U>\ Will I M Kl,-, I 1( H\( Hi H..II - 



927 



The automobile is the single largest user of imported oil, .inJ the most inefficient 

 user.* * * You will bedoing both your constituents and your country a favor by voting 

 to override the veto. 



Teague, Fuqua, McCormack, and Brown sent out a joint letter, 

 pointing out that the legislation included the specific phrase that the 

 program would "supplement, but neither supplant nor duplicate, the 

 automotive research and development efforts of private industry" 

 a choice of words first offered by Goldwater. The letter also commented: 



The President correctly states in his veto message that authority already exists 

 for ERDA to launch such a program. But the fact remains that ERDA has not chosen 

 to initiate such a program on its own. * * * The Nation is looking to Congress for 

 leadership in this critical area. We urge you to vote to override. 



CONGRESSIONAL INITIATIVE AND LEADERSHIP 



The debate on the President's veto message in the House on 

 September 29, 1976, was brief, but heated. The opposition was led by 

 Representative John H. Rousselot (Republican of California) and John 

 B. Anderson (Republican of Illinois), both of whom challenged the 

 duplicative nature of the legislation and its expense. Brown, Mosher, 

 Teague, McCormack, Ottinger, and Hechler all spoke in favor of over- 

 riding the veto. While conceding that ERDA and DOT already had 

 the authority to go ahead without new legislation, Mosher put his 

 finger on the problem when he stated: 



But the crucial fact is this, that DOT and ERDA seem not likely to accomplish 

 the purposes of this bill, unless the Congress gives them the push, the mandate which 

 Congress clearly intends in our overwhelming support of the bill. * * * I see the bill 

 as a prime example of the kind of congressional initiative and leadership, in giving 

 positive, creative direction to national policy — the kind of leadership we should dem- 

 onstrate more often. 



Brown pointed out that a recent General Motors report had favored 

 "Government research of a basic type, in areas which now represent 

 critical bottlenecks in the industry's efforts on advanced powerplants." 

 The General Motors report further stated that such Government re- 

 search "would supplement rather than duplicate the efforts of industry 

 and thus make real contributions to progress." McCormack told the 

 House: 



The fact is that these ERDA programs are spread so thin that we are not moving 

 forward as we should be doing in this area. These programs are not able to concentrate 

 where most fuel is being consumed today, in our automobiles. * * * The fact is, Mr. 

 Speaker, that it does us no good to set mandatory mileage requirements for our 

 automobiles at certain dates in the future, such as 1980 or 1985, unless somebody docs 

 the research to provide the technological information that will make such advances 

 possible. 



