EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, Hon. JOHN L. MCCLELLAN, Chairman, Committee on Government Operations, Washington, D.C. BUREAU OF THE BUDGET, Washington, D.C., July 9, 1969. DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This is in response to your request for a report on S. 2210, a bill "To amend the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 so as to permit donations of surplus property to public museums." At present a museum is not eligible to receive donations of surplus personnel property unless it is a part of a school, college, university or public library. The purpose of S. 2210 would be to redefine existing authority for donations of surplus personal property for educational purposes to specifically include public tax supported museums regardless of whether they are arts of schools, colleges. universities or public libraries. We would not object to enactment of this bill. In redefining “educational purpose" to include a library, S. 2210 is clearly distinguishable from the numerous bills to enlarge the donation program by adding new categories of eligible donees, such as volunteer fire departments and rescue squads, municipal corporations, sanitary districts and various local agencies. Donations for educational purposes have been authorized for many years and legislation along the lines of S. 2210 would not constitute a new type or category of purpose for which donations would be authorized. For the above reason we would have no objection to the enactment of S. 2210. Sincerely yours, WILFRED H. ROMMEL, Assistant Director for Legislative Reference. COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES, Hon. JOHN L. MCCLELLAN, Chairman, Committee on Government Operators, DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Your letter received on April 4, 1969, requests our comments on S. 1718, 91st Congress, entitled: "A Bill To provide for the conveyance to the city of Cheyenne, Wyoming, of certain real property of the United States heretofore donated to the United States by such city." The transfer of real property by the Federal Government to a State or political subdivision thereof without monetary consideration is a matter for the determination of the Congress. However, we believe that the following comments may be of assistance to the committee in its consideration of this measure. The property proposed to be conveyed consists of about 28 acres which, together with 78.8 acres of land occupied by the Veterans Administration facility, is the last remaining portion of approximately 600 acres donated to the United States by the city in 1932. All of the other land has been reconveyed to the city of Cheyenne without monetary consideration. The fair market value of the 28 acres, which was declared surplus to the needs of the Federal Government in 1965, has been appraised at $150,000. The Public Buildings Service of the General Services Administration had requested this property for exchange purposes but has withdrawn its request because of this proposed legislation. However, we have been informally advised that other land is available to the Public Buildings Administration for exchange purposes. This measure would apparently exempt the property involved from the Federal Property Management Regulations promulgated by the General Services Administration pursuant to the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, as amended, 40 U.S.C. 471, and other laws which provide for the utilization and disposal of real property. Sincerely yours, R. F. KELLER, Acting Comptroller General of the United States. Senator ALLEN. We will insert in the record also at this point a letter from the Bureau of the Budget regarding S. 1632. (The letter referred to follows:) EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, Hon. JOHN L. MCCLELLAN, Chairman, Committee on Government Operations, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. BUREAU OF THE BUDGET, Washington, D.C., July 9, 1969. DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This is in response to your request for the views of the Bureau of the Budget on S. 1632, a bill "To amend the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, as amended, and for other purposes." The proposed legislation would amend section 203 (j) (1) of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, as amended, to provide that Government personal property which was designated excess and is being held under section 608 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended, shall be offered for donation to State agencies for surplus property before being made available for use in carrying out the purpose of the Foreign Assistance Act. We are opposed to enactment of S. 1632 primarily because it would cause the needs of an approved Federal program to be subordinated to the prior claims of non-Federal institutions which at present are eligible to receive property only after it is determined to be needed no longer for any Federal program. Section 202 of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act provides for maximum utilization of excess property for Federal programs. Until such property is determined surplus to Federal needs it is not available for donation to eligible State and local government instrumentalities. We believe that the expression of congressional policy in the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 that "excess personal property shall be utilized whenever practicable in lieu of the procurement of new items for United States-assisted projects and programs" reinforces this general policy with respect to the Foreign Assistance program. Section 608 of the Foreign Assistance Act limits the quantities of domestic excess property which may be allocated for foreign assistance purposes in any fiscal year to excess property with total acquisition cost not exceeding $45,000000. Additional property may be made available for economic assistance programs after it is declared to be surplus property provided it is not required for donation under provisions of section 203 (j) (1) of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act. This statutory limitation on the use of excess property applies only to property classified as domestic excess property and does not apply to the quantity of foreign excess property which can be utilized in the economic assistance programs. S. 1632. Would make fundamental changes in the