ness to consider these legislative proposals sympathetically.

Unquestionably our people were disappointed Congress did not see fit to further their efforts to attach a costly and distressing menace to their health, comfort, and property, the exasperating phenomenon known as smog. Our hopes were bolstered, however, that early assistance will be extended for cleaning up the atmosphere in metropolitan and industrial centers.

This problem is by no means peculiar to my State, though the popular mind conceives of it as being most acute there. We appreciate the serious attention that was given the proposed legislation the senior Senator from Indiana and I sponsored to When spur anipollution programs. Congress reconvenes, we trust more data will be available and a coordinated air cleansing plan will have been worked out through studies and consultations President Eisenhower has advised us he believes to be a worthwhile undertaking.

In this regard, I should like to inform my colleagues that Senator CAPEHART and I wrote the President recently suggesting steps the Federal Government might take to reinforce our cities, counties, civic and industry organizations, and individual citizens in their efforts to bring air contamination under control. We suggested an interdepartmental commission might link the forces of the Federal Government which could be strong allies in the fight against smog. Since the second session ended, we have been encouraged by the following letter from one of the Chief Executive's aides:

"Your suggestion for the establishment of an interagency committee has been discussed with the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, and the Secretary agrees that the proposal is an excellent one.

"Such a group could define the nature and magnitude of the problem, evaluate the steps which need to be taken to abate air pollution, and canvass the resources of the Government which might be employed to assist in such abatement.

"The Secretary of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare is presently seeking to ascertain what other Federal agencies should be represented and is taking steps leading to the establishment of this group."

Repeatedly I have said that rigid economy in Federal operations is essential to the preservation of our form of government. Nevertheless, within the limits of reduced expenditures many activities must and can be carried on. This Nation never can or will turn the clock back on progress. It is necessary that public works be maintained, for instance, to help us raise levels of living and protect our people. For these reasons, I have proposed a variety of measures and urged a number of appropriations that will stimulate development of California resources, broaden opportunities for employment and production, and create more attractive environments.

In addition to the projects authorized in the omnibus public-works bill, Congress has approved a number of my bills. Among those which will benefit different sections of the State are one making available a few hundred acres of land in the Camp Roberts Military Reservation for a site for Nacimiento Dam and the resulting reservoir that will replenish shrinking water supplies and a similar measure authorizing construction of Vaquero Dam, in the Santa Maria Basin which will provide flood control, restore the falling underground water level through better percolation, and prevent salt-water intrusion into irrigation supplies. The replacement of a temporary weir with a permanent diversion dam for the Palo Verde irrigation district, made possible by a bill I am happy the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee agreed should be reported with

amendments, will save the Government money in the long run besides overcoming an engineering difficulty in putting water on parched land in Imperial Valley.

I

Several appropriation items which strongly urged and which received final approval will promote the interests of many people in specific sections of my State. These include $750,000 for reopening the entrance to Mission Bay where a number of persons lost their lives in treacherous waters, a preliminary sum of $50,000 to initiate studles of problems and development possibilities in San Francisco Bay and tributaries, an increase of $1,200,000 in flood-control funds to speed up protection for thickly settled foothills communities of the Los Angeles metropolitan area, an additional $250,000 for more intensive fire prevention on Government-owned lands comprising much of the Los Angeles and San Diego watersheds, an extra $1 million to finance relocation of residents being forced out of the area to be flooded by Monticello Dam, a $100,000 fund to conduct a study into problems. affecting migratory workers, and the $1 million needed to replace the pipefitters' shop at San Francisco Navy Yard, which was destroyed by fire.

Besides the foregoing items, which were more or less of an emergency character, this Congress granted necessary funds for continuing California programs which affect wide areas of my State. We are grateful Congress responded to my appeals for $2,500,000 for the lower San Joaquin Valley, including the Cherry Valley Reservoir, $3 million for the Sacramento River project, and $8,500,000 for the Los Angeles County drainage program.

One humanitarian accomplishment of the recent session which should be cited was the voting of money to begin a too-long-delayed reconstruction of the Long Beach Veterans' Hospital. The $8 million item which I urged in order to start replacing dilapidated, overcrowded, temporary structures is belated recognition of the debt this country owes a most tragic class of former servicemen, the paraplegics and quadraplegics who face years of heart-tugging discomfort and handicaps. With the fund to build 4 up-to-date wings of permanent character, the Congress started redeeming a neglected pledge made 4 years ago when several score of crippled veterans were abruptly moved to what really were only makeshift quarters and many dozen others were required to travel long distances for outpatient treatments at an institution with pitifully inadequate facilities.

