Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

Unfortunately, we find that when we make public statements at least one newspaper in this town either ignores them or distorts them, and under those circumstances it is awfully difficult to combat some of the things you have referred to.

Mr. ABBOTT. You referred to "mushrooming organizations." Is the Alaska Committee for Public Power one of the mushrooming organizations to which you referred?

Mr. BOYкo. Mr. Abbott, I now know no more about them than you do except what I read in the newspaper. In my position as attorney for these organizations which I here officially represent, I have had no dealings with them. I don't even know who they are, and I could care less because they have been a source, frankly, to me personally of embarrassment.

Mr. O'BRIEN. May I suggest the lack of knowledge not only on your part but other people's part of this particular committee certainly does spell out the proper use of the word I saw in the paper here— "mysterious." I am mystified, frankly. I would like to know something about that committee.

Mr. ABBOTT. You state you are not on the committee?

Mr. Boyko. No.

Mr. ABBOTT. You state you don't know who the members of the committee are?

Mr. BOYKO. Other than by hearsay. I have heard some names mentioned. I believe Mr. Bitner is one of them.

Mr. ABBOTT. Then outside of hearsay, those things which may be in your personal knowledge, you do not know?

Mr. BOYкo. I have had no contact personally, privately or officially with the committee or any of its members.

Mr. ABBOTT. Has the Chugach Electric Association contributed any funds to the Alaska Committee for Public Power?

Mr. Boyko. If they have, it is news to me.

Mr. ABBOTI. Would it be within your knowledge if they had?
Mr. Boyko. Ordinarily definitely; yes.

Mr. ABBOTT. Would that be a matter of the minutes of the association?

Mr. BOYкO. Absolutely. Not only that, but it would be a matter of audit by REA, it would be a matter of audit by our board of directors, by our system auditor, by the independent auditing firm which is employed.

Mr. ABBOTT. Then do all of those sources of information which would disclose that, or any of them, indicate any contribution or payment has been made to the Alaska Committee for Public Power by Chugach?

Mr. BOYKO. All these sources indicate that no such contribution has been made.

Mr. O'BRIEN. May I suggest it is very easy to refer to these organizations as voluntary organizations, but you can see from what has been said on this side of the table this morning that apparently the activities of that committee have had a considerable impact on Washington. In fact, the impression from a rather mysterious letterat least it is still mysterious to me was that that was part of the action by the legislature itself.

Mr. BOYKO. Yes.

Mr. O'BRIEN. That puts this committee in a rather peculiar position. I am going to suggest to counsel, if it can be arranged, that we invite Mr. Bitner to testify before this committee, if possible. Mr. ABBOTT. The same suggestion is descending on several sides.

me from Mr. DAWSON. I would suggest you not only invite him but you subpena him if he is here in town.

Mr. ABBOTT. The request would normally be made in that order. He would be invited to appear, and absent that, he would be subpenaed. Does the name "Chugach Consuiners Committee" mean anything to you gentlemen?

Mr. BOYKO. Not offhand to me.

Mr. STEWART. Is that the committee I don't know who they are. They started here 2 or 3 years ago.

Mr. BOYкO. Again we have had the mushrooming of those.
Mr. ABBOTT. This is another "mushrooming" committee?

Mr. BOYKO. Usually just prior to the annual meeting of the members of the Chugach Electric Association one of the local papers blossoms forth in a rash of letters to the editor. Some of them have in common a great deal of their style and content, and they are usually signed-although there is an alleged policy against anonymous letters, they are usually signed by various committees-committee for cheap electricity, consumers committee, and so forth.

Mr. ABBOTT. And you would label this committee one of those? Mr. BOYKO. I would say it sounds like it could be one of those. Mr. ABBOTT. Whether in your views stereotyped or not, has the general tenor of those letters suggested that the board of directors of Chugach Electric Association has not disclosed to the satisfaction of people who are members of that organization where funds have been expended? I am speaking of the assertion. Is that the assertion that is made?

Mr. BOYкO. I may recall one such letter, yes, in recent times.

Mr. ABBOTT. Is it true that one of the directors of your own association has from time to time pressed for information as to the expenditure of funds by your association without, in his view, having that Curiosity satisfied?

Mr. BOYKO. Not to my knowledge.

Mr. STEWART. Not in CEA.

