CONTENTS Anderson, Hon. LeRoy H., a Representative in Congress from the State Hoover, Samuel A., electrical and electronics engineer, National MacIntosh, James K., director, Public Utilities Division, Trans- portation and Public Utilities Services, General Services Admin- Letters, statements, etc., submitted for the record by- Anderson, Hon. LeRoy H., a Representative in Congress from the Excerpt from House Report No. 1975, 84th Congress Letter from Gilbert Gibson, president, Park County Electric Cooperative, Inc., to Lemuel A. Garrison, July 17, 1957----- Hoffman, Hon. Clare E., a Representative in Congress from the Memorandum from Elmer F. Bennett, Under Secretary, Depart- Memorandum from E. T. Scoyen, associate director, to Super- 70 71 111 Excerpt from Rural Electrification Administration report. 22, 29, 34 Excerpt from memorandum prepared by James K. MacIntosh, re meetings held at Butte, Mont., August 5-8, 1958. Excerpt of memorandum from Samuel A. Hoover, to the Superin- tendent, Yellowstone National Park, July 11, 1958. Letter from C. E. Eldridge, manager, Shoshone River Power, Inc., Letter from Dix C. Shevalier, executive assistant, Montana Power Co., Butte, Mont., to Sam Hoover, August 8, 1956- Letter from Hon. Fred A. Seaton, Secretary of the Interior, to Hon. Franklin G. Floete, December 30, 1957- Memorandum from Howard W. Baker, regional director, to Super- Letters, statements, etc., submitted for the record by-Continued MacIntosh, James K., director, Public Utilities Division, Transporta- tion and Public Utilities Services, General Services Administration: Excerpt from memorandum re meetings held at Butte, Montana, Moss, Hon. John E., a Representative in Congress from the State of California, and chairman, Special Government Information Sub- Letter from D. Otis Beasley, Administrative Assistant Secretary of the Interior, to Hon. John E. Moss, October 2, 1959-- Letter from E. W. Roberts, manager, Fall River Rural Electric, Letter from Hon. John E. Moss, to Hon. Fred A. Seaton, Septem- Letter from Hon. William L. Dawson, chairman, House Govern- Letter from Hon. William L. Dawson, chairman, House Govern- 48 15 3 2 4 ELECTRIC POWER CONTRACT FOR YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK MONDAY, OCTOBER 5, 1959 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SPECIAL SUBCOMMITTEE ON ASSIGNED POWER AND LAND PROBLEMS OF THE Washington, D.C. The special subcommittee met at 10 a.m., in room 1501, New House Office Building, Hon. John E. Moss (subcommittee chairman) presiding. Members present: Representatives John E. Moss, William L. Dawson, Neal Smith, and Clare E. Hoffman. Also present: James A. Lanigan, associate counsel, John Warren McGarry, special counsel, and J. P. Carlson, minority counsel. Mr. Moss. The subcommittee will now be in order. This special subcommittee having been duly organized under rules of the House of Representatives and a quorum being present for the purpose of taking testimony and receiving evidence, with the Honorable William L. Dawson, chairman of the full committee, Neal Smith, distinguished minority member, the Honorable Clare E. Hoffman, the meeting is hereby called to order. Pursuant to the committee's duty of studying the operation of Government activities at all levels with a view to determining economy and efficiency, the Honorable William L. Dawson (Democrat, Illinois), chairman of the House Committee on Government Operations has appointed this special subcommittee to review the facts and circumstances surrounding the award of a contract by the Department of Interior to the Montana Power Co. to supply electric power to Yellowstone National Park. The committee has received complaints alleging that the Department of Interior has wasted public funds in contracting with the Montana Power Co. for the power supply for Yellowstone National Park and has discriminated against Rural Electric Cooperatives which offered to supply power at a lower cost. The committee will take testimony today from the engineers of the Department of Interior and the General Services Administration repectively, both of whom handled negotiations leading up to the execution of the contract in question, and from an assistant commissioner of the General Services Administration. Unfortunately, the Associate Director of the National Park Service, who handled this matter is out of the country and unavailable for the hearing today. However, it is the intention of the committee to con 1 duct further hearings in the field in the near future and at that time he and other officials in the upper echelons of the Department of the Interior and the General Services Administration will be afforded the opportunity to testify. It should be noted for the record here at the outset of these hearings that the Washington officials of the Department of the Interior have been notably uncooperative in their delay in supplying the Government Operations Committee with files relating to this subject matter. Although certain simple information was requested by the committee on July 6, 1959, it was not received by the committee until October 2, 3 days before the hearing. I would like to place in the record at this point the July 6, 1959, letter requesting this information. (The letter referred to follows:) CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS, Washington, D.C., July 