PROCUREMENT OF HEAVY EQUIPMENT AND SPARE PARTS

Project 130 is for the procurement of heavy equipment and spare parts. The total program amounts to $1,166,472, all of which has been appropriated, and no funds are requested in 1949.

PROCUREMENT OF MORTUARY SUPPLIES AND EQUIPMENT

Project 140 is for the procurement of mortuary supplies and equipment. The total program amounts to $2,621,819, all of which has been appropriated, and no money is requested for fiscal 1949.

PROCUREMENT OF GASOLINE AND LUBRICANTS FOR OPERATION OF MOTOR EQUIPMENT

Project 150 is for the procurement of gasoline and lubricants for operation of motor equipment. The total program amounts to $6,250,000, of which $3,686,212 has been appropriated, leaving a balance requested in this estimate of $2,563,788.

The necessity for this item is due to the fact, mainly, that the Army organizations have moved away from areas in which we had planned to obtain free gasoline. We are now forced to purchase our gasoline from the local governments. This, incidentally, represents a decrease in the original program. The original program was $7,333,160.

PROCUREMENT OF MISCELLANEOUS OPERATING SUPPLIES

The next project, 160, is for the procurement of miscellaneous operating supplies. The total program amounts to $4,899,571, of which $3,301,947 was appropriated, leaving a balance of $1,597,624.

This is for the continuation of the project in 1949, which includes general supplies as listed on page 134 and includes the purchase of rations for indigenous laborers overseas, also includes the local purchase of general supplies in overseas areas where the purchase can be made more economically than by shipment.

PROCUREMENT OF OFFICE SUPPLIES AND EQUIPMENT

Project 165 is for the procurement of office supplies and equipment. The total program amounts to $459,813, all of which has been appropriated, and no funds are requested in this estimate.

ACQUISITION OF GRAVE SITES

Project 210 is for the acquisition of grave sites. The total program amounts to $3,181,347, of which $2,152,426 has been appropriated and $138,678 is requested in this estimate, and an item of $890,243 has been deferred to future years.

Mr. ENGEL. Is that for the acquisition of grave sites in other than national cemeteries?

Colonel MARSHALL. This cost includes the rental of land for temporary cemeteries in overseas areas until the bodies are moved to permanent cemeteries.

You will notice on page 141 the break-down by theaters for the rental of land for temporary cemeteries.

Mr. ENGEL. Is this rental of cemeteries paid to private individuals in those countries?

Colonel MARSHALL. The deal is handled by the foreign government. We pay the government, and they pay the private individual. Mr. ENGEL. You pay them in dollars?

Colonel MARSHALL. Yes, sir.

Mr. ENGEL. That brings up the dollar question?

Colonel MARSHALL. That brings up the dollar question.

Mr. ENGEL. You pay them with dollars because the State Department has the say-so as to whether or not you pay in dollars or local currency?

Colonel MARSHALL. We do not have the say-so.

Included in this project 210 is the development of permanent cemetries overseas prior to their transfer to the American Battle Monuments Commission. This involves the initial work necessary in occupying the cemetery, and on page 142 is a résumé of the agreement with the Battle Monuments Commission as to the responsibility of the Army.

Mr. ENGEL. And the cemeteries you are developing are given on page 144?

Colonel MARSHALL. That is right.

Mr. ENGEL. We will insert that page in the record at this point.

DETAILS OF PERMANENT CEMETERY CONSTRUCTIONS AND ESTIMATED

BURIALS

Mr. CASE. Mr. Chairman, should not that table also have an estimate of the number of graves that can be cared for in each one of those cemeteries?

Colonel MARSHALL. We can insert that.

Mr. CASE. The acreage is given, but the acreage would not always provide a uniform number of graves.

Colonel MARSHALL. We can insert that in the record. (The matter above referred to is as follows:)

Mr. ENGEL. Take up the next project.

RENTAL OF OFFICE SPACE

Colonel MARSHALL. The next project, 220, is for the rental of office space. The total program is $2,020,709, of which $1,173,764 has been appropriated. The amount included in this estimate is $634,015, with a deferred amount of $212,930.

Again, Mr. Chairman, we are faced with an increase in this project, due to the departure of American troops from what were formerly occupied areas, mainly in France and Italy. We are now required to rent space from individuals and pay the price set by the foreign government.

Mr. CASE. Again, is that $2,000,000 contemplated for payment in dollars?

Colonel MARSHALL. Yes, sir.

Mr. CASE. Or local currency?

Colonel MARSHALL. Payment is contemplated in dollars.

Colonel MOORE. Actual payment of vouchers covering expenses necessary in connection with the repatriation program and provided for in the appropriation now being considered by the committee are made by Army disbursing officers both at home and abroad in exactly the same manner as are payments for other activities of the Army. In foreign countries where local currency must be used, the local disbursing officer procures such local currencies as he may require from time to time with dollar checks unless the United States Government owns sufficient foreign currency which may be made available to disbursing officers by the Treasury Department in sufficient amounts to meet requirements. War Department instructions covering the acquisition of certain foreign currencies are contained in Circular No. 247 dated September 6, 1947, and read in part as follows:

PROCEDURE FOR OBTAINING LOCAL CURRENCY FOR OPERATIONAL USE

(1) United States Army disbursing officers who need local currency for operational use and do not have such currency on hand will request their theater fiscal director or theater chief of finance for a supply of the currency specifying the type and amount.

