Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

by the resignation of Edward Tait, Republican, of Pennsylvania. This post was held under a recess appointment by Edward K. Mills, Jr., of New Jersey, who resigned on March 1.

Mr. Elman, we will put your biographical statement in the record in full.

(The biographical statement of Mr. Elman follows:)

PHILIP ELMAN

Born March 14, 1918, Paterson, N.J.

A.B., College of City of New York, 1936; LL.B., Harvard, 1939 (member of editorial board, Harvard Law Review).

Married: Ella M. Shalit of Fargo, N. Dak., December 21, 1947.

Children: Joseph (11), Peter (9), Anthony (6).

Residence: 6719 Brigadoon Drive, Bethesda, Md. (domiciled in Maryland since 1951).

Admitted to bars of District of Columbia, New York, and U.S. Supreme Court. Memberships: District of Columbia Bar Association, American Bar Association, Federal Bar Association, Harvard Law School Association.

Editor, "Of Law and Men" (papers and addresses of Felix Frankfurter, 1939-56). Employment: 1939-40, law clerk to Judge Calvert Magruder, U.S. court of appeals, Boston, Mass.; 1940-41, attorney, Federal Communications Commission; 1941-43, law clerk to Mr. Justice Frankfurther, U.S. Supreme Court; 1943-44, assistant chairman, Balkan Area Committee, Office of Foregin Economic Coordination, State Department; 1944-45, attorney, Solicitor General's Office, Department of Justice; 1945-46, legal adviser, Office of Military Government, Berlin, Germany (on temporary detail from Department of Justice); 1946 to date, assistant to the Solicitor General.

Has had principal staff responsibility in the Solicitor General's Office for handling of antitrust and trade regulation cases in the Supreme Court, and has argued and briefed a large number of such cases before the Court, including Fed. Trade Comm'n v. Anheuser-Busch, Inc., 363 U.S. 536; Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Assn v. U.S., 362 U.S. 458; Klor's Inc. v. Broadway-Hale Stores, 359 U.S. 207; International Boxing Club v. U.S., 358 U.S. 242, 348 U.S. 236; Fed. Maritime Board v. Isbrandtsen Co., 356 U.S. 481; U.S. v. Shubert, 348 U.S. 22; U.S. v. Morton Salt Co., 338 U.S. 632.

The CHAIRMAN. I see that you were born in New Jersey, and there is a familiar note here: You come from Harvard Law School.

STATEMENT OF PHILIP ELMAN, OF MARYLAND, NOMINEE TO BE A FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSIONER

Mr. ELMAN. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. And you are married to a young lady from Fargo, N. Dak., where the chairman was born.

Mr. ELMAN. I am glad to hear that, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. You live in Maryland and you have been practicing law here, is that correct?

Mr. ELMAN. I have been with the Federal Government in Washington since 1940, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. That is right after you got out of Harvard?

Mr. ELMAN. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. You have been an attorney for the Federal Communications Commission, and you have spent some time as a law clerk to Mr. Justice Frankfurter?

Mr. ELMAN. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. And you have been Assistant Chairman in the Office of Foreign-this is really a title-Assistant Chairman, Balkan

Area Committee, Office of Foreign Economic Coordination, State Department.

What does that mean?

Mr. ELMAN. Mr. Chairman, I can't answer.

The CHAIRMAN. You spent 2 years on that?

Mr. ELMAN. No; it was actually less than a year. It was from 1943 to 1944. It was from the summer of 1943 to the spring of 1944. I left there because the organization was abolished by order of President Roosevelt. I don't know if there was any connection between my being there and its abolishment, but it is no longer in existence. That was one of the agencies within the State Department that was consolidated within the Foreign Economic Administration, which has also since been abolished. It was part of the wartime organizational structure of World War II.

The CHAIRMAN. If it hadn't been abolished I think we would have Mr. Ellender look into this matter.

Then you served in the Solicitor General's office, Department of Justice, and you were legal adviser in the Office of Military Government, Berlin, Germany, in 1945 and 1946. Were you in the service? Mr. ELMAN. No, sir; I was detailed to the War Department by the Department of Justice.

The CHAIRMAN. Didn't they have enough lawyers in the service to do that job?