6, 1959. Hon. FRED A. SEATON, Department of Interior, Washington, D.C. DEAR MR. SECRETARY: Pursuant to its duty of studying the operation of Government activities at all levels with a view to determining its economy and efficiency, the Committee on Government Operations respectfully requests your forwarding a complete copy of the Department's files and a complete copy of the files of any agency which may have acted as your agent in connection with obtaining electric power service for Yellowstone National Park from January 1, 1953, to the present date. It is the committee's desire that the files shall include all notices or communications with any unsuccessful applicants to provide service as well as those of the company with which the contract was finally made. In order that the committee may be fully informed regarding this subject, committee staff members have been instructed to familiarize themselves with the background history of the contract in question and the attendant circumstances under which the contract was executed. Accordingly, the designated committee staff members will be calling at your Department later this week to consult with the appropriate officials. Your cooperation in this study will be greatly appreciated. Sincerely yours, WILLIAM L. DAWSON, Chairman. Mr. Moss. I would like also to enter into the record at this time a letter to Chairman Dawson from the Honorable James E. Murray, chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, dated September 30, 1959. (The letter referred to appears on p. 15.) Mr. Moss. The inability of the Senate committee to obtain any material whatever from the Department on this matter some 5 months after the original request, and the inability of the House Committee on Government Operations to obtain any material whatever from the Department on this matter until the Friday before the hearing, 3 months after the original request, can be termed nothing less than highly uncooperative. In contrast to this lack of cooperation by the Department of the Interior, the General Services Administration has assisted the House Committee on Government Operations by making any and all pertinent material in, its files relating to this subject matter available immediately upon request. The field officials of the National Park Service likewise were cooperative to the extent they were able to be. The committee realizes that the witness representing the Department of the Interior here this morning is probably not personally responsible for this effort by the Department to frustrate and delay the legitimate functions of this committee. Through the cooperation of the General Services Administration, certain rural cooperatives and a field investigation by committee investigators, the committee was able to gather together sufficient material to permit us to go forward with these hearings. Now, about 20 minutes before the scheduled time of these hearings I received a letter from Mr. D. Otis Beasley, Office of the Secretary of the Department of the Interior, which I will read. (The letter referred to was read as follows:) Mr. JOHN E. Moss, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, Washington, D.C., October 2, 1959. Chairman, Special Subcommittee on Yellowstone National Park Power, DEAR MR. Moss: In response to your letter of September 23, requesting that certain employees of the Department attend a hearing concerning the Yellowstone National Park power contract on Monday, October 5, 1959, at 10 a.m., in room 1501-B, New House Office Building, Washington, D.C., Director Conrad L. Wirth will represent the National Park Service and will be assisted by Assistant Solicitor Richard A. Buddeke, Chief Engineer Paul McG. Miller, and Electrical and Electronics Engineer Samuel A. Hoover. Mr. Eivind T. Scoyen is in Europe at the present time and is not expected to return until October 19, 1959. Sincerely yours, D. OTIS BEASLEY, Administrative Assistant, Secretary of the Interior. Mr. Moss. Mr. Lanigan, do you have a copy of my letter? Mr. Moss. At this point in the record I would like to reserve a space to include my letter of September 23 requesting Mr. Scoyan and Mr. Hoover to appear before the committee. (The letter referred to follows:) Hon. FRED A. SEATON, Secretary of the Interior, Department of the Interior, SEPTEMBER 23, 1959. DEAR MR. SECRETARY: A special subcommittee of the House Committee on Government Operations will hold a hearing on the Yellowstone National Park power contract on Monday, October 5, 1959, at 10 a.m. in room 1501-B, New House Office Building, Washington, D.C. It would be appreciated if the following employees of the Department of the Interior would be present at that time to answer questions regarding the contract and the negotiations which preceded it: Mr. Samuel A. Hoover, National Park Service; Mr. Eivind T. Scoyen, National Park Service. The subcommittee has been advised informally that Mr. Scoyen may be out of the country on that date. If so, arrangements will be made to hear him at a later time. Sincerely yours, JOHN E. Moss, Chairman, Special Subcommittee on Yellowstone National Park Power. Mr. Moss. I would also like to put into the record at this point the letter from Chairman Dawson designating me as the chairman of the subcommittee. |