This meritorious investment supplements the appropriation of a year ago to provide sorely needed neuropsychiatric facilities in northern California. With the funds previously provided, the Veterans' Administration already has chosen a site at Palo Alto on which a hospital will be constructed so treatment can be provided a large number of veterans whose unfortunate condition calls for attention at the earliest practicable

minute.

In the drive for adjournment, bills which regrettably died on the calendar included two reported from the hard-working Interior and Insular Affairs Committee on which I had the privilege of serving. Because plans have been carefully worked out, I particularly disliked to have the session end without action on my bill to extend Federal credit to the South San Joaquin and Oakdale Irrigation Districts for the $50 million Tri-Dam project. I introduced this legislation at the request of these two public agencies of California to make posible carrying out the proposed work, the cost of which would be defrayed through sale of electric energy but unfortunately the time-consuming filibuster in the last month jammed the calendar so badly that consideration of this needed legislation was impossible.

Other measures in which I had a deep interest involve rather complex problems

which need more time for study. The consideration given this year will help smooth the way in the future for legislation authorizing the Trinity-San Luis units of the great Central Valley project and remedying the tax revenue losses suffered by political subdivisions when the Federal Government acquires large amounts of property. The need for some type of "in lieu tax" compensation to local governments denied the right to assess federally owned land and buildings has been demonstrated and acknowledged. I trust that a satisfactory formula for correcting the inequitable situation will be forthcoming from the Commission set up by President Eisenhower to recommend a solution of the problem.

A Comparative Report

EXTENSION OF REMARKS

OF

HON. MORGAN M. MOULDER

OF MISSOURI

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Friday, August 20, 1954

Mr. MOULDER. Mr. Speaker, many Republican candidates for Congress are asking the people to vote for them because they claim that they will support all legislation proposed by the Eisenhower administration.

I hold the deep conviction that the first duty of a Member of Congress is to serve and represent the best interests of the people of his district and his country. In carrying out that duty, he should vote for legislation he believes good and against legislation he considers contrary to the best interests of the people, regardless of pressure from the executive branch of the Government.

Conscientious representation-without dictation or blind obedience-is a fundamental principle of our democratic form of government. I have followed that principle during my service as your Representative in Congress from the 11th District of Missouri.

The following important issues were among those presented for consideration during the 83d Congress. On some of these issues I voted with the Eisenhower administration; on others I voted against it. But on every issue I voted for what I honestly believed to be the best interests of the people I represent.

In the following table I have indicated my vote on each of these issues, together with the position of the administration. I ask you the people I represent-how you would have voted?

Provide funds for Un-American Activities Committee (H. Res. 400, Feb. 25, 1954). Prohibit foreign aid funds to governments committed by treaty to maintain Communist rule in Asia (H. R. 9678, June 30, 1954). Appropriate new funds for foreign aid (H. R. 10051, July 28, 1954).

NOTE.-Foreign Operations Administration already had on hand more than $9 billion in unexpended funds. Prohibit importation of Mexican labor

ers without consent of Mexican Government (H. J. Res. 355, Mar. 2, 1954). End tax on admission tickets of 50 cents or less (H. R. 8224, Mar. 10, 1954). Reduce excise tax rates (H. R. 8224, Mar. 10, 1954).

Increase personal exemption for all taxpayers from $600 to $700 (H. R. 8300, Mar. 18, 1954). Appropriations for Department of Agriculture for fiscal year 1955, H. R. 8779, Apr. 14, 1954.

Amendment to H. R. 8779 to increase amount provided for the national school lunch program by $6,452,584, Apr. 14, 1954.

NOTE.-The Committee on Appropriations recommended increased appropriations requested by the Bureau of the Budget bringing the total for the National School Lunch Program to $9 million. This restoration of funds plus the additional 6 million provided in the amendment mentioned above provided $15 million for the school lunch program as in previous years. Provide lower flexible support prices on basic farm commodities (H. R. 9680, May 6, 1954). Extend coverage and increase benefits of social security program (H. R. 9336, June 1, 1954).

Extend and improve vocational rehabilitation program (H. R. 9640, July 8, 1954).

