THE SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATION BILL, 1959 MONDAY, JULY 28, 1958 UNITED STATES SENATE, Washington, D. C. The committee met at 10 a. m., pursuant to notice, in room F-37, the Capitol, Hon. Carl Hayden, chairman of the committee, presiding. Present: Chairman Hayden, Senators Ellender, Robertson, Stennis, Young, Mundt, Smith, and Dworshak. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICE STATEMENTS OF M. R. CLARKSON, DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR, AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICE; W. L. POPHAM, ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR, REGULATORY PROGRAMS, AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICE; A. R. MILLER, DIRECTOR, MEAT INSPECTION DIVISION, AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICE; EDMUND STEPHENS, DIRECTOR, BUDGET AND FINANCE DIVISION, AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICE; AND LEE A. DASHNER, DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF FINANCE AND BUDGET OFFICER, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE LETTER FROM ASSISTANT SECRETARY Chairman HAYDEN. The committee will come to order. The committee will consider items for the Department of Agriculture. I will place in the record at this point a letter from the Assistant Secretary McClain, copies of which are before the committee. (The letter referred to follows:) Hon. CARL HAYDEN, Chairman, Committee on Appropriations, United States Senate. JULY 22, 1958. DEAR SENATOR HAYDEN: The supplemental appropriation bill, 1959, as passed by the House, provides less than the full budget estimate for several agricultural programs. These reductions, if enacted, would seriously affect important services of the Department. The activities involved and our comments on the additional funds required are as follows: AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICE Plant and animal disease and pest control (p. 2, line 9) The House made a cut of $1 million in the budget estimate for eradication of witchweed. The budget estimate of $3 million was proposed to initiate an eradication program against witchweed, which is regarded as one of the most destructive pests affecting the production of corn, sorghum, and sugarcane. This pest has recently become established in 17 counties in North and South Carolina. It is urgent that an eradication program against witchweed be initiated immediately, and that it be conducted on a scale which will be most economical and effective. Otherwise the eradication program will be prolonged, the need for surveys and quarantine activities will be increased, there will be greater chance for further spread. The total cost of the eradication program will be much greater should the pest reach areas where corn, sorghum, and sugarcane are major crops. The cost of the program in fiscal year 1959 is not influenced appreciably by the fact that funds were not available as of July 1, 1958. The major cost of the program relates to costs of producing and destroying trap crops on farms and performing other eradication measures during the growing season. Contracts and agreements to do this work will be made during January and February on a crop-year basis. Thus the full amount of $2,650,000 for eradication costs for fiscal year 1959, as proposed in the budget estimates, is needed. The remainder of the budget estimate, $350,000, is for the cost of surveys, quarantine enforcement, and supervision, and the entire amount is needed in fiscal year 1959. It is known that witchweed can be killed by a combination of herbicidal treatment and cultural practices and it is essential that the program be conducted on an all-out basis to speed eradication and reduce the chance of spread. Witchweed seeds are microscopic in size and the danger of spread is great. Both North and South Carolina have supported the Federal quarantine invoked on September 6, 1957, with similar State quarantines in an effort to confine infestation to the farms now infested. The States have given assurance that they will support an eradication program. The Department strongly recommends restoration of the House cut of $1 million. Meat inspection (p. 2, line 11) The House approved a cut of $350,000 in the budget estimate of $2,100,000 for meat inspection. In explanation of this reduction, the House report states: "This amount, together with an increase of $500,000 included in the regular bill, will provide a total increase of $2,250,000 for fiscal year 1959. This increase should be adequate to finance the program at the rate at which additional meat inspectors can be recruited during the balance of the fiscal year. "The additional amount approved for meat inspection is an increase of more than 10 percent over the amount approved in the regular 1959 appropriation act. Large increases have been provided for this activity during the past 2 years. Appropriations have grown from $15,650.000 in fiscal year 1957 to $19,076,000 for fiscal year 1959, including the additional amount provided in the accompanying bill, an increase of over 20 percent." Although the appropriations for meat inspection have increased since 1957, the major portion of the increase, excluding this supplemental estimate and the $500,000 increase in fiscal year 1959, has been provided to meet the costs of the Government's contribution to the retirement fund, as shown by the following tabulation: Fiscal year Purpose of increase Appropri ation 1957. 