It used to be an old palace across from the old Chancery and is presently being used by USIA. We provided seven apartments in that old palace in the early 1950's. The maintenance and operating costs are very high and we would like to put up something that is representative. As you know, the bulk of our staff is at the diplomatic enclave but we still have some people there.

Mrs. BOLTON. It seems to me I remember when we built that New Delhi building it was immediately told us it was wholly inadequate. I wonder why I get that very strong memory, that it wasn't big enough, that it was not well set up?

Mr. DEL FAVERO. You are correct. We have just completed and moved into a building just a little larger than the original office building in June.

Mrs. BOLTON. How many places in the world are we doing that still? We had all the information and knew the tremendous amount of work that needed to be done there and we deliberately built a building we knew was inadequate. To me that is a shocking waste of the taxpayers' money.

Mr. DEL FAVERO. I don't think we lost anything.

Mrs. BOLTON. We had to build it.

Mr. DEL FAVERO. We had to build it. There is now excess currency and I think at the time we built the building there was not excess currency.

Mrs. BOLTON. I am not inclined to spend money that way. If I build a building I want it to be adequate.

Mr. DEL FAVERO. You are correct. complement increases since then.

Of course, we have had some

Mr. HAYS. What about item B on page 66? You say the building there was damaged by an earthquake. Will this new building you will build there be earthquake-proof and, if not, is there any danger of another earthquake there? Has anybody given any thought to

that?

Mr. SCARRITT. That is carefully considered in the instructions we have given the architects. We have had good success in building an earthquake-proof building in Mexico and I think we know more about building earthquake-proof buildings now since we have had that experience.

Mr. HAYS. What about Mexico City, since you mentioned that. This can be off the record.

(Discussion off the record.)

Mr. HAYS. Thank you very much. We will continue tomorrow morning at 10 o'clock and try to finish these justifications so we can start to mark up this bill.

(Thereupon, at 11:55 a.m. the subcommittee was adjourned.)

FOREIGN SERVICE BUILDINGS ACT AMENDMENTS

OF 1966

TUESDAY, JANUARY 18, 1966

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS,
SUBCOMMITTEE ON STATE DEPARTMENT

ORGANIZATION AND FOREIGN OPERATIONS,

Washington, D.C.

The subcommittee met at 10 a.m., in room 2255, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Wayne L. Hays (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.

Mr. HAYS. When the committee adjourned yesterday, if I remember correctly, we had finished India. I remember we talked about Madras.

Are there any further questions on New Delhi?

KATMANDU, NEPAL

Mr. HAYS. We will now take up Nepal.

STATEMENT OF RALPH SCARRITT, DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF FOREIGN BUILDINGS, DEPARTMENT OF STATE, ACCOMPANIED BY ORLAN C. RALSTON, DEPUTY DIRECTOR PAUL R. SEREY, EXECUTIVE OFFICER; CHARLES V. SWAN, BUDGET OFFICER, ALL OF FBO; HARRISON SYMMES, DIRECTOR, NEAR EASTERN AFFAIRS; EDWARD LYERLY, DEPUTY LEGAL ADVISER FOR ADMINISTRATION; RALPH ROBERTS, ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR BUDGET AND FINANCE, DEPARTMENT OF STATE; RICHARD ERSTEIN, DEPUTY ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR AFRICA; AND GILBERT F. AUSTIN, DEPUTY ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR NEAR EAST AND SOUTH ASIA, USIA

Mr. SCARRITT. In Katmandu, we are asking for three projects: an office building, a staff apartment building, and Marine Guard quarters. The dollar support is in the amount of $240,000 in 1967 for the office building, $100,000 in 1968 for the staff apartments, and $20,000 in 1968 for the Marine quarters.

Our office building currently is in a converted hotel. We have acquired a 9-acre site which would be adequate to accommodate these three facilities in Katmandu.

The living conditions in Katmandu generally are unsatisfactory and substandard and as we assess the need for the staff apartments against our criteria-and these staff apartments are to be occupied

by our single girls, communicators and secretaries—we find a justification for recommending them on the basis of health, sanitation, and security.

Mr. HAYS. How many people do we have in a place like Katmandu? Mr. SCARRITT. We have 25 Americans and 66 locals in State, 3 Americans and 44 locals in USIS, 4 American attachés, and 3 local employees and 5 Marine guards for a total of 37 Americans and 113 locals.