Increase unemployment compensation benefits (H. R. 9709, July 8, 1954). Establish death penalty for peacetime spying (H. R. 9580, July 8, 1954). Oppose admission of Communist China to United Nations (H. Res. 627, July 15, 1954).

Extend deadline for education and training for Korean veterans (H. R. 9888, July 21, 1954).

Increase veterans disability compensation payments (H. R. 9020), July 21, 1954.

Increase salaries of postal workers (H. R. 9245), Aug. 9, 1954. Provide criminal punishment for membership in Communist Party (S. 3706), Aug. 17, 1954. Omnibus river and harbor and flood control bill (H. R. 9859) July 26, 1954. NOTE. In addition to previous authorization of 3 reservoirs in the Osage River Basin, this bill authorizes the appropriation of $144 million for the comprehensive plan for the Missouri River Basin and includes provision for a system of 9 reservoirs for flood protection on the Osage River and tributaries in Missouri and Kansas in accordance with the recommendation of the Chief of Arny Engineers.

Crisis in Our Schools

EXTENSION OF REMARKS

OF

HON. ELIZABETH KEE

OF WEST VIRGINIA IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Friday, August 20, 1954 Mrs. KEE. Mr. Speaker, as this Congress approaches its final hours, I want to call attention again to the fact that we have failed to take any genuinely effective step to solve the crisis in our schools.

I have cited this problem to the House at various times and in connection with various legislative proposals which have been before us. It is with great disappointment that I find the Congress getting ready to terminate the work of the 83d Congress with not a single dent made in this problem.

While it is true that we have passed some minor legislation dealing with the schools and they are, indeed, minor bills-we proceeded to negate even that little bit by providing insufficient appropriations.

For instance, we authorized a series of State conferences on education over the coming year culminating in a White House conference next year. The House at first refused to appropriate any money whatsoever for this purpose. The Senate did approve funds for the White House conference and for contributions toward the States' preliminary conferences. But in the final settlement of the differences between the House and Senate versions of the Supplemental Appropriations Act, a compromise figure was provided which will not go nearly as far as it should in financing the cost of the various conferences on education.

As I told the House when we had this measure before us, and also in connection with other bills we passed for an Advisory Commission on Education and for Cooperative Research with the colleges on educational problems, we have been authorizing a lot of studies into a problem which we already know could be effectively helped if not entirely solved by financial help to our schools.

But we have given no help of that nature. The administration has said that it thinks we ought to wait on this problem until after the White House conference is held. That would mean no possible financial help to our schools from the Federal Government until sometime after December 1955, which would mean no help whatsoever until the start of the school year beginning in September of 1956. In other words, if the administration recommended an aid-toeducation program following that White House conference late next year, the first time the Congress could take it up would be in 1956 for the fiscal year of 1957 which starts July 1, 1956. So it would not

be applicable for the first time until 2 years from now.

Many bills were introduced to provide Federal aid to education immediately. On the tidelands bill, many of us tried to earmark royalties from offshore oil for Federal aid to education. Because of the opposition of the President's advisers, anxious to give away these natural resources belonging to the people of the United States, we were unable to add that provision to the bill.

And so our overworked teachers and

overcrowded schools continue a situation which is a disgrace to our country. Here we are, a nation of vast resources, but unable to provide the kind of educational facilities our children require. I was thinking of this situation recently when I happened across a news article reporting on an analysis presented by a team of psychiatrists and psychologists at a professional convention in one of our largest cities. They were reporting on attitudes toward our schools.

And their major finding was this: that as citizens we tend to expect too much from our schools. We tend to blame the schools, as they put it, for everything that goes amiss with the State and its citizens.

We expect our schools to solve the growing divorce problem, bad or reckless driving habits on our highways, the lack of international understanding among peoples, the apathy about religion, the increase in mental illness.

Forgetting that there is a home before there is a school, we even have the tendency sometimes to blame the schools for all juvenile delinquency, all adult crime, all cases of fraud and deceit and brutality and injustice.

Truly, we expect too much from our schools. And yet, so inconsistent are we, so inclined to wishful thinking and shortcut thinking, that while expecting miracles from our schools, we starve them out for funds, relegate them to unsafe or horribly overcrowded facilities, and even deny to the men and women who spend their lives as teachers the basic fundamental of decent minimum salaries on which they can live in dignity.

