employment, meant an influx of at least 75,000 workers, of whom approximately 30,000 would be accompanied by their families. As against this tremendous increased demand and notwithstanding housing construction during 1941, which exceeded all previous records, rental vacancies in the area have declined to less than 1 percent. These figures show beyond a doubt that the need for housing for essential Government employees cannot be met unless the legislative bar to necessary action is immediately removed.

Public works of all kinds in about the District of Columbia must naturally be expanded commensurate with this increase in population, and, indeed, this is so whether the housing be provided publicly or through private effort.

During the consideration of recent amendments to the Lanham Act (H.R. 6128, approved Jan. 21, as Public, No. 409), this situation was presented to the Congress with the request that appropriate provision be made as part of that bill. The committees considering that bill, however, did not see fit to proceed in that manner, although recognizing the existence of a serious situation. Instead, it was suggested that separate consideration be given to the matter. The attached bill, developed in collaboration with the Federal Works Agency which will administer it, meets that suggestion.

It is, therefore, respectfully but urgently requested that this legislation be presented to the Congress for consideration at the earliest possible date.

Very sincerely yours,

C. F. PALMER, Coordinator.

A BILL To amend the act entitled “An act to expedite the provision of housing in connection with national defense, and for other purposes", approved October 14, 1940, as amended

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the act of October 14, 1940, as amended, is hereby further amended by the addition at the end thereof of the following title:

"TITLE IV

"SEC. 401. The sum of $50,000,000, to remain available until expended, is hereby authorized to be appropriated for the purpose of (a) providing housing, and to do all things necessary in connection therewith, for employees of the United States and their families, if any, whose duties are essential to national defense and require such persons to reside in and about the District of Columbia: Provided, That the President shall find that an acute shortage of housing for such persons exists or impends which would impede national defense activities and that such housing would not be provided by private capital when needed; and (b) providing public works or equipment for public works in and about the District of Columbia: Provided further, That the President shall find an acute shortage thereof exists or impends which would impede national defense activities and that such public works or equipment for public works would not otherwise be provided when needed.

"SEC. 402. To carry out the purposes of this title the Federal Works Administrator shall have the same powers and duties as are granted to him under titles I and II of Public, No. 849, Seventy-sixth Congress, approved October 14, 1940, as amended, and the provisions of Public, No. 362, Seventy-seventh Congress, approved December 20, 1941, with respect to public works in the District of Columbia shall apply."

The CHAIRMAN. At this point we will insert in the record the two bills that are to be considered which are as follows:

[H. R. 6482, 77th Cong., 2d sess.]

A BILL To amend the Act entitled "An Act to expedite the provision of housing in connection with national defense, and for other purposes", approved October 14, 1940, as amended

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Act of October 14, 1940, as amended, is hereby further amended by the addition at the end thereof of the following title:

"TITLE IV

"SEC. 401. The sum of $50,000,000, to remain available until expended, is hereby authorized to be appropriated for the purpose of (a) providing housing, and to do all things necessary in connection therewith, for employees of the United States and their families, if any, whose duties are essential to national

defense and require such persons to reside in and about the District of Columbia: Provided, That the President shall find that an acute shortage of housing for such persons exists or impends which would impede national defense activities and that such housing would not be provided by private capital when needed; and (b) providing public works or equipment for public works in and about the District of Columbia: Provided further, That the President shall find an acute shortage thereof exists or impends which would impede national defense activities and that such public works or equipment for public works would not otherwise be provided when needed.

"SEC. 402. To carry out the purposes of this title the Federal Works Administrator shall have the same powers and duties as are granted to him under titles I and II of Public, Numbered 849, Seventy-sixth Congress, approved October 14, 1940, as amended, and the provisions of Public, Numbered 362, Seventy-seventh Congress, approved December 20, 1941, with respect to public works in the District of Columbia shall apply."

[H. R. 6483, 77th Cong., 2d sess.]

A BILL To amend the Act entitled "An Act to expedite the provision of housing in connection with national defense, and for other purposes", approved October 14, 1940, as amended

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Act of October 14, 1940, as amended, entitled "An Act to expedite the provision of housing in connection with national defense, and for other purposes", is hereby amended by inserting after section 312 thereof the following title:

"TITLE IV

"SEC. 401. In order to relieve an acute shortage of housing, public works, and equipment therefor presently existing and impending in and near the District of Columbia and impeding war activities, the Federal Works Administrator is authorized to provide, in and near the District of Columbia, such housing, public works, and equipment therefor, including, but without limitation, permanent and temporary housing, living quarters for single persons, schools, waterworks, sewers, sewage, garbage- and refuse-disposal facilities, public-sanitation facilities, works for the treatment and purification of water, hospitals, and other places for the care of the sick, recreational facilities, streets, roads, and any other types of necessary public works or equipment therefor; and in providing such housing, public works, and equipment therefor the Administrator is authorized to exercise the same powers with respect to land acquisition; construction, procuring, of materials and like matters, the making of loans and grants and contributions as are granted to him under subsections (a) and (b) of section 1 of this Act and subsections (a), (b), and (c) of section 202 of this Act.

