Dr. REED. What we are talking about if you will take my written statement, I said that when he was a symbol, this was an opinion, but when I said Mr. Brennan "this is not a personal opinion" and so onnow I am prepared to see to it that a memorandum of law which will detail the specifics of court decisions on this I submitted to your committee, if you will give me a few days to get it together.

Senator HUGHES. I would appreciate having a memo filed before our committee for its concern, whether it is in time to put it in the record or not.

Senator JAVITS. I think I can give a word of enlightenment. I want to be very careful not to be apologetic because Mr. Brennan himself will have to answer. But I believe the ultimate facts are that there has been a very grave controversy with the building trades local unions. There have been court litigations. There have been court orders. There has been a titanic struggle, and I assure you that where there is that much smoke, there is plenty of fire.

The question is: To what extent in respect of his confirmation as Secretary of Labor can Peter Brennan be held as a responsible party? That is why it was developed this morning, that he was testifying his own action as to what a man-even though a leader or chairmancan do with trade unions, local unions which he does not control, and the committee should be satisfied that he has conducted himself as a nominee for Secretary of Labor should, and that should be the test, rather than the fact that redress is had against unions, and the record of these unions leaves much to be desired, and so on.

He is entitled to be tested as to what he was able to do and what he did as qualifying him as a man of conscience and skill to be eligible for Secretary of Labor. That is what he was addressing himself to. That is what I think the issue is.

Dr. REED. May I respond to that, Senator. It is interesting that I am responding with my good friend, Senator Javits, and I do consider him a good friend.

Senator JAVITS. He is.

Dr. REED. I think I have some understanding of what it means to be a president, being a State president, I have been it in the past for a number of years, and I have been a branch president in the NAACP. I just do not see any way that I personally can escape responsibility for what the NAACP under me does, even though I may not have absolute control over it.

In other words, what I am trying to say is if the New York State NAACP breaks the law, I have a choice between doing one of three things: first, trying to keep them from breaking the law; secondly, if they break the law, I must either in good conscience resign as president because I cannot go along with that breaking of the law, and being the head of it, or I must accept the responsibility for it. It is as simple as that.

Senator HUGHES. Mr. Jennings, I do not want to leave you out of the discussion. If you have any information that would help the committee in considering this nomination, please feel free to say so. You represent the youth programs in the NAACP in New York; is that correct?

Mr. JENNINGS. That is right.

Senator HUGHES. Do the young black people in New York have to have experience to get into apprenticeships as you have been acquainted with?

Mr. JENNINGS. It would be my feeling, as I look at some of the manpower programs and other programs that have been developed related to employment, that they are inconsiderate of variables pertinent to early development. I think that often the problem of unemployment is compounded by subproblems that might be incurred as a person develops in a certain environment. I do not think that the manpower program and certain other programs are comprehensive enough or address themselves to many areas of the unemployment problem. I do not think that the problem can be classified unemployment in a nutshell and the remedy is to get the guy a job or train him. I think there are other factors to be considered that are not being considered. It is too extensive for me to try to get into it right now, but along with Dr. Reed, if you care to have it. I could forward your information.

Senator HUGHES. If you can forward it, it would certainly be helpful to us in the future. I would like to say to both of you gentlemen in consideration of your testimony-and we are pleased that you are here and we do appreciate the sacrifice you have made to be here, probably at your own personal expense, time, and loss of work you might have done, and everything else in being here. At a time in our national history when the acting chairman of the committee, and I know Senator Javits and Senator Dominick are concerned about the problems we are facing in this country in racial relations; the problems of employment, education, everything we are wrestling with here in the Congress of the United States, and in this Labor Committee, I do not believe there is a member on this committee that has not participated with and - struggled in the problems of civil rights on the liberal side trying to bring about an equality of opportunity, educational opportunities and everything that we can do.

I am deeply troubled by this opposition to this appointee. The only thing I can say to you is, as one Senator, I will assure you I will do my personal utmost to see-and I suspect as Senator Javits said that Mr. Brennan will be confirmed that this man does do the job. He has sworn before this committee that he will, and that he respects, honors, and works for and is an advocate for minorities of this country. And I believe that is what he should be. I'm concerned about the concern you express to us, and we appreciate your testimony and thank you for . coming.