PENALIZING AMERICA BY NEGLECTING OUR
SCHOOLS

Perhaps we have come to expect so much from our schools-too much, according to that scientific report presented at the American Orthopsychiatric Association convention-because we have found among our school teachers, underpaid and abused as they are a dedication to a great cause seldom found in any profession outside of the clergy. Instead of rewarding them, for that, however, we punish them for it.

Schoolteachers are not angels, but we expect them always to conduct themselves with the utmost propriety and serve as good examples to the children at all times.

Schoolteachers have all the human desires of all the rest of us, but we expect them to live in near poverty and not complain.

Schoolteachers put in an exhausting day at the job, but we nevertheless expect them to have the reserves of strength and of interest necessary to carry them through unlimited hours of unpaid overtime on extracurricular activities, on parent-teacher association matters, on civic and community

enterprises.

Schoolteachers, in other words, are considered special servants of democracy, and as such are expected to do more and give more-and get less-than other public servants or private employees.

The amazing thing, Mr. Speaker, is not that we expect these things from our schoolteachers but that they generally are so willing to do what we expect from them.

But is it fair?

Certainly it is not fair to the teachers who are so poorly treated. But is it fair to the community? Is it fair to the Nation? Is it fair to our way of life? I think not.

As our society has become more complex, we have not permitted our educational system to keep pace. We have denied it the necessary facilities, the necessary funds, the necessary support. And we are-and will be-paying a high price for that neglect.

I would like to equate that, at least briefly, to our concern about defense appropriations, our insistence here, whenever a military appropriation bill comes before us, that the administration seek and obtain sufficient funds to man our Defense Establishment and provide the weapons we and our allies need for the security of freedom. If the President fails to ask for as much money for defense as we feel he should receive, we insist on giving it to him anyway.

Now I am heartily in favor of adequate appropriations for defense, but freedom is not guaranteed by guns alone. Freedom is also a state of mind, an attitude, a philosophical conception which we learn, and which we learn to appreciate. Once appreciated, once learned, it is a concept which commands our total allegiance. We do not, as a people, compromise on freedom. We accept no substitutes for it. We demand the pure, unadulterated product or as pure and unadulterated a variety as we can achieve in a far-from-perfect society.

DEMOCRACY IS ROOTED IN OUR EDUCATIONAL
SYSTEM

The psychiatrists and psychologists notwithstanding, I believe that the fundamental strength of our democracy lies today and has reposed for many, many years in our educational system. While we learn much of democracy in our homes as children, the biggest contribution in that regard is most often made, I believe, in the group activities of the school, particularly when good teachers relate these activities to the problems of living together and working together and striving together in a democratic society.

Probably no one single factor has contributed as much as our universal free public educational system to the durabil

ity and strength of the American democracy we know today-to make us at the youthful age among nations of only 165 years one of the few nations in the world today able to boast of a continuous period of constitutional democracy stretching back that many years.

That thought is both reassuring and disturbing as this session and this term of Congress near their final hours with no attention having been paid to the needs of the schools and no prospect of a real attack on this problem in the near future under present leadership. It is reassuring to remember how great a contribution our educational system has made to our democracy. It is disturbing to know that in a time of crisis in our schools, our Nation is failing them. How long can our schools continue to bolster our national life when we ignore their needs?

In the 84th Congress, it will be my purpose to work with all my strength for better treatment for our schools and our hard-working teachers. I trust we shall have the kind of Congress at that time which will find sympathy in its heart and resourcefulness enough to face up to this problem effectively.

The Major Accomplishments of the

Republican Administration

EXTENSION OF REMARKS

OF

HON. JOHN S. COOPER

OF KENTUCKY

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

Friday, August 20, 1954

Mr. COOPER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Appendix of the RECORD a statement I have prepared on the major accomplishments of the Republican administration.

There being no objection, the stateRECORD, as follows: ment was ordered to be printed in the

THE MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE REPUBLICAN ADMINISTRATION

Now that the work of the 83d Congress has been completed, I should like to review briefly the record which the administration and Congress have made in the interests of the United States. The record of achievement is a most impressive one.

The accomplishments of our administration mean different things to different people. To all of us they mean a new honesty in Government. To many of us they mean the return of a son or husband from war, to yet others lower taxes, more industry, better schools and roads and hospitals.