Mr. MORSE. How many attachés do you have?

Mr. SCARRITT. One Air, one Army, one Navy, and an Agricultural attaché.

Mr. MORSE. What is the population of Nepal?

Mr. SCARRITT. The country is 9,388,000, and the city is about 175,000.

Construction costs there are approximately 35 percent higher than in Washington, Mr. Chairman. This is a good opportunity for us to use excess foreign currencies.

Mr. HAYS. I am aware that you are not responsible for the number of people there, but for the life of me, I cannot see why we need that many people. Does anyone have anything to say about that, either on the record or off the record?

STATEMENT OF CAROL LAISE, DIRECTOR OF SOUTH ASIAN AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF STATE

Miss LAISE. Are you speaking of the State people or AID people? The total just given excludes AID people. We had a fairly large AID program going there prior to 1959 and the establishment of an embassy. Now we have not only an AID program, but we have a full-fledged embassy. These figures are the minimum consistent with the normal functions of an embassy.

It is in a strategically important country bordering China.

Mr. HAYS. It is strategically important to whom-not the United States certainly, perhaps to India.

It seems to me you establish a post at one of these places and it builds up. Can you sort out these people, how many are State and how many AID?

Mr._SCARRITT. Twenty-five Americans and sixty-six locals in the State Department. The AID complement is 72 Americans and 365 locals.

Mr. MORSE. Seventy-two Americans in the AID program?
Mr. SCARRITT. Yes.

Mr. MORSE. That is twice as many as there are in Chile.

Mr. HAYS. What did these poor people do for aid before we got in with this big AID program?

Miss LAISE. Nepal is moving into a much more modern society. It has a limited number of people who are trained, many of whom are trained in the United States, for the responsibilities of government. It is a country in which transportation is limited, in which the personnel, indigenous personnel, to carry out governmental functions have to be trained from the ground up, so essentially our AID program is one of helping to build the infrastructure for a modern state which can continue to resist the Chinese incursions in that part of the world.

Mr. HAYS. Let's face it. If the Chinese decide to take Nepal, we can spend $1 billion and they will not be able to resist it.

Is there anyone here from AID?

How much of this building is going to be used to house those people? As far as I am concerned, they can close the AID program there this afternoon.

Mr. SCARRITT. As far as I am aware, we are not varying from our policy in this building. It would only accommodate the top structure of AID.

Mr. MORSE. What is the magnitude of the AID program?

Miss LAISE. I will have to get figures for you. I think it runs about $8 million a year.

(The Department subsequently supplied the following information:) In fiscal year 1966 it will amount to $12.5 million equivalent of which $9 million is from India rupees funds.

Mr. HAYS. There would not be much left for the Nepalese after they pay all the staff.

Mr. MORSE. Did you say there were 72 people in the AID program? Mr. SCARRITT. Yes.

Mr. MORSE. That is ridiculous.

Mr. HAYS. We will get the AID people up here on this. If some of their employees are of the same quality I have seen in other countries, it is a complete waste of money anyway.

Can you give me a figure of what percentage of this building you propose to build will be occupied by AID-5 percent, 10 percent, 20 percent?

Mr. SCARRITT. I would like to supply that for the record after I check the plans.

(The Department subsequently supplied the following information:)

AID OCCUPANCY OF CHANCERY BUILDING AT KATMANDU, NEPAL From a review of the plans for the proposed new office building at Katmandu, Nepal, it is evident that only the Director of the Administration for International Development Mission at the post, his secretary, and immediate staff will occupy space in the new building. Of the total space programed for the building, approximately 11⁄2 percent is planned for AID use.

Mr. MORSE. How many staff quarters will be for AID personnel? Mr. SCARRITT. None. These will be occupied by State Department personnel.

Mr. HAYS. I will be frank with you. If it were not for the fact you were going to build these out of rupees that I do not think we will ever get anything for, I would say we would veto it immediately. That is the only saving feature.

We now take up Pakistan.

PAKISTAN

Mr. SCARRITT. In Dacca, we are asking for dollar support for two projects, an office building for the consulate general and 16 staff apartments which would be constructed on the same Governmentowned site.

The dollar support would be $600,000 in 1967 for the office building and $100,000 for the staff apartments.