1955

By the time you read this "The Railroad Emergency Act of 1973" should have been enacted. At this writing (December 8) it has passed the House and The Senate Commerce Committee. It will be considered next week in the Senate and should be sent to a House/Senate Conference Committee. If all goes well it will be approved by the Senate and House and sent to the President before the Christmas recess.

This legislation is over 100 pages long. It is very complicated and has some aspects which are completely unique. Its basic purpose is to create a new, profitable corporation to take over the seven bankrupt railroads in the northeastern U.S. In the process the fate of Penn Central's creditors, the future of over 100,000 railroad employees and the existence of 30,000 miles of trackage will all be decided.

The Department of Transportation has managed President's Nixon's input to this legislation ever since its inception a year ago. The department has had a very effective role to play, succeeding in modifying many liberal attempts to give away the taxpayer's dollars Duri last seven weeks I have been personally in a small way in this effort beacause I transferred from the Dep't of Agriculture to the Dep't of Transportation. This involvement given me an opportunity to personally observe the actions of Ace Hall.

Ace has been deeply involved in this throughout. He is Special Assistant to Secretary Brinegar and spends almost full time working on the legislation. He is in frequent cotact with the staffs of the Senate Commerce Committee and the House Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee and has had considerable direct influence over key language in the bill.

In recognition of his contribution to this work Secretary Brinegar recently gave Ace the Department's Award for Meritorious Achievement. The nomination reads, in part: "His extraordinary ability to perceive the complex issues involved and to transmit the Secretary's views to other elements of the Department was the foundation of the successful team effort which developed the Department's approach to the northeast rail crisis."

I would like to add my own and the Class congratulations to Ace as well as to say that this was a very popular award among his fellow workers at the department. I have no doubt that he would be elected to any office he might run for if his fellow workers were the electorate.

Elsewhere on the Washington scene Art Boudreau has accepted a position with the President's Executive Interchange. He will leave the Dep't of Commerce for a year to work for Rockwell International Corp. in Pittsburgh. Dr. Matt Smith has entered the private practice of neurosurgery in Falls Church, Va.

A perceptive alumnus from the class of 1913 thoughtfully sent me a recent clipping about Dave Flitner. The clipping emanated from New York state announcing that Dave will deliver the keynote speech at the New York State Farm Bureau annual meeting. Dave is President of the Wyoming State Farm Bureau Federation and Director of the American Farm Bureau Federation. The American Farm Bureau is the mess responsible and influential agriculture organization in the nation in my opinion. It more truly represents the American farmer than any other group. Election to its Board is a very great honor.

In his sparetime Dave is part owner and operator of the 90,000 acre Diamond Tail Ranch in Greybull, Wyoming. They raise Herefords and sheep as well as sugar beets, grain and forage crops. Dave is a past president of the Wyoming Council for Economic Development, a member of Wyoming Conservation and Land Use Study Commission and on the advisory board of the Mountain Bell Telephone Company.

Secretary, 66 Abbotsford Rd. Winnetka, 1ll. 60093

Treasurer, 30 Warnock Dr. Westport, Conn. 06880