Mr. ABBOTT. This is not in CEA. We will come to CAPA in a moment.

I believe Mr. Boyko has made it clear as to how the funds have been handled by Chugach.

Coming to CAPA, is it correct you are manager or acting manager of CAPA?

Mr. STEWART. I only act in that capacity. They don't have any money to hire a manager on the investigation of the project report on this lake, which I have taken care of. That is as far as I enter into management of CAPA.

Mr. ABBOTT. But does CAPA have books and funds with which they operate?

Mr. STEWART. That is true.

Mr. ABBOTT. And would you of your own knowledge know whether or not CAPA-is CAPA a member or are you a member of the Alaska Committee for Public Power?

Mr. STEWART. Myself?

Mr. ABBOTT. Yes.

Mr. STEWART. I am not.

Mr. ABBOTT. Have you participated with or do you know who the group consists of?

Mr. STEWART. I know one man and that is all I know of the committee.

Mr. O'BRIEN. Identify that man for us.

Mr. STEWART. Captain Riddell. He is the only man who ever admitted to me he was any part of the committee.

Mr. ABBOTT. Could you state who he is and where he is now? Mr. STEWART. I don't know where he is. He was here in Fort Richardson in the Army engineers.

Mr. ABBOTT. Within your own knowledge as acting manager, do you know whether or not CAPA as an organization has contributed any funds to the Alaska Committee for Public Power?

Mr. STEWART. I can say it this way: I have never seen any funds transferred. I don't sign the checks or handle the cash, but I understand that there has been

Mr. ABBOTT. Who does sign the checks?

Mr. STEWART. I believe all of the board of directors on CAPA do. I could be wrong, but I am not sure.

Mr. ABBOTT. Do you know Mr. Boyko?

Mr. BOYKO. I think offhand that three of the members of the board of directors are authorized to sign checks.

Mr. ABBOTT. Do you know who those three members are?

Mr. BOYKO. No, but I can get it for you very quickly.

Mr. ABBOTT. If you would during the noon hour.

Mr. BOYкo. I would be glad to.

I might add, if I may, Mr. Chairman, that CAPA, of course, is a very recent organization. I have been acting as their counsel without compensation of any kind. I have prepared their incorporation papers and have assisted them from time to time on a voluntary basis to the extent that I was requested to do so.

I was not consulted in any way, shape, or form with respect to any expenditures that the organization made outside of the Cooper Lake project. It is my understanding that there have been some minor expenditures made for what you might call promotion or lobbying. I don't know

Mr. ABBOTT. Within that understanding, were any of those sums to your knowledge made available to the Alaska Committee for Public Power?

Mr. BOYкO. I have no knowledge, I only have conjecture, and I would conjecture they were.

Mr. ABBOTT. Is your knowledge of it, Mr. Stewart, stronger than conjecture?

Mr. STEWART. Yes, I would say so.

Mr. ABBOTT. Do you have any idea what amount of CAPA's funds might have been made available?

Mr. STEWART. It would only be hearsay.

Mr. ABBOTT. Have you received any funds for any purpose from the Alaska Committee for Public Power?

Mr. STEWART. Yes.

Mr. ABBOTT. Could you state what amount?

Mr. STEWART. I was advanced $1,200 to go to Washington, D. C. I was going back there on other business to talk to Mr. Aandahl and Delegate Bartlett and other people on the purchase of the Eklutna lease-purchase agreement.

Mr. ABBOTT. And upon whose account was the check drawn? Mr. STEWART. Alaska Committee

Mr. ABBOTT. For Public Power?

Mr. STEWART. For Public Power.

Mr. ABBOTT. And you accepted that without knowing who the Alaska Committee for Public Power is?

Mr. STEWART. I knew one man, Captain Riddell.

Mr. ABBOTT. Is that the gentlemen to whom you referred?
Mr. STEWART. That is right.

Mr. ABBOTT. Was he the gentleman with whom you dealt in this matter?

Mr. STEWART. That is right.

Mr. ABBOTT. This committee has had the benefit of the rather articulate and always, I am sure, well-grounded testimony of Mr. Nelson during the past years and particularly of Mr. Fain. Are you acquainted with those people?

Mr. STEWART. I know Nelson but I don't Mr. Fain.