1958. For Government's share of contribution to the retirement fund pursuant Total appropriation under House bill.. 19,076, 000 The reduction of $350,000 by the House would curtail by approximately 68 the number of man-years of employment which could be financed. Estimated employment under the appropriation would be reduced from 3,300, proposed in the budget estimate, to 3,232. The steady increase in applications for approval of plans for new plants and for extension of existing plants convinces the Department that the demands for meat inspection services will continue to increase and that the full amount of the budget estimate is required. The Department needs and can recruit in fiscal year 1959 the additional inspectors which would be employed under an increase of $2,100,000. The Department strongly recommends restoration of the budget estimate. ⚫ Would increase limitation on administrative expenses from $13,000,000 to $20,600,000. Program payments The reduction of $4,700,000 in the estimated program payments reduces the funds available for the 1958 program below the amount of the commitments of the Secretary based on signed agreements with producers by $2,900,000. following table illustrates how current requirements were determined: The As indicated in the foregoing table, the payments to be made under the 1956 and 1957 programs have been reduced to approximately the actual payments made as of May 31, 1958. There is no assurance that the payments eventually required will not exceed the estimate. Recently legislation was passed (Public Law 85-413, approved May 16, 1958) to authorize payments to certain producers, who, had correct information been furnished by Department employees, including ASC committees, would otherwise have been eligible under the 1956 program. Some producers suffered hardships due to being given erroneous information by county committeemen or due to the failure of county committeemen to properly inform them as to program requirements. The amount of payments to be made under this legislation is not known. The payments to be made under the 1958 program are expected to approximate the amount of signed agreements for two reasons: (1) The reports procedure has been perfected and the information received from the ASC State and county committee is more accurate than in the past, and (2) producers are better informed of the program provisions and the amount of payments that will not be paid because of noncompliance is expected to be extremely small. Operating expenses The increase of $7,600,000 above the $13 million provided for all operating expenses in the 1959 appropriation act was for use by ASC county committees in checking performance to determine eligibility of the larger number of individual producers participating in and receiving payments under the expanded program. The 1959 appropriation act provided funds for checking performance on 438,260 farms and making payments to 575,000 farmers in the fiscal year 1959. Current estimates are that 936,500 farms will need to be measured and 975,000 payments made in the fiscal year 1959, or about twice the original workload estimated. ASC county officers are directed to make payments on the 1958 agreements only upon determination of performance. The reduction of $3,100,000 in operating expenses would result in reducing funds to the ASC county committees when the performance and payment work is at its peak, if the major portion of the payments are to be made before September 15, as directed in Conference Report No. 682 on the Department's 1958 appropriation bill. It would also delay payments materially and would probably make it necessary to defer some payments until additional funds for processing them became available. It is strongly recommended that the appropriation be increased to $281 million, and that the limitation on administrative expenses be increased to $20,600,000. This would restore $2,900,000 of the reduction made by the House in program payments and the full amount of the budget estimate of $7,600,000 for expenses of county committees and would permit payments to be made promptly as planned, with no further delays. With the exceptions noted above, the bill as reported by the House is satisfactory to the Department. Sincerely yours, MARVIN L. MCLAIN, PLANT AND ANIMAL DISEASES AND PEST CONTROL Chairman HAYDEN. We will now consider the items contained in the letter. The first item is for plant and animal diseases and pest control, to start eradication of the witch weed. The budget proposed $3 million; the House allowed 2 million, and the Department requests restoration of $1 million. The justifications for this and meat inspection will be placed in the record at this point. (The justifications referred to follow :) DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE-AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICE The proposed supplemental appropriation of $5,100,000 for fiscal year 1959 is for two activities as follows: 1. Plant and animal disease and pest control: An increase of $3 million to inaugurate a witchweed eradication program. This will finance the initiation of a cooperative eradication program against witchweed, a serious disease of corn first discovered in the United States in the Carolinas in the late summer of 1956. Current information shows that it has been found on 1,743 farms in 17 counties. These farms have an aggregate of 190,000 acres, of which about 81,000 are under cultivation. Its continual spread would result in large losses to corn, sorghum, sugarcane, rice, wheat, and other cereal crops of the country. Delay in initiating control work would lead to further spread with a corresponding increase in the ultimate cost of eradication. 2. Meat inspection: An increase of $2,100,000 to provide additional meat inspectors. There has been a constant rise in the number of meatpacking plants subject to the meat inspection laws and in the number of cities and towns where such plants are located. Inquiries concerning the inspection requirements indicate that the rate of increase will continue. The shortage of inspectors causes |