NO FUEL LIKE \\ Ol D FOSS11 II 1 I g41 



First elected to the House in 1968, Flowers did not join the Science 

 Committee until his second term. His interests at first concentrated on 

 NASA, a big employer in Alabama, and science policy as well as scien- 

 tific education. Since his days as president of the student body at the 

 University of Alabama, Flowers always had a particular interest in 

 the educational process. Tuscaloosa, his hometown where he practiced 

 law, is a university town. Flowers gained national renown in 1974 

 when the Nation discovered his oratorical excellence during the tele- 

 vised impeachment proceedings of the House Judiciary Committee. 

 At that time, he took an early position in favor of impeachment, when 

 his district was strongly behind President Nixon. His subsequent 

 successes in House races showed this did not hurt him politically, but 

 he was defeated in the 1978 Democratic primary in his attempt to 

 obtain the U.S. Senate nomination. Flowers' interest in energy did not 

 blossom until he turned down the chance to serve another term as 

 subcommittee chairman on the Judiciary Committee in 1977, in favor of 

 taking over a Science Subcommittee chairmanship. 



In 1977, the Fossil and Nuclear Energy Subcommittee included: 



Democrats Republicans 



Walter Flowers, Alabama, Chairman Gary A. Myers, Pennsylvania 



Marilyn Lloyd, Tennessee Hamilton Fish, Jr., New York 



Thomas J. Downey, New York Barry M. Goldwater, Jr., California 



Doug Walgren, Pennsylvania Manuel Lujan, Jr., New Mexico 



Bob Gammage, Texas Harold C. Hollenbeck, New Jersey 



Wes Watkins, Oklahoma Robert K. Dornan, California 



Mike McCormack, Washington Edwin B. Forsythe, New Jersey 



Dale Milford, Texas Louis Frey, Jr., Florida 



Ray Thornton, Arkansas 

 James H. Scheuer, New York 

 Richard L. Ottinger, New York 

 Robert (Bob) Krueger, Texas 

 Robert A. Roe, New Jersey 

 George E. Brown, Jr., California 

 Tom Harkin, Iowa 

 Jim Lloyd, California 



When Flowers took over the Fossil and Nuclear Energy Subcom- 

 mittee in a surprise choice in 1977, he enjoyed the opportunity to 

 exercise much broader jurisdiction, added to the committee's responsi- 

 bility with the abolition of the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy. 

 The full name of the Flowers subcommittee was Fossil and Nuclear 

 Energy Research, Development and Demonstration. 