basic policies set forth in both the Foreign Assistance Act and the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act which we believe would be undesirable. If additional limitations on the use of excess property in the Foreign Assistance program are considered desirable, we believe a more appropriate means of accomplishing them would be by amending the Foreign Assistance Act. We also would be opposed to enactment of this type of legislation because of the administrative problems posed, especially with respect to foreign excess property. Participation by State agencies for surplus property in the disposition of foreign excess property would involve additional delays in disposal with resulting increases in storage and handling costs and further deterioration of the property. For these reasons, we recommend against enactment of S. 1632. Sincerely, WILFRED H. ROMMEL, Assistant Director for Legislative Reference. (The following departmental reports were subsequently received for the record:) GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION, Hon. JOHN L. MCCLELLAN, Chairman, Committee on Government Operations, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Your letter of April 2, 1969, requested the views of the General Services Administration on S. 1718, 91st Congress, a bill "To provide for the conveyance to the city of Cheyenne, Wyoming, of certain real property of the United States heretofore donated to the United States by such city.” The purpose of the bill is to authorize and direct the Administrator of General Services to convey, without monetary consideration therefor, to the city of Cheyenne approximately 30 acres of surplus property comprising a portion of a tract of land containing approximately 600 acres which was donated to the United States in 1932 by the city for a Veterans' Administration hospital. Approximately 518 acres of the original 600 acre tract have since been reconveyed to the city of Cheyenne as follows. Pursuant to the authority contained in the Act of June 29, 1948 (62 Stat. 1104), as amended by the Act of June 15, 1956 (70 Stat. 228), approximately 431 acres were conveyed to the city without consideration. In July 1955 the Veterans' Administration reported to GSA a 90.2 acre portion of the site, including the 30 acres identified in S. 1718, as excess property, which property was determined to be surplus to the needs of the Federal Government in November 1955. By deed dated February 19, 1959, 60.2 acres of this tract were conveyed to the city by GSA for public airport purposes, without consideration, under subsection 13(g) of the Surplus Property Act of 1944 (50 U.S.C. App. 1622 (g)). Another 27 acres were conveyed to the city, without consideration, for park and and recreation purposes by the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs pursuant to the Act of November 8, 1965, 79 Stat. 1304. In view of the above GSA is opposed to enactment of S. 1718. In addition, GSA is opposed in principle to the enactment of special legislation which has for its purpose the disposition of specific properties to public bodies or to others on monetary terms less favorable to the Federal Government than are provided for under existing laws of general application. We consider that a former owner who has voluntarily donated property to the Federal Government has been adequately compensated through the development of the property by the Gov ernment for the purpose for which the donation was made and through realization of such direct or indirect benefits as may have resulted from such development. Inasmuch as the Veterans' Administration facility at Cheyenne was con structed on property donated by the city, we believe that the objectives of the donation have been accomplished. In this connection, it should be pointed out that the city of Cheyenne has already received more favorable consideration than that provided for under existing laws of general application relating to the disposal of Federal property. With respect to the approximately 518 acres already conveyed to the city, all but 60.2 acres were conveyed without consideration under special acts of Congress. The 60.2 acres were conveyed without consideration under section 13(g) of the Surplus Property Act of 1944, supra, which permits the donation of surplus property to local governments for public airport purposes. We are not aware of any special circumstances justifying additional more favorable treatment to the city of Cheyenne than is available to other cities which have submitted applications for Federal surplus property, or which have in the past received title to such property upon payment of a monetary consideration. In the absence of enactment of S. 1718, plans would then be made by GSA for the disposal of the property pursuant to the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, as amended, or other applicable statutes. In such case, in accordance with normal practice, our regional office at Denver, Colorado, would notify the appropriate state, county, and city officials of the availability of the property. The city could then purchase the property without restrictions at fair market value under the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, as amended, or at public discount under the Property Act or other statutes if the property is to be used for special purposes, such as park and recreation, historic monument, public health or educational, or public airport. The enactment of this measure would result in a financial loss to the Federal Government equivalent to the amount the Government could reasonably expect to realize in the sale or exchange of the property. The Bureau of the Budget has advised that, from the standpoint of the Administration's program, there is no objection to the submission of this report to your committee. Sincerely, ROBERT L. KUNZIG. