1010 HISTORY OF THE COMMITTEI ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 



Of all the four chairmen, Fuqua's relations with the minority 

 was perhaps the closest. To be sure, there was an initial brush with 

 ranking minority member Wydler, when the latter charged he had not 

 been sufficiently consulted on the committee budget to be presented 

 to the House Administration Committee early in 1979- But gone were 

 the days when the chairman and ranking minority member engaged 

 in shouting matches over diametrically opposing views on staffing. 

 No longer did the corridors of the committee reverberate with the 

 colorful epithets which Teague and Wydler used to exchange on 

 minority staffing. Although Wydler remained studiously independent 

 in his beliefs and substantive views, a very close personal working 

 relationship developed between Fuqua and Winn — the second ranking 

 Republican on the committee. 



RELATIONS WITH EXECUTIVE AGENCIES 



Fuqua's relations with the agencies and their administrators also 

 differed from the mode of operation of his predecessors. Brooks in his 

 short tenure was noted for always trying to push, push, push for 

 faster action, and keeping the agency heads at arm's length. Miller 

 developed social friendships with, and frequently became almost an 

 apologist for the agencies and their top personnel. Teague was a restless 

 traveller who sponged up information on frequent held trips, asked 

 hard-nosed questions where necessary, told agency heads bluntly 

 when he thought they were wrong, and was an indispensable ally 

 when it came to working toward mutual goals. Fuqua is determined 

 to work more closely with high officials like Dr. Frank Press, head of 

 the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the White House. At 

 the same time, he will not relax his constitutional responsibility to 

 exercise vigorous oversight when necessary. To illustrate this point, 

 when NASA revealed to the committee surprising cost over-runs in 

 Fuqua's No. 1 favorite program, the Space Shuttle, Fuqua addressed 

 these crisp words to NASA Administrator Dr. Robert A. Frosch on 

 June 28, 1979: 



The timing of this subsequent budget amendment raises questions with regard 

 to the accuracy and candor ot testimony and response to questions at the February 

 hearings. It is most difficult to understand how a problem of this magnitude developed 

 between March and May. 



One could hardly imagine Chairman Miller addressing that kind 

 of a critical statement to any NASA official. 



A NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR 



Col. Harold A. Gould was a natural to move up to become execu- 

 tive director of the committee when Fuqua ascended to the chairman- 



