Hon. WARREN G. MAGNUSON, U.S. SENATE, May 13, 1965. Chairman, Committee on Commerce, DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: I have your letter letting me know that your committee would be pleased to receive any comments that I would care to submit in connection with the nomination of Alan S. Boyd of Florida, presently Chairman of the Civil Aeronautics Board, to be Under Secretary of Commerce for Transportation. I am grateful for this opportunity to say a few words in his behalf. I have known Alan Boyd for many years, and know others who know him. He is an individual with high ideals, unquestionable integrity, and sincerely dedicated to rendering public service. He has a distinguished war record, having served in World War II and the Korean conflict. I am indeed proud to have him as a personal friend. In our long years of friendship, and knowing others who also know him, I can vouch for his integrity and unimpeachable character. He has demonstrated his competence and outstanding ability as Chairman of the Civil Aeronautics Board, where he carried out his duties in the highest tradition of public trust. Alan Boyd, in my opinion, is eminently qualified for the position of high public trust to which he has been nominated. I feel confident that in the position of Under Secretary of Commerce for Transportation, he will make an outstanding contribution to the national interest in this field. He is a man of sound judgment, always keeping uppermost in his mind that which is best for the country. We in Florida and indeed the people of the Nation can be justly proud of his outstanding record of public service. I recommend Alan S. Boyd, without any reservation whatsoever, to you and the members of your committee, and sincerely trust that his nomination will be acted on promptly and favorably to the Senate for confirmation. With kind regards, I am, Sincerely yours, GEORGE A. SMATHERS, U.S. Senator. The CHAIRMAN. All right, Alan, if you will come forward, we will be glad to hear from you. Senator Smathers, you have a statement to make at this time? Senator SMATHERS. Very briefly, I would like, Mr. Chairman, to go on record again enthusiastically endorsing the nomination of Alan Boyd as Under Secretary for Transportation in the Department of Commerce. Alan has served with great distinction as a member of the CAB and as Chairman of the CAB. I am certain that those with whom he has come in contact, he has won their admiration and respect, even those with whom he has disagreed, he has won those people's respect. I have every reason to believe he will make an outstanding Under Secretary and do a top quality job in his new job, just as he has done in the past. I thank you for this opportunity to say something for him. The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Senator Smathers. Senator Holland planned to appear, but we will keep the record open. I know he feels the same way. Senator SMATHERS. I might add that I speak both for Senator Holland and myself and for that matter, for the entire Florida delegation. The CHAIRMAN. Before you go, we have a short biography of Mr. Boyd relating to his background in the field of transportation. He took his oath of office as member of the CAB on November 16, 1959. after his appointment by President Eisenhower to serve the remainder of the term expiring December 31, 1962, commencing January 1, 1963. He served as Chairman since 1961. He was reappointed by President Kennedy for the full 6-year term and then served as Chairman. Then President Johnson announced his intention to name him as Under Secretary for Transportation. I think this should go in the record. Prior to his appointment, Mr. Boyd was a member of the Florida Railroad and Public Utilities Commission. He was appointed to the commission by the Governor of Florida in 1955 and in 1956, he ran for and was elected to a full term on the commission and served as chairman from 1957 to 1958. (The biographical sketch of Mr. Boyd follows:) BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF ALAN S. BOYD Alan S. Boyd first took his oath of office as a member of the Civil Aeronautics Board on November 16, 1959, after his appointment by President Eisenhower to serve for the remainder of the term expiring December 31, 1962. He was reappointed by President Kennedy in 1962 for a full 6-year term, commencing January 1, 1963. He has served as Chairman of the CAB since 1961. On April 27, 1965, President Johnson announced his intention to nominate Mr. Boyd as Under Secretary of Commerce for Transportation. Prior to his appointment to the CAB, Mr. Boyd was a member of the Florida Railroad and Public Utilities Commission in Tallahassee. He was appointed to the commission by the Governor of Florida in July 1955. In 1956 he ran for and was elected to a full term on the commission and served as its chairman in 1957-58. Born in Jacksonville, Fla., on July 20, 1922, Mr. Boyd completed his formal education at the University of Florida and the University of Virginia. After receiving his LL. B. degree in 1948 he practiced law in Miami. He was appointed by Governor Collins in 1954 as chairman of a civilian committee for the development of aviation in Florida. He also served as general counsel for the Florida State Turnpike Authority in 1955. Mr. Boyd was a pilot in the Troop Carrier Command in World War II from 1942 to 1945, as well as in the Korean conflict. He has over 3,000 hours as a pilot. He is a member of the American Bar Association. Mr. Boyd is married to