We have the assurance of a firm foreign policy, of a strong national defense.

It is a record of which all of us can be proud. Here are some of the major accomplishments of President Eisenhower and the Republican 83d Congress:

1. We have peace. The war in Korea with nearly 160,000 casualties has been ended. The United States has not plunged recklessly into another war. There have been no crises or national emergencies declared by the President. Wartime controls have been repealed. Our foreign aid program has been tailored to meet defense needs. Our national defense is the strongest in peacetime history and the deterioration of our

military forces after World War II was not allowed to recur after the end of the Korean conflict.

2. Financially our house is in far better order. Savings in Government spending have amounted to $8.5 billion, despite the fact that we found $81 billion in unpaid Government bills when President Eisenhower took office. Nearly all of the savings have been returned to the taxpayers in four tax reductions. The first general tax reduction in more than half a century was completed, benefitting 26 million individual taxpayers. Inflation has been halted and the value of the dollar has been stabilized so that income and savings are no longer threatened by constant devaluation of the currency.

3. We have fully proved that the United States can have both peace and prosperity. The economy of the previous 12 years was based on a war economy. The 2 years of the Eisenhower administration have been the most prosperous in our history. We have the biggest total employment in our history, whereas the level of unemployment is still considerably less than during 1949. Over 62 million people are employed today, as compared to fewer than 59 million in 1949. At the same time, unemployment is 700,000 less hourly earnings reached the highest level in than in July 1949. During 1953-54, average history, peacetime expenditures for new plants and industries reached their highest point, construction reached its highest value; retail sales are the highest, and so are personal income and savings.

4. The disastrous drop in farm priceswhich brought on a decrease of 45 points in the farm-price index-during the previous administration has been stopped. Farm prices have not only been stabilized but have begun to increase. A large-scale farm surplus disposal program has been undertaken and export markets are being expanded. Soil and water conservation programs have been improved. Drought relief has avoided a catastrophe for thousands of farmers and stockmen. Funds for rural electrification and the Tennessee Valley Authority have been increased.

5. A new housing program has been enacted to make home ownership easier for millions of Americans. This will mean an un

paralleled expansion of the construction in

dustry. Special provision is made for housing in agricultural areas, small towns, and for veterans.

6. The new road bill will improve our highway system, by increasing Federal assistance. Kentucky will receive nearly $15 million per year, as compared to $10 million under the present law. Not only will it be easier for all of us to travel, but improved transportation will help commerce and expand production.

7. Social-security payments have been increased and social-security coverage extended to 10 million more people. Protection is extended to millions of farmers and professional people. The act also provides coverage for persons who become totally disabled.

8. School and hospital construction funds have been approved in greater amounts. A new hospital program will make hospitals, nursing homes, and convalescent homes available to more people. A rehabilitation program has been passed for the physically handicapped. Schools in federally affected areas will receive aid in construction and operation of schools.

9. The Veterans' Administration has been reorganized to give better, more effective service to our veterans. Two laws have been passed to increase compensation and pension payments for all veterans. GI benefits for Korean veterans have been extended. The largest appropriation in our history for medical services has been passed, providing a total of 114,415 hospital beds for veterans. 10. A new Government security program has been put into effect. Legislation has

been passed to outlaw the Communist Party, to protect defense industries against sabotage, and to effectively punish treason. Two thousand and four hundred Government employees have been separated as security risks; 41 Communist leaders have been convicted, and 208 have been deported.

Mr. President, all of us who have worked together for the achievement of this program can be proud that the job which the people have given us in 1952 is being done. The cooperation between the Congress and the President has made it possible to put into law this tremendous legislative program. I believe that the confidence of the people in this administration is well deserved.

Federal Aid to Education

EXTENSION OF REMARKS

ОР

HON. MORGAN M. MOULDER

OF MISSOURI

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Friday, August 20, 1954

Mr. MOULDER. Mr. Speaker, I am deeply concerned about the educational crises which continues to face us in this country. We all know that the completion of a school year is no more final than the formal ending of Congress, because the problems go on. The need for Federal aid to education is not a dead issue because you know, as well as I do, that the urgent need for aid to our schools is still with us.

It is still with us because almost nothing short of a miracle could pull us out of this situation. The facts of the case we all know. Nationwide surveys reveal that our schools are in desperate need of more teachers, more buildings, and money to finance them through this period. The statistics of elementary and secondary education point out to us the increased demand for school services and the decreases in qualified manpower and the purchasing power of our school dollars.

