(372 HISTORY OF THE COMMITTFI OXSCIFXCI AM) TECHNOLOGY 



Meetings: 52. 



\ umber of witnesses: 175 



\ umber of hearings and reports issued: 27 

 Pages of printed hearings and reports: 10,256. 



It might be noted that this was the most voluminous product of 

 any subcommittee then operating, and also constituted a record up to 

 that time. The record has since been eclipsed, with the expanded statu- 

 tory jurisdiction of the committee as well as the expansion of the com- 

 mittee staff. But back in the good old days of 1973^74, the prolific 

 hearings, publications, and legislative output of the subcommittee 

 were regarded with a great deal of awe. 



THE FIRST ENERGY BRIEFINGS 



Within a short time after the organization meeting, the new 

 subcommittee organized a scries of briefings, starting with James E. 

 Akins, Director of the Office of Fuels and Energy for the Department 

 of State, and followed by Jack Bridges of the Joint Committee on 

 Atomic Energy staff. Akins, who had been stationed in Kuwait, 

 talked on the implications of this country's dependence on Middle 

 East oil. Bridges, armed with three-dimensional multicolored graphs, 

 delivered a briefing he had done many times on the future projections 

 of energy supply and demand. The third briefing on nuclear energy was 

 presented by — guess who? — Mike McCormack himself. 



Aside from the substantive content of these sessions, they served 

 to spread the word around Congress about the subcommittee's leader- 

 ship. McCormack sent invitations to "All Members of Congress" and 

 followed up personally to draw noncommittee members to see what 

 was being accomplished. Among noncommittee members who attended 

 were Majority Leader O'Neill, and Representatives Chet Holifield 

 (Democrat of California) and Mel Price (Democrat of Illinois). 

 McCormack started another practice which publicized the subcom- 

 mittee's work: he sent to all Congressmen and interested outsiders a 

 series of "Energy News Notes" done up in a colorful style with the 

 subcommittee chairman's name in large type at the top. Jack Swigert, 

 who had recently taken office as executive director of the full com- 

 mittee, pointed out that McCormack's name had appeared in large 

 letters, with Teague's identification underneath in much smaller letters. 

 This lack of balance was later corrected. Brushing aside these picky 

 points, McCormack tackled his new job with great vigor and high 

 visibility. 



SHORT-TERM ENERGY SHORTAGES 



By May, the committee started formal hearings. With the pinch 

 of gasoline shortages being acutely felt throughout the Nation, the 



