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The nature of the representation made the results all the more startling. Imbued with great faith in the U.S. political process, the delegates went to work with a vengeance to pick the reforms they wanted. They overloaded three high-speed Xerox machines with 1,500,000 sheets of draft resolutions, petitions and recommendations from committees, subcommittees, sub-subcommittees, task forces, subplenary task forces, caucuses and assorted alliances. An ecology task force thoughtfully arranged for the recycling of used documents at a nearby plant. A task force on race and minority groups split into caucuses for American Indians, black Americans, European Americans, Asian Americans, Spanish-speaking Americans and "nonethnic Americans." Several of the caucuses then held a press conference to protest the alleged underrepresentation of Italian Americans.
When the sun finally began to melt the snow on the third day, the delegates had shown a powerful discontent with the Administration. Veterans of student politics and service organizations took the lead in marshaling the more naive and confused participants. Said the preamble of the conference's report: "We are not motivated by hatred, but by disappointment over and love for the unfulfilled potential of this nation." Republican Senator Bill Brock. 40, one of two overridden adult members of the task force that drafted the preamble, immediately called the rhetoric "masochistic, negative, nonproductive and not representative of American youth."
Calling for complete U.S. withdrawal from Indochina by Dec. 31, the delegates voted to use some of the Government's $1,104,000 in conference expense funds to send telegrams of endorsement to the nonviolent groups sponsoring last weekend's antiwar protests. Further bucking Administration policies, various task forces urged a complete end to strip mining, the immediate resignation of J. Edgar Hoover, and amnesty for all draft violators.
Message for Everybody. The ecology panel used consultants to draft a detailed bill proposing a national corps of volunteers to work on environmental projects; a panel on drugs called for the open, legalized sale of marijuana regulated by the Government (a black caucus dissented strongly). By a vote of 493 to 127, the final session also declared that "any sexual behavior between consenting, responsible individuals [not just adults] must be recognized and tolerated by society as an acceptable life-style."
When HEW Secretary Elliot Richardson told the delegates, "You may well ask 'Is anyone listening?''" a skeptical delegate brought down the house by answering: "Yeah, the FBI." Richardson promised to bring up this year's proposals at the "earliest" Cabinet meeting, but warned the delegates that not every recommendation could get action. Unwilling to leave follow-up efforts entirely to the White House staff, the delegates created their own group to issue public reports on results.