970 HISTORY OF THE COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 



"YOU GUYS WORK OUT YOUR OWN PROBLEMS" 



One day Dr. Byerly and Kovacs wandered into the Speaker's 

 Office to check on when the bill would he coming up for debate, since 

 the session was nearing a close at the end of September. This was just 

 about the time when Tcague and a majority of the Science Committee 

 were locked in a bitter struggle with the Commerce Committee over 

 loan guarantees, and both committees were maneuvering to get support 

 from the Speaker. As soon as the Speaker's Office learned that the two 

 visitors were from the Science and Commerce Committees, the word 

 went out from one of the Speaker's aides: 



You guys are going to have to work out your own problems. Don't come up 

 here and expect us to settle your tights. 



It took considerable effort to explain that the presence of the two 

 staff men exemplified a good working relationship between two com- 

 mittees, rather than the usual jurisdictional brawl which the Speaker 

 was so frequently being asked to referee. The message finally got 

 through. 



Brown was moved to declare on the House floor on September 27, 

 1976, when the bill came up for House debate: 



I want to commend this bill to the consideration of all the Members as illustrat- 

 ing the way in which two committees, motivated by a desire to cooperate, can 

 achieve a laudable goal in the construction of a vital piece of legislation. 



THE CONFERENCE COMMITTEE WHICH DIDN'T FORMALLY MEET 



The manner in which agreement was reached with the Senate, 

 without the necessity of a conference committee meeting, was perhaps 

 even more remarkable. Because it was so late in the session, negotia- 

 tions were started with the Senate even before the bill passed the 

 House. As a matter of fact, the House Members held their conference 

 with the Senate prior to passage of the bill in the House, agreed to 

 language which would be accepted by both bodies, and then sub- 

 mitted a blanket amendment on the House floor embodying the results 

 of the agreement. The final details of the agreement with the Senate 

 were hammered out only about 30 minutes before the bill came up in 

 the House. As a result, xeroxed copies were substituted for the language 

 of the bill as it had cleared the Science and Commerce Committees, and 

 adopted by voice vote. Then the House went on to approve the amended 

 bill by 367 to 8 on a rollcall. It was a major triumph for the Brown 

 subcommittee, dealing with 2.8 billion tons of all kinds of solid waste 

 generated every year in the United States. President Ford signed the 

 bill into law on October 20, 1976. 



