690 HISTORY OF THH COMMITTEL OX S( II \( I AND TECHNOLOGY 



The disciplines touched by this bill fit well into the background and experience 

 oi Astronaut Jack Schmitt. Accordingly, I would like to explore the possibility of 

 securing, on a part-time basis, his help on this bill. His schedule could be made 

 relatively flexible so as to interfere least with his other duties 



I believe his help in identifying and securing the best witnesses, in analyzing 

 their testimony and his recommendations tor the mark-up of the bill would be of 

 great value both to NASA and this committee. 



Unfortunately, Dr. Schmitt was already deeply committed to his new 

 job as Special Assistant to the Administrator for Energy Research and 

 Development. 



In drafting the geothermal bill, the subcommittee stayed closely 

 in touch with the Senate Interior Committee which was at the same 

 time developing parallel legislation. The aim was to reach agreement 

 in advance on the major thrust of the legislation in order to avoid some 

 of the protracted conference fights which had occurred on other 

 legislation. As with the solar bills, a provision was included to trans- 

 fer the geothermal research apparatus to ERDA or a similar Federal 

 agency by the time it was established. Meanwhile, NSF and NASA 

 were given authority in the area through a geothermal energy coordina- 

 tion and management project. Loan guarantees, which excited so much 

 interest and opposition in subsequent years, were provided for in the 

 geothermal bill — up to $25 million for any single project and up to 

 $50 million for any combination of loans to any single borrower. 



"informal closed meeting" 



On April 10, 1974, the Subcommittee on Energy assembled in 

 room 2318 at 9:30 a.m., in order to discuss the current status of the 

 geothermal bill. The doors were closed, and the public was not ad- 

 mitted to the meeting, nor was the press or any outsiders. The officially 

 printed record states that the Subcommittee on Energy held 47 open 

 meetings and zero executive sessions during the 93d Congress. How 

 was it possible to achieve this 100-percent open meeting record? 

 Here's how: 



McCormack opened the meeting by stating: 

 This is not a meeting. It is an informal assembly, is that correct? 



McCormack's inquiry was immediately answered by Dr. Ratchford: 

 "That is correct." McCormack then added: 



Or discussion group, and we are keeping the record for our own personal purposes 

 only. Now, the purpose of the discussion this morning is to review with the members 

 of the subcommittee a proposed new version of the geothermal bill that we all co- 

 sponsored as H.R. 11212. 



One of the recurring themes throughout all the testimony received, starting 

 with Congressman Rhodes and Congressman Ullman, was that the bill should be a 

 much more comprehensive bill than the one we wrote which selected demonstra- 

 tion programs for hot rock formations and for geopressured zones. 



