594 HISTORY OF THP COMMITTEE ON SCIENC1 AND TECHNOLOGY 



was intrigued with the idea of increasing domestic materials supplies. 

 Brown unearthed a 1930 study done by then Maj. Dwight D. Eisen- 

 hower, who had done a paper on the subject, including this quotation: 



Wc arc personally convinced that under real encouragement the production of 

 guayulc rubber would develop rapidly into an important industry in the United 

 States. 



OVERCOMING NEGATIVE OBJECTIONS 



One fly in the ointment was that the executive branch was ap- 

 parently opposed to the bill. A letter from the Department of Agricul- 

 ture to Chairman Foley of the Agriculture Committee said the whole 

 question should be put through the budget process '"where the pro- 

 gram's needs would be judged in competition with other research 

 priorities." The Agriculture Department also tried to be a spoilsport 

 by darkly indicating that the National Academy of Sciences reported 

 there should be a feasibility study, technology assessment, and environ- 

 mental impact analysis of guayule before action. To Brown, these 

 were delaying tactics. He prepared to give them a one-two punch in 

 the public hearings. 



The spokesman for the Department of Agriculture talked in circles 

 about how important this research program was, and that it was 

 gradually moving upward on the priority list and might be funded 

 at some future date. Brown devastated the witness by observing: 



That was what I was told 15 years ago when I went to the Department to see 

 if they would be interested in a guayule program. 



Round and round they went. Brown was assured that the Department 

 would continue to give the question "high priority." This prompted 

 Brown to ask whether "possibly your motivation to continue to ex- 

 amine this with a high priority might not be increased a little if the 

 Congress indicated its interest by the passage of this legislation." The 

 spokesman allowed that "Certainly the Department of Agriculture is 

 very interested in direction given by the Congress." 



To more talk from the witness about budgets and inflation, Brown 

 shot back: 



We have felt that one of the best ways to control inflation was to avoid sending 

 billions of American dollars overseas for some of the things we can produce in this 

 country. 



Later in the day, the staff director of the National Academy of Sciences 

 study, with prompting from Brown, testified it would be a good idea 

 to go ahead with the program outlined in the bill. 



Aided by testimony from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Brown 

 amended his bill to encourage and enlist Indians on reservations to 

 grow and harvest guayule as a cash crop and source of employment. 



