Federal Departments

The Department of State, headed by the Secretary of State, advises the President on foreign relations. This department handles all peaceful dealings with other countries, and issues passports to American citizens who wish to travel abroad, and visas to visitors to the United States.

The Treasury Department manages government finances, collects taxes, mints coins and prints paper money. The Secret Service, which protects the President and the Vice President, their families and some other dignitaries, is also part of the Treasury Department. So are the Bureau of Customs and the Internal Revenue Service.

The Department of Defence is responsible for the nation's security. The Secretary of Defence is assisted by the Secretaries of the Army, Navy and Air Force.

The Department of Justice, headed by the Attorney General, acts for the government in legal matters and moves against violators of federal laws. The FBI and federal prisons are under his jurisdiction.

The Department of the Interior protects and develops the nation's natural resources and manages the national parks. It also enforces federal hunting and fishing laws, checks on the safety of mines and is responsible for the welfare of the Indian tribes.

The Department of the Agriculture aids food production and looks after the interests of farmers. It issues numerous reports on the supply and prices of farm products, conducts scientific studies of agriculture and lends money to build rural electric systems. Most farms today are served by electricity.

The Department of Labour is concerned with the working conditions, safety and welfare of the nation's nonfarm workers. It enforces, among others, the laws on minimum wages and maximum hours for workers. The department's mediation and conciliation service helps employers and workers to settle labour disputes.

The Department of Commerce helps develop domestic commerce as well as trade with other countries, particularly in the mining, manufacturing and transportation industries. One of its important branches issues patents for new inventions; other test products to be sure they meet high standards and report on weather conditions.

In 1979 the Department of Health, Education and Welfare was reorganized into two separate agencies: the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Education. HHS administers many of the nation's social services programmes on a federal level. The Department of

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lucation administers and co-ordinates more than 150 federal aid-to-education •ogrammes.

The Cabinet-level Department of Housing and Urban Development was created in 1965 to help provide adequate housing, particularly for low-income groups, and to foster large-scale urban renewal programmes.

In 1966 President Lyndon Johnson proposed, and Congress approved, the establishment of a Department of Transportation to co-ordinate transportation activities previously carried on by several government agencies.

The Department of Energy, created in 1977 to address the nation's growing energy problems, consolidated the major federal energy functions into single Cabinet-level department. It is responsible for research, development and demonstration of energy technology; energy conservation; the nuclear weapons programme; regulation of energy production and use; pricing and allocation; and a central energy data collection and analysis programme.

In addition to the executive departments, there are numerous independent agencies charged with special functions. Largest of these is the Postal Service, directed by an 11 -member board of governors, which was created in 1979 to replace the Post Office Department. It operates post offices, is responsible for handling and delivery of mail and issues stamps.

Other independent regulatory agencies set rules and standards in such fields as rail and air transportation, domestic trade practices, broadcasting licenses and telephone and telegraph rates, investment trading, some banking practices, and equal employment opportunities.

Т ASK 12. Read the text.