the former Flavil Townsend, of Jacksonville. They are the parents of a son. The CHAIRMAN. I want to ask Senator Smathers, How many members are there on the Florida commission? Senator SMATHERS. Three members and, of course, they deal with rates with respect to railroads and particularly with respect to public utilities and also rates with respect to trucks. The CHAIRMAN. So he has had the benefit of that experience and the people elected him to serve. Senator SMATHERS. I might add, he could have been easily reelected over and over again had he chosen to run. The CHAIRMAN. He also has had a background in Florida other than the CAB in aviation. You served as general counsel for the Florida State Turnpike Authority in 1955, which deals with surface transportation. Then you also was chairman of the committee for the development of aviation in Florida. I point this out to show that Alan Boyd has a varied background in all fields of transportation and I personally, of course, have dealt with him over the years he has been at CAB. I know of no one, as long as the President saw fit to go into Government to make this appointment, I know of no one in Government who is more qualified for this very important job down in Commerce than Alan Boyd. I want to ask Mr. Boyd though, What is your conception of the responsibilities of the Under Secretary of Transportation? Mr. BOYD. Well, Mr. Chairman, first of all, I would certainly like to thank Senator Smathers for his comments. Í have valued his friendship for a long time and every encounter we have causes me to increase that value. My concept of the Office of Under Secretary of Commerce for Transportation is that in the executive branch of the Government, there should be a focal point for developing transportation policy to be presented to the Congress where legislative action is required. To put it in another context, it seems to me that the most important thing here is that we should be looking at what kind of a society we expect to live in in the future, what effect does transportation have on that and what effect Government policies have on the type of transportation and the alternative approaches to make this a better society. I think it is axiomatic that the Federal transportation policy has a rather dramatic impact on the Nation in which we live and I would hope to be able to develop through transportation research various alternative approaches so that the means of going in one direction or another could be clearly outlined for the Congress to make its judg ment as how to best accomplish the kind of society in which we hope to live. The CHAIRMAN. Transportation, of course, is a greater segment of our economy percentagewise, our gross economy, than any other country in the world, mainly because of the geographical terrain and the bigness of the country. The last figures I had, it accounted for about 25 percent for transportation and allied industries of our economy in gross national product and it becomes a very sensitive, important matter to keep the economy on balance and this was the reason for the establishment of this particular Under Secretaryship at Commerce. We felt there was a need to phase into the responsibilities of the Department of Commerce for the economy of the Nation, a specialist in this particular field of transportation, because of its great percentage, dollarwise and jobwise, in our economy. In the Manual of Orders from the Department of Commerce setting out the duties and responsibilities, No. 1, and I quote: His particular duties and responsibilities shall include formulating in consultation with executive agencies concerned over all transportation problems and programs within the executive branch of the Government to assure the balanced development of the Nation's transportation system. Do you intend to pursue a policy of liaison with the so-called independent agencies involved in transportation in order to be helpful and in correlating what this responsibility sets forth here? Mr. BOYD. Yes, sir, very definitely, and I will propose to the Secretary that, in addition to maintaining personal liaison, the Department of Commerce submit, in cases involving policy matters, a statement of position which would hopefully try to represent the various alternatives that the regulatory agency should consider. I want to make it very clear, Mr. Chairman, however, that I have no concept of this job as being one to tell the regulatory agencies what to do, but merely to maintain liaison with them, and I feel from my experience at a regulatory agency, and with my friends in the Interstate Commerce Commission, that we can maintain a continuing liaison without any friction whatsoever because we are all seeking the same end; that is, the strongest possible United States. The CHAIRMAN. And always conscious of the fact, however, that the regulatory agencies, the CAB, ICC, Maritime Board, and particularly those three, are arms of Congress. Mr. BOYD. Absolutely. The CHAIRMAN. But the importance of your position your new position, will be to aid and assist them in correlation of an overall approach to these problems. Mr. BOYD. That is absolutely correct. The CHAIRMAN. Among other things, of your duties and responsibilities, is administering the aircraft loan guarantee program. What is that? Mr. BoYD. That is a statutory provision which orginally was enacted, I believe, in 1958, Mr. Chairman. The concept was to provide a means whereby the local service carriers primarily could obtain modern equipment on reasonable terms. In 1962, that function was transferred to the Department of Commerce, the rationale being that it was not a regulatory function. It is one with which I have considerable familiarity because I dealt with it for 3 years at the CAB. The CHAIRMAN. This is an extension of the bill that Senator Monroney and myself first inaugurated on aircraft loans, and then it was transferred over to the Department of Commerce. Mr. BOYD. