76 



Let me ask you, has the Council asked the Commission for a meet- 

 ing to discuss the 'Commission recommendations ? 



Dr. Steatton. Yes, sir. On the 26th of February the Vice President 

 convened the CounciL I am under the impression that that is the only 

 time that they have met as a whole. I was invited to be present and 

 made a complete presentation. We had a discussion. 



Mr. Rogers. Has the Council been in touch with you again since 

 that meeting ? 



Dr. Stratton. Not formally; no, sir. Dr. Wenk and I are in con- 

 versation very often but not through any formal communication. 



Mr. Rogers. I was thinking of the Vice President as chairman of 

 the Council with the acting Council members. 



Dr. Stratton. No, sir. 



Mr. Rogers. Because I have not seen any action by the Council yet 

 in recommending to the President. 



Dr. Stratton. I am under the impression that they have not met. 



Mr. Rogers. I am of the same impression, and that concerns me 

 because in setting up the Council this committee, along with other 

 Members of Congress, thought of them as spearheading recommenda- 

 tions for the President and the executive as well as for Congress, and 

 I am somewhat concerned that there seems to be some foot dragging 

 on the part of the Council in carrying out the recommendations of 

 the Commission in the form of urging that we get going. I am hope- 

 ful, Mr. Chairman, that this committee, as you have said, when they 

 come over perhaps can explore that to see if we can do some urging 

 to get some activity going in the executive branch. We understand 

 that the new President must have some time to do this. I am not speak- 

 ing in a partisan line. I think my colleagues know this. 



I would say the same thing if it were a Democratic administration, 

 and have been, as you may know, much more critical of the Demo- 

 cratic administration in the x)ast than I have been of any Republican 

 administration. 



Mr. Pelly. Would the gentleman yield ? 



]\Ir. Rogers. I yield. 



Mr. Pellt. It seems incomprehensible that you would expect any- 

 body to come with any firm plan on this tremendous thing in 60 days. 

 I think you cannot rush through a thing like this or you are going 

 to make a lot of mistakes, 



Mr. Rogers. Mr. Pelly, I realize that it will take some time. What 

 I am saying is I have seen no action on the part of the Council to 

 urge the recommendation of an agency. The report goes far beyond 

 the agency, as I am sure you know. The agency is what the Federal 

 Government should do and what action it should take. I think the 

 quickest and fastest way is to get the executive to move. We can 

 discuss this for centuries and we will have the Department of Defense 

 say, "I don't think the Coast Guard ought to be moved," or we will 

 have Interior, and this is possible and I understand that, but what I 

 am saying is that the Commission has blueprinted the action. They 

 have studied it for 2 years. What we want is some action. They have 

 recommended action and I hope that this committee, and I certainly 

 plan to as a member, will see if we cannot get some action. 



Now, I think you were right in recommending the Coast Guard 

 as the agency that you are building around in the new agency. The fact 

 that they may have some defense responsibilities in Vietnam does 



