The President called attention to the severe penalties inflicted by inadequate roads and streets, particularly the loss of life and limb from accidents, the economic cost of congestion, and the clogging of our courts by cases having their origin in traffic.
APPOINTMENT OF COMMITTEES
In response to the invitation from the President to recommend cooperative action which might be taken to provide adequate highways, the governors by resolution authorized an immediate study and a report. A special seven-man highway committee was created, consisting of Govs. Walter J. Kohler, Jr., of Wisconsin; Frank J. Lausche, of Ohio; Howard Pyle, of Arizona; John Lodge, of Connecticut; Lawrence W. Wetherby, of Kentucky; Paul Patterson, of Oregon; and Allan Shivers, of Texas. Governor Kohler was named chairman of the committee, and Gov. Robert F. Kennon of Louisiana, chairman of the governors’ conference served automatically as an ex-officio member.
An interagency committee within the Federal establishment also was set up to consider the matter from the standpoint of Federal interest in roads and their financing. This group included representatives appointed by the Secretaries of Defense, Commerce, Agriculture, and Treasury, the Director of the Bureau of the Budget and the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers.
On September 7, 1954, the appointment of the President’s Advisory Committee on a National Highway Program was announced. This Committee is composed of Lucius D. Clay, chairman of the board, Continental Can Co., Chairman; Stephen D. Bechtel, of San Francisco, Calif., president, Bechtel Corp.; David Beck, of Seattle, Wash., president, International Brotherhood of Teamsters; S. Sloan Colt, of New York, president, Bankers' Trust Co.; and William A. Roberts, of Milwaukee, Wis., president, Allis Chalmers Manufacturing Co. The headquarters of this Committee were established in the White House Executive Office Building.
The Committee was requested by the President to study the problem and report back to him, working in cooperation with the Special Highway Committee of the Governors’ Conference and with the Interagency Committee. To provide opportunity for all other interested individuals and groups to present their views, public hearings were held by the President's Advisory Committee in Washington, D. C. on October 7 and 8, at which 22 organizations associated with the highway problem made presentations with respect to financing and executing the proposed construction program.
HELP RECEIVED BY COMMITTEE
In reaching its conclusions and recommendations, the Committee has given full consideration to the several viewpoints expressed in these hearings. Helpful and constructive suggestions were received from many other groups, including the Federal agencies represented on the Interagency Committee.
The Governors responded promptly and wholeheartedly to the President's request for suggestions regarding the program, with the result that a special study was completed by their highways committee.
