Senator BROOKE. At any time, Governor, have you requested to see the public records of the meeting of the Foreign Trade Zones Board having to do with your application?

Governor CURTIS. No, we have not filed a formal request to see the proceedings of that meeting as of yet, I guess because we really believe that no such meeting was held.

Senator BROOKE. Governor, what reason do you believe the Secretary has for delaying, being dilatory in both the processing of your applications or in his final decision to delay this action on your application?

Governor CURTIS. Well, I have no real way, I suppose, of knowing. We know there have certainly been a great number of opponents that have been very active in the Washington area expressing their views as to why this project should not be granted and not be brought into fruition, the same as most probably the proponents have been making arguments. I can only conclude the opponents have made a better argument to the Secretary of Commerce than we have.

Senator BROOKE. Well, the Secretary was at no time present at the hearing in Maine, was he?

Governor CURTIS. No, he wasn't.

Senator BROOKE. And to your knowledge the Secretary was at no time present at the hearing in Washington, was he?

Governor CURTIS. No, he wasn't.

Senator BROOKE. What facts did the Secretary have before him upon which he could reach a decision pertaining to your application? Governor CURTIS. Only those arguments I suppose that other people had presented to him. He certainly did not have the formal advantage of the factors that were brought out in the report by both sides. Senator BROOKE. Are you referring to procedural arguments, arguments which have not been presented to any board as established by the regulations?

Governor CURTIS. I am speaking of the probability of the usual letters, telegrams, and personal visits that accompany any application of this sort, I would expect.

Senator BROOKE. Do you know who initiated the reported changes in the rules for the conduct of the hearing, such as the rules outlawing oral argument?

Governor CURTIS. No, sir. I have no direct knowledge of who did that. However, I would say this: that from our dealings with the hearing examiner, and more specifically the acting Executive Secretary of the Board, we had no reason to believe that such a procedure would be followed. It was an 11th-hour decision, which normally comes from high sources.

Senator BROOKE. Mr. Chairman, in addition to information included in the transcript of the hearings, what additional communications the department and/or the Foreign Trade Zones Board has received from the major oil companies, and letters and briefs of this nature are clearly identifiable records within the intent of the Board's zone order No. 74, and I request that any such materials be made available to this committee.

Senator MCINTYRE. Oh, I agree, Senator. And as it subsequently will develop, we will probably have to fight for this, but I think we can get them. And they should be a part of the record. You don't have any that answer that description?

Governor CURTIS. No, we don't. We have such evidence as the suit that was filed in the district court of New York and public actions of this nature which would be made part

Senator BROOKE. The letters that you were referring to, the letters which were sent directly to the Secretary and would not have gone to any of the Board.

Governor CURTIS. No, I, of course, have no direct knowledge of this. It is just probable in any proceeding of this sort.

Senator BROOKE. Now I was not present, but I understand that there was an exchange between you and the chairman, Governor, relative to Governor Hickel's position as the Governor of the State of Alaska, and the State of Alaska was opposed, according to the story of the New York Times and other information-was opposed to the granting of this application at Machiasport. And I further understand that in this exchange between you and the chairman there was some question as to whether Governor Hickel, who has now been designated as the next Secretary of the Interior, might under these circumstances be one that could act on this subject if in fact it becomes a matter for his

concern.

I would certainly suggest that perhaps, Mr. Chairman, this would be one of those cases in which the Governor, even though acting as the Governor of Alaska at the time and perhaps not indicating his own views upon the subject, might find this a case in which he might wish to disqualify himself from acting in this particular matter.

Senator MCINTYRE. I understand what the Senator is driving at. He would disqualify himself on the question of oil imports.

Senator BROOKE. That's right.

Senator MCINTYRE. Well, we only mentioned it as an aside because of the Secretary of the Interior's position in this whole application, and I think we pointed out that in his news conference as reported in the New York Times he said Alaska opposed the project. But it gives us a few more qualms about the future insofar as what we hope would arrive at Machiasport.

Governor CURTIS. I think, Senator, that I have stated always, as I did here this morning, that it has always been my belief when a man leaves a State as Governor and becomes a Cabinet officer that he makes an attempt to represent all of the interests of this country; and we were disturbed, though, to see the report in the New York Times this morning which did not leave clear his position on the Machiasport project, and hope it would be cleared up.

Senator BROOKE. Of course, he would then become a national officer and he would be concerned, as you said, with national affairs. But if this matter were to come before him and he had acted upon it in his capacity as the Governor of Alaska it might very well be a case in which he might make the decision that he would wish to disqualify himself from acting on this particular situation.

Thank you.

Senator MCINTYRE. Governor, I think before leaving the record should indicate that suit has been commenced by the State of Maine? Governor CURTIS. Yes.

Senator MCINTYRE. Would you briefly describe what legal action is contemplated?

Governor CURTIS. Yes. As of yesterday morning an action for writ of mandamus was filed in the Federal District Court of the State of Maine against, principally, the Secretary of Commerce and the members of the Foreign Trade Zones Board. This writ would hopefully compel the Board to act on our application, come to a decision basically as an administrative matter, and not as a policy matter.

Senator MCINTYRE. Well, thank you very much, Governor. Senator BROOKE. What is the status, merely a filing of a writ? Governor CURTIS. It has been filed, and right now, of course, there is a time problem. I understand the normal time for arguments is something like 30 days, and we have a request that these be limited to 7 days.