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFARE, Hon. JOHN L. MCCLELLAN, Washington, D.C., July 28, 1969. Chairman, Committee on Government Operations, DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This letter is in response to your request of March 26, 1969, for a report on S. 1632, a bill "To amend the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949. as amended, and for other purposes." The bill would amend section 203 (j) (1) of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, as amended, to make available for donation for purposes of health, education, and civil defense, or for research for such purposes, excess Federal personal property which has been selected and held by the Agency for International Development, pursuant to section 608 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, to provide economic assistance to foreign countries. Current regulations and procedures of the General Services Administration enable AID to acquire domestic property which is excess to Federal needs for shipment overseas for use in carrying out their mission of rendering economic assistance abroad. Such properties may not be acquired by AID until they have been screened by all Federal agencies and found not to be needed. Consequently, but for AID's use of the property for its foreign assistance program, the property would at this stage become surplus and available to the donation program. Section 608 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 1.mits the amount of domestic excess property which AID can hold at any one time to $15 million in acquisition cost. There is a limitation on the amount of property-$45 million in acquis.tion costs-which may be acquired during any fiscal year for use in the foreign aid program. AID also acquires considerable foreign excess property from overseas military installations. There is no limitation on the amount of such property which they can acquire in advance of or to meet current needs. The proposed bill would open a new source of assistance to our schools, health institutions, and civil defense organizations in the form of domestic and foreign excess personal property. For the first time, it would make foreign excess property available for donation to the extent that such property had been held by AID pending development of a need. In addition, it would make ava.lable for donation needed and desirable types of property which are currently being obtained by AID from domestic excess, such as construction and heavy road equipment. With respect to foreign excess, we are not in a position to judge the economic feasibility of acquiring such property and transporting it back to the United States. In its Report No. 865, 90th Congress, First Session, the House of Representatives Committee on Government Operations recommended “. . . that DOD, HEW, and GSA jointly study the practical possibilities and opportunities for excess personal property located outside the United States (a) to be obtained, through donat.on, by entities eligible to receive surplus property under the Federal donable property program, ." At the present time, this Department is working with the Department of Defense, the General Services Administration, and the National Association of State Agencies for Surplus Property, on an experimental program enabling the acquisition of DOD foreign excess property for return to this country for further Federal ut.lization and donation to eligible donees under the Federal donable property program. We do not, as yet, have figures which would make possible a reasonable estimate of the impact of this test program; nor are we in a position to estimate the practicability of extending the acquisition of foreign excess located in areas beyond Germany and to foreign excess property held by such agenc.es as AID. However, to whatever extent this can be economically accomplished, it would provide benefits to eligible health and educational institutions under the donation program. Our comments on the bill are based on our understanding of its intended ob jective. However, it should be noted that the new provision which would ostensibly expand the categories of property available for the donation program is not clearly phrased as an alternative to the existing requirements for donable property. To avoid any possibility of a misunderstanding of the intent of the amendment, we have prepared (and are attaching) suggested corrections in the language of the bill. In addition, we believe that minor changes in a number of other subsections of section 203 would be helpful. These are also included in the attachment. The amendment which would be effected by the bill (if corrected as noted in the attachment) would undoubtedly result in greater availability of a substantial amount of much needed and, in many cases, scarce property. We are in favor of this objective of the bill. However, we can express no opinion on the basic policy issue as to whether it is in the greater national interest to make these properties available for donation to our domestic health, educational, or civil defense institutions or to continue the use of them for carrying out the AID mission in foreign countries. We are advised by the Bureau of the Budget that there is no objection to the presentation of this report from the standpoint of the Administration's program. Sincerely, Enclosure. ROBERT H. FINCH, Secretary. SUGGESTED REVISIONS TO S. 1632 Strike out lines 4 through 14 on page 2 and insert in lieu thereof the following: "(A) (i) shall have been determined to be surplus property, or "(ii) shall have been determined to be excess property and is being held under section 608 of Public Law 87-195 (75 Stat. 424), approved September 4, 1961, as amended, which property shall be offered to designated State agencies, as herein defined, before being offered to any other eligible donee; and "(B) shall have been determined under paragraph (2), (3), or (4) of this subsection to be usable and necessary for such purpose." SEC. 2. Paragraphs (3) and (4) of section 203 (j) of such Act are each amended by striking out "surplus" the first time it appears. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, Hon. JOHN L. MCCLELLAN, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, Washington, D.C., July 28, 1969. Chairman, Committee on Government Operations, DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This is in reply to your request for our comments on S. 2170, entitled the "Federal Property Amendments of 1969." S. 2170 is intended to clarify and simplify procedures for the disposal of excess and surplus property under the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act. We defer to the General Services Administration and other agencies more directly affected by the bill for substantive comments on its provisions. The Bureau of the Budget advises that there is no objection to the submission of this report from the standpoint of the Administration's program. Sincerely, GEORGE P. SHULTZ, |