486 HISTORY OF THE COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 



those 17 Board members he planned to nominate. FBI clearances took 

 several months, and by the time President Ford sent his nominees to the 

 Senate early in January 1977, it was natural that the Senate should balk 

 and decide to wait a few days until President Carter was inaugurated 

 and could send up his own list. 



PRESIDENT CARTER'S POLICY STATEMENT ON METRIC 



There was the customary confusion at the start of the new adminis- 

 tration after January 20, 1977. Obviously the President placed a higher 

 priority on the Cabinet appointments and the problems with getting 

 an acceptable CIA Director than he did getting the Metric Board 

 running. Teague cajoled and prodded the White House to no avail. 

 There was a strong push to get some kind of a policy statement, at least, 

 from the White House. This was finally forthcoming on March 12, 

 1977, in a message from President Carter to the American National 

 Metric Council, which said in part: 



Adoption of the metric system of measurement in the United States will bring us 

 in step with other nations of the world and enhance our ability to trade in foreign 

 markets. My administration supports the provisions of the Metric Act, and I will 

 submit to Congress my nominations for the U.S. Metric Board to see that its mandate 

 is carried out. I am sure that the members of this Board will be guided and inspired 

 by the accomplishments of the American National Metric Council and that they will 

 look forward to working closely with you in achieving the goal of a metric America. 



Teague was very gratified to learn that the President was on record 

 in support of the Metric Act, and had committed himself publicly to 

 nominate the Board members. In a statement to the American National 

 Metric Council on May 6, 1977, Teague said: 



I am delighted that President Carter has recently expressed his support for the 

 Metric Act and his intentions to send the names of his own nominees to the Senate for 

 confirmation. I urge the President to do this as quickly as possible so that the many 

 leaders in business, labor, industry and education as well as all our citizens will have 

 a clear signal that the Act, which calls for the conversion to the metric system by 

 individuals and organizations in accordance with the principle of voluntary participa- 

 tion, will be implemented. 



As 1977 wore on without action by the President, further excuses 

 were forthcoming from the White House staff. First it was that the 

 President's nominees had to have FBI clearance, which everybody 

 understood, but that took a lot of time. By the fall of 1977, a new 

 question had arisen, whether the nominations would be held up 

 pending a study of the future of the Metric Board by the President's 

 reorganization task force. The Science Committee pushed and prodded, 

 but little in fact was done until 1978. One of President Carter's ap- 

 pointees was Thomas Hannigan of the International Brotherhood of 

 Electrical Workers, who had led the charge to water down the 1975 