During World War II the enrollment in schools declined slightly, many fully qualified teachers left the profession, school construction practically stopped, and financial support lagged.

By 1947, however, constructive forces among all citizens began to move rapidly to remedy this wartime neglect and loss. The Council of State Governments published a very fine study in 1949 of our 48 State school systems in an effort to assist the States in working out solutions of the problems which faced their respective school systems.

A great deal has been done by citizens' groups in local communities to alleviate our school problems, but to date the overall needs have not been completely relieved. In this year we still find that our school manpower is affected, as well as financial support, and school construction. Meanwhile enrollments steadily continue to increase, the purchasing power of the school dollar declines, and school administrators find that they are forced to employ many people to teach who do not meet the State requirements for certification. These conditions are in turn affected by

worldwide economic forces and unrest. In our present position of world leadership in the necessary struggle for national security and for peace and freedom for all peoples everywhere, the expenditures of the Federal Government have increased by leaps and bounds, resulting in turn in tremendous increases in our Federal taxation. This combination of heavy Federal expenditures for defense and foreign aid, together with lower purchasing power and higher local and State governmental costs produces a general public reaction against any increase in local taxation for any purpose, no matter how essential. With this understandable reluctance to increase local and State taxes, it follows that any effort to meet the need for higher teachers' salaries, new school construction, and recruitment in teacher education is seriously handicaped.

Many of us in Congress are well aware of these existing conditions in our schools. Although it was limited aid, the 83d Congress recognized the responsibility of the Government for the impact caused by Federal activities upon the local educational agencies and enacted some emergency legislation to provide assistance to schools in federally affected areas. Under one of these laws the United States Commissioner of Education was authorized to make contributions toward operating costs of the local schools overburdened with increased attendance, as the result of Federal activities, and deprived of local revenues because of the tax-exempt status of Federal properties.

A recent report of the United States Office of Education shows that Missouri was entitled to receive $809,113 for school operation and maintenance in our federally affected areas.

The other school-aid legislation passed by Congress provided for grants to the States for inventory surveys of their existing school facilities and to determine the need for constructing additional school buildings. It also authorized financial assistance for school construction in federally affected areas. this law, Public Law 815, Missouri had $2,971,661 reserved of the Federal funds for the construction of vital school construction projects in the fiscal year 1954.

Under

Although this legislation indicates the Federal Government's recognition of its responsibility for federally affected areas, you and I know perfectly well that it meets only to a very slight degree the pressing problems of our schools.

I am concerned that the Congress has not, up to this time, approved any constructive measures for overall Federal aid to education because I earnestly believe that it is of vital importance. It seems to me that the details and opposition which have bogged it down are quite small, in comparison to the overall need for Federal aid to meet the emergency facing our school systems.

We understand and can justify our expenditures for defense, social security, public health, veterans' benefits, and many other vital programs. However, we must find the means and a way to convince people that our schools are of equal importance.

Our school systems have helped this Nation reach its peak of leadership today among the nations of the world. And to our loyal teachers we owe a great deal. For generations we have confidently placed our children in their hands. In recent years, in many cases, our teachers have accepted even more school responsibility in the guidance of our young people. More extracurricular activities have been added to our educational systems and our teachers have graciously accepted this additional responsibility.

I cannot help feeling-and I hope others will realize it-that our teachers are our first line of defense. I am sure, in fact, that they always have been, but we have never talked about it enough. Our schoolteachers, who are so grossly underpaid, are the quiet force in this country that molds our most precious resource our children. The full impact of the valuable service teachers give to the people of this country and its future, in a sense, ultimately guides the destiny of the free world. I earnestly hope, in the near future, that we can find a way to provide for our school systems the additional financial support which they so urgently need.

Development of the Green River

EXTENSION OF REMARKS

OF

HON. JOHN S. COOPER

OF KENTUCKY

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES Friday, August 20, 1954

Mr. COOPER. Mr. President. I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Appendix of the RECORD a statement I have prepared on the development of the Green River.

