222 HISTORY OF THE COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 



March 21, 1963- In the letter, Webb indicated that he had assigned to 

 Dr. Albert Kelley a study of "NASA's present resources and capabilities 

 in electronics research" and to recommend a plan to meet future needs. 

 Webb reported: 



Dr. Kellev's group found that although NASA was involved deeply in develop- 

 mental projects covering almost all segments of the electronics field, NASA's in-house 

 research efforts were diffused and comprised a relatively small cumulative effort. 



Webb also indicated that Boston was selected because of its proximity 

 to universities, and Boston was "an area where the industrial com- 

 munity has allied technical interests" and was "research oriented." 

 Representatives Karth, Mosher, and Weaver returned to the attack 

 on April 3, 1963, in hearings before the Karth subcommittee. Mosher 

 asked: 



Why not get down to the nub of one question on the mind of everybody? Since 

 I am a member of the minority party, it necessarily has to be on our mind. I refer to 

 the nature of certain promises made by the Democratic candidate for the Senate in 

 last vear's campaign in Massachusetts; this tends to make the minority party members 

 suspicious of any new installations which are suddenly placed in Massachusetts; and, 

 therefore, to satisfy this curiosity of the minority members, I'd like to ask something 

 about the process by which the location was determined. 



Answering at elaborate length, Dr. Kelley concluded that "my clear- 

 cut, unequivocal recommendation was, this was the way to go, for a 

 new center, and put it into the right environment." One further ex- 

 change occurred: 



Mr. Mosher. So that the proposal, that this large and very important Center be 

 built in the Boston area, made very soon after last year's election, was only a fortu- 

 itous circumstance, so far as the Senator from Massachusetts was concerned, and he 

 played no part, his influence played no part in this decision? 



Dr. Kelley. So far as I am concerned, that is absolutely the case and my recom- 

 mendation was based on the technical factors involved as to how we could upgrade 

 the technology of the agency over the long haul. * * * Incidentally, my recom- 

 mendation for the Center was made early in the fall of 1962, which Mr. Webb made 

 clear in a letter to Chairman Miller. 



Mosher's comments prompted Representative Thomas G. Morris 

 (Democrat of New Mexico) to philosophize: 



Along the same lines my good friend from Ohio was expressing a moment ago, 

 I'm reasonably certain that the candidate for the Senate in Boston was very similar 

 to all candidates tor public office in all parts of the country. 



Most of us are not exactly modest when we speak of what we can do tor the 

 country and, in particular, what we can do for our own area when we face the people 

 of our State. 



I'm reasonably sure that the Democratic candidate for the Senate from Massa- 

 chusetts was not being modest, either, and I think that this should be something that 

 should also appear in the record. There will possibly be other pro|ects in other parts 

 of the country that public officeholders will not be reluctant to take some of the credit 

 for, in case they are successful. 



