Underground parking garage, Military Park, Newark, NJ. Mellon Square Parking Garage, Pittsburgh, Pa., has a capacity of 1,040 parking spaces, on six levels. 57-450 O-66-31 An overall view of the central business district in Detroit, with famed Cobo Hall in the foreground. Mr. JOHNSON. Any of the underground facilities shown in these photos would enhance the area adjacent to the District Building in the Federal Triangle. This portion of the Federal Triangle, probably know, was at one time a crummy area and, in my opinion, still is and I probably should be more explicit, I am talking about the Parking in the District Building and this is indeed shameful for our Nation's Capital. An inspection of the photographs mentioned will show what can be done in providing parking facilities and beautifying the area in question. This committee has heard much testimony on the merits of this bill. I do not pretend to be a technical authority on parking, but I do know that there are many ideas which might be considered: underground parking facilities in our small parks, along the Mall, and under our streets. Incidentally, the area around the District Building would afford an excellent pilot model of underground and understreet parking. Certainly, when we dig our subways, consideration should be given to building underground and understreet parking facilities at the same time. I have read portions of testimony on this bill in the local press and what I have read seems mostly favorable. For this reason I am not commenting on the many merits of the bill or any possible demerits. My feeling is that this committee, after reflecting on all the testimony, will report a bill that should get the show on the road. Senator TYDINGS. Thank you very much, Mr. Johnson. We are delighted to have had you with us. Mr. Jackson, I appreciate the time and effort you made in being with us. Mr. JOHNSON. Senator Tydings, thank you very much. Mr. JACKSON. Thank you. Senator TYDINGS. Mr. Maurice J. Murphy, executive vice president, District of Columbia Automotive Trade Association. We are delighted to have you with us this morning, Mr. Murphy. STATEMENT OF MAURICE J. MURPHY, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, AUTOMOTIVE TRADE ASSOCIATION, NATIONAL CAPITAL AREA; ACCOMPANIED BY LOUIS H. MANN, ASSOCIATION COUNSEL Mr. MURPHY. Thank you very much, Senator. My name is Maurice J. Murphy. I am executive vice president of the Automotive Trade Association of the National Capital Area. I have with me Mr. Louis H. Mann, the association's counsel, and in the event of questions, the two of us will be able to answer them. Our association is composed primarily of 121 new-car dealers, whose places of business are in Washington and the nearby areas of Maryland and Virginia. We also have 38 kindred-line members. The board of directors of the Automotive Trade Association had a special meeting January 25, 1966, to determine what the position of the board of directors of the association should be with respect to S. 2769 and as a result of the vote at that meeting, I was instructed to make this statement. To begin with, the directors of the association favor this bill subject to certain qualifications I will mention later. This decision was not easily reached because our members are strong proponents of the free enterprise system, believe that private enterprise should be encouraged, and that government should not compete with private business. However, they recognize that this is the Federal City, the Capital of the United States, and that it has a special appeal for tourists who should be able to come to Washington to see the many places of historical interest and the places where this Government functions. Tourists represent a large portion of the income of business in the District of Columbia. They also place a great strain on the facilities which are here to serve them. Our board therefore felt that it was appropriate to take some action to encourage tourists and make it easier for them to go from place to place in Washington by automobile and be able to park near the places they plan to visit. This is the primary reason our directors reached the conclusion that they favored this bill. With respect to the actual provisions of the bill, our directors believe that the power to condemn property for parking purposes should be left to the Commissioners in their capacity as the governing body of the city, rather than to them as members of the Parking Board. It was their strong feeling that condemnation of private property for parking purposes should be used only as a last resort and that wherever possible any new parking facilities should be on, or preferably under, property already owned by the United States or the |