Senator BROOKE. But you have not had a hearing on it?

Governor CURTIS. No, it was just filed yesterday.

Senator BROOKE. Thank you.

Governor CURTIS. I would state, if I might, Mr. Chairman, that I did yesterday instruct the attorney general of my State to commence research on the possibility of instituting a suit testing the constitutionality of the import question.

Senator BROOKE. Are the attorneys general of other States of New England primarily joining with your attorney general in this particular?

Governor CURTIS. I sent a telegram yesterday to all of my fellow Governors in New England asking them to make their attorneys general available in this research.

Senator MCINTYRE. Just so I understand your testimony, in reply to a question by Senator Brooke on how many foreign trade zone applications, to your knowledge, have been turned down. I think your answer said eight had been rejected. You didn't mean eight had been rejected?

Governor CURTIS. Approximately eight had been filed and accepted. I am not sure of the exact number.

Senator MCINTYRE. And some, of course, have been revoked subsequent to their being granted, is that right?

Governor CURTIS. Yes; I believe so. There have been some that have never been active.

Senator MCINTYRE. And there are eight in existence?
Governor CURTIS. Approximately.

Senator MCINTYRE. Approximately.

All right, unless there is objection, I have just been handed a list of Foreign Trade Zones Board actions on applications for zones and subzones dating down through November 20, 1968, Bayonne, N.J., approved. This gives the Board action and also indicates where the license was subsequently revoked. Without objection, we will place that in the record.

(The document follows:)

LIST OF FOREIGN TRADE ZONE BOARD ACTIONS ON APPLICATIONS FOR ZONES AND SUBZONES

Senator MCINTYRE. Well, thank you very much, Governor, first, for coming down here on such short notice, and second, for your very fine explanation of, as I call it, the tortuous process the State of Maine's application has been put through. Thank you very much.

Governor CURTIS. Thank you very much, Senator McIntyre and Senator Brooke.

Senator MCINTYRE. Before we continue, I would like, without objection, to insert a statement, as read, by Congressman Giaimo in the record.

STATEMENT OF ROBERT N. GIAIMO, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT

Mr. GIAIMO. I strongly support the establishment of the generalpurpose foreign trade zone in Portland, Maine, and the special-purpose oil-refining subzone in Machiasport, Maine, for which the Port Authority of the State of Maine is applying. At present, New England is totally dependent on shipments of fuels by coastal tanker, and we are currently encountering annual shortages. New England is being placed at an economic disadvantage because of the price increases in fuel which have been occurring regularly.

It is estimated that, with the approval of the port authority's plan, the cost of home heating oil and other petroleum products will be reduced by $50 to $60 million annually.

This project has received wide bipartisan support throughout New England. All six Governors have unanimously and publicly approved the plan as a New England regional project.

It is my firm belief that few, if any, industrial projects anywhere have ever been so responsive to national, regional, and State economic, social, and defense objectives.

I urge favorable action of the Foreign Trade Zones Board on the Maine Port Authority's application.

Senator MCINTYRE. I plan to call you subsequently, Mr. Corey, but at this time Congressman Kyros is here and I would like him to come up and testify if he would like, please.

Good morning, Congressman. Good to see you.

Mr. KYROS. Good morning.

Senator MCINTYRE. You may proceed in any way that you wish.

STATEMENT OF PETER N. KYROS, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF MAINE

Mr. KYROS. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much for giving us the opportunity to appear here this morning, and I want to say at the outset that unlike your own hearty attitude Senator Muskie is down with a cold and Congressman William Hathaway, my colleague, is ill unfortunately, Senator Smith is still convalescing. That is the reason that the most junior member of the delegation appears here today. Senator MCINTYRE. Well, we are delighted to see the most junior member of the delegation. That is my standing now.

Mr. KYROS. But I hope you will see from their statements and what they have said before that their absence does not mean that they are not just as firmly interested in the matter that has been called before you.

And I wish to say at the outset that we want to commend you for calling this hearing. We are pleased that an apparent abuse of discretion by a Federal agency is now being taken up by a senatorial committee with the responsibility to the entire Nation.

The Governor and other representatives of the State of Maine have carried this application this far in the face of mounting obstructionism and procedural absurdity. They have and will continue to discuss these obstructions with this committee. I would merely like briefly to outline the incongruities with which I have had firsthand experience. The most outrageous single action is, of course, Secretary Smith's recent assertion that newly discovered "policy considerations" would prevent the foreign trade zone board from passing on an application which has been before it for 7 months. And I must say, Mr. Chairman, when I attended the hearings in Portland, Maine and later on in Washington I was amazed, in all my legal experience and it hasn't been that long-in all the 10 years I have practiced law, to see the extraneous material that went into the record. And at one point I moved that the hearing examiner, who was very gracious, strike from the record all the extraneous material, and he assured us at that time that all that material would come into the record but would not be considered in making a decision. After awhile it looked to me like he was a master of ceremonies of a variety show because it is unbelievable what went into that record. If the law and facts pertaining to foreign trade zoning boards are fixed and clear I don't see why Government officials should waste their time listening to all this unnecessary material. It would never happen in any ordinary administrative board, and certainly never in a court of law.

And so the policy considerations that he speaks of now were specifically disavowed by representatives of the Board at the October hearings in Portland. They were never mentioned in the contacts which