Dr. REED. Thank you.

Senator HUGHES. The chairman calls Mr. James Haughton, Harlem Fight Back. Is Mr. Haughton present? Was Mr. Haughton present today? Do any of you men know him?

I would like to show on the record that if Mr. Haughton was handicapped, delayed or had to leave early, we will give him an opportunity to file a statement for the record.

The Chair calls Mr. Paul King, chairman, Labor Committee, National Association of Minority Contractors. I welcome you on behalf of the committee and its members. You may proceed."

STATEMENT OF PAUL KING, CHAIRMAN, LABOR COMMITTEE, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MINORITY CONTRACTORS

Mr. KING. Mr. Chairman, Senator Javits, and Senator Dominick, at the risk of alienating the committee, I would say that the logistics of how you handled these confirmation hearings seem to be a bit awkward. It would seem to me the questions I am going to raise and others have raised would have been better had in your midst prior to your discussion with Mr. Brennan than after. I would hope that those things that I raise in my testimony today would be forwarded to Mr. Brennan for a written response.

Senator HUGHES. Well, the Chair will say to you, Mr. King, that if you raise points that need questioning of Mr. Brennan, that we have the right to call him back. I would like to point out that the members of the committee, particularly to my right, the minority members, would have no control over the schedule of the witnesses here today. I would express that responsibility on behalf of the chairman.

Mr. KING. I have had one of my assistants submit to Mr. Nagle several pounds of material discussing the minority contract and minority building, which I hope all would go into the record. However, I am going to read the statement here which is about 8 pages.

Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, my name is Paul King. I am the labor chairman of the National Association of Minority Contractors. I am a painting contractor in the construction industry. I am the executive director of the United Builders Association of Chicago, which is an organization of black contractors in that city and the local affiliate of the National Association of Minority Contractors (NAMC). I participated in the first construction work shutdown in Chicago in July of 1969, and was a negotiator and signator to the Chicago plan developed in 1970. Since that time, I have been involved in direct action, independent hearings, negotiations, and other related efforts regarding black and other minority construction workers and contractors throughout the country.

Throughout my testimony I may refer constantly to the word "black." However, I would like the record to show that Senator John Tower and I were together in Brownsville, Tex., helping organize the Mexican-American contractors down there in the valley area also. Attached is added information for the record that I shall not read

now.

Senator HUGHES. With unanimous consent, the statement will be filed for the record and all the material you brought for the committee.

(The information referred to may be found in the files of the committee.)

Mr. KING. I am here today to discuss the nomination of Mr. Peter J. Brennan as U.S. Secretary of Labor. I think it necessary to distinguish my remarks and views from those of the civil rights organizations, and of course, I say this with the greatest respect for their courage and tenacity on matters regarding the civil rights of black people over the years. I am viewing and considering Mr. Brennan's nomination from the vantage point of a black man in the construction in

dustry representing an organization which seeks to change the condition of black and other minority persons through empowerment of minority contractors so that we can hire and train our people, develop educational techniques that will bring construction training into our black technical colleges, install construction curriculum in our inner city schools, and, in general, seek to acquire a fair share of the construction dollar for the minority builders.

The great disadvantage in trying to evaluate Mr. Brennan is that I do not know the man. This was not the case with George Shultz or James Hodgson. However, I shall not display the same prejudice due to lack of information toward Peter Brennan that my constituents and I have fought when heaped upon us as blacks.

Mr. Brennan has been in the construction industry-a fact that could be construed as a positive feature if Mr. Brennan takes his knowledge and, with the weight of the Department of Labor behind him, brings reform to the industry. Mr. Brennan has been a strong organizer of his people as president of the New York City and New York State Building Construction Trades Councils. As a leader, I am sure he maintained his position by responding to the needs and specific interests of his New York constituency. And here, I think, is the key: Is Peter Brennan able to recognize that, as Secretary of Labor, his constituency is no longer a few hundred thousand construction workers in New York, or the 3 million in the Nation? His constituency is now the 80 million Americans in the work force, and hundreds of thousands of black and other minority organized and nonunion, Americans who seek entry into that work force.

