In view of the great good that would be accomplished throughout our Nation by standardizing this changeover time, I respectfully urge that a favorable do-pass recommendation be given to this bill by your committee.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Mr. Walker. As we have a number of witnesses ahead of us we appreciate the brevity of your statement. Next we shall hear from the Honorable Edward Derwinski, who has introduced H.R. 9152.

STATEMENT OF HON. EDWARD J. DERWINSKI, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF ILLINOIS

Mr. DERWINSKI. Mr. Chairman, I urge favorable action by the committee on legislation to provide a uniform period for daylight saving time across the country.

Along with a number of other Members of the House, I have introduced a bill, H.R. 9152, for this purpose because I feel that the enactment of such legislation would be of such benefit to millions of American citizens, as well as organization and services now struggling to cope with the confusion we have at the present time.

My bill would only set a standard date for commencing and ending daylight saving time for those States and communities who wished to adopt it. Daylight saving time would begin on the last Sunday in April and end on the last Sunday in October of each year.

This system would eliminate the jumble of time changes now facing travelers, particularly during the periods when various States and communities are changing to and from daylight saving time. It would also alleviate the enormous expense which railroads, airlines, and other transportation media must bear during the time changes.

The legislation I am advocating would permit each State to decide whether it wanted to adopt daylight saving time and would merely standardize the dates on which it would begin and end for all sections of the country which chose to adopt it.

Mr. Chairman, I am convinced of the merits of legislation to provide a uniform period for daylight saving time and hope that it will receive favorable consideration by the committee and the Congress in this session.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you also Mr. Derwinski, for your concise views.

Mr. DERWINSKI. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for the opportunity. The CHAIRMAN. We will now hear from the Honorable John Hansen.

STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN R. HANSEN, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF IOWA

Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, I appreciate the opportunity to submit my testimony on the subject of establishing by legislative action a time uniformity for the United States.

Over the past several years we have seen in Iowa a hodgepodge of clock settings that has confused everyone. Each locality was a law

58-797-66

unto itself and a person traveling through the State could change times an untold number of times.

The action of the Iowa Legislature last year in setting up a uniform time for the entire State was one of the most appreciated actions by the citizens of the State. All of us knew that when a time was given it would be the same time as everyone else had. No more of the vast confusion that had reigned in years gone by.

Certainly, there are reasons for shortening the time period from April to October, and I feel these should be given careful consideration. But the clock confusion that is with us on a State-by-State basis could be cleared up by the enactment of a national time uniformity bill.

The problem is greater than just within the bounds of an individual State. The Seventh Congressional District of Iowa which I represent, borders on the State of Nebraska. Many of my constituents work in Nebraska. By law, Nebraska is not permitted to adopt daylight-saving time. The confusion and inconvenience this causes is hard to describe. School, shopping, and recreational activities are all adversely affected. A uniform time law would avoid this difficulty.

I urge the members of this committee to consider carefully these factors as you study the proposals on this matter. Thank you for the courtesy extended to me in allowing me to submit this comment.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Mr. Hansen. We will now hear from the Honorable George Shipley, our colleague from the State of Illinois.

STATEMENT OF HON. GEORGE E. SHIPLEY, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF ILLINOIS

Mr. SHIPLEY. Mr. Chairman, a proper revision of the Standard Time Act of 1918 is not only long overdue but also essential for effective functioning in the jet age. As sponsor of H.R. 10573, I am grateful for the opportunity to testify in behalf of this bill.

Before 1883, every community established its own time according to the position of the sun. This plan was fine for isolated communities, but the United States was not then a nation of isolated communities. Railroads connected the cities, and the confusion that resulted from the conflict between local times finally prompted the General Time Convention of 1883. It was from this convention that standard time was adopted for the railroads and was used by the Federal Government and throughout the Nation. Although the 1883 convention established standard time, this standardization was not codified into Federal law until 35 years later, in 1918.

