America than has the Senate Committee on Banking,
Housing and Urban Affairs. If your committee now finds that it has the time, the
funds and the inclination to start harassing the financial institutions of America
over their strong backing of such "sexist clubs" as Rotary, Zonta, Kiwanis, Business
& Professional Women, Lions, Jaycees, Credit Women International & Exchange, then I
would suggest that you are drastically out of touch with the people of your state".

There was more but you get the idea. We should be grateful to Mr. Schneider
for reminding us that government belongs to us--not the other way around. 

This is Ronald Reagan.

Thanks for listening.
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