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Mr. KROGH. Yes, sir.

Senator BEALL. May I just conclude by saying, Mr. Chairman, I am impressed by Mr. Krogh's testimony this morning and as one member of the committee support his nomination and look forward to working with him. We are pleased to have someone with the candor and interest he has displayed.

The CHAIRMAN. I want to ask two other questions, and I don't want to belabor this point. I did it yesterday on some questions, but you have down in the Department, as you well know, a long 2-year report on the problem of no-fault insurance, and the report recommended very strongly that we adopt some form of meaningful no-fault insurance, and Secretary Volpe testified to that effect.

The President has said, and I quoted him lightly yesterday, that no-fault is an idea whose time has come, but we should give more time to let the States get at the matter.

Now, I want you, if you haven't read that report, to do so. This matter of no-fault insurance is with us, and it is going to be with the Department until something is done. I think everybody, even you as a lawyer, would agree that automobile insurance is a mess, isn't it, in this country?

Mr. KROGH. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. And so, I don't want to belabor that point here. One other question. Do you have any advice on the tapping of the highway trust fund? It has been asked generally here.

Mr. KROGH. Yes, sir. I support the idea of opening

The CHAIRMAN. Maybe I shouldn't use the word "tapping." I mean, flexibility.

Mr. KROGH. I support the concept of opening the highway trust fund for more flexible use by local governments. I support the initiatives that were introduced into the Congress in the last session. At this point I don't think I could comment on the specific amounts that should be taken from the trust fund or the specific purposes to which those amounts should be applied, but I do support the idea of opening the trust fund for additional flexibility.

The CHAIRMAN. Because the problem has widened a great deal and the types of things you need to use to solve the problem are more numerous?

Mr. KROGH. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Now, I hope that-maybe I have a fetish on this. but I hope you take care of those billboard boys down there, will you? Mr. KROGH. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. And you know what I mean by taking care of them? Tell them to get out and remove them.

Mr. KROGH. Yes, sir. I am aware that Secretary Volpe has pursued a very vigorous policy in the removal of billboards throughout the country.

The CHAIRMAN. But it runs into snags and legal suits.

Mr. KROGH. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. I have a personal interest. As I said yesterday, when I was in the State legislature in 1933, I introduced a bill to abolish billboards. I have waited a long time and we are still lagging.

Mr. KROGH. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. All right. The Senator from Connecticut.
Senator WEICKER. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Krogh, I appreciate your response to the chairman's question relative to highway trustee funds. It is the most definitive response on that subject that we have had in the last 72 hours. I only have one more question to ask along those lines and I might add I in no way have tried in the previous questioning of the Secretary or will I of you to get you to commit yourself to specific amounts. That is not what we are talking about, that is not what we have been talking about, but the content to bring balance to our transportation system in the United States.

You indicated you drafted the Amtrak legislation or had a hand in it.

Mr. KROGH. No, sir; I did not draft it. I participated in discussions with the Department of Transportation, with representatives from the Office of Management and Budget-at that time I think it was the Bureau of the Budget-in the development of the basic grid over 2 years ago.

Senator WEICKER. All right. Let me ask you, then, a question relative to Amtrak similar to the highway trust fund question to which you responded.

Do you believe in the concept of Amtrak?

Mr. KROGH. Yes, sir; I do.

Senator WEICKER. I have no further questions.

Mr. Chairman, I have been very much impressed by Mr. Krogh's answers here this morning and also those which he gave to me in private discussion and I intend to vote for him.

Mr. KROGH. Thank you, Senator Weicker.
The CHAIRMAN. Now, Senator Tunney.

Senator TUNNEY. Mr. Chairman, unfortunately because of the Democratic caucus I wasn't able to be here most of the morning but I did have the opportunity to speak to the Under Secretary designate at considerable length in my office and I was very impressed by him at that time and it is my understanding that in open session he indicated that he had no connection whatever with the Watergate case.

Mr. KROGH. That is correct.

Senator TUNNEY. And I think that he will make a very fine Under Secretary. I would hope that he will receive prompt confirmation by the Senate and I am going to vote for you.

Thank you.

Mr. KROGH. Thank you, Senator.

The CHAIRMAN. Now, the hour is getting late for all of us and I regret that this morning we couldn't have started earlier but we did have conflicts.

We may have some other questions which are somewhat technical which deal with the problems of transportation and this committee. We may submit those to you and then you can give us the answers.

Some of them are just problems we have gone over with the nominee for Secretary, Mr. Krogh, there is only one defect I find in you.

Mr. KROGH. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. I don't know why you took Mrs. Krogh away from Puget Sound.

Mr. KROGH. She has asked me that question, too, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. She has asked you that question, too; has she? All right, then. We thank you very much and if there are no further questions the committee will adjourn until the call of the Chair.

(Whereupon, at 1:04 p.m., 11 January 1973, the committee was ad journed, to reconvene at the call of the Chair.)

FREDERICK B. DENT, OF SOUTH CAROLINA, TO BE

SECRETARY OF COMMERCE

FRIDAY, JANUARY 12, 1973

U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, Washington, D.C.