The 1918 law provided for four time zones in the continental United States and one time zone for Alaska. It provided that standard time should apply to interstate commerce, to officers and departments of the Federal Government, and to acts performed by and legal rights of persons subject to the jurisdiction of the Federal Government. And the Standard Time Act of 1918 failed to provide for its own enforce

ment.

Many things have changed since 1918. The country has grown to 50 States that are connected by the speed of a jetplane. It is true that we no longer have the confusion of a difference in minutes between the times of localities; however, confusion still exists.

Mr. Chairman, my proposal is simply a realistic modification of the 1918 law. It is meant to bring that law up to date and to eliminate the confusion that has resulted from local options in establishing time standards.

I first propose to amend the 1918 law by establishing two new time zones in Alaska and extending an existing time zone to include Hawaii. The International Conference held in Washington, D.C., in 1883, established a method of determining time for international purposes. This method was based on Greenwich, England as the prime meridian of longitude (0°) and divided the world into 24 zones of 15° of arc or 1 hour in time apart. The 1918 law adopted this principle by establishing the time in the continental United States according to the 75° of longitude west of Greenwich, the 90°, the 105°, and the 125°, all of which are multiples of 15. The logical scheme of 15° difference between time zones was abandoned in the establishment of the "fifth time zone, which shall include only Alaska, on the 150°." Alaska does, in fact, use four time zones separated by the 120° of longitude west of Greenwich, the 135°, the 150°, and the 165°. Alaska uses this logical order, established by international agreement, in violation of the 1918 act. Hawaii, not covered by the 1918 law, uses the 150th meridian as the basis for its time. My proposal would legalize Alaska's four time zones and include Hawaii in the Standard Time Act. It would further designate the newly established fifth zone as U.S. Yukon time, rename the present fifth zone and proposed sixth zone as U.S. standard Alaska-Hawaii time, and designate the proposed seventh zone as U.S. standard-Bering time. The two new zones would thus be named and the present U.S. Alaska time zone would be renamed so that its name would indicate the proposed inclusion of Hawaii in this zone.

Section 2 of the present law provides that this law apply to interstate commerce, to Federal Government officers and departments, and to acts performed by and legal rights of persons within the jurisdiction of the Federal Government. Such application might have been sufficient in 1918. The practice that this law codified was proposed by the railroads, and they participated in interstate commerce. The passage of this bill, with its daylight saving time feature at that time, was important to the war effort, and this would concern Federal officers and departments. In any event the law was an improvement over the confusion that existed before 1883 and could have existed at a later date unless this law had been put into effect. But this application is not sufficient today. We do not live in a world of isolation; we live in a world of communication. We must provide for this fact. Let me give you an example of the problems that could arise in making a simple telephone call. If I wished to call someone in Richmond, Va., at noon on May 15, not only must I know that Richmond is in the eastern time zone, but I must also know that Richmond goes on daylight saving time on May 30. If I then wish to call someone in Arlington, Va., my knowledge of Richmond time is useless; for Arlington time is 1 hour later on May 15 although it is the same time on May 30. It should not be necessary for a man to keep by his phone a chart of every locality and its date of time change. Some order must be established, and my bill is to establish that order.

The provision of my proposal concerning section 2 of the present law would imply Federal preemption of the field of time legislation so that States could not have conflicting laws. This would eliminate the recurrence of a decision such as was advanced in Massachusetts State Grange v. Benton (1925), F. 2d 515, in which the Massachusetts Daylight Saving Act was judged constitutional because the wording of section 2 of the Standard Time Act of 1918 did not preclude State action on the same subject matter. The constitutional justification for the extension of this law "for all purposes" is in article I, section 8, of the Constitution, which provides Congress with the authority to "fix the standard of weights and measures."

My final proposal provides for the enforcement of this law. The Interstate Commerce Commission, which is in charge of the administration of this act, has repeatedly asked Congress to reexamine the act and make some provision for the administration or enforcement of the act. It seems strange that the Standard Time Act has been in effect since 1918; yet no provision has been made for its enforcement. Certainly, an unenforcible law is little better than no law at all. The suggestion of standard time was initiated in 1883. The present law merely reaffirms that suggestion. If we are to eliminate confusion, we must have a strong law, an enforcible law-and that law must be enforced.

