The principal provision of H.R. 6785 would require any State or political subdivision that adopts daylight saving time to begin such time at 2 a.m. on the last Sunday in April and end at 2 a.m. on the last Sunday in October. The bill also provides that daylight saving time shall advance the standard time by 1 hour thus preventing so-called double daylight time. H.R. 6785 would also express the intent of Congress to supersede State laws or local ordinances which provide for different changeover dates or different advances in time. The Interstate Commerce Commission would be authorized to apply to the U.S. district courts for enforcement of these provisions by injunction or other process. The bill would make daylight time, in those States and subdivisions observing it, the legal time for Federal purposes, amending the existing law which refers only to standard time. In addition, the bill would (1) provide for the creation of additional standard time zones, mainly for Alaska and Hawaii; (2) make the Administrative Procedure Act applicable to all proceedings of the Interstate Commerce Commission under the Standard Time Act, and (3) direct the ICC to foster and promote the adoption and observance of uniform time standards. I would like to clarify for you the proposed standard time zone changes, which are long overdue technical corrections designed to update and modernize the 48-year-old Standard Time Act of 1918. The law now provides for eastern, central, mountain, Pacific, and Alaska standard time zones. H.R. 6785 proposes to add three new zones to the law, one of which is an existing worldwide zone, the Atlantic standard time zone located immediately to the east of the eastern standard time zone. This zone includes no portion of the continental United States but does embrace a considerable sector of eastern Canada. It is our hope that Canada will join with the United States in seeking greater time uniformity in the Western Hemisphere. There are two new zones proposed for Alaska and Hawaii. The present law ignores Hawaii and prescribes a totally unrealistic and unworkable single time zone for most of Alaska. These proposals are not known to be controversial. To summarize, the Pacific standard zone has and will continue to include the southeastern corner of Alaska. The Yukon standard zone--a new zone-will include the portion of Alaska immediately to the west of the Pacific zone. The present Alaska zone will be renamed the "Alaska-Hawaii standard zone" and will include all of Hawaii and the bulk of Alaska west of the Yukon zone. Finally, the Bering standard zone a new zone-will be located immediately to the west of the Alaska-Hawaii zone and include westernmost Alaska and the Aleutian Islands. We recommend that the committee approve the language of the bills just summarized because it will (1) establish uniform switchover dates in those States or political subdivisions choosing to observe DST; (2) modernize the 1918 Standard Time Act by adding new time zones in conformity with present time observance; (3) direct the Interstate Commerce Commission to foster and promote nationwide time uniformity; and (4) protect those parties seeking time zone boundary changes by applying the provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act to such ICC proceedings. Now just a word about Senate action. On June 1, 1965. the Senate Commerce Committee unanimously reported out favorably S. 1404 (identical with H.R. 6785), with two amendments involving compliance with its terms. Two days later, the bill was passed on the Senate floor without debate. While we would be disposed to favor the passage of H.R. 6785 (and S. 1404) as introduced, we would not object to the approval by this committee of the language contained in the Senate-passed bill, thereby making it unnecessary to convene a House-Senate conference. It is so important, in our judgment, to enact time legislation effective throughout this very year that we would acquiesce in such a solution rather than risk any legislative delay. We hope to achieve Presidential approval of uniform-time legislation by no later than March 1, 1966, and will greatly appreciate your expedited approval. Thank you, gentlemen of the committee, for the privilege of appearing before your committee to discuss the vital need for greater time uniformity. If he may, Mr. Redding would now like to present his statement. We will then both be glad to answer any questions. DESCRIPTION OF THE COMMITTEE FOR TIME UNIFORMITY For the record, the Committee for Time Uniformity was voluntarily formed as the result of a "Uniform Time Conference" convened on August 13, 1962, by the Transportation Association of America here in Washington. This ad hoc, nonprofit, voluntary association of transportation, communications, shipping, finance, general business, travel, farm, labor, and other interests, was formed as a result of the efforts of, and has been coordinated by, the Transportation Association of America to stimulate widespread interest and action in eliminating the growing confusion and chaos resulting from clock juggling throughout the United States. The Committee for Time Uniformity (CTU) has also worked in close cooperation and harmony with many departments and agencies in the Federal Govern ment, as well as with a number of representatives of governmental interests at State and local levels. The activities of the CTU have included annual surveys of time observance by all States in the Union and a 1965 survey of around-the-world time practices; industry surveys of the extent of fiscal impact resulting from clock confusion; adoption and implementation of nationwide education programs to acquaint the general public with the magnitude of the time problem, including extensive press, radio, and television coverage; and the encouragement of corrective action by individual States across the land. Success has been achieved during the last 3 years in California, Nevada, Washington, Vermont, West Virginia, Colorado, Iowa, and Wisconsin. Corrective action is still needed in several other States. A list of the interests which have cooperated in this endeavor is set forth on the next page. They include 43 nationally known and privately operated institutions and organizations and 23 governmental units-Federal, State, and local. List of companies and organizations which have associated with Committee for Time Uniformity in support of greater time uniformity Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association Air Line Pilots Association Air Transport Association Amalgamated Transit, Union American Bankers Association American Mutual Insurance Alliance American Short Line Railroad Association American Society of Travel Agents American Telephone & Telegraph Co. American Trucking Associations American Waterways Operators, Inc. Association of American Railroads