NOMINATION OF ROBERT L. KUNZIG

TUESDAY, MARCH 11, 1969

U.S. SENATE,

COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS,
Washington, D.C.

The committee met, pursuant to call, at 10:40 a.m., in room 3302, New Senate Office Building, Senator John L. McClellan (chairman) presiding.

Present: Senators McClellan, Jackson, Ervin, Harris, Metcalf, McCarthy, Allen, Mundt, Percy, and Stevens.

Also present: James R. Calloway, chief counsel and staff director; Ann M. Grickis, assistant chief clerk; Glenn K. Shriver, professional staff member; and Arthur A. Sharp, editor.

OPENING STATEMENT OF THE CHAIRMAN

The CHAIRMAN. The committee will come to order.

We have before us this morning the nomination of Mr. Robert L. Kunzig, to be Administrator of the General Services Administration. We welcome you here, Mr. Kunzig. I see that you are accompanied by the distinguished Senators from Pennsylvania, Senator Scott and Senator Schweiker.

I am glad to welcome them. Senator Scott, we will be very glad to hear any comment you wish to make about the nominee.

STATEMENT OF HON. HUGH SCOTT, U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA

Senator SCOTT. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I would like to begin by expressing my appreciation to the committee for hearing us at this time. Senator Schweiker and I both have

statements.

Mr. Robert L. Kunzig, of Harrisburg, Pa., was nominated as Administrator of General Services Administration on the 27th of February last.

Since 1967 Mr. Kunzig has been a member of the Governor's Cabinet of Pennsylvania, and has served as executive director of the General State Authority, the same initials, the so-called Borrow And Build agency for the financing and construction of large State building projects. This describes, as this booklet will indicate, the nature of his duties over this period. It involves the construction of government buildings, college and university buildings, bridges and other public construction. It is by far the largest single enterprise in Pennsylvania of its character, and of course one of the largest in the country.

I would like to ask the consent of the committee to include at the end of his testimony a copy of this booklet which demonstratesThe CHAIRMAN. Very well. Do you want it printed in the record or just

Senator SCOTT. I would like to have it included by reference.
The CHAIRMAN. It may be received and so included.'

Senator SCOTT. Mr. Kunzig was an Army captain in World War II and subsequently a civilian prosecutor in the Buchenwald war crimes cases; and from 1953 to 1955 was counsel to the House Committee on Un-American Activities, and from 1955 to 1958 was Legal Adviser to the Civil Aeronautics Board. He was a member of the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission from 1958 to 1961.

From 1963 to 1967 I am very proud to say that he served very ably as my administrative assistant.

He is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and of its law school.

The General State Authority functions are recited in this attached booklet.

The General Services Administration functions are, of course, well known to this committee.

I have known Mr. Kunzig for many years as a friend, as a coworker, and throughout the greater part of his career in connection with the highly important duties which have been entrusted to him, and which he has fulfilled with a tremendous amount of credit on all occasions, and has not left behind him any sort of criticism of his administrative capacity and his ability to do the job, which is indeed of the highest. His duties in the State GSA are quite similar to those duties which he would have in a considerably larger sense in the Federal GSA.

He supervised construction programs totaling at the moment $1,800 million and Governor Shafer has also named him as head of the State highway and bridge authority and also the Pennsylvania Transportation Assistance Authority.

I submit that he is eminently qualified to be Administrator of the GSA, as a brilliant executive and administrator and well worthy of the trust and confidence of the President and of the Congress and, therefore, it is with great pleasure that I join in presenting to the committee Mr. Robert L. Kunzig of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and I now yield to my colleague, Senator Schweiker. The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much, Senator Scott. Senator Schweiker.

STATEMENT OF HON. RICHARD S. SCHWEIKER, U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA

Senator SCHWEIKER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and members of the committee, and my senior colleague, Senator Scott.

I appreciate the opportunity to be here today and to support the nomination of Bob Kunzig.

Senator Scott has already detailed his background, so I won't go into that. I do want to say this. I have known Bob for many years as a personal friend and as a participant in the governmental process.

I The document referred to will be found in the files of the committee.

He has been a leader all of his life, he has been active, he has been an administrator, and I think the most important part of his adminstrative experience is right in the field that we are considering him for this specific job, in terms of his having been the head of the General State Authority for the State of Pennsylvania.

