Statement before the Interstate Commerce Commission, Ex Federal Communications Commission- Petition for Rulemaking to Require Broadcast Licensees to Show Nondiscrimination in Their Employment Practices. FCC Docket No. 18244 RM-1144, July 3, 1968___ Proposed Rulemaking: Communications Common Carriers- 184 193 Proposed Rulemaking: Radio Broadcast Services-Non-Dis- crimination in Employment Practices, 35 Fed. Reg. 8825 Memorandum Concerning Civil Rights-Poverty Role of the Federal Power Commission, March 18, 1969_- Memorandum Concerning Extent of the Commission's Power to Equal Employment Opportunity Action Plan (Revised October 20, 1971) To Implement Executive Order 11478, Administrative Order No. 131, Equal Employment Opportunity, Memorandum Concerning FPC Regulation of the Employment Practices of Natural Gas Companies and Public Utilities, Memorandum Concerning FPC Programs Relative to Non- discriminatory Use of Licensed Project Facilities, February 25, Program and Procedures to Ensure Equal Employment Oppor- tunity to Employees of the Federal Power Commission, Memorandum Concerning Minority Employment Practices of Memorandum Concerning Minority Employment Practices of Six Regulated Electric Utilities, February 29, 1972. Memorandum Concerning Analysis of Federal Trade Commission v. Sperry and Hutchinson Company, Supreme Court Opinion, Memorandum Concerning FPC Procedures for Obtaining Com- pliance with Regulations at Licensed Projects, Part B, Rec- reational Opportunities and Development at Licensed Projects, Regulations Under the Federal Power Act, April 7, 1972___ Memorandum of Legal Authorities Prepared in Response to Questions Posed March 2, 1972, Hearings, Subcommittee No. 4, Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. House of Representatives__ The Washington Post, editorial, "A Question of Zeal," March 2, 1972- THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE FEDERAL POWER COMMISSION IN THE AREA OF CIVIL RIGHTS THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 1972 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, CIVIL RIGHTS OVERSIGHT SUBCOMMITTEE, Washington, D.C. The subcommittee met, at 10 a.m., in room 2237, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Don Edwards of California (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Present: Representatives Edwards of California, McClory, Keating, and Wiggins. Also present: Jerome M. Zeifman, counsel; Alfred S. Joseph III, assistant counsel; George A. Dalley, assistant counsel. Mr. EDWARDS. The subcommittee will come to order. Today the Civil Rights Oversight Subcommittee of the House Committee on the Judiciary looks into the manner in which the Federal Power Commission is carrying out its responsibilities in the area of civil rights. The need for improvement in minority employment opportunities in the power industry, for example, is great. This subcommittee has information indicating: In 1970, Spanish-surnamed Americans held 3.6 percent of all jobs reported in the equal employment opportunity report nationwide survey; but they hold only 1.6 percent of all jobs in the utility industry. Spanish-surnamed Americans in 1970 held less than 1 percent of the official, managerial, professional and sales jobs and only 1.5 percent of all technicians jobs in the utility industry. While women held 34 percent of the positions reported in EEOC's overall survey in 1970, only 15 percent of the utility industry's employees were female. Nine out of 10 female employees studied on the 1970 survey in the utilities industry were clerical workers. Black participation in the electric and gas utility industries is the lowest (6.1 percent) among the 23 industries reporting employment of 500,000 or more. One-half of all utility establishments filing equal employment opportunity reports with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 1970 had no black employees. In the November 1971 Equal Employment Opportunity Commission hearings on the utilization of minorities and women in gas and (1) electric utility companies, Commission Chairman William N. Brown III, stated that he was "stunned by the rampant dscrimination" he saw in the public utility industry. He continued: "Employment discrimination is not new to us. The people who serve this Commission have spent most of their adult lives working on problems of human rights. We deal with discrimination every day. "Yet we are shocked. We are astounded in the face of testimony which indicates actual systems of repression by gas and electric utility companies. Not only are women and minority individuals now working in the lowest job classifications; it appears that they are locked into these undesirable jobs for the rest of their working lives." (See p. 153 of this document for full text.) It would appear not only that the Federal Power Commission has the authority to consider the employment practices of regulated companies, but that it has an obligation to do so. In a September 17, 1971 letter to FPC General Counsel Gordon Gooch, David L. Norman, Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Division, concluded as follows on the issue of the authority of the FPC to regulate employment practices of regulated companies: The commission has ample authority to issue regulations barring employment discrimination by natural gas companies regulated by the commission and by electric companies holding hydroelectric plant licenses. The primary basis of Mr. Norman's conclusion, with which I wholeheartedly agree, is that the commission is obligated in making a decision on a license application to consider matters of fundamental national policy. The national policy against discrimination in employment practices is clearly spelled out in title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Federal Communications Commission in 1968, relying upon an opinion of then Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Division, Stephen J. Pollak, promulgated rules prohibiting employment discrimination by broadcasters subject to FCC jurisdiction. There is thus clear precedent for a Federal regulatory agency undertaking measures to deal with racial discrimination in employment. In spite of Mr. Norman's opinion and the regulations issued by the Federal Communication Commission in this area, this subcommittee has information that it does not feel it has authority to play a part in achieving the national policy of nondiscrimination in employment. We are here today to discuss with the Federal Power Commission their responsibilities in the civil rights area and we would like to focus our discussion on their ability to help eliminate