AUTHORIZING THE TRANSFER OF A CERTAIN TRACT OF LAND IN THE ROBINSON REMOUNT STATION TO THE CITY OF CRAWFORD, NEBR.

May 19, 1949.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

Mr. COOLEY, from the Committee on Agriculture, submitted the following

REPORT

(To accompany H. R. 1242)

The Committee on Agriculture, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 1242) authorizing the transfer of a certain tract of land in the Robinson Remount Station to the city of Crawford, Nebr., and for other purposes, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with amendments and recommend that the bill as amended do pass. The amendments are as follows:

Page 2, line 9, strike out the period after the word "acres" and insert the following:

: Provided, That the city of Crawford shall pay 50 per centum of the appraised value of the property as of the date of issuance of the present revocable license to the property issued by the Federal Government to the city of Crawford on or about June 1, 1926, as determined by the Secretary of Agriculture.

Page 2, line 19, strike out all of section 3.

STATEMENT

The Robinson Remount Station is immediately adjacent to the city of Crawford, Nebr. For a number of years the city has been using, under a revocable permit, a part of the property not used or needed by the Government for operation of the station. This area, comprising about 43% acres, is being used by the city for a park and recreational purposes, and it has constructed thereon a number of recreational facilities and improvements.

The Remount Service is being liquidated. The Robinson station will not be operated as a remount station after July 1, 1949, and presumably the property will be disposed of through the usual surplusproperty channels,

The land on which the station is established was ceded to the Federal Government by the State of Nebraska in 1872 for military purposes. In view of this fact, and of the equitable interest which the city of Crawford has obtained in the area it has been using since 1926, the transfer of the 43% acres needed by the city for park and playground purposes seems to be the best possible disposal that could be made of that part of the property.

DEPARTMENT RECOMMENDATION

Adoption of the bill has been recommended by the Secretary of Agriculture. The following is a copy of the Secretary's letter reporting on the bill:

Hon. HAROLD D. COOLEY,

Chairman, Committee on Agriculture,

House of Representatives.

MARCH 3. 1949.

DEAR MR. COOLEY: This is in response to your request of February 17, 1949, for a report on H. R. 1242, a bill authorizing the transfer of a certain tract of land in the Robinson Remount Station to the city of Crawford, Nebr., and for other purposes.

The bill would transfer approximately 43.57 acres of land to the city of Crawford, and also grant a permanent easement across the reservation for a pipe line to carry water from the White River to the filter and purification plant of the city.

This Department recommends that the bill be passed.

The Bureau of the Budget advises that, from the standpoint of the program of the President, there is no objection to the submission of this report.

Sincerely,

CHARLES F. BRANNAN, Secretary.

RECREATIONAL FACILITIES AT EGLIN FIELD, FLA.

MAY 19, 1949.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

Mr. BROOKS, from the Committee on Armed Services, submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany H. R. 2417)

The Committee on Armed Services, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 2417) to authorize the Secretary of the Air Force to improve recreational facilities at Eglin Field, Fla., having considered the same, report favorably thereon with an amendment and recommend that the bill as amended do pass.

The amendment is as follows:

Amend the title to read as follows:

A bill to authorize the Secretary of the Air Force to operate and maintain a certain tract of land at Valparaiso, Florida, near Eglin Air Force Base. as a recreational facility

The purpose of H. R. 2417 is to authorize the Secretary of the Air Force to operate and maintain a golf course at Valparaiso, Fla., as a recreational facility for the benefit of military personnel stationed at Eglin Air Force Base, in the same manner as such funds are used under existing regulations for the maintenance and operation of similar recreational facilities for military personnel elsewhere.

The second deficiency appropriation bill enacted June 25, 1948, as Public Law 785 of the Eightieth Congress authorized the acquisition of a tract of land comprising the Valparaiso golf course in lieu of construction of a new golf course on the Eglin Reservation.

An urgent need for recreational facilities has heretofore existed at Eglin Air Force Base due to its remote location. The construction of a nine-hole golf course on property owned by the Government was originally contemplated and it was proposed to defray the cost of such construction with nonappropriated funds which were available to the Air Force from the Army central welfare fund.

Studies of the proposed project revealed that the cost of constructing a nine-hole golf course would have amounted to approximately

$55,000 or $60,000, and, accordingly, nonappropriated funds in the amount of $60,000 were set aside for this purpose.

Subsequently, the suggestion was advanced that the purchase of the privately owned Valparaiso golf course adjacent to Eglin Air Force Base be considered, if such property could be purchased within the available funds. Thereafter the owner made an offer to sell this property to the Air Force for $60,000.