(2) Upon receipt of this request the theater fiscal director or theater chief of finance will determine whether the currency may be made available by transferring it from another disbursing officer within his command. If not, the theater fiscal director or theater chief of finance will request the Chief of Finance, the Pentagon, Washington 25, D. C., Attention: Receipts and Disbursements Division, by radiogram, for a supply of such currency. The foregoing action will be taken before authorizing the disbursing officer to obtain local currency through the issuance of a check on the Treasurer of the United States.

Colonel MARSHALL. With the Government.

Mr. CASE. How does this price compare with the average price. paid for space and servicing offices of cemeteries prior to World War II? Colonel MARSHALL. We do not have that information.

General HORKAN. I was overseas on this grave registration work up until 1932, and at that time we rented certain office space very much cheaper than the amounts we pay now.

Mr. CASE. Can we have some comparative figures?

General HORKAN. We do not have those figures; we will have to get them. That was back in 1932.

Mr. CASE. I notice you use an average figure here in computing the amount requested, but that probably is an average for all of the cemeteries for this European area, for example, and for the Medi

terranean zone?

Colonel MARSHALL. It is broken down by zones, and that is the average within that zone.

Mr. CASE. Could not we have some comparative figures on the actual rental costs in the same countries?

Colonel MARSHALL. We can get those for you.

Mr. CASE. And let us have some tables showing that in the record. Colonel MARSHALL. Yes, sir.

At the present time there is no information available relative to prewar rental costs in the various countries overseas. This information is being solicited from each of the countries concerned and will be made available to the Appropriations Committee immediately upon receipt.

Mr. CASE. Are we also paying with dollars for the space in Australia?

Colonel MARSHALL. Yes, sir.

Mr. SCRIVNER. That ought to be cleared up very soon.

Colonel MARSHALL. Yes, sir. There will be some activities in here that are in process of being closed out. As I said before, we are showing the total program from the beginning to the end.

Mr. ČASE. On page 149 you show an item of the funds appropriated and the amount deferred.

Colonel MARSHALL. Yes, sir.

Mr. CASE. What do you mean by the amount deferred?

Colonel MARSHALL. The amount deferred is what we have estimated will be the charge after July 1, 1949, because we are including in this estimate just the requirements for fiscal 1949. In order to show the total program, we are showing the amount appropriated, the amount for this year, and the amount we are coming in for the following year, in the present estimate.

Mr. CASE. Are you contracting for this office space on that basis? Colonel MARSHALL. Yes, sir.

Mr. CASE. In other words, in showing this at this time, what you are actually asking for is authority to make rental contracts in the succeeding fiscal year?

Colonel MARSHALL. I do not believe the contracts are on that long a scale. Of course, they differ with the locality. In those localities where we can make shorter contracts on an economical basis, then we do it, in order that we may be free to leave in a shorter period. We do not intend to bind the United States Government to long-term leases. We do not know how long we are going to be there. This is our estimated time, but it may be shorter.

Mr. CASE. Is the trend up or down in rentals in these countries? Colonel MARSHALL. This is the result of the trend for fiscal 1947, which has been practically at the top.

Mr. CASE. In other words, you think these figures should go down rather than up?

Colonel MARSHALL. We cannot see how they can go any further up The only place for them to go is down, unless existing conditions. continue over there.

RENTAL OF STORAGE SPACE

Mr. CASE. Take up the next project, 230, "Rental of storage space." Colonel MARSHALL. For the rental of storage space, the total program amounts to $2,119,902, of which $1,232,618 has been appropriated and $691,659 is included in this estimate, and the amount of $195,625 has been deferred.

Again, Mr. Chairman, we are faced with rentals in areas in which we previously received free space by requisition on the local country. We are now paying for that space with dollars at a considerably higher figure than we contemplated.

Mr. CASE. On both this project and the previous project, I do not know that it would be desirable to have in the record all of the detail in each of these zones or theaters, but I think it might be desirable to put in a table, for instance, showing the Army Ground Forces, Pacific, and the amount, so that we will have that much of a table for reference. Colonel MARSHALL. All right, sir.

(The information requested is as follows:)

Mr. CASE. On page 151, I notice it says:

The program has been extended an additional 6 months under authority contained in Public Law 368, Eightieth Congress.

What is the reason for the extension?

General HORKAN. We have had delays in getting caskets up to the present time. We are also having some delays in getting answers from the next of kin, due to their having family difficulties between husbands and wives and wives and fathers.

Mr. CASE. How do you determine who is the next of kin and who has priority?

General HORKAN. The wife is the next of kin, and, if she remarries, then it is the father, mother, brothers, sisters, and so forth.

Mr. CASE. If you have that definite basis on which to determine who has the preference, why should there be any problem of a difference of opinion?

General HORKAN. Where a boy will have been married, say, for a week and went overseas and was killed, the father contends the girl only lived with him a short time and he should have the right to say what the disposition of the body should be. In other cases, where the wife wants him left overseas and the father wants him brought back, it is quite difficult to get those things straightened out. And while there is any active difference of opinion

Mr. CASE. You simply hold the remains?