"SEC. 402. The housing provided under this title may be sold and disposed of as expeditiously as possible: Provided, That in disposing of said housing consideration shall be given to its full market value and said housing or any part thereof shall not, unless specifically authorized by Congress, be conveyed to any public or private agency organized for slum clearance or to provide subsidized housing for persons of low income.

"SEC. 403. (a) The Commissioners of the District of Columbia are authorized to accept for the District of Columbia, and the Administrator is authorized to make to the District of Columbia, advancements for the provision of public works and equipment therefor, such advancements to be deposited with the Secretary of the Treasury to the credit of the District of Columbia.

"(b) Sums advanced to the Commissioners of the District of Columbia hereunder shall be available for the provision, without reference to section 3709 of the Revised Statutes, of any or all public works and equipment therefor described in section 401 hereof, and for administrative expenses in connection therewith including employment of engineering and other professional services and other technical and administrative personnel without reference to the civilservice requirements or the Classification Act of 1923, as amended. The repayment of any sums so advanced and the payment of interest thereon shall be in the same manner and subject to the same conditions as are set forth in sections 3 and 4 of the Act of December 20, 1941 (Public Law Numbered 362, Seventyseventh Congress).

"(c) The Commissioners shall submit with their annual estimates to the Congress a report of their activities and expenditures under this section.

"SEC. 404. The sum of $50,000,000, to remain available until expended, is hereby authorized to be appropriated to carry out the purposes of this title and for administrative expenses in connection therewith in accordance with the provisions of this Act."

We have this morning the pleasure of having a gentleman before us who has never appeared before this committee, but I know that the members of the committee have had occasion to consult him and confer with him very often, as did the conferees of the House and Senate, on the recent measure.

We are sorry that General Fleming, Administrator of the Federal Works Agency, is ill and unable to be present, but we are gratified that he is making very rapid improvement. The Acting Administrator, Hon. Baird Snyder 3d, is with us this morning, and I think we should first hear from him. I think it might be well to hear from the Federal Works Agency, Mr. Reynolds and Mr. Johnstone, Mr. Palmer, and the District Commissioners. Of course, we will hear everyone that wants to be heard, within proper limitations.

STATEMENT OF BAIRD SNYDER 3D, ACTING ADMINISTRATOR, FEDERAL WORKS AGENCY

Mr. SNYDER. Mr. Chairman, there seems to be no question that there is a pressing need for additional housing in the District, which will create a need for utilities, public works of various kinds. Unfortunately, it is a little bit indeterminate now, and we cannot be too particular because of the state of flux that decentralization is in at this time, so about all I can say is that if the committee and Congress chooses to give the Federal Works Administrator the responsibility of building, he will give them his best efforts, and would ask only that he be given a free hand in the management and disposal of the problems, accounting to Congress for what he does.

I suggest that Mr. Reynolds probably knows more about this than anybody else, and I will ask him to speak to you next.

The CHAIRMAN. We have had the pleasure of having Mr. Reynolds before the committee many times, and we will be very glad to hear from him.

STATEMENT OF W. E. REYNOLDS, COMMISSIONER OF PUBLIC BUILDINGS

Mr. REYNOLDS. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, the responsibility of the Public Buildings Administration is to provide office space for Federal workers in the District of Columbia, outside of the Architect of the Capitol and the Smithsonian Institution.

We have for months been in contact with the Army and the Navy, the O. P. M., the O. E. M., and other activities which are affected by the war program. We have from time to time come before the Congress for moneys to construct office space.

At the present time funds are available to construct approximately 5,900,000 square feet of office space. Some of this will be occupied within the next week. The total includes approximately two and a half million square feet that the Army is building in Virginia.

Since Pearl Harbor we have had continuous discussions with the various governmental officials who are engaged in the war effort, to try to forecast what will be needed in the calendar year 1942.

Along in the middle of December there was a joint meeting of the District Committee of the Senate and the District Committee of the House. At that meeting certain questions were directed to me as to what I thought would be the ultimate requirements for office space in the District of Columbia. I told them that it was an impossible question to answer, but that I felt that after the space now authorized, namely, 5,900,000 feet, approximately 4,000,000 additional feet would be necessary.

The two committees of the District were meeting to discuss the question of decentralization. The President, through the Budget, had directed the Public Buildings Administration to move approximately 11,000 employees, who now occupy approximately 1,450,000 square feet, away from Washington. The District Committees were attempting to find some way whereby housing and office space may be created within or near the District, so as to make unnecessary decentralization.

Following my report to the Senate Committee, Senator McCarran prepared a resolution providing $40,000,000 to construct the 4,000,000 feet deficiency which was indicated at that time. I was then directed by the committee to prepare a report indicating how much money would be required to construct housing and public works to house the employees that would come to Washington to occupy this 4,000,000 feet. I prepared that report and sent it to Senator McCarran under date of January 19.