Mr. ELMAN. I went over to Germany with Judge Fahy. He took me along as his personal assistant.

The CHAIRMAN. You were an assistant to the Solicitor General from 1946?

We can understand that one. The rest of them are a little bit vague. Mr. Elman, you heard the statement I read about the Senate resolution, did you not?

Mr. ELMAN. Yes, sir; I did.

The CHAIRMAN. Can you give us a statement on that?

Mr. ELMAN. I intend to serve out my full term.

The CHAIRMAN. That will be 7 years from 1956. That would be to September 25, 1963?

Mr ELMAN. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. What are your politics?

Mr. ELMAN. I am not a member of any political party, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. You have voted, haven't you?

Mr. ELMAN. I certainly have.

The CHAIRMAN. How have you voted? I don't want to ask you how you have voted. That is your business.

Mr. ELMAN. I can tell you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. ELMAN. I can tell you, Mr. Chairman. Over the years I have voted for candidates for public office of both parties. Sometimes candidates for public office who have no party affiliation.

The CHAIRMAN. Do you consider yourself a Democrat or a Republican?

Mr. ELMAN. I consider myself a political independent.

The CHAIRMAN. You want the record to stand that way?

Mr. ELMAN. I have nothing to apologize for.

The CHAIRMAN. I did not say anything to apologize for. I did not suggest that.

Mr. ELMAN. That is the actual truth.

The CHAIRMAN. There are a lot of political independents.

Mr. ELMAN. That is the most accurate description I can give you, sir.

T

The CHAIRMAN. But the law provides that-of course I don't think that particularly violates the law, but there has always been some question in this committee about the role of so-called independents, whether or not they violate the spirit of the law. The Federal Trade Commission Act and the other Commission acts were specifically written that the policy of the party in authority should be transferred and permeated to the workings of the Commission, if and when terms expire, or when there are vacancies.

Technically, it says of course that there shall be no more than a majority of one political party.

Do you have any conflict of interests that you know of in this very important job?

Mr. ELMAN. No, sir. I have filed with the committee a financial

statement.

The CHAIRMAN. Yes; you did, and that is in our files.

You were here the other day when Mr. Dixon was being interrogated about questions of general policy?

Mr. ELMAN. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. You heard his answer? Would you say that your views as to the responsibilities of the Federal Trade Commission would be somewhat similar to those of Mr. Dixon?

Mr. ELMAN. I would say, Mr. Chairman, that I understood Mr. Dixon to express a very strong determination to see to it that the Commission acts effectively, expeditiously, and fairly. I certainly share in that determination and will do everything I can to further that.

The CHAIRMAN. By that I don't mean that you should "me too" everything. But generally speaking, he talked about the role of the Federal Trade Commission, and the energetic role that it should have in carrying out the intent of the act, which is the protection of the consumer in this country.

Mr. ELMAN. Certainly, Mr. Chairman, the provisions and policies of the statutes creating the Commission and giving it the responsibility for protecting the public against unfair and deceptive trade practices, that responsibility I will meet to the full extent of my ability.

The CHAIRMAN. Of course the basic purpose of the Commission is the maintenance of free competitive enterprise, too. The job of course is to keep that alive and still protect the consuming public, and that is the real purpose of the Federal Trade Commission.

Mr. ELMAN. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Have you been watching what the Commission has been doing in a general way?

Mr. ELMAN. In a very general way. My job in the Department. of Justice has not brought me into any direct contact with the operations of the Federal Trade Commission, except insofar as the Federal Trade Commission cases reach the Supreme Court.

The CHAIRMAN. You have been with the Government a long time. You are familiar with what we, for lack of any other term up here, deplore, and it is a continuing thing, this regulatory lag in agencies. Mr. ELMAN. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Have you any ideas about the Federal Trade Commission, which is just as bad as the rest of them?

Mr. ELMAN. Mr. Chairman, I believe that delays in the disposition of matters before the administrative agencies, and the Federal Trade Commission in particular, raise a very serious problem to which the Commission should give urgent consideration.

I am familiar with the studies which have been made on this subject by various committees of Congress, by scholars, by persons like Judge Prettyman, and I think there is a lot of room for improvement and I certainly think we ought to move in that direction.

The CHAIRMAN. There is a recent budget report on the administrative procedures?

