would be appropriate, both to provide a spokesman from different parts of the community as well as representatives from the city at large. Of course, as you observed yourselves, when you hold elections, you can never always predict what the result will be. The CHAIRMAN. Senator Eagleton? Senator EAGLETON. No questions. The CHAIRMAN. Senator Prouty? Senator PROUTY. Mr. Hahn, do you see any conflict of interest between your duties as an attorney in the city of Washington and as Chairman of the City Council? Mr. HAHN. No, Senator, I do not. I have arranged to eliminate for my own part any case where the District of Columbia is involved or the Federal Government. I have arranged, if confirmed, to comply fully with the laws as we understand it and go beyond it in several areas. Senator PROUTY. I understood that, but I thought it should be made clear for the record. Mr. HAHN. Thank you very much. Senator PROUTY. I assume you are prepared to resign as chairman of the Republican committee if confirmed. Mr. HAHN. Yes, sir. Senator PROUTY. I have every hope that you will be confirmed, and I wish you all possible success. Mr. HAIN. Thank you, Senator. The CHAIRMAN. The chairman will offer into the record a letter dated February 26, 1969, from the law firm of Amram, Hahn & Sundlun with respect to the matter which Mr. Prouty just brought up. (The letter referred to follows:) Hon. JOSEPH D. TYDINGS, AMRAM, HAHN & SUNDlun, Washington, D.C., February 26, 1969. Chairman, Committee on District of Columbia, Washington, D.C. DEAR SENATOR TYDINGS: This letter is sent to you by Gilbert Hahn, Jr., as well as all the partners of the firm of Amram, Hahn & Sundlun. Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1967 "Contemplates that members of the Council will serve on a part-time basis." We have reviewed Reorganization Plan No. 3, the Hearings before the Committee on the District of Columbia on the nomination of the D.C. Commissioner, et al, of September 20 and October 20, 1967, and in particular the Senate District Committee's Staff Memorandum of October 12, 1967 on "Impact of the Conflict-of-Interest Statutes on the Members of the New District of Columbia Government" (Appendix "C" pp. 235-36 of said Hearings). Based on these precedents, Mr. Hahn will, if the United States Senate should confirm him as Chairman of the City Council, agree with his partners to the following course of conduct. Mr. Hahn will remain a partner in his firm, but will not represent clients during his tenure as Chairman of the City Council in any proceeding in which the District of Columbia or the United States is a party or has a direct or substantial interest, nor will he appear formally or informally before any agency of the District of Columbia or the United States, on behalf of any client, nor will he render advice to any client in such cases. The present and future partners of the firm of Amram, Hahn & Sundlun will not represent clients during Mr. Hahn's tenure as Chairman of the City Council in any proceeding against the District of Columbia, nor appear formally or informally before any agency of the District of Columbia on behalf of any client. The partners of the firm other than Mr. Hahn may appear for a client in any proceeding against the United States and may appear before any agency of the United States for a client, but Mr. Hahn will not share any part of the fee for such services rendered during his tenure as Chairman of the City Council. Mr. Hahn agrees that for one year after his Government employment has ended he will not represent anyone other than the United States of the District of Columbia in connection with a matter in which the United States or the District of Columbia is a party or has an interest and in which he participated personally and substantially for the Government, or which was within the boundaries of his official responsibility during the last year of his Government service. Very respectfully yours, AMRAM, HAHN & SUNDLUN, BRUCE G. SUNDLUN, Partner. The CHAIRMAN. If there are no further questions of Mr. Hahn, we will excuse him. Thank you very much for being with us. Senator Eagleton? Senator EAGLETON. Mr. Chairman, I would like to make a brief statement, including commentaries, on this hearing. As we bring these hearings to a close, it is necessary that we, on this committee, emphasize the role of the U.S. Senate in the adviceand-consent process. First let me say what is not encompassed in that function. No. 1, we are not here today to deliberate on the question of home rule. I personally favor home rule. I would very much have preferred that this hearing today would not have been necessary and that in a free and open election the people of Washington, D.C., would have made the decision. Although I believe such law should be the law, it is not the law today, and thus under the existing law this committee. and the U.S. Senate has a duty to perform. Point two, we are not here today to decide whether other people in the community would have been better choices for the District Council. Reverend Fauntroy, an excellent man, and other District. residents are not before us for appointment. The only names before us are Messrs. Hahn, Tucker, and Moore. Further, we are not here to decide what is proper geographical or proper representation on a District Council, and perhaps that will be the subject of future hearings by this committee in the not too distant future. We are here today to decide whether the three nominees of President Nixon by background, education, and experience are fully capable of discharging the offices to which they