468 HISTORY OF THE COMMITTEE ON S< II \< 1 AND IK HNOLOGY 



REPRESENTATIVE JOHN W. DAVIS AND THE METRIC BILL 



Chairman Teague referred the metric legislation to the Subcom- 

 mittee on Science, Research and Development, chaired by Representa- 

 tive John W. Davis (Democrat of Georgia). A short and stocky man 

 with a warm personality and ready smile, Davis was best known for 

 the informal way with which he could clarify for his colleagues very 

 complex scientiiic issues. He always seemed able to relate current 

 committee issues to his rich experience as an amateur astronomer, 

 accomplished airplane pilot, practicing lawyer, solicitor, and judge. 

 Davis represented a difficult northwest Georgia district which stretched 

 from the suburbs of Atlanta to the suburbs of Chattanooga, Tenn. 

 He had the headquarters of Lockheed Aircraft Corp., the largest 

 employer in his district at Marietta, Ga., as well as the industrial and 

 textile city of Rome, where he was born and had practiced law. 

 Elected to the House of Representatives in I960, Davis moved easily 

 into the chairmanship of the original Daddano subcommittee when 

 Daddario left Congress in 1971. In 1974, he was defeated in the Demo- 

 cratic primary by Representative Lawrence P. McDonald, a 39-year-old 

 member of the John Birch Society. 



In opening the metric hearings on March 19, 1973, Chairman 

 Davis stated: 



The question before us in these hearings is whether our Government should now 

 take the necessary steps to bring about a gradual and orderly changeover to the metric 

 system. I think the real question can be stated this way. We are going to have to make 

 a change and the question is whether it will be orderly and gradual or just how it 

 will be made. 



Representative J. J. Pickle (Democrat of Texas), a member of the 

 subcommittee, and Congressman McClory, both testified as cosponsors 

 of metric conversion legislation. Pickle and McClory, while rejecting 

 subsidies, advocated a clear-cut decision by the administration that 

 complete metric conversion would take place by the target date of 

 10 years hence — even though the conversion would not be accompanied 

 by involuntary sanctions. The administration rejected subsidies con- 

 tained in legislation introduced by Senator Pell and by Congressman 

 Fuqua. Pickle observed that the administration attitude sounded like 

 a "hands-off policy." Fuqua and Symington questioned NBS Director 

 Dr. Richard W. Roberts on what incentive there was for small business- 

 men to convert, and how they would be protected against losses of 

 conversion, but Dr. Roberts stood firm against using the "carrot and 

 the stick." 



Symington, with his customary twinkle in the eye, asked: 



Do you have a target date in your mind or in the Commerce Department? Do you 

 feel that you understand rather well when this beautiful moment will arrive and we 

 will be metric? 