The committee met at 11:22 a.m., in room 5110, New Senate Office Building, Hon. Warren G. Magnuson (chairman of the committee) presiding.

The CHAIRMAN. The committee will come to order. We are here to discuss today the nomination of Frederick B. Dent of South Carolina to be Secretary of Commerce.

Mr. Dent is President of the Mayfair Mills Co. of Arcadia, S.C., and has long been involved in a variety of business and community organizations. A copy of his biography will appear in the record at this point.

(The biography follows:)

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF FREDERICK B. DENT

Frederick B. Dent is President of Mayfair Mills in Arcadia, South Carolina. He joined the firm in 1947, becoming its President in 1958. The company operates four plants in South Carolina-two in Arcadia and one each in Easley and Pickens.

Mr. Dent became the fourth generation of his family to enter the textile industry when he joined the firm of Joshua L. Baily and Company, Inc., selling agents for textile mills in New York City, in 1946.

He is Chairman of the Spartanburg, S.C., County Planning and Development Commission, serving in that capacity since 1960. His corporate directorships include Mayfair Mills, the General Electric Company, the South Carolina National Bank, Scott Paper Company, and Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York.

He has been a member of the Business Council, the Commerce Department's International Business Advisory Committee, the National Industrial Pollution Control Council, and the Labor-Management Labor Textile Advisory Committee. He also is an Ex-Officio Director of both the South Carolina Textile Manufacturers Association and the American Textile Manufacturers Institute. In 1967 he served as President of the American Textile Manufacturers Institute. He was Chairman of ATMI's Public Relations and International Trade Committees and has traveled extensively in the U.S. and overseas studying trade developments. Mr. Dent is recognized as one of the leaders of his industry in introducing new technology, better products, improved working conditions, and expanded employment opportunities for minorities.

He is a trustee of the J. E. Sirrine Textile Foundation which supports advances in Clemson University's School of Industrial Management and Textile Science, and also of the Institute of Textile Technology in Charlottesville, Virginia.

A leading industry journal, the Daily News Record, says, "Dent never ducks a challenge." One such challenge he has met, according to the Record, is the transformation of Mayfair Mills from an aging company to a modern and competitive one with "new machinery, new methods, modernization."

Mr. Dent was a member of the Commission on an All-Volunteer Armed Force (Gates Commission) from its inception in March 1969 until it reported to the President in February 1970. In November 1971, he was named "Man of the Year" by the New York Board of Trade, Textile Section.

He was born August 17, 1922, in Cape May, New Jersey, and was raised in Greenwich, Connecticut. He attended St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire. In 1943 he received his A.B. degree from Yale University, where he had played end on the Eli football team. Upon graduation from Yale he was commissioned as an Ensign in the U.S. Naval Reserve, serving aboard patrol, escort and anti-submarine vessels in the Pacific Theater until his release to inactive duty with the rank of Lieutenant (j.g.) in 1946.

Secretary Dent is married to the former Mildred C. Harrison and they have five children, three daughters and two sons.

The CHAIRMAN. We have also received Mr. Dent's financial statement which, pursuant to the committee practice, will not be printed in the record, but will be retained in the committee files, available for inspection of anyone who wants to look at it.

Senator Thurmond is here, and we will be glad to hear from you in a minute.

I want to point out that Senator Hollings, a member of this committee, could not be here since he is out of the country on Senate business. However, we have a letter from him that will appear in the record at this point.

(The letter follows:)

NEWS FROM THE OFFICE OF SENATOR ERNEST F. HOLLINGS, D-S.C.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE-JANUARY 12, 1976

WASHINGTON.-Senator Fritz Hollings' office today released the text of a letter sent to Senator Warren G. Magnuson on behalf of Fred Dent. Senator Magnuson, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, has been given Senator Hollings' proxy for favorable confirmation.

The text of the letter follows:

Hon. WARREN G. MAGNUSON,

U.S. Senate,

Chairman, Commerce Committee,
Washington, D.C.

JANUARY 5, 1973.

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: I take pleasure in recommending to you the appointment of Fred Dent as Secretary of Commerce.

As I have already indicated to you in person and to the other members of the Committee, I have the highest respect and admiration for the nominee. He and I have worked closely in the past and I have always been impressed with his abilities. In fact, when I was Governor of South Carolina I instituted the Governor's Conference on Business, Industry, Agriculture and Education. Fred Dent headed this conference for one year and did an excellent job.

You have my proxy for a vote on his confirmation and any vote related thereto. With kindest regards, I am

Sincerely,

ERNEST F. HOLLINGS,

U.S. Senator.

The CHAIRMAN. Now, Senator Thurmond, we will be glad to hear from you.

STATEMENT OF HON. STROM THURMOND, U.S. SENATOR FROM SOUTH CAROLINA

Senator THURMOND. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, it is indeed a pleasure for me to come back and appear before this committee again. When I first came to the Senate, I had the pleasure of serving on this com

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