INCHING TOWARD THE METRIC SYSTEM, 1959-79 485 



bill passed by the comfortable rollcall margin of 300 to 63- The only 

 committee member voting against the bill was Conlan. 



ACCEPTING THE SENATE METRIC BILL 



Once the House had passed the bill, the Science Committee care- 

 fully watched the progress of Senator Pell's bill, S. 100, which had also 

 been tailored to meet the objections of organized labor and small 

 business. Like the House bill, the Senate bill had no time limit for 

 conversion and relied heavily on voluntary cooperation through a 

 Metric Board, which included only 17 members in the Senate version as 

 contrasted with 21 plus 4 congressional representatives in the House 

 bill. When the Senate passed the bill on December 8, Teague im- 

 mediately notified Symington and Mosher: 



I believe that the House and the Senate bills are so close that we should seriously 

 consider accepting the Senate passed bill and thus avoid the necessity of having a 

 conference. * * * I intend, unless you advise me of any objections you may have, to 

 move on the floor of the House to accept the Senate version of this bill in order that it 

 can be sent to the President for his signature before the end of this session of the Con- 

 gress. Please let me know your view on this matter no later than noon on Thursday, 

 December 11th. 



Symington and Mosher readily agreed with Teague's recommenda- 

 tion which was immediately activated, sending the bill to the White 

 House, where President Ford signed it on December 23, 1975. In a 

 statement when he affixed his signature to the bill, the President said: 



I sign the bill with the conviction that it will enable our country to adopt in- 

 creasing use of this convenient measurement language, both at home and in our schools 

 and factories, and overseas with our trading partners. 



In a letter to the Executive Director of the American National 

 Metric Council on December 31, 1975, President Ford stated: 



The Metric Conversion Act of 1975, H.R. 8674, which I signed on December 23, 

 sets a national policy of conversion to the metric system and established a United 

 States Metric Board to coordinate efforts for voluntary conversion. 



But progress under the legislation was painfully slow. On April 5, 

 1976, Secretary of Commerce Elliot L. Richardson got around to calling 

 on industry, labor, science, education, and several trade sectors to 

 nominate members for the U.S. Metric Board. Twelve of the Board 

 members were to be appointed by the President, with the advice and 

 consent of the Senate, from lists of names recommended by organizations 

 representing interests specified in the law, plus a Presidentially selected 

 chairman and four at-large members to represent consumers and other 

 interests. Science Committee members and other Congressmen began to 

 inquire and wonder why the process was taking so long. Not until 

 September 28, 1976, did President Ford finally announce the names of 



