Richard M. Simpson
Richard Murray Simpson (August 30, 1900 – January 7, 1960) was a Republican from Pennsylvania who represented the state's 18th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives for two decades until his death in office.
U.S. House of Representatives
Following the death of incumbent Republican congressman Benjamin K. Focht, Simpson successfully ran in the special election to fill the vacancy, defeating Democrat opponent Lowell H. Alexander.[1] He was re-elected eleven times afterwards.[2]
Cox Committee
In early April 1952, Simpson voted "present" on a resolution which established the Select Committee to Investigate Tax-Exempt Foundations and Comparable Organizations.[3] He was appointed to the seven-member committee, which became known as the Cox Committee. The body conducted hearings and sent questionnaires to major foundations, though overall did not investigate very thoroughly.[4]
Following the death of committee chair Eugene Cox in December 1952, the committee's work was soon wrapped up. The final report exonerated the investigated foundations of any suspected subversion, and was only fifteen pages long.[4]
Out of the six remaining members of the select committee, only Simpson's conservative Tennessee colleague B. Carroll Reece wished for a do-over and conduct a more thorough investigation of tax-exempt foundations.[4] Simpson thus voted against a House resolution in late July 1953 which re-enacted the committee.[5] The measure still passed with strong support from the majority of House Republicans, and the committee was known during the 83rd Congress as the Reece Committee.
References
- ↑ PA - District 18 - Special Election Race - May 11, 1937. Our Campaigns. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
- ↑ Candidate - Richard M. Simpson. Our Campaigns. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
- ↑ H RES 561. RESOLUTION CREATING A SELECT COMMITTEE TO CON- DUCT AN INVESTIGATION AND STUDY OF FOUNDATIONS AND OTHER COMPARABLE ORGANIZATIONS.. GovTrack.us. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 FascinatingPolitics (December 22, 2019). The Reece Committee on Foundations: Conspiratorial Nonsense or an Expose of a Threat to the Nation?. Mad Politics: The Bizarre, Fascinating, and Unknown of American Political History. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
- ↑ H RES 217. RESOLUTION CREATING A SPECIAL COMMITTEE TO CON- DUCT A FULL AND COMPLETE INVESTIGATION AND STUDY OF EDUCA- TIONAL AND PHILANTHROPIC FOUNDATIONS AND OTHER COMPARABLE ORGANIZATIONS WHICH ARE EXEMPT FROM FED. INCOME TAXATION.. GovTrack.us. Retrieved September 21, 2021.