BOYD, DAY, HARLLEE, MCKEE, MURPHY, AND THOMAS NOMINATIONS MONDAY, MAY 24, 1965 U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, Washington, D.C. The committee met at 9:30 a.m. in room 5110, New Senate Office Building, Hon. Warren G. Magnuson (chairman of the committee) presiding. The CHAIRMAN. The committee will come to order. There are some other Senators on the way, but we have a big schedule this morning and want to get started. The Senate Committee on Commerce this morning is considering in public hearing two nominations recently submitted by President Johnson. The first nomination is of Alan S. Boyd for the position of Under Secretary of Commerce for Transportation. We will then consider the nomination of Charles S. Murphy to be a member of the Civil Aeronautics Board, whom the President has indicated he will designate as the Board Chairman. In its preliminary inquiry, the Commission discovered no reason of a statutory nature which would prevent either man from assuming the positions to which they have been nominated. The committee has on file a complete financial statement of each nominee and this information will be made available to anyone who wishes to look at it. The committee has received two letters from Senators Holland and Smathers, who is here, enthusiastically supporting the nomination of Mr. Boyd. The committee has received a written endorsement from Senator Joseph D. Tydings strongly supporting the nomination of Mr. Murphy. The communications from these Senators will be printed where appropriate in this hearing record. (Letters from Senators Spessard L. Holland and George A. Smathers follow :) U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY, Hon. WARREN G. MAGNUSON, May 7, 1965. DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Thank you for your letter of May 4, inviting my comments on the nomination of Alan S. Boyd to be Under Secretary of Commerce for Transportation. Mr. Boyd's nomination has my enthusiastic endorsement and I would welcome an opportunity to appear before the Committee on Commerce in support thereof. With kindest regards, I am, Yours faithfully, Staff counsel assigned to this hearing: William T. Beeks, Jr. SPESSARD L. HOLLAND. 1 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. I 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 judgment 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 |