As Secretary, Mr. Brennan will have to represent the United States in labor affairs internationally. I am not aware of Mr. Brennan's total experience: that is, having read in the December 6, 1972, Construction Labor Report, only that:

Mr. Brennan has been president of the New York City and New York State Building and Construction Trades Councils, AFL-CIO, for the last 15 years. He was elected president of the council in New York City in 1957 and president of the council in New York State in 1958.

Mr. Brennan was born May 24, 1918, in New York City. Following his graduation from Commerce High School, he started as an apprentice in the Painters' Union and became a master painter and official of his local union while attending classes at City College of New York.

Following service in the U.S. Navy in the Pacific during World War II, he resumed his union activities in New York City. In addition to his positions in the Building and Construction Trades Councils, he is a vice president of the New York State AFL-CIO.

During his career as a union official, Mr. Brennan has served on many church, civic and youth groups on the local and state levels. He is currently a vice president and director of the Police Athletic League of New York and is active in Youth Council and Boy Scout activities in New York City.

Mr. Brennan was appointed by Governor Rockefeller to the New York State Job Development Advisory Committee and the New York State Labor Department's Safety Advisory Committee. On National Advisory Committee for the Education of Disadvantaged Children for a term of two years.

The recipient of many local, national and international awards, during his career in labor, Mr. Brennan worked with the Workers' Defense League to bring minorities into the apprenticeship training programs of the building and construction trades unions.

Anything lacking in Mr. Brennan's personal, academic, or governmental background can be strengthened by the selection of qualified

the country-but to use this as an excuse to not fully implement the bor Department staff.

There have been some references made toward the failure of New York plans for minority hiring as being reason for opposing Mr. Brennan's nomination. On January 12, it was announced by Mayor Lindsay that the New York City plan to hire minorities in the construction trades would be halted. I suspect that the obvious conclusion to be drawn by many is that if Brennan was the head of the Building Trades Council in New York and their plan was a failure, then Brennan must be ineffectual or insensitive. I cannot conclude this.

I was a signator to the first Chicago plan which was heralded as a model for the Nation. This plan has the support of the black leaders, the city administration, the president of the Chicago Building Trades Council and the Builders' Association of Chicago-general contractors and community groups. Still, the plan failed. The failure of these plans are not necessarily attributable to one person, for in practice, it is the rank-and-file member of the various locals who must be committed to the goals, and the Federal Government who must enforce them.

My basic position, therefore, is that we will "Build with Brennan,” rather than "Blast Brennan," provided that he agrees to recognize his constitutency and begins to deal realistically with the construction industry in the best interest of the Nation as a whole, rather than solely with the interests of the construction worker community as presently constituted.

During the past 4 years, many positive programs were developed in behalf of the black builder. The Economic Development Administration, under Assistant Secretary Robert Podesta, funded minority contractor associations; John Jenkins, Director of OMBE, with the full support of Commerce Secretary Peter Peterson, expanded on this by funding contractor assistance centers. HUD funded model cities programs, gave technical assistance to minority builders in depressed areas. Through these programs, minority contractors have been able to grow strong enough to hire additional people, as in the case of the minority firm awarded the contract for painting on the Standard Oil Building in Chicago. The Justice Department filed suits against recalcitrant unions in California and supported the SBA 8(A) set-aside program. Nixon-appointed judges have issued decrees in favor of blacks against racist unions. And, in my judgment, the Department of Labor has, during the past 4 years, reached a level of rapport with the black community heretofore unestablished. My point is, in viewing the nomination from inferences made by some writers saying that Mr. Brennan's appointment is a return for his support of Mr. Nixon in the recent election, or an attempt to woo the so-called labor camp closer to the White House, one would have to ask, why? Why would the President who now sits in a position to write a new era in American history, as does Mr. Nixon, take such a backward step in appointing a lackluster Archie Bunker type, as Mr. Brennan has been inclined to be described, to such a delicate position as Labor Secretary?

Whereas, I am no spokesman on the war, busing, or women's rights, I will say that we must place some significant degree of confidence in the President's judgment as to who he wants on his team.