The CHAIRMAN. Are there any questions? If not, we thank you for your testimony, Mr. Shipley.

Mr. SHIPLEY. Thank you for the opportunity, Mr. Chairman.

The CHAIRMAN. The next witness is our colleague from California, the Honorable James Corman.

STATEMENT OF HON. JAMES C. CORMAN, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

Mr. CORMAN. Mr. Chairman, the patchwork manner in which daylight saving time is now observed means that America has uniform time for only 5 months of each year-from October to April. The other 7 months we spend in a state of confusion, as far as time is concerned, because of the many different time laws, standards, and practices permitted in the United States.

The self-inflicted burden of confusion is close to a national disgrace. The Congress now holds the power to correct this situation by passing the pending legislation, which would at least fix the starting and ending dates for daylight saving time by making the last Sundays of April and October the mandatory switchovers.

I support this legislation strongly and hope the House acts on it this year.

One important point should be noted: While fixing the start and end of daylight saving time, the pending legislation does not in any way affect State-level and local-level decisions on whether to utilize daylight saving time at all. The integrity of local and State authority over daylight saving time thus remains unimpaired.

This is not a daylight saving time bill. This is not a Federal grab for more power. This is merely a bill to bring a measure of order out of the chaos created by our nonsensical time practices. This is perhaps the only piece of legislation that directly affects the daily life of every

American. I believe that fact should spur the House to enact the legislation.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you for your views, Mr. Corman. We will now hear from the Honorable Kenneth Gray, sponsor of a bill now before this committee. Mr. Gray, we welcome you to the

committee.

STATEMENT OF HON. KENNETH J. GRAY, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF ILLINOIS

Mr. GRAY. Mr. Chairman, I deeply appreciate the opportunity of appearing before your committee in behalf of legislation I introduced early in the first session of this Congress, H.R. 2424, to amend the Standard Time Act so as to provide that standard time shall be the measure of time for all purposes.

Mr. Chairman, before I begin my remarks in behalf of H.R. 2424, I would like to thank you and the members of the committee for scheduling these hearings. I realize this legislation has been somewhat controversial because many people like fast time for the convenience of playing sports during the daylight hours and for other reasons. However, I believe that the extreme hardship, loss of life, and other factors are more impelling reasons for adopting a standard time in this country. Yes, Mr. Chairman, I say loss of life, because many people trying to meet the schedules of travel or of meetings, find that the time has advanced in another city and not having allowed themselves an extra hour or two, rush unnecessarily. I have heard of instances that resulted in the loss of life.

I believe the greatest inconvenience being placed on our citizens is that being placed on our schoolchildren of America. Thousands of young boys and girls are forced to stand out on the rural roadways of America, before daylight, waiting on the schoolbus to pick them up. To me this is much more important than having an extra hour for someone to play golf in the afternoon.

Mr. Chairman, the national chairman of the Citizens for Standard Time comes from my congressional district, Mr. H. H. Horner, Route 2, Murphysboro, Ill. Another stanch fighter for standard time on the national level is Mrs. Ray Thies, of Campbell Hill, Ill. Both of these friends and constituents have sent me thousands upon thousands of signatures from people all over southern Illinois and from other parts of the Nation strongly urging Congress to amend the Standard Time Act of March 19, 1918, to provide standard time throughout the United States. I would be happy to supply the committee with these petitions containing thousands of signatures. However, I am sure your files are filled with copies of these petitions. Therefore, I will not burden you and your record with these names. However, should you need them I will be glad to turn them over to the committee.

It would appear to me, Mr. Chairman, that it would be a very simple matter for people to adjust their starting time for meetings, and so forth, to coincide with the most convenient time to suit their needs. If it is found to be inconveniencing anyone by standardizing the time, they need only to adjust their schedule instead of their clocks.