\(> I'll I I IKI AN OIL) FOSSil ill! 



835 



Record. There were many new compromise provisions on which there- 

 had been no hearings, included were $500 million in price supports 

 which had been rejected by the Science Committee, and the whole- 

 package broke the budget. The opponents argued that at the tail end 

 of the session it would be wiser to proceed with the ERDA R. & D. 

 program already in place for synthetic fuels, instead of taking a chance- 

 on this hastilv-developed compromise. On the other hand, Teague, 

 and a majority of the committee, backed by the administration and a 

 strong contingent of Republicans argued that the energy crisis was 

 real, positive and speedy action was overdue, synthetic fuels were the 

 clearest answer to the energy shortages, and loan guarantees were the 

 simplest way to meet the demand for capital and get the job done at 

 the earliest possible time. 



The opposition got a few new media breaks on the eve of the battle. 

 The Washington Post editorialized: 



That bill to subsidize synthetic fuels has more lives than a cat. The House of 

 Representatives threw it out the window last December, but now it's back meowing 

 at the door. The House needs to remind itself that the animal has a voracious appetite. 



One committee member was so upset by news coverage that he at- 

 tempted to persuade the Assistant Comptroller General of the United 

 States to do something to correct it. Lloyd of California said to 

 Phillip S. Hughes during a committee hearing: 



I think you are accountable for what is said in these publications.* * * What 

 remedial action have you taken to correct that? Have you sent a letter to the New York 

 Times? 



Hughes responded by noting: 



The New York Times has got to defend its own honor. I'm working on mine this 

 morning. 



RULES COMMITTEE RESOLUTION 



A rare type of resolution from the Rules Committee made in order 

 the Teague compromise bill, printed in the Congressional Record as 

 with the solar research bill in 1974 (see page 688). Sisk, a former 

 member of the Science and Astronautics Committee, led off" the defense 

 of the rule by announcing that there was "nothing in the world 

 that is more important for this Congress to be concerned with than 

 trying to be self-sufhcient with the production of energy." Speaking 

 for the Republican side of the Rules Committee, Representative John 

 B. Anderson decried the talk that the House should "defeat the rule 

 and get home for Christmas." He proclaimed: 



Members of the House, if it took until Christmas to deal with this important 

 issue, we should be here, we should be meeting our responsibility. 



