QUESTIONNAIRES,, 1975-1980, 1982-1983 and 1986

Summary: Results, printed with some handwritten tabulations, of polls conducted among Hughes’ constituents, chiefly through his newsletter Bill Hughes Reports from Washington during the period 1975-1980. Topics include natural gas regulation, oil company expansion, oil tanker safety, the Panama Canal, capital punishment (Spring 1977), Social Security, tuition tax credit, election financing, Equal Rights Amendment (Spring 1978), Soviet expansionism, inflation, energy conservation, gasoline, nuclear power, tax cuts, environmental laws (Spring 1979) and defense spending, budget priorities, trade barriers against foreign cars, Soviet Union trade sanctions (Summer 1980). A list of tabulations from a Spring 1983 questionnaire is also present, although the queries which elicited the responses are not indicated.

Also included are questionnaires completed by Hughes from 1979-1980, including several from governmental departments (House of Representatives’ Democratic Study Group, Library of Congress’ Congressional Research Service and the General Accounting Office), publications (Barron’s, Forbes Magazine and U.S. News & World Report), organizations (New Jersey Federation of Business and Professional Women and the National Welsh-American Foundation) and companies (Congressional Quarterly, Inc., and Piedmont Manassas Aero).

Correspondence from 1982 and 1986 consists almost entirely of copies of questionnaires mailed to Hughes and his reply explaining his policy of not answering questionnaires due to the volume he received. Some letters also provide additional information of a general nature regarding Hughes’ positions on relevant topics.