have been appointed. This is the issue before us. This is the scope of our authority under the Senate's advise-and-consent function. The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much Senator Eagleton. Senator Prouty? Senator PROUTY. I have nothing further. The CHAIRMAN. Senator Mathias? Senator MATHIAS. Nothing further. The CHAIRMAN. At this point I will insert in the record a number of letters which I have received supporting the nomination of Mr. Hahn. 26-295-69-7 REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE, MY DEAR SENATOR TYDINGS: I am very pleased that the President has nominated Gilbert Hahn, Jr., to be Chairman of the District of Columbia City Council and wholeheartedly support this action. I hope he will be confirmed by the Senate very shortly. Sincerely, Senator JOSEPH D. TYDINGS, ALICE D. MARRIOTT. HECHINGER LUMBER YARDS, Washington, D.C., February 24, 1969. Chairman, Senate Committee on the District of Columbia, Washington, D.C. DEAR SENATOR TYDINGS: I urge you to confirm the appointment of Gilbert Hahn, Jr., as Chairman of the District of Columbia City Council. I have known Mr. Hahn personally for over 20 years, during most of which he has been both my personal and my business lawyer. For the last 7 or 8 years, he has been, in addition, my neighbor and fellow member of the Palisades Citizens Association, of which I was president from 1965 to 1967. I likewise have followed his career closely in the Republican Party, of which I have been a member and supporter for many years. Because of my many associations just mentioned, I know Mr. Hahn to be a highly intelligent-in fact brilliant-lawyer and thinker. The District of Columbia would be fortunate indeed to have him head its City Council. Sincerely, Hon. JOSEPH D. TYDINGS, RICHARD ENGLAND, U.S. COURT OF APPEALS, Chairman, U.S. Senate Committee on the District of Columbia, New Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. DEAR SENATOR TYDINGS: Your Committee will, I believe, consider this week the confirmation of Mr. Gilbert Hahn as President of the District of Columbia City Council. As Mr. Hahn's next door neighbor-literally-for many years. I am impelled to add my voice to the chorus urging his confirmation. During the years in which our families have shared a warm and cordial relationship, I have known Mr. Hahn as a man of great personal integrity and as a valued friend. Additionally, while a next-door neighbor might normally be an improbable advocate, perhaps I can appropriately take judicial notice of Mr. Hahn's high professional credentials as a lawyer and community leader, which make him eminently qualified for the position of City Council President. In short, I hope and am confident that your Committee will be able to confirm Mr. Hahn's appointment to this post of honor and responsibility. Warmest regards. Sincerely, DAVID L. BAZELON, Chief Judge. Hon. JOSEPH TYDINGS, THE PALISADES CITIZENS ASSOCIATION, Chairman, Committee on the District of Columbia, MR. CHAIRMAN AND MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE: I am William H. Waters, President of The Palisades Citizens Association. I appear as the elected representative of a 1300 membership organizations located in the Northwest region of the city including the neighborhoods of Berkeley, Briarcliff, Dumbarton, Foxhall, Indian Rock Village, Kent and Potomac Heights. Our area is north and west of Georgetown, Wesley Heights and Spring Valley. We have been in service to the community and the city for 53 years. I welcome the opportunity and privilege to appear before you to support The President's nomination of Mr. Gilbert Hahn for appointment as Chairman of the District of Columbia City Council. Mr. Hahn is a native Washingtonian and a long time resident of The Palisades area. I commend to you The President's nomination because I feel that the city is exceptionally fortunate to have the services of Mr. Hahn, and the Chairmanship of the City Council is a position and vantage point from which his abilities, intellect and leadership and diplomacy can best serve our city—both as a municipality and as the Nation's Capital. You should know, and must know, that many people are anxious to have good responsive government here, and are willing to help. We have in the District of Columbia (in the Washington Metropolitan Area) a reservoir of talent going to waste simply because it is being ignored and not called upon for assistance. I think there is a lack of discernment within the City Council and especially within the City Administration regarding the resources of talent avalable to help our city. Mr. Hahn is a veteran of proven ability and accomplishments, and the ventures of civic service with which he has been successfully associated are many and legion. His knowledge and acumen surely can cause a welding together of concerned, disciplined and enlightened citizens (and community forces) to change some of the problems that aggravate the City. There is need for a community bond within our City Government, and within and among the peoples of the City. Mr. Hahn can pull people together. I am confident that he can give our City the leadership its needs in these times of stress and challenge. I urge your recommendation to the United States Senate, and their confirmation of The President's appointment. Respectfully Submitted. WILLIAM H. WATERS, President. The CHAIRMAN. This will conclude, then, the hearings on the confirmation of the nominees for the District of Columbia City Council. (Whereupon, at 12:55 p.m., the committee recessed, to reconvene at the call of the Chair.) |