Senator DOMINICK. So that, in fact, part of your pay then would be chargeable to the Council.

Mr. ANDERSON. Well, this is a legal matter which the memorandum there will state. I would leave that to the legal people.

Senator DOMINICK. It says in the legal memorandum:

Such amounts will be charged, of course, to the budget of the Council rather than that of the Recreation Board.

If so, why then it seems to me that we have a problem under Dual Compensation Act. This is a real problem, a legal problem as such. It has nothing to do with the question of whether you are qualified for the job or anything like that, but it is a legal problem that is very serious. I gather that your job as a GS-13 pays you more than it would as a councilman.

Mr. ANDERSON. Yes, it does.

Senator DOMINICK. It is obvious that the easy way to handle it would be to resign from the District Recreation Board, but I would hate to see you do that. I can see that this would solve the problem. But this you would prefer to keep; is that right?

Mr. ANDERSON. I feel that part of the experience that I have gained during the number of years I have been involved in this particular profession would be of value and would be one of the means of my contributing to this Washington community. Recreation is my chosen profession, and I would like to follow within the framework of my profession if possible.

Senator DOMINICK. Is the Council the organization which determines who will be on the District Recreation Board, who will be employed by them?

Mr. ANDERSON. I am not too sure about that, but if this is true, then I would feel that I would disqualify myself on Recreation Department Board matters.

Senator DOMINICK. Then your expertise in that field wouldn't be as useful as it otherwise would be, would it?

Mr. ANDERSON. What I am saying, Senator, is that the expertise that I have gained as a civic leader, the expertise that I have gained as a roving leader, which has brought me into the areas of housing, of education, police and community relations, and during the past 10 years I have developed relationships within these particular areas, certain expertise and knowledge which I think would be valuable. Senator DOMINICK. Thank you, Mr. Anderson.

The CHAIRMAN. The Senator from Vermont has a question.

Senator PROUTY. Mr. Anderson, I wonder if you have given thought to what exect serving without pay as Deputy Director would have on your retirement income after your services in the District are over?

Mr. ANDERSON. There was some thought. I had talked to a person who is in the financial business, and he has suggested as a possibility that this money could be credited toward retirement. This was only a possibility. He said it was something that probably could be explored, which I don't have too much knowledge or background on.

Senator PROUTY. It seems to me you are willing to make a great sacrifice to start with. I would hope it wouldn't go beyond the initial thing. I think you should look into that very carefully.

The CHAIRMAN. The only additional thought I have is that, as I understand it, the Councilmen do not have any retirement plan, at

least I guess they don't have yet. I suppose once they get operational they will have on. Most legislative bodies do, including the United States and the Congress and the various State legislatures and the various city councils, but I think the retirement question that Senator Prouty raises is an important one, and I suggest to you that you take a very careful look at it, because if you were to take a leave-withoutpay status from your duties on the Recreation Board, you may lose and find yourself losing some very substantial retirement benefits in the long run, particularly if it is going to take as much time as each of you said it is going to in the initial phases of being a Councilman. And so I wish you would take a careful look at this, Mr. Anderson. Mr. ANDERSON. Could I comment here?

The CHAIRMAN. Certainly you can comment.

Mr. ANDERSON. I would like to say, Mr. Chairman, that it is my feeling and my opinion in some anticipation on my part that many of the meetings of this Council will be held during the hours when people are available, that many of the meetings would be held at night. They would be after the regular hours of operation of the Recreation Board as far as my job would be concerned. So I think this is a matter that would bear consideration also.

The CHAIRMAN. I think so. I think we had better take a very close, hard, careful look, and I want you to clearly understand that this is no reflection, I think I speak for everybody on this committee, on your admirable qualifications, but we are faced with a hard legal problem here, and I think we are going to have to go into it very carefully. The Senator from Virginia.

Senator SPONG. Mr. Anderson, I join the other members of the committee in expressing my admiration for your desire to be of service and your qualifications. Beyond the fact that this is a legal question, as stated, there are two things that concern me. Aside from the appointment of the Recreation Board, you would also have to review the recreation budget as it came before you.

