228 HISTORY OF THE COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 



members unsuccessfully attempted to call witnesses and hold hearings 

 on the NASA report, and the report itself was eventually approved 

 by an 18 to 13 vote 



The Hechler subcommittee voted to support Wydler's amendment 

 to slash some $12 million from NASA's $14.5 million request for the 

 Center. But the full committee voted 19 to 10 to reverse that decision 

 and restore the funds for the Center. Seven Republicans — Mosher, 

 Roudebush, Pelly, Rumsfeld, Weaver, Gurney, and Wydler — issued 

 "Additional Views" concluding that "We do not believe it prudent 

 or frugal to spend $14,561,000 on the proposed Electronics Research 

 Center this year." 



Once again there was a struggle on the House floor in 1964 concern- 

 ing the funding of the Electronics Research Center. For the first time, 

 there was Democratic support voiced by Teague, Hechler, and Miller 

 for the Center. But Teague told the House: 



A year ago I had considerable doubt in my mind about this Center. I think that 

 NASA did a very poor job in presenting the case for this Center to the Congress. I 

 think that had they presented it the way it should have been presented, there would 

 never have been any argument about it. 



Speaker McCormack felt it necessary to make one of his rare floor 

 speeches on behalf of the Center, opposing efforts to cut the funds. 

 His efforts were successful, and the supporters of the full funding of the 

 Center were victorious by 116 to 66. 



But the issue was far from being out of the woods. 



On July 30, 1964, the city of Cambridge, Mass., offered 29.2 

 acres in the Kendall Square area to NASA to constitute part of an urban 

 renewal project. NASA accepted the offer rather hastily on August 10, 

 1964. The Congressman from Cambridge, Representative Thomas 

 P. O'Neill, Jr. (Democrat of Massachusetts) then invited the Hechler 

 subcommittee to Cambridge, where a most enjoyable two days were 

 spent meeting with the mayor and city council, lunching with civic 

 leaders, and getting the positives and negatives of the new site. Most 

 of the negatives surfaced when committee members walked through 

 the Kendall Square area, where many prospering businesses had 

 joined together in a "Committee for Preservation of Cambridge 

 Industry" to fight eviction through urban renewal. John J. Brennan, 

 chairman of the Preservation Committee, sent a letter to each member 

 of the Science Committee, vowing to take "every proper course of 

 action legal and otherwise to stop the senseless destruction." 



During Hechler subcommittee hearings in 1965, Wydler asked the 

 following of Francis J. Sullivan, Acting Director of NASA's Elec- 

 tronics and Control Division: 



Mr. Wydler. Is it your understanding that any site for this Center has to be 

 within walking distance of MIT? 



