478 HISTORY OF THE COMMITTEE ON SCIEM 1 AND TECHNOLOGY 



critical. Symington observed that in Australia, with a 10-year deadline, 

 "the labor movement, according to our information, supports their 

 metrication, and they expect to wind up about two years ahead of the 

 ten-year guideline that they set for themselves." Symington added 

 this hooker: 



Those arc pretty tough unions in Australia, and I don't think they have any 

 Australian sheep's wool pulled over their eyes in this. 



Fuqua also noted that in both Great Britain and Australia, labor had 

 not been adversely affected by the timed movement toward metrication, 

 and the total cost had been less than expected. Fuqua added that a rea- 

 sonable metric bill "will create more jobs and make the American-made 

 goods more competitive in the world markets." 



On May 1, 1975, Alexander S. (Pat) Tirrell, representative of the 

 Canadian Labor Congress to the Canadian Metric Commission, 

 testified: 



Labor is not at all opposed to metric conversion in Canada. Labor, as a matter of 

 fact, supports metric conversion and feels that under the circumstances, it's a definite, 

 positive step in the right direction. * * * There is a tendency, Mr. Chairman and 

 members of the committee, to overstate the difficulties that will confront working 

 people as a consequence of metric conversion. 



Tirrell also suggested that the provision in Symington's bill to subsi- 

 dize those adversely affected by conversion was "just too flat and too 

 broad" and should be handled by the Metric Board on specific investi- 

 gation rather than being frozen into the concrete of legislative 

 language. 



SYMINGTON SUBCOMMITTEE MARKUP 



At 8:15 on the morning of May 21, 1975, short of two weeks after 

 the conclusion of the formal subcommittee hearings, Chairman Sym- 

 ington assembled his subcommittee for the crucial markup session in the 

 main committee room in the Rayburn Building. Symington presented 

 a redraft of the metric conversion bill in an attempt to meet "the 

 anticipated objections or objectives." One of the most significant 

 compromises the subcommittee made was to drop the 10-year time- 

 frame. Why was this done? Symington explained it to his subcommittee 

 this way: 



We just didn't feel it necessary to fly the red shirt of a time frame. 



He explained that there were reasons given by both those favoring 

 a strong bill, and those in favor of a weak bill for this change: 



If you put in ten years, some people might think it might take twelve. * * * It 

 was our feeling, once the country is moving in rh.it direction, that a momentum 

 would be created which would establish its own pace. It will undoubtedly be well 

 on its way, if not complete, in ten years. 



