This Day In 1970's History: Saturday January 1, 1977
- President-elect Carter had little enthusiasm for President Ford's proposal that Puerto Rico be given statehood through processes originating in Washington. Mr. Carter would prefer that the initiative come from Puerto Rico. He told reporters that, in his campaign, "The position I took was that until the Puerto Ricans themselves expressed a preference for statehood that the Congress should not take the initiative." He said, "I would be perfectly willing to see Puerto Rico become a state if the people who live there prefer that." Meanwhile, he studied the names and qualifications of people under consideration for import sub-cabinet jobs in his administration. [New York Times]
- Medicaid, the troubled federal-and-state health program for the poor, may cost taxpayers no more than many private health plans cost their subscribers, and in some cases even less. Despite repeated instances of indifferent administration and systematic financial abuse in the $19 billion Medicaid program, figures gathered in interviews with a broad cross-section of experts suggest that programs for the middle class can be as expensive as Medicaid. [New York Times]
- Many gaps in the understanding of the fundamentals of government were found in a government survey of the political knowledge and attitudes of school children 13 to 17 years old. Although they are within a year of being eligible to vote, 47 percent of the 17-year olds did not know the basic fact that each state has two Senators, the National Assessment of Educational Progress said in the report. [New York Times]
- Chief Justice Warren Burger said that a procedure must be established for reviewing sentences imposed by federal judges in criminal cases to solve the problem of similarly situated defendants who get markedly different punishment. "Discretion in sentencing has been a double-edged sword," the Chief Justice said in his annual year-end report on the problems and the progress of the federal judiciary. [New York Times]
- Jacqueline Means, a 40-year-old mother of four children, was ordained a priest of the Episcopal Church in the United States, the first woman to be ordained since the Episcopal Church opened the priesthood to women at its General Convention last September. In January, 29 more women are scheduled to be ordained in 13 dioceses, including nine in the Diocese of New York. Mrs. Means, a former Roman Catholic, is a nurse and a prison chaplain. [New York Times]
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