Brooks, Harvey, professor of technology and public policy, Harvard University, letters of: July 16, 1975_. Page 299 July 17, 1975_. 301 Bybom, Fletcher L., chairman of the board, Koppers Co., Inc., letter of 289 Carlson, Jack W., Assistant Secretary, Department of the Interior, letter of 228 Carter, Anne P., professor of economics, Department of Economics, 283 Chafe, H. David, director, Metals Information, American Society for 271 Chynoweth, A. G., director, Materials Research Laboratory, Bell Laboratories, letter of January 13, 1976. 232 Clogston, A. M., chairman, Committee on Applications of Physics, the 249 Cloud, Preston, Department of Geological Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, letter of June 27, 1975_. 282 Cohen, Morris, Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Massa- 287 236 292 Cox, Albert H., Jr., Lionel D. Edie & Co., Inc., letter of July 15, 1975----- Early, A. Blakeman, for Environmental Action, Friends of the Earth, Pub- 285 276 243 Evans, Brock, director, Washington office, Sierra Club, letter of July 17, 1975 Eckstein, Otto, Data Resources, Inc., letter of July 16, 1975_. 296 308 304 Fischman, Leonard L., senior research associate, Resources for the Future, 297 Gutmanis, Ivars, and Richard McKenna, article_-_ 277 Hannay, N. B., vice president, research and patents, Bell Laboratories, letters of: July 15, 1975___. December 17, 1975_. Henrie, T. A., executive director, Committee on Materials, article. 224 295 229 306 Mansfield, Hon. Mike, U.S. Senator from Montana, and Hon. Hugh Scott, Huddle, Franklin P., senior specialist in service and technology, Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress, letter of December 30, 1975 Llewellyn, Robert L., president, Society of Mining Engineers of AIME, letter of November 26, 1975_-_. 225 223 193 305 250 Osborn, Elburt F., distinguished professor, Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington, letter of June 25, 1975 Reilly, James D., president, American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical 223 286 Ruggles, Rudy L., Jr., president, Hudson Institute, letter of July 25, 1975__ Sharpe, Myron E. editor and publisher, Challenge, letter of August 15, 1975 Tunney, Hon. John V., U.S. Senator from California, letter of June 6, 1976 Watson, George A., executive director, the Ferroalloys Association, letter of July 15, 1975___ Watt, Kenneth E. F., professor, Interdisciplinary Systems Group Institute of Ecology, University of California, Davis, letter of July 9, 1975___. Weber, Arnold R., Carnegie Mellon University, letter of July 15, 1975--- Page 308 309 280 293 284 292 MATERIALS MANAGEMENT ACT OF 1975 TUESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1975 U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, Washington, D.C. The committee met at 9:30 a.m. in room 6202 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building; Hon. John V. Tunney presiding. OPENING STATEMENT BY SENATOR TUNNEY Senator TUNNEY. Good morning. Today the Commerce Committee begins hearings we hope will keep this Nation from repeating a serious mistake. Just 2 years ago we began to pay the terrible price for our failure to acknowledge and act on the weaknesses of our energy policy of the 1950's and 1960's. It should have taught us that the lead time for action on basic resources to avoid shortages, skyrocketing prices, and allocations is measured in decades. It should have taught us that we can lose our economic freedom to big business, manipulating the market of scarce materials on the one hand, and big bureaucracy struggling unresponsively to allocate those resources, on the other. It should have taught us that the cost of delay is in terms of inflation and recession-the loss of jobs, the reduced value of savings. It should have taught us that free enterprise-truly competitive free enterprise-must be protected from both big business and big Government. Above all, it should have taught us that it takes long-range planning. If we have learned that lesson, then all the misery brought by the energy crisis will not have been in vain. There is another crisis coming, in materials. It is not yet here and it is our hope, in these hearings, that we can take the first steps toward heading it off. We will address ourselves to the need for materials management, for streamlining materials information systems, and for establishing a coordinated materials research and development program. We hope to do these things while cutting, trimming, and slashing the present sluggish, unwieldy bureaucratic structures which are unable to see beyond next month's paycheck. In short, we hope to streamline the Government machinery which must deal with the coming emergency and in doing so, cut the costs of Government. Staff member assigned to these hearings: Linda McCorkle. (1) It is none too soon. Already some materials shortages are with us, our imports of basic materials are rising, prices are climbing. We already are witnessing rapid price fluctuations in materials markets, possibly arising from the formation of international cartels or unilateral price gouging by foreign suppliers. I am concerned that whenever the supply of any basic raw material, be it oil or something else, is suddenly and substantially below demand, the country will dispense with the free market mechanisms and accept allocation schemes. Control by Government, in my view, is as harmful to the competitive free enterprise system as control by international cartels. As a Nation, we represent only 7 percent of the world's population, but we consume 40 percent of the world's resources. We are 100 percent dependent on foreign sources for six basic raw materials. Worse, our dependency on foreign sources is growing. We have seen what the lack of a national energy policy has done to this Nation. We must not let it happen again. A nation that does not learn from its mistakes is doomed to repeat them. We must develop a national materials policy. During the past 25 years over eight groups and commissions have been assembled to prepare reports on various aspects of materials policy. The latest effort, the National Commission on Supplies and Shortages, was given a mandate to recommend institutional changes in Government to better respond to materials shortages. The deadline for that report has just been extended. We must act now on a national materials policy. These hearings, hopefully, are that beginning. We have an impressive witness list. The record we develop will provide a sound basis for proceeding with legislation to deal with the materials crisis. I think it is necessary to do this before it is too late. [The bills and agency comments follow:] |