There being no objection, the statement was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows:

DEVELOPMENT OF THE GREEN RIVER

At the end of the congressional session, I wish to express the appreciation of the people of Kentucky and particularly those of western Kentucky to the administration and the Congress for bringing at last to reality the plans and hopes for the development of the Green River which had been held for years. This year the Congress has enacted and the President has approved appropriations totaling $5.6 million for locks and dams 1 and 2 on the Green River. This amount includes a regular appropriation of $4.8 million for the 1955 fiscal year and a supplemental appropriation of $800,000 for fiscal year 1954. Both these items were recommended by President Eisenhower in his budget message. In addition, we have obtained the enactment of legislation which authorizes the expenditure of an additional $3.4 million for the dredging of the Green River.

The Green River project is a new start made by this administration, and no appropriation had been previously approved for

the modernization of its locks and dams. The existing structures are old and obsolete and not usable for present-day traffic. For example, it is interesting to note that lock 1 was built in 1835 and has dimensions of 35 by 139 feet. Lock 2 is only 36 by 114 feet.

Modernization work will make modern river transportation accessible to the coal fields of western Kentucky. The high bene

fit-cost ratio of this work (1.5 to 1) derives from the fact that coal can be shipped economically from the Green River Valley for use by the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Atomic Energy Commission. The AEC has stated that our atomic project at Portsmouth will save 40 cents per ton on 1.78 million tons of coal from western Kentucky when the work is completed.

Additional savings of 30 cents per ton on about 3 million tons per year can be made by the TVA steam plants. Since both AEC and TVA are the property of the people of the United States, the savings will go directly to the Government and to the people of the United States.

In a very real sense, therefore, the funds which have been and will be appropriated for this work represent an investment of the United States Government which will rapidly repay itself and begin piling up financial dividends. The total Federal cost of this project is placed by the Corps of Engineers at $14,399,000. It will be repaid from these savings. In one instance alone, the Federal Government will make an annual saving of nearly $1 million when this work is completed. I refer, of course, to the reduced cost of coal which is to be purchased 'for the generation of power for use by the Atomic Energy Commission.

Additional benefits in lowered cost of private and public transportation for the benefit of all the people of the region will increase the benefits to be derived from this construction beyond the saving from the transportation of coal alone.

The real importance of the Green River project can be clearly recognized from the unusual efforts taken during the past year by both the legislative and executive branches of this administration to secure the appropriation of funds for the work to get underway.

Before actual construction on a river project can begin, the work must be authorized by the Congress, money must then be allocated by the Corps of Engineers to complete planning, and finally appropriations must be made by the Congress for actual construction. These steps sometimes take years. None of these steps had been taken before 1953. Every one of these necessary steps have been taken since January 1953 by the administration of President Eisenhower and the present Congress.

1. Both the Senate Public Works Committee and the House Public Works Committee at the call of their chairman, Senator EDWARD MARTIN, of Pennsylvania, and Congressman GEORGE DONDERO, of Michigan, took the unusual action in 1953 to recommend to the Department of the Army that the reconstruction work on Green River was Justified under the act of 1909. Acting upon this recommendation, the Secretary of the Army, Hon. Robert Stevens, approved the project. It was the only such authorization made during 1953.

2. At the very close of the session of Congress in 1953, the vital need for this project led the Senate Committee on Appropriations to urge the Corps of Engineers to allocate $100,000 to complete planning of the project so that construction could begin in 1954.

Senator BRIDGES, chairman of the Committee on Appropriations, and Senator KNOWLAND, chairman of the Subcommittee on Civil Functions, which considered the Green River project, spoke and gave their support on the Senate floor to the allocation of the $100,000 of planning funds.

3. This year, despite the urgent necessity of the Bureau of the Budget and the President to balance Government expenditures with receipts, President Eisenhower recommended that funds be included in the appropriations bill for fiscal year 1955 to begin

these improvements on the Green River. The President also recommended a supplemental appropriation of $800,000 for fiscal year 1954 so that work could begin at the earliest possible time. As President Eisenhower pointed out in his budget message to the Congress, the Green River project is one of those selected for speedy action to assure expeditious movement of traffic in existing harbors or waterways serving important requirements of commerce or national security.

4. A toal sum of $5,600,000 was appropriated this year by the Congress for the Green River improvement. It represents the 14th largest appropriation for river improvement in the budget.

Finally, it is important to point out that the Green River appropriation has had during the past year the support of the major agencies of Government concerned with this question, including the Atomic Energy Commission, the Department of the Army, the Bureau of the Budget, and, of course, the President of the United States.