Secondly, the bills that have been reviewed by this committee in the past years, regarding home rule that contain the specific provision against city employees serving on the legislative body of the city, this pertains by statute or by city charter almost universally throughout the United States, and this does give me some concern, and with the others I want to look into this thoroughly. But I would also say that I think Senator Bible has given you some good advice about this retirement proposition, as has Senator Prouty, and I would look into that immediately.

The CHAIRMAN. Further questions? Thank you very, very much, Mr. Anderson. Our next nominee is William S. Thompson.

Mr. THOMPSON.

STATEMENT OF WILLIAM S. THOMPSON, NOMINEE TO BE MEMBER OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CITY COUNCIL

Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, my name is William S. Thompson, and I live at 4343 Blagden Avenue NW., in the District of Columbia.

I am presently an attorney in the general practice of law. Almost all my clients reside within the District of Columbia. They come

from every stratum of the community. My legal practice keeps me in close touch with the laws of the District and the application of those laws, as well as with the people who are subject to those laws.

My education includes a bachelor of science degree in commerce and finance from Howard University and a bachelor of laws degree from Robert H. Terrell Law School.

I served in the U.S. Army during 1942-44.

My experience in professional and civic activities crosses a number of fields. I was a member of the Council for Law Enforcement for the District of Columbia which brought improvements in the District of Columbia jail and prison facilities and sought ways to reduce crime.

Presently I am a member of the Board of Trustees of the Legal Aid Agency for the District of Columbia, and of the World Peace Through Law Center in Geneva, Switzerland. I am the secretarytreasurer of this worldwide association of lawyers.

I am also a member of the District of Columbia committee of the Republican Party.

Other activities include: Member and adviser to the Northwest Boundary Civil Association, member of draft board No. 10 from 1945 to present, member and present President of the Washington Urban League, member of the American Society of International Law, and chairman of Group 18: American Section of Amnesty International. I did not seek the position of City Councilman. I believe I am aware of the heavy responsibilities which will be imposed upon me as a member of the first, and hence unprecedented, Council. Yet, I accepted the nomination to the Council as an honor and a privilege, with the knowledge that the task of this Council will be a monumental one.

If confirmed, I intend to work as a member of a team. I would look to Mayor Washington for executive leadership in managing the government to meet the District's day-to-day needs. The Council's role, and hence my own, would be to lay down general policies, within the guidelines set by Congress, for the guidance of the executive, While our functions would be separate, our approach would be cooperative. I have known Walter Washington over 30 years.

I applauded his nomination. I would consider it an honor and a pleasure to work in harness with him, Deputy Mayor Fletcher and the eight other Council members now appearing before this committee. The CHAIRMAN, Thank you, Mr. Thompson.

In your profession as a lawyer is there anything that would constitute a conflict if you are confirmed as councilman?

Mr. THOMPSON. Mr. Chairman, I have had two conferences with the Deputy Attorney General in person and about three by telephone, and we have gone into these matters thoroughly and I have been given some guidelines. There were a couple of things that disturbed me. I therefore talked it over with the Deputy Attorney General and with my law partners.

I have a firm of three persons and one lawyer who is employed by the firm, and we have made certain agreements which seem to be all right with the Deputy Attorney General with reference to the matters that did disturb you. To wit, there were a couple of cases I have against the District of Columbia, for personal injuries involving accidents, persons falling in a hole, over a tree limb. We have this type of practice.

The CHAIRMAN. If you had any cases of that kind where you or your partners were involved, you would certainly have to do something. You certainly couldn't be suing yourself as a councilman, could you?

Mr. THOMPSON. This is true, and I was advised that I could refer these cases to other counsel and not share in-not to members of the firm but lawyers without my firm, and not share in the proceeds. The CHAIRMAN. I understand what you are saying is that the cases that you have in your office now, in which the District of Columbia government is a party defendant, will be transferred to a lawyer beyond the firm.

Mr. THOMPSON. That is true.

The CHAIRMAN. And the firm would not share in any of the proceeds from a judgment that might be obtained against the District of Columbia government.

Mr. THOMPSON. That is correct.

The CHAIRMAN. Is that what you are saying?

