IN THE BEGINNING. THE SELECT COMMITTEE 



17 



Policy Board. Johnson's response did not seem to indicate any deep and 

 lasting commitment to the joint committee idea: 



We felt that the joint committee, if in its wisdom Congress decides to establish 

 it, will have oversight jurisdiction, and it is given such jurisdiction. We feel that is 

 a verv necessary and desirable part of the joint committee's functions. 



There was some speculation that the early House support for a 

 joint committee stemmed from the feeling that it might be easier to 

 wrest new jurisdiction away from existing committees toward a joint 

 committee rather than toward a new standing committee. Once the 

 jurisdiction was obtained, it may have been less painful to shift it when 

 the joint committee concept was dropped. Looming larger as a rea- 

 son was the fact that many House Members feared the Senators on a 

 joint committee might "hog" the limelight. 



Although House Members and staff kept pointing at the Senate and 

 charging they were the ones who were trying to "put across" a joint 

 committee, Majority Leader Johnson's commitment seemed to be less 

 substantive and more to regard this item as a bargaining chip which 

 could be used to muscle the House into accepting some other provision 

 which the Senate felt was more important. 



The sudden 180-degree reversal in the House position from support 

 of, to opposition to, the joint committee, came while the delicate nego- 

 tiations to get Overton Brooks off the Armed Services Committee were 

 underway. Speaker Rayburn was at the center of those negotiations. 

 When the House-Senate conference committee convened on July 15, 

 there w r as a dramatic scene at which the joint committee was buried 

 for good. The smoking pistol of the executioner came clearly into 

 view. Philip B. Yeager of the select committee staff remembers it this 

 way: 



The first hang-up we had was whether there was going to be a joint committee. 

 Johnson, as I remember said: 



"The first thing we are going to do is we are going to have a joint committee. 

 I guess everyone has agreed on that, haven't they?" 



He looked around, and McCormack was just sitting there, shaking his head 

 Johnson said: 



"We're not going to have a joint committee?" 



"No." 



"Why not?" 



" Mr. Sam says so." 



McCormack added: "If you want to negotiate further, you'll have to settle 

 that at the Texas level." 



COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE AND ASTRONAUTICS OFFICIALLY SANCTIONED 



Once the joint committee had been shelved, the way was paved 

 for the House of Representatives to act separately to establish the 



