INCHING TOWARD THE MITRK SYSTEM, 1959-79 459 



fellow Rules Committee members to block the bill, Chairman Miller 

 hoped by agreeing to the Senate bill that the House could bypass the 

 House Rules Committee. 



SCIENCE COMMITTEE EFFORT 



At the first committee meeting in 1966, Chairman Miller called up 

 the Senate bill and asked Dr. J. Herbert Hollomon, Assistant Secretary 

 of Commerce for Science and Technology, to testify. The Senate bill 

 differed from previous bills in that it directed "appropriate partic- 

 ipation by representatives of United States industry, science, engineer- 

 ing, and labor, and their associations, in the planning and conduct" 

 of the study to be made by the Secretary of Commerce. This to some 

 extent allayed the fears of those who contended that the study would 

 be prejudiced by metric advocates who had already made up their 

 minds. 



W'vdler, who opposed the immediate start of the study, had these 

 exchanges with Dr. Hollomon: 



Mr. W'vdler. I |ust wanted to ask, is this $500,000 we are talking about in the 

 President's budget? 



Dr. Hollomon. Not that I know of. 



Mr. W'vdler. But would it be possible to defer action on the bill? * * * Is 

 there some specific reason that 1966 would be a more appropriate year than 1967? 



Dr. Hollomon. My own view of the matter is that this is a subject of such im- 

 portance that, to lay the facts and analysis on the table for the consideration of the 

 Congress, the study is overdue. I know this committee has been struggling with this 

 problem for some years. It is my view that the study is overdue and that we need the 

 facts as promptly as we can lay them before the public. 



The committee's majority report in 1966 stated: 



The committee feels that study is a prime requirement before one of several, 

 or a combination of several recommendations might be accepted. Among other pur- 

 poses, the study would evaluate such courses of action as a compulsory adoption 

 of the metric system, or a voluntary conversion by extending metric system usage 

 to industries other than those currently using the same, or a regulated partial con- 

 version in various industrial areas over an extended period of time. 



The committee feels that a thorough understanding of the ramifications of the 

 use of the metric system has long been neglected and that the study should no 

 longer be delayed. 



WYDLER ASKS HOUSE TO DEFER ACTION 



Wydler, in appending "Additional Views," included the follow- 

 ing observations: 



In my view, the proposed metric study should not be started while the American 

 economy is on a wartime basis. 



The President has not budgeted any sums for this study and the Congress would 

 be adding this sum to current spending if it were to authorize and appropriate $500,000 