Mr. ABBOTT. In the efforts of CAPA here, does the national office, the REA organization in Washington, bless the activities that CAPA is carrying out in lobbying activities?

Mr. STEWART. What do you mean?

Mr. ABBOTT. Mr. Boyko made reference to what I believe you labeled, did you not, lobbying activities?

Mr. BOYKO. That is right. I again say that is only hearsay and conjecture, but it is my impression that some were carried on. It is also my impression they were carried on with the full knowledge of the executive manager of the National Rural Electric Association.

Mr. ABBOTT. I was simply seeking to determine for my own background information what the policy is. Do you know of any others who have received funds from the Alaska Committee for Public Power?

Mr. Boyko. Do I?

Mr. ABBOTT. Either of you gentlemen?

Mr. BOYKO. Let me say this: I have not received any, and I don't know of any others except what I read in the paper.

Mr. STEWART. I don't know any, only hearsay. I didn't see the checks or anything like that.

Mr. DAWSON. Who did you receive the check from?

Mr. STEWART. Mr. Riddell. It came to me through him. I don't even remember who signed the check.

Mr. DAWSON. Was the check drawn on the

Mr. STEWART. On the committee?

Mr. DAWSON. Yes.

Mr. STEWART. Yes.

Mr. DAWSON. And signed by whom?

Mr. STEWART. I couldn't tell you. I just don't remember whether Riddell or

Mr. DAWSON. Do you recall the bank it was drawn on?

Mr. Stewart. I believe it is the First National Bank.

Mr. DAWSON. I suggest the counsel get a hold of the check and find out who signed it.

Mr. ABBOTT. The check was not countersigned, just the name of the committee?

Mr. STEWART. I think only one signature on it. I could be

wrong.

Mr. ABBOTT. The Alaska Committee for Public Power by someone? Mr. STEWART. I think that is true.

Mr. ABBOTT. Was it by someone?

Mr. STEWART. I would hate to say without seeing it because I just don't recall.

Mr. ABBOTT. Did Captain Riddell approach you with respect to the trip to Washington?

Mr. STEWART. Yes.

Mr. ABBOTT. And did he state what the purposes or aims of the Alaska Committee for Public Power were?

Mr. STEWART. He only asked me to talk to Mr. Bartlett, Delegate Bartlett, and talk to Mr. Aandahl. He mentioned 2 or 3 others. And I talked to Mr. Bartlett, Mr. Aandahl, and Senator Murray and Mr. Engle.

Mr. ABBOTT. So that insofar as the particular mission you were performing, it fell squarely into one of the declared purposes of your organization, that is, Central Alaska Power Association. Is that correct?

Mr. STEWART. That is true.

Mr. ABBOTT. Have you been asked to carry out any other functions with respect to the Alaska Committee for Public Power?

Mr. STEWART. No, I have not. And when I went to see Mr. Aandahl the REA attorney, Mr. Seminoff, was with me at that time.

Mr. DAWSON. Could I ask at this point, did you discuss this proposal of buying this Eklutna project for 10 to 15 million dollars with Mr. Bartlett or with Mr. Aandahl or any of them down there? Mr. STEWART. Not for 10 or 15 million dollars.

Mr. DAWSON. Was any figure discussed?

Mr. STEWART. Only what was proposed in the resolution we just read.

Mr. DAWSON. The resolution didn't discuss any figures.

Mr. STEWART. How did it read?

Mr. RETHERFORD. The letter stated:

Central Alaska Power Association, Inc., will guarantee a return to the United States Government of not less than that required for the proper amortization of the investment of the United States Government in the facilities of this project. Mr. MCFARLAND. If I may ask a question, Mr. Chairman. Did you discuss amortization period with Mr. Aandahl and Mr. Engle? Mr. STEWART. I don't recall whether we did or not, but if we did, it would have been over a 50-year period, which was the lease-purchase agreement, which would be the same number of years as it is now50 years.

Mr. DAWSON. With interest?

Mr. STEWART. With interest, that is true.

Mr. ABBOTT. Mr. Stewart, you have suggested that you believe that funds of CAPA have been turned over to the Alaska Committee for Public Power. Did you state what amount?

Mr. STEWART. No, I didn't.

Mr. ABBOTT. Do you know what amount it may have been?

« AnteriorContinuar »