844 HISTORY hi Mil COMMITTE1 ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 



sponsibilities. In 1975, McCormack had learned of the impending 

 establishment of a House-Senate task force on energy, charged with 

 developing a congressional policy on energy. He went to Speaker 

 Albert and had little difficulty persuading the Speaker to assign him 

 to the new task force. Nothing was said, however, about the fact that 

 the Science Committee had two subcommittees on energy, and deserved 

 two spots on the task force rather than one. 



So it should have come as no surprise when 1977 rolled around, 

 history repeated itself, and McCormack beat another path to Speaker 

 O'Neill's door to obtain assignment to the Ashley Ad Hoc Committee 

 on Energy. As fast as you could ask "Am I my brother's keeper?" 

 Speaker O'Neill promised McCormack there would be no problem. 

 Of course, McCormack reminded the Speaker of the promise on fre- 

 quent and appropriate occasions. Meanwhile, Teague told both 

 McCormack and Flowers that he had suggested their names to the 

 Speaker, since they both chaired important energy subcommittees. 

 Now let's tune in on Flowers: 



Tiger had said the Speaker had said there would be two Democrats — and he 

 was going to suggest my name and McCormack's because we were the two — and I 

 assumed that was settled. So I never did go any further on it. I thought everything 

 was taken care of. 



Flowers was sitting in his office minding his own business one 

 day, and he flipped on the closed circuit television of the House pro- 

 ceedings to hear the Speaker name the members of the Ad Hoc Com- 

 mittee on Energy. According to Flowers: 



He goes through the list. He goes through it in terms of seniority, and he goes 

 right past where Flowers ought to be, and McCormack is named. And on down the 

 line. There was only one guy from the Science Committee, and it was McCormack. 

 It took me about thirty seconds to get from here to the House Chamber and I was 

 talking to the Speaker then. And I said: "Mr. Speaker, what the devil is going on? 

 I thought I was going to be on that committee." He said: " Walter Walter, I didn't 

 know you wanted it. And this guy McCormack, he's hustling me every day about it. 

 I didn't know you wanted it." 



I said: "Mr. Speaker, I sure do. That's the most important thing I'm fiddling 

 with this year. I've got to be on that committee." He said: "I'll take care of it." 



So, true to his word — and he is a dear friend oi mine and I have worked very 

 closely with him — before the day was over they had created two additional Demo- 

 cratic positions on the Ad Hoc Committee on Energy, and one additional Republican 

 position, and named additional Members, and slid us in. 



Teague of course was incensed when he heard what had happened. 

 He immediately dictated a letter to the Speaker; even though Teague's 

 letter arrived after the problem had been solved, it expressed his per- 

 sonal reaction to the incident: 