The CHAIRMAN. Would it be inappropriate in any way for it to be included in the record here, Mr. Reynolds?

Mr. REYNOLDS. I will be very glad to make it part of this record. The cost is indicated as $150,000,000, approximately.

(The letter referred to follows:)

Hon. PAT MCCARRAN,

United States Senate.

JANUARY 19, 1942.

MY DEAR SENATOR: In compliance with the request of your committee, made at the hearing at which I testified on January 6, 1942, I am pleased to supply additional information and estimates concerning the cost of providing the deficit in housing facilities in or near the District of Columbia which will derive from the construction of office buildings to meet the anticipated requirements as outlined in my report to you of January 3, 1942.

In connection with this matter I make reference to a letter of January 10, 1942, from Mr. C. F. Palmer, Coordinator of the Division of Defense Housing Coordination, to the Honorable Jennings W. Randolph, wherein Mr. Palmer indicates that 16,500 dwelling units may be produced by private industry during the 12 months starting July 1942, and 7,500 family dwelling units and 1,500 units for single persons may be constructed by Defense Homes Corporation. It is then indicated that an additional 4,500 dwelling units will still be required to meet demands which Mr. Palmer anticipated and recommended be constructed from Government funds. His analysis was "based upon figures gathered prior to the existence of a state of war and do not give effect to undoubted further expansion of numerous governmental war agencies.'

In my submission to you of January 3, 1942, there was under construction or sufficient funds were authorized to develop 5,925,000 square feet of office space. Using the housing figures of Mr. Palmer, it is evident that a dwelling shortage will exist for the accommodation of the occupants of the above space, even if private industry and Defense Homes Corporation fulfill their quotas. The Lanham Act does not permit of housing for this type of employee. We must conclude, therefore, that additional housing will be needed prior to the start of construction of office space as contemplated in Senate joint resolution 126.

It is my understanding that the committee desires, apart from the above considerations, that housing shall be predicated upon as sound a program as may

be consistent with all of the myriad of factors involved. I hope that the statements that follow will be tempered with the thought that many factors of the problem are intangible and that the resale or salvage value of the properties 5 to 10 years hence is extremely difficult if not impossible to estimate. We also find that the electric power supply in the Washington area is rapidly approaching an acute situation. This matter is now being given detailed study.

The following survey is based upon the initial premise that temporary office buildings must necessarily be constructed upon one or more large tracts of land in or near the District of Columbia and that the housing for employees had best be constructed upon portions of the same tracts closely adjacent, within walking distance, if possible, of such buildings.

The second premise is as requested by your committee that our calculations shall be based upon the number of employee positions that could find office space as provided in Senate Joint Resolution 126, less presently available accommodations. This, of course, neglects the housing shortage existing prior to that time. As an initial step toward the satisfaction of the need for living accommodations, Government offices currently occupying all or portions of hotel, apartment, and other residential buildings will be moved to other buildings, and approximately 1,100 living units will be released thereby for residential uses. A further source for the satisfaction of the demand for living accommodations would be available residences and rooms in Washington and vicinity. As of January 10, 1942, the Washington Registration Bureau, Office of the Coordinator of Defense Housing, reported registered vacancies in the Washington area embracing 38 houses, 45 apartment units, and 3,185 furnished rooms.

The net number of employee positions for which living accommodations would be required to be provided is derived:

Net employee positions to be provided for (say 40,600).

40, 632

The population to be provided for and accruing solely from the employee positions will be based upon the assumption that 50 percent of the employees will be single persons, while the remaining 50 percent will be married. Recognized population data reveal that the average family comprises 3.5 persons. population deriving solely from employee positions is:

50 percent of 40,600 single persons--

50 percent of 40,600 families averaging 3.5 persons....

Total...

Thus, the

20, 300

71, 050

91, 350

The population of Washington by the 1940 census was 663,091, therefore, the influx of employee population is approximately 14 percent of the population of the city as of that date.

The increase in population due to the influx of new employees, according to recognizedly reliable data, will require additional persons to the number of 22,000 in order to provide services of the many sorts necessary to meet their requirements for living, recreation, and general welfare. These persons will require living accommodations as well as the new employees. To what extent there will be an influx of persons into the Washington area on this account, it is impossible to determine at this time. There are no data available which reveal the number of persons who may be expected to become available for the supplying of such services through the curtailment of commercial and industrial activities in the area as the result of wartime regulatory and restrictive measures which are presently beginning to be invoked. In this analysis of the need for living accommodations, no provision will be made for persons employed in the supplying of services. Such accretions to the population of the area as derive from this omission will require augmentation of the living accommodations to the extent that such accretions may materialize.

A suggested program for the providing of living quarters is outlined:

1. Acquire land for and construct possibly three integrated communities to be situated upon tracts of land conveniently close to the temporary office buildings.