I am glad to have had a part in urging personally before every committee, before the Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of the Budget, and the President of the United States, the necessity for the authorization and appropriation of construction funds for the development of the Green River.

Mr. President, I want to emphasize here that this project has had the long-time and enthusiastic and strong support of my colleague, Senator CLEMENTS. It has been a pleasure to work with him for the advancement of the Green River project.

It has also had the long support of the Green River Valley Citizens League, Inc. Many people of the region have joined in the support of this league and all deserve great credit. I would like to mention particularly the names of their officers who have pursued this work with great energy. The present officers of the Green River Citizens League, Inc., are James R. Hines, president, Bowling Green; Albert P. Harding, executive vice president-secretary, Central City; J. Morton Williams, treasurer, Beaver Dam; and C. A. Reis, honorary president, South Carrollton. The board of directors consists of the following persons: James R. Hines, Bowling Green; Albert P. Harding, Central City; J. Morton Williams, Beaver Dam; William C. Sumpter, Bowling Green; Fred E. Massey, Central City; R. A. Demunbrun, Brownsville; Dr. W. H. Washburn, Beaver Dam; John Q. Adams, Hartford; Homer Boyd, Rockport; I. G. Reynierson, Island; Landon Wills, Calhoun; Chester A. Hope, Drakesboro-Paradise; Edward Delker, Owensboro; James Hays, Rochester; W. A. Moore, Morgantown; Col. Oren Coin, Livermore; J. E. Wood, Greenville; Ross Morton; Centertown; James J. Turner, Dundee; Byron Royster, Sebree; Harry Wheeldon, South Carrollton; and Harry Scott, Henderson. Some of those who gave their energies for their people have passed on.

The beginning of this improvement, too long delayed, will mean the completion of the entire project. As the modernization of its navigation facilities are completed and the reservoir projects are begun (the Mining City Reservoir on Green River, Nolin Reservoir on

Nolin River, No. 2 Barren Reservoir on Barren River, No. 2 Green Reservoir on Green River, and Rough River Reservoir on Rough River), a great industrial expansion in this area will inevitably result. Its certain result will be to increase the production of coal in the area and to supply work for its miners. Benefits

will accrue to miners, farmers, businessmen, consumers and, indeed, to all the people of the Green River Valley. I am glad that this great project has been started by President Eisenhower and the Congress and that its completion is assured.

Agricultural Price Support

EXTENSION OF REMARKS

OF

HON. OLIN E. TEAGUE

OF TEXAS

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Friday, August 20, 1954

Mr. TEAGUE. Mr. Speaker, during the debate on the recently adopted farm bill, it was quite apparent that there is considerable confusion about the attitude of the present administration on the price support program. The administration made campaign promises that price supports would be retained at 90 percent of parity and hinted broadly that supports might be raised to 100 percent of parity. Shortly after assuming office, this promise was abandoned and a great deal of publicity was given to a study of agricultural programs conducted under the supervision of the Department of Agriculture. We waited for more than a year for the results of the study and a concrete recommendation from the administration. Early this year, the President confirmed the statements of his Secretary of Agriculture which the latter had been making since assuming office, and announced the administration's sliding-scale price-support program.

During the past year, Mr. Speaker, the Secretary of Agriculture has had authority to adjust the basis of price supports for milk and butter-fat products and has known that quantities of stored commodities were becoming unmanageable; nevertheless, few constructive steps have been taken to dispose of this surplus, although a number of ideas have been advanced. The present plan under the recently enacted farm bill for support of dairy products has not met with approval of those dairymen in my district and I seriously question if it is a sound approach to the problem.

I am flatly opposed to the sliding scale program since I do not feel that it offers any sort of overall solution to our agricultural problems. I do not believe that the reduction of price support levels will discourage production to any great degree. Many of the responsible agricultural leaders of Texas express the opinion that it may result in an actual increase in production. Their explanation is simple. They say that farmers have fixed expenses, such as cost of living, payment of taxes, production costs, and payments on equipment and land, which must be met. If the return per unit is reduced, it will force the farmer to produce more units at a smaller return to meet his fixed expenses. The result will be increased production.

The administration has given a great deal of publicity to its year-long study of the agricultural problem. Unfortunately, it has used a broadside approach which does not take into account the peculiarities and problems of various types of agricultural commodities, actually fits none. The problems relating