I am very pleased to endorse his nomination before you gentlemen and to support my senior colleague.

Thank you.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much, Senator.

Are there any questions of our distinguished colleagues before we hear from the nominee?

COMMENTS OF SENATOR MUNDT

Senator MUNDT. Mr. Chairman, I would like to add I have known. Bob Kunzig for a long time. I have been associated with him on a few projects and I can endorse everything said about him by the two Pennsylvania Senators. He has initiative, a nice cooperative spirit, and is experienced in this field, and I think he would make an excellent GSA Administrator.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very kindly. Are there any other members who wish to make any comments before we hear from the nominee?

Senator Percy?

COMMENTS OF SENATOR PERCY

Senator PERCY. I would also like to associate myself with the very strong endorsements we are privileged to have had. I feel that Mr. Kunzig will make a fine Administrator.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, sir.

Very well. Mr. Kunzig, we will be happy to have you give us any information you feel that we should have, that has not been covered by your representatives in the Senate.

STATEMENT OF ROBERT L. KUNZIG, ADMINISTRATOR-DESIGNATE, GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

Mr. KUNZIG. Thank you, Senator McClellan. It is difficult to say something after all of those kind words. I am very grateful for the opportunity and very appreciative of the nomination by President Nixon and I feel that the work of the GSA in Washington is very much in line with the work that I have been doing in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in a much more enlarged sense, of course, and hope that this committee will see fit to give me the opportunity to go forward and to move into the position and carry out those responsibilities.

I thank you for permitting me to come here today.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much, sir.

How long have you been in public service, how many years of experience have you had?

Mr. KUNZIG. I would say, sir, that I have-well, since the Second World War, I have been really in the public life constantly in one capacity or another, and I feel that I have been in Washington for quite some time as a member of the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission.

The CHAIRMAN. How long would you say that was?

Mr. KUNZIG. That was 3 years there, and then for almost 4 years I was Executive Director of the Civil Aeronautics Board here in Washington, so that was 7 years; then there was almost 4 years as administrative assistant to Senator Scott.

The CHAIRMAN. What are you doing in Pennsylvania now?

Mr. KUNZIG. Head of this organization which, oddly enough, has the same initials, GSA, which is akin to what in other States would be called the secretary of public works or secretary of construction, but we call it the general State authority.

The CHAIRMAN. How long have you served in that capacity?

Mr. KUNZIG. I have been in that capacity, sir, since the new Governor came in, which is exactly 2 years ago.

The CHAIRMAN. So, you have had a dozen or more years of active service in public affairs and officialships?

Mr. KUNZIG. Yes, sir. My Army service was, oddly enough, in the Quartermaster Corps in supplies, which I think also fits in with GSA. The CHAIRMAN. How long did you serve there?

Mr. KUNZIG. Four years.

The CHAIRMAN. Four years there. It seems to me that you have good credentials. You obviously are experienced in public responsibility in the past and that would serve you well in meeting the duties that you will assume as Administrator of the GSA.

You have a good background to qualify you to make a good official in this capacity.

Personally, I am glad to welcome you. I may say that if confirmed, which I am sure you will be, this committee as you know, has jurisdiction over GSA and there will be quite frequently the need for consultations and the need for a pleasant working relationship. We will look forward to that.

Mr. KUNZIG. Thank you, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Very well. Does any member of the committee have any questions?

COMMENTS OF SENATOR ERVIN

Senator ERVIN. I just want to say that I trust that you will, in your administration of GSA, that you will match the high record set by my fellow North Carolinian, Lawson B. Knott, Jr.

Mr. KUNZIG. Mr. Knott was very courteous to me and invited me over and we had quite a talk together.

The CHAIRMAN. Senator Percy.

Senator PERCY. Mr. Kunzig, you are going to have a lot of problems when you go over there, despite the fact that it is a very fine well-run

agency.

I would just like to mention two of them.

There is a second Federal building being built in the city of Chicago. A whole square block downtown was leveled and then in the freeze on construction, the work on the building was stopped and the building is just sitting there.

You will get a lot of pressure on you to start work on it again I suppose. However, I took the position that they never should have started it in the first place. I feel we ought to go ahead with those types