This property has now been acquired pursuant to authority contained in Public Law 785, Eightieth Congress, and although the purchase price of the land was paid with nonappropriated funds, nevertheless it was contemplated that appropriated funds would be used to help defray the cost of operation and maintenance of this area as a recreational facility. Similar recreational facilities at other military installations are operated and maintained with appropriated funds available for the maintenance and operation of base facilities. While sufficient funds were available from nonappropriated sources to cover the cost of purchase of the land, nonappropriated funds will not be available in the future to cover the cost of maintenance, since the funds which had been allocated from the Army central welfare fund represented profits accruing from the operation of officers' clubs, post exchanges, and similar activities during wartime.

The Second Deficiency Appropriation Act of 1948 was amended prior to its passage by the House of Representatives by the inclusion of a provision authorizing the Secretary of the Air Force in his discretion to acquire the foregoing tract of land. However, the act contained a proviso which prohibited the use of appropriated funds for the maintenance of this land as a recreational facility.

Unless appropriated funds can be used to help defray the cost of operation and maintenance of this area as a recreational facility, no funds whatsoever will be available for these purposes.

The proposed legislation, as amended, will remove the prohibition against the use of appropriated funds for maintenance purposes which now appears in the Second Deficiency Appropriation Act of 1948. Enactment of the proposed legislation is recommended by the Department of the Air Force in the following letter which is hereby made a part of this report. It has also been coordinated among the various departments and boards of the National Military Establishment in accordance with procedures prescribed by the Secretary of Defense. The Bureau of the Budget advises that it has no objection to the enactment of this legislation and accordingly the Committee. on Armed Services recommends that the bill do pass.

Hon. CARL VINSON,

Chairman, Armed Services Committee,

House of Representatives.

MAY 18, 1949.

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: We refer to your recent request to the Secretary of Defense for the views of the National Military Establishment with respect to H. R. 2417, Eighty-first Congress, a bill to authorize the Secretary of the Air Force to improve recreational facilities at Eglin Field, Fla. The Secretary of Defense has delegated to this Department the responsibility for expressing the views of the National Military Establishment.

The purpose of this bill is to place the golf course at Eglin Air Force Base in the same category as golf courses located on other United States Air Force installations. Air Force Regulations No. 90-1, dated December 23, 1948, provides that golf courses are to be considered as a part of the improved grounds at air installations and as such may be maintained with appropriated funds.

Public Law 785 of the Eightieth Congress provided for the purchase of a golf course adjacent to Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. Welfare funds in the amount of $74,000 are being used for that purpose, of which $60,000 is for the purchase of the land and $14,000 for rehabilitation and maintenance. Public Law 785 further provided "that no appropriated funds shall be used for the acquiring, maintenance or upkeep of the golf course now on said lands or for the maintenance of any recreational activities placed thereon."

H. R. 2417, Eighty-first Congress, would remove the restrictions imposed by Public Law 785 relative to the use of appropriated funds in the maintenance and upkeep of the golf course. This would place the golf course at Eglin Air Force Base on a parity with golf courses located on other United States Air Force installations.

The Department of the Air Force recommends enactment of H. R. 2417.

The Department of the Air Force is unable to estimate the probable fiscal effect of this proposed legislation.

This report has been coordinated among the departments and boards in the National Military Establishment in accordance with the procedures prescribed by the Secretary of Defense.

The Bureau of the Budget has been consulted and advises that there is no objection to the submission of the proposed legislation for the consideration of the Congress.

Sincerely.

EUGENE M. ZUCKERT.

The committee considers that clause 2a of the Rules of the House of Representatives is not applicable to the proposed legislation, in view of the fact that it does not amend or repeal existing law. However, there is set forth below for the information of the House of Representatives, that portion of Public Law 785, Eightieth Congress, which authorized the Secretary of the Air Force to accept the tract of land to which this legislation applies and containing also the proviso which now prohibits the use of appropriated funds for the maintenance and operation of this tract of land as a recreational facility:

That portion of the Second Deficiency Act of June 25, 1948, Public Law 785, Eightieth Congress, which appears under the subheading "Department of the Air Force" under the heading "National Military Establishment":

The Secretary of the Air Force is hereby authorized in his discretion to accept in the name of the United States the tract of land comprising the Valparaiso golf course at Valparaiso near Eglin Field, Florida: Provided, That no appropriated funds shall be used for the acquiring, maintenance, or upkeep of the golf course now on said lands or for the maintenance of any recreational activities placed thereon.