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. For administration. I have no further questions. Senator Monroney? Senator MONRONEY. Mr. Chairman, I am delighted to have the distinguished Chairman of the Civil Aeronautics Board before us in the so-called promotion of him to be Under Secretary of Commerce for Transportation. No man in my memory, and it goes back a number of years, has ever more ably performed the duties in being Chairman of the Civil Aeronautics Board as has the distinguished Commissioner, and soon to be a member of the Commerce Committee's official family. He dealt most fairly with every phase of aviation, the big and the little looked alike to him in their rights before his board, and he was vigorous in his efforts to be certain that all rights, big or little, were equally represented as they came before him. He was a very strong advocate of air safety, of the development of new forms of use of aviation, such as the rotor wings, helicopters, and he was primarily responsible for helping to save that service, but the House seemed determined to abolish it this year. He is a great friend of Federal airlines and little airlines, and all cargo carriers, and supplementals, and, of course, was friendly in due course of his operations with the giants of the aviation industry, as well. So I know no man that is more competent and able to go on this job of being Coordinator of Transportation, because that is what I consider this job to be. For the distinguished candidate we have before us, Mr. Boyd, let me read a section from the Interstate Commerce Act. I believe most of it was written by Senator Smathers. I had a little part in putting a few things in, and the rest of the members of this committee, many of whom are sitting here today, also did. I read from the parts 49, United States Code, preceding paragraph 1,301, 901, and 1001, and I quote: It is hereby declared to be the national transportation policy of the Congress to provide for fair and impartial regulation of all methods of transportation subject to the provisions of this Act, so administered as to recognize and preserve the inherent advantages of each; to promote safe, adequate, economical, and efficient service and foster sound economic conditions in transportation and among the several carriers; to encourage the establishment and maintenance of reasonable charges for transportation services, without unjust discriminations, undue preferences, and advantages, or unfair or destructive competitive praetices; to cooperate with the several States and the duly authorized officials thereof; and to encourage fair wages and equitable working conditions; all to the end of developing, coordinating, and preserving a national transportation system by water, highway and rail, as well as other means, adequate to meet the needs of the commerce of the United States, of the postal service, and of the national defense. All of the provisions of this Act shall be administered and enforced with a view to carrying out the above declaration of policy. To me, that is almost the bill of rights of the Transportation Act, which, as I say, came from an act that was introduced by Senator Smathers when he was a member of this committee. Is there anything in this statement of principle that you disagree with, or would be disinclined to try to carry out? Mr. BOYD. No. On the contrary, Senator Monroney, I accept that wholeheartedly and without reservation, just in the terms in which you expressed it as a bill of rights of transportation. Senator MONRONEY. This would enable you to moderate, or mediate the different difficulties as you see it from your position as an arbitrator and a promoter of all forms of transportation in commerce to be fair and considerate of the rails versus trucks, and trucks versus air, and trucks versus buses, and so on, for all of our great transportation methods? Mr. BOYD. Absolutely. I would hope the bulk of my efforts would be in the area of promotion, rather than arbitration, but I believe I am prepared to take stands on arbitration when it is required in the national interest. Senator MONRONEY. I believe there has been a place there, a gap, that has needed to be filled because of lack of understanding of the other man's problem and the other type of transportation problem and by mediating it, why perhaps some of the static that has been generated in the past can be eliminated. Mr. BOYD. We will undertake to do that, sir. Senator MONRONEY. One thing I feel sure, having followed your career since you have been Chairman of the Civil Aeronautics Board, in all forms of transportation, you would be inclined to be an innovator and to adopt the new, and bring about the use by the public of any new form of transportation, no matter what it might be, even though it might be competitive with an existing form of transportation. Mr. BOYD. Yes, sir; that is correct; and I think that one of my basic tenets is that one of the sure things in this life is change, and if we try to maintain only the status quo, we are not going to make a great deal of progress. |