Association of Local Transport Airlines Association of Oil Pipe Lines Association of Stock Exchange Firms Freight Forwarders Institute Insurance Institute of Highway Safety International Association of Machinists Investment Bankers Association of America Manufacturers Hanover Trust Co. Metropolitan Washington Board of Trade National Association of Motor Bus Owners National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. National Business Aircraft Association National Grange National Industrial Recreation Association National Industrial Traffic League National Sporting Goods Association Pacific American Steamship Association Pacific Coast Stock Exchange REA Express Railway Labor Executives Association Southern Traffic League Transportation Association of America U.S. Independent Telephone Association Western Union Telegraph Co. List of Government departments and organizations cooperating with Committee for Time Uniformity A HISTORICAL SUMMARY OF NATIONAL TIME SCHIZOPHRENIA Without exception, all citizens of the United States literally live by the clock, almost automatically as a matter of habit. From the time a child is taught how to read the face of a clock until he becomes a senior citizen, his entire existence is regulated by time. Whether it involves going to a movie, watching a favorite television show, maintaining appointments in the office, or shopping for Christmas presents, we all live by the clock. Books have been written about the technicalities of time observance throughout the world and beyond to the universe. Most of us, however, conduct our day-to-day affairs with family, friends, and business associates merely by a glance at our timepiece countless times each day. The history of time observance in this country was detailed in the subcommittee hearings 2 years ago. It was the railroad industry which adopted its own system of timekeeping 83 years ago, followed 35 years later by the enactment of the Standard Time Act of 1918, currently administered by the Interstate Commerce Commisison (ICC). During World War I and World War II, the Congress adopted nationwide daylight saving time to enhance the war efforts. During the intervening peacetime periods, however, the observance of daylight saving time has been left to the States and local communities, resulting in a veritable patchwork of conflicting and confusing time practices. Thus, almost half a century has passed since Congress has legislated on basic time observance prevailing in peacetime periods. We share the ICC request, that such action be taken. The extreme contrasts in time regulation are exasperating. The United States and England now utilize radio transmission via the Telstar satellite to synchronize clocks within 10 millionths of a second. Also, the scientists of 40 nations recently adopted the atomic definition of the international unit of time—a second-which increases the accuracy of time measurements to 1 part in 100 billion. On the other hand, the everyday time observances by the general public in our own country are so confusing that it is little wonder that the United States has been described by Dr. William Markowitz, the leading time scientist at the U.S. Naval Observatory, as the "worst timekeeper in the world." It came as a considerable surprise to us in 1962 that no governmental agency anywhere maintains any accurate information about the time practices observed throughout the Nation. The U.S. Naval Observatory receives more inquiries on this subject than any other agency but it has never compiled or maintained such data. Accordingly, the Transportation Association of America conducted a 1962 survey collecting such information from all States in the continental United States. The CTU then followed with 1963, and 1964, and 1965 surveys. The results of the 1965 survey are shown in other attachments to this statement. It is startling to note the checkerboard pattern of DST in cities with populations in excess of 100,000 people, compiled in 1964. Of 130 such cities, 6 of every 13 stay on standard time while the other 7 cities shifted to daylight saving time. These cities, including State capitals and other thriving centers, are all dependent on a good network of transport and communications facilities. The efficiency of present interchanges of people and information is unduly hampered by time differences, with half of them on DST and the other half not. BACKGROUND ON THE SNARLS IN TIME OBSERVANCE IN THE UNITED STATES America again starts living on "scrambled time" at 2 a.m. on Sunday, April 24, 1966. On that date, some 110 million Americans will advance their clocks 1 hour to daylight saving time and thus get out of step with the other 85 million Americans. The latter will either remain on standard time all year or move to daylight saving time on a later date. It happens every year—and it adds up to one of the greatest public inconveniences in America. Atomic science now permits 1 second to be divided accurately into 100 billion equal parts. And scientific time measuring devices can be so precisely set that two of them would deviate no more than 1 second in 5,000 years. Yet the United States remains "the world's worst timekeeper," according to Dr. William Markowitz, leading time scientist at the U.S. Naval Observatory. Why? Time confusion abounds in the United States because of the patchwork manner in which daylight-saving time is observed-particularly the widely varying dates on which States and areas move to and from daylight saving time. In 1965, for example, 16 States started daylight saving time the last Sunday in April and ended in the last Sunday in October. Meanwhile, another 20 States either started or ended daylight saving timeor both-on different dates. The remaining States did not observe daylight saving time at all. Compounding the confusion is the fact that, of the 36 daylight saving time States, 18 observed it on a statewide basis while the others used it only in selected areas. And, across the country, isolated areas observe "wildcat" daylight saving time without any official sanction whatsoever. Here are just a few examples of what can happen when all those clocks are juggled: The most notorious case of recent times was the 35-mile highway bus ride between Steubenville, Ohio, and Moundsville, W. Va., which encountered seven time changes. Barnesville, Ohio, has a Berlin-type wall without any barbed wire. Half of the city, including the local government, school district, churches, and some businesses, observed eastern standard time in 1965. The other half of town, including factories, banks, and other businesses, chose eastern daylight saving time. Within 10 miles of Barnesville are 20 Ohio communities-five on eastern standard time and 15 on eastern daylight time. Like Patrolman Beryl Giesey said, "You don't know if you are coming or going half the time." |