Mr. ELMAN. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. I imagine there will be a reorganization bill coming up, too, which this committee will take a look at. I think we all have the same objective, to see what we can do about the regulatory lags which just seem to get worse in the Commissions rather than better, and the Federal Trade Commission is no exception, despite the real good intentions of many of the fine members in the past who have tried to do something about it.

Mr. ELMAN. Yes, sir. Mr. Chairman, I think we will have to move very quickly in that area.

The CHAIRMAN. But working as much as you have in Government, you ought to be able to go down there and make some good suggestions, because you surely know where the obstacles and the problems lie in Government.

Mr. ELMAN. I hope to be able to make a contribution there, Mr. Chairman. I have given that subject considerable thought and I have discussed it in a rather preliminary way with the new Chairman, Mr. Dixon. I believe that the committee can expect the Federal Trade Commission to come forward with constructive action very

soon.

The CHAIRMAN. You heard the questions I asked Mr. Dixon-and this reflects the opinion of many members of this committee-in the radio and television field.

Do you share somewhat similar views as to the necessity for further action along that line?

Mr. ELMAN. I believe that there is an investigation which is now in progress, and I think that that investigation should be brought to a conclusion as soon as possible, and that the Commission should take whatever action is required in the public interest.

The CHAIRMAN. You are familiar with the lack of liaison in Government departments surely, because of your service in Government departments.

The Federal Trade Commission, in this field, to be effective at all, has got to have a real liaison, a working liaison with the Federal Communications Commission. I am sure that you realize that.

Mr. ELMAN. Yes, I am sure I do. I know the new Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. I know that on both sides there is a determination to maintain and to improve the liaison procedures. I think that is also true with respect to liaison between the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice where I have been, the Antitrust Division. I should think that that would be

true also of other agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration and the Bureau of Standards and the rest.

The CHAIRMAN. Are there any questions by the members of the committee?

Senator Butler, of course, comes from Maryland.

Senator BUTLER. I would like to say to Mr. Elman that I am very sorry that I did not have the opportunity to introduce you to the committee, which was my purpose.

Apparently the word did not get to the chairman that that was my desire.

Mr. Elman, I understand that your father is very sick and that you would like to get away.

Mr. ELMAN. That is quite all right. I am here to answer any questions the members of the committee have.

Senator BUTLER. I had in mind to make a very detailed statement in connection with your nomination. Suffice it to say that I wholeheartedly support you. I know of no man who has been appointed by the President of the United States who is better qualified to carry out the duties to which he has been appointed.

Mr. ELMAN. Thank you very much, Senator. I appreciate that.

Senator BUTLER. I wish you great success in your endeavor. I know that you will be completely fair in discharging your duties. I think the Commission will have a very valuable addition.

Mr. ELMAN. Thank you very much, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Are there any further questions?

Senator SCHOEPPEL. Yes. I would like to ask a few questions.

I take it that you have not registered as a Democrat or as a Republican, have you?

Mr. ELMAN. No, sir. I have never done so in my life.

Senator SCHOEPPEL. What is that?

Mr. ELMAN. I have never done so.

Senator SCHOEPPEL. But you have always exercised your God-given right in this country to vote?

Mr. ELMAN. I have always voted whenever I could. There were some problems in connection with absentee voting when I lived in the District of Columbia. I have always exercised independent judgment.

Senator SCHOEPPEL. Mr. Elman, I want to ask you a few questions. You recognize that the Department that you are going into, that you are here for confirmation, is a creature of the U.S. Congress? Mr. ELMAN. Yes, sir.

Senator SCHOEPPEL. Do you recognize that as a cardinal starting point?

Mr. ELMAN. I don't think there can be any argument about it. Senator SCHOEPPEL. When you received this designation for your appointment, had you committed yourself in any way, directly or indirectly, to any definite policies other than what is stated in the statute with reference to your Commission?

Mr. ELMAN. Senator Schoeppel, I can't conceive of anyone being appointed to a position of this sort having fewer commitments, intellectual, financial, or otherwise, than I bring to this position. My only commitment is to do this job as well as I can, as fairly as I can, as effectively as I can, and to carry out the law as it is enacted by Congress.

« AnteriorContinuar »