discriminatory employment practices in the utility industries. This morning our witness is the Chairman of the Federal Power Commission, Mr. John N. Nassikas. Mr. Chairman, we welcome you to these important hearings. Will you please identify for the record the gentlemen with you and then you may proceed with your statement. Mr. McCLORY. Will the Chairman yield? Mr. EDWARDS. Yes. Mr. McCLORY. Mr. Chairman, I certainly want to express a warm welcome here this morning to my friend and fellow alumnus from Dartmouth College, the Chairman of the Federal Power Commission, John Nassikas, and to express the interest which we have in his service and in the statement he is about to present. I know of his personal dedication to the cause of civil rights and human rights and I have sort of wondered, since the hearing was scheduled, the extent of activity or the extent of authority or the extent of interests which the Federal Power Commission as an enforcement agency might have with regard to this general subject, since we have designated by legislation specific authority in other agencies of government for the purpose of enforcing equal rights and opportunities among all American citizens. But from a preliminary survey or examination of the statement about to be persented, it appears that the Federal Power Commission has provided additional interest beyond that which I suppose they would have. So I certainly want to join in welcoming you here this morning and express my interest in this statement and in your appearing here and your important and able work as Chairman of the Federal Power Commission. Mr. NASSIKAS. Thank you. Mr. EDWARDS You may proceed, Mr. Nassikas. STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN N. NASSIKAS, CHAIRMAN, FEDERAL POWER COMMISSION, ACCOMPANIED BY WEBSTER P. MAXSON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR; GORDON GOOCH, GENERAL COUNSEL; DREXEL D. JOURNEY, DEPUTY GENERAL COUNSEL; T. A. PHILLIPS, CHIEF, BUREAU OF POWER; EMMETT J. GAVIN, ASSISTANT TO THE CHAIRMAN; LEON J. SLAVIN, CHIEF, ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF, BUREAU OF NATURAL GAS; MARY C. DORN, FEDERAL POWER COMMISSION WOMEN'S COORDINATOR; CLAUDIUS L. FIKE, DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF PERSONNEL PROGRAMS; ALEXANDER RANDOLPH, JR., EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY OFFICER; DANIEL GOLDSTEIN, ASSISTANT GENERAL COUNSEL; SUSAN A. MARSHALL, LEGAL ASSISTANT, OFFICE OF GENERAL COUNSEL; ANITA P. GREEN, ASSISTANT TO CHAIRMAN; AND NORMA B. SMITH, ASSISTANT TO CHAIRMAN Mr. NASSIKAS. Chairman Edwards, Congressman McClory, I would like to first introduce the gentlemen who are seated with me at the table. To my extreme right is Mr. Webster Maxson, who is the Executive Director of the Federal Power Commission. To my immediate right is Gordon Gooch, General Counsel of the Federal Power Commission. To my left is Drexel Journey, Deputy General Counsel of the Federal Power Commission. I have also brought with me, in the event that the committee wished to inquire of any of our key employees in the subject matter of the hearing, I have also brought with me, and have given a list to the Reporter so that he can incorporate it in the record, additional personnel. There are two assistants to me as Chairman who are seated in the back of the room, Mrs. Norma Smith and Mrs. Anita Green, and also Mr. T. A. Phillips, Chief of the Bureau of Power; Mr. Emmett J. Gavin, who is one of my legal assistants; Mr. Edward O. Savwoir, Administrative Officer of the Bureau of Power; Leon J. Slavin, Administrative Officer, Bureau of Natural Gas; Mary C. Dorn, the Federal Power Commission Women's Coordinator; Claudius L. Fike, who is the Director of the Office of Personnel Programs; Alexander Randolph, who is our Equal Employment Opportunity Officer; Daniel Goldstein, Assistant General Counsel; Susan Marshall, legal assistant in the Office of General Counsel. I welcome the opportunity to testify, Mr. Chairman, in regard to the subject matter of this hearing-the responsibilities of the Federal Power Commission in the area of civil rights with specific emphasis on the issue of regulation of employment practices of regulated industries. There are problems associated with minority group employment in the regulated industries of this Nation, whether investor owned, publicly owned or cooperatively owned, just as there are problems in the non-regulated industries and in various units of government. I do not minimize any of the problems. They are real. In my statement of January 30, 1970, in hearings before the Subcommittee on Energy, Natural Resources, and the Environment of the Committee on Commerce, U.S. Senate, I discussed the general problem of minority employment in the utility industries and actions which the Commission had taken and continues to pursue in support of the full enjoyment of all civil and human rights by all persons, regardless of race, creed, or color. At that time, in January 1970, I stated, in part, at page 36, that this was a matter of extremely important national concern. There are some companies that have done some significant work in this area. I think progress is being made. It is slower than it should be. As I recognize the problem, I am mindful also that the Congress now has before it a number of legislative proposals for dealing with this general situation. I am also mindful that there was a committee of conference that approved a version of a House bill and Senate bill as of yesterday. I have reference, of course, to the various legislative proposals, including those concepts favored by the administration, which have been advanced in regard to the equal employment opportunity provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. 2000 (e), et seq., and the responsibility of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, particularly in terms of remedies of wrongful acts. The subsequent portions of this statement are directed at informing this committee of the actions which the Federal Power Commission has taken and is taking in regard to civil rights and equal employment opportunities. The bills which I referred to earlier in the committee of conference, of course, provide additional enforcement provisions for equal employment remedies at the initiative of the EEOC. Also there are judicial enforcement responsibilities of the Department of Justice assigned under the bills in certain areas. By statute, we are an economic regulatory agency with defined, and therefore limited, compulsory authority within which to act administratively. We are not the chosen instrument of Congress for the admin |