Jerry Brown: “I rise with mixed emotions on the bill H.R. 2779, the Savings in Construction Act. While I believe that the Science…”

“I rise with mixed emotions on the bill H.R. 2779, the Savings in Construction Act. While I believe that the Science Committee's actions have improved H.R. 2779 substantially, I regret that we did not use this legislation to develop a more imaginative approach to measurement policy questions. At the outset, I also want to make sure our colleague from Tennessee, Mr. Tanner receives credit for the pivotal role he played in the improvements in H.R. 2779. His March 5 letter to Under Secretary of Commerce Mary Good, which was co-signed by most of the other committee Democrats, began the chain of events which has permitted this bill to move forward. The end results of his efforts are a more favorable atmosphere within the administration for the concrete block and recessed lighting industries and the improved legislative language now before us. This bill is no longer harmful to the Federal procurement process, and its potential damage to our national policy of metric conversion has been limited. H.R. 2779, as reported, does a credible job in solving $10,000 problems of a number of small businesses, but it lets a billion dollar national problem fester. As Congressman Ehlers so eloquently pointed out during Science Committee deliberations on this bill, our Nation's failure to adopt the metric system of measurement in a timely manner has cost U.S. companies billions of dollars in lost trade opportunities. This situation is ongoing and has the potential to get worse.”