INCHING TOWARD TH I Ml IRK SYSTEM, 1959-79 477 



by Mr. McClory. It provides that the sole official system of units would be the metric 

 system. The administration bill, H.R. 6154 (introduced by Teaguc and 18 others, 

 mainly committee members) is similar in many respects, but it does not specify a 

 time frame. I recently introduced a metric bill, H.R. 6177, as a courtesy to reflect the 

 view of the institutions of labor in the country. * * * Mr. Fraser introduced H.R. 6264, 

 which would direct the executive branch to convert to the metric system, and this bill 

 also calls for assistance to individuals. 



McClory and Representative Sam M. Gibbons (Democrat of Florida) 

 led off the testimony, followed by a long parade of witnesses for and 

 against various types of metric conversion. 



Dr. Roberts of the Bureau of Standards reported to the committee a 

 healthy list of Federal agency initiatives in the metric area, including 

 the funding authorized by Congress for the Office of Education to help 

 the school systems to teach metric measurements. The Education 

 Amendments of 1974, enacted by the Congress and funded with about 

 $2 million annually, declared: "It is the policy of the United States to 

 prepare students to use the metric system." 



Svmington and Fuqua quizzed Dr. Roberts closely about the 

 administration's decision to abandon the 10-year timeframe. It proved 

 to be one of the key turning points. Labor was delighted to learn it had 

 a strong ally in the effort to drop the time limit, and the subcommittee 

 seemed inclined to remove this sticking point. 



LLOYD PLUGS FOR LABOR BILL 



Representative Jim Lloyd (Democrat of California), a member of 

 the subcommittee, made a strong statement to the subcommittee 

 essentially endorsing the labor bill because of its subsidies to workers 

 for tools. Lloyd presented his endorsement so forcefully that the AFL- 

 CIO lead-off witness, Kenneth T. Peterson, turned to Lloyd and re- 

 marked: "Congratulations upon your great statement." Also nodding 

 his pleased approval was Thomas Hannigan, Director of Research 

 and Education at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, 

 who testified for the AFL-CIO with Peterson. Hannigan had been a 

 voluble minority critic of the Commerce Department study as a member 

 of the Metric System Study Advisory Panel. 



The Symington subcommittee had more than an average interest 

 in the labor testimony on April 30 because of labor's role in defeating 

 the 1974 bill. Peterson attacked the assumption of the 1971 Commerce 

 Department study, and most of the ensuing metric legislation, which 

 advocated that "costs should lie where they fall" in metric conversion. 

 The labor representatives, with their testimony and exhibits, filled 169 

 pages of the hearing record, indicating the thorough and meticulous 

 fashion they approached an issue which they regarded as increasingly 