Mr. THOMPSON. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. I want to be very careful on this point because we are trying, as I repeat, to set guidelines and to launch this Council off as best we can, so I wish you would look into that very carefully. Now, your statement does indicate that you have an ownership in a Washington community broadcasting company and that you are trying to get a television here. That will be before the FCC. I don't know if there is any type of a license that you have to secure from the District of Columbia government or not. Is there?

Mr. THOMPSON. Not to my knowledge. I discussed this thoroughly with the Deputy Attorney General, and he could see no reason why I should not remain a member of the board.

Actually, we are just a corporation now with an application before the FCC, trying to obtain a license to have another television and broadcasting station here so my only interest presently is a stock purchase, hoping that we will sometime in the future obtain a license. Senator DOMINICK. Will the Chairman yield?

The CHAIRMAN. Yes, I yield.

Senator DOMINICK. Are you in competition with Mr. Nevius and Mr. Fauntroy?

Mr. THOMPSON. I would hope not, because I have known each for many years and we are good friends.

The CHAIRMAN. I see a lot of the media here and I don't suppose there is anything wrong in having a radio man or a television man or a newspaper person as a city councilman. I would hope there wasn't. But as long as you have checked this out I am satisfied, Mr. Thompson. The Senator from Vermont, Mr. Prouty.

Senator PROUTY. Mr. Thompson, I hate to see another Republican lost to the District Committee, but I have had an opportunity to visit with you in my office. I enjoyed it very much. I did tell you the story of a young staff member of my office who is a lawyer practicing on his own.

A woman came to him who had a rather involved case which he didn't feel qualified to handle at the time, so he called I believe the dean of Catholic University Law School asking what lawyer he should refer the case to, and your name was mentioned. And you took the case and won. I am very glad to see you.

The CHAIRMAN. The Senator from Colorado.

Senator DOMINICK. Mr. Thompson, I am a little concerned about this law practice of yours to the extent that I gather that you are going to stay as a partner, even if confirmed, and yet I gather that your law practice as a whole is involved in some instances in any case in suits against the District. Are you making an arrangement with your law firm that you won't participate in profits while you are on the Council or what is the arrangement that you refer to?

Mr. THOMPSON. The arrangements, Mr. Senator, are these: No. 1, we will not take a case involving a suit against the District of Columbia. This case would be referred to some other law firm.

No. 2, any client that we had to represent before a board involving the District of Columbia, why I would not participate in that particular case. This is a statement I made to the Department of Justice, to the Deputy Attorney General at the Department of Justice, and further arrangements were made that if one of my partners represented any board involving the District of Columbia, that I could not share any of the proceeds, and the books of the firm should so show, the proceeds from the fee, if a fee should be involved.

The further connection there, Mr. Senator, in consultation with my client, in view of the fact that I anticipate being out of office for a long period of time at the outset anyway, we have made arrangements to hire another attorney as of November 1, 1967.

Senator DOMINICK. I only bring these questions up, Mr. Thompson, because I have great respect for your ability and the work that you have been doing here. But you are also a member of the American Bar Association.

Mr. THOMPSON. Yes, sir.

Senator DOMINICK. I believe that the ethics provisions of the American Bar Association hold that no firm can represent any client before any legislative body where an associate or member of that firm is a member of that body. This has created several problems in state. legislatures. I presume that it covers city councils, but I am not sure. Maybe you want to take a look at it, from the point of view of your association with the American bar.

Mr. THOMPSON. I am a member of the American Bar Association and a member of several committees. I would like the time to check into that, Mr. Senator. I don't have the answer for you now.

Senator DOMINICK. It is something that has concerned me over a period of time and I recommend that you do this just from the point of view of your own relationship with your partners.

Mr. THOMPSON. Yes, sir.

Senator DOMINICK. What is the American Section of Amnesty International of which you are chairman?

Mr. THOMPSON. It is a section, it is a group, an international group that works toward freeing prisoners whom we feel are held unjustly. It is more or less a letter writing situation to heads of various countries. Senator DOMINICK. Do you receive any pay from any of the outside activities that you have other than your law practice?

Mr. THOMPSON. No, sir.

Senator DOMINICK. I am talking about the groups that you belong to.

Mr. THOMPSON. No, sir. All groups I serve on a voluntary basis.