820 HISTORY OF THl COMMUTE] ON SCIENC1 AND TECHNOLOGY 



"Mr. Sneaker, this is a most unusual rule on a conference report," 

 Boiling told the House on December 11. He added: 



It provides for two specific motions to strike two sec tions of the conference report, 

 ms 102 and 103 On those two sections, debate is permitted of 40 minutes, 20 

 minutes on a side; 20 minutes tor the proponents, and 20 minutes lor the opponents. 

 Thus there will be two 40-minute debates on two different motions to strike. 



The two hours of general debate were divided between the Science 

 and Joint \tomic bnergy Committees, with the minority in each 

 case entitled to half the time. The Teague forces received several 

 boosts prior to consideration of the bill in the House. On December 9, 

 the Senate endorsed the entire package by the top-heavy margin of 

 80-10. Also, Brown and Wirth, who had initially opposed the two 

 sections, swung over to support Teague. In a letter which scared the 

 opponents of loan guarantees, Brown and Wirth set forth their argu- 

 ments as follows: 



The bill as amended by conferees contains extensive safeguards regarding such 

 issues .is patent rights, state and local involvement, community impact, environ- 

 mental safeguards, antitrust and implications tor industry competition. 



While much attention has been devoted to the gasification and oil shale incentives 

 too little notice has gone to the fact that the sections in question provide lor a variety 

 ot other energy technologies, including biomass, solid waste conversion, solar and 

 industrial energy conservation. In a very real sense this bill represents the first major 

 Federal effort to move these technologies out ot the laboratory .mA into a practical 

 setting. 



When a committee does good work, they should receive our support. The House 

 conferees have presented us with a well-drafted bill and we urge you to support it. 



Hechler labeled the loan guarantees as- 

 sort ot like attaching a big platinum-plated caboose to the end ot the ERDA 

 train. It is very heavy. It is very well-appointed. It is like a private car. It is very diffi- 

 cult for the rest of the taxpayers of this Nation to pull it along * * * . This loan 

 guarantee program extends free enterprise tor profits tor the big energy companies 

 and socializes the losses 



WALL STREET JOURNAL ATTACKS LOAN GUARANTEES 



Just before the battle, an editorial in the Wall Street Journal, 

 attacking the loan guarantee proposal as centralization of Federal 

 bureaucratic power to the detriment of free enterprise, proved one of 

 the important swing factors. Ottinger and Hechler, who were sound- 

 ing out House Members on their attitudes, quickly discovered that 

 the editorial galvanized conservative Democrats and Republicans into 

 action. They decided to form a liberal-conservative coalition, mobiliz- 

 ing those who opposed using tax money to subsidize big energy con- 

 glomerates in bed with those who feared Federal interference in private 

 enterprise. Added to these forces were powerful members of the Appro- 



