Mr. Chairman, from my carefully considered study of the matter and in the light of the indication of New England public opinion on this matter that has come to me, I should like to register my feeling that the proposed establishment of this hoof-and-mouth-disease laboratory on Prudence Island in Narragansett Bay should be disapproved by your committee. Thank you again for your kindness in permitting me to testify in this regard. PRUDENCE ISLAND CORRESPONDENCE LISTING I. ORGANIZATIONS American Guernsey Cattle Club, Peter- Massachusetts Farm Bureau Federaboro, N. H. Boston Cattle Co., Ltd., Boston, Mass. Cape Cod Milk Goat Breeders, Associa- tion, Waltham, Mass. Middlesex County Extension Service, Rhode Island Federation of Garden II. CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE Attleboro Chamber of Commerce, Attle- Newport County Chamber of Commerce, boro, Mass. Newport, R. I. III. INDIVIDUALS Chandler, John, Commissioner of Agri- Tanner, Harold B., Esq., Providence, Cook, Mrs. Benjamin Ladd, Newport, Withington, Lothrop, Esq., Boston, Coolidge, T. Jefferson, Esq., Boston, Musser, Karl B., Peterboro, N. H. Carlson, Jean, Little Compton, R. I. R. I. Freeman, Miss Clarke, Providence, R. I. Hill, Miss Elizabeth V., Providence, Smith, Mrs. Brockholst M., Saylesville, Chase, Mrs. H. M., Jr., Portsmouth, McCauley, Mr. Louis, Providence, R. I. Bromley, Miss Edith M., Providence, Gallagher, Miss Sarah N., East Green- Burton, Kenneth G., Providence, R. I. Stone, George A., Barrington, R. I. Angell, Miss Betty, North Dighton, Clark, F. E., Bristol, R. I. Seal, Miss Elizabeth, Providence, R. I. May, Joseph D., Edgewood, R. I. Harrison, Mrs. Jennie, Providence, R. I. Guny, Mrs. Harry, Providence, R. I. Hambly, Mrs. Dorothy and family, Hoyt, Miss Elizabeth C., Providence, Jencks, Charles D., Bristol Highlands, Champlin, Mrs. Henry A., R. I. III. INDIVIDUALS-continued PRUDENCE ISLAND CORRESPONDENCE LISTING-Continued Sellman, Miss Constance, Newton Cen- Ross, Dr. Florence M., Providence, R. I. Herreshoff, Mrs. A. Sidney, Bristol, R. I. Massap, Mrs. Wallace L., Providence, R. I. Godwin, Mr. Thomas O., Providence, R. I. Mathewson, Mr. Ernest G., Providence, R. I. Hart, Sydney, Baltimore, Md. Potter, William King, Providence, R. I, Bullock, Mr. Eugene F., Barrington, R. I. Cappelli, Mr. Albert F., Providence, R. I. Eddy, Mrs. Irving, Edgewood Station, R. I. O'Neill, Mabel, Providence, R. I. McCarthy, Arthur, Providence, R. I. Trow, Fred E., Pawtuxet, R. I. Flint, Ray C., Providence, R. I. McMullen, George H., Warwick, R. I. Fox, Herbert P. Gaskee Plateou, R. I. Nickerson, Morton H., Rumford, R. I. Gray, Miss Betty, Barrington, R. I. Martin, Miss Betty K., Bristol, R. I. Freeman, Noel, Cranston, R. I. Ecclestone, Walter L., Cranston, R. I. Baron, James Baron, Providence, R. I. Hamblin, Seth R., Marston Mills, Mass. Mattis, Mrs. Walter E., Rumford, R. I. Clayton, Mrs. Thomas R., Providence, R. I. Clayton, Miss Margaretta N., Rumford, R. I. Hardeman, Frank C., Providence, R. Í. Solomon, Winfield Scott, Providence, R. I. Richard, Alexander, Norwood, R. I. Hogue, Bernard J., Bristol, R. I. Lamoureux, Mrs. Cora M., Washington, R. I. Sykes, Mrs. Doris M., Riverside, R. I. Chase, Miss Elizabeth Church, Bristol, R. I. White, Mrs. Hunter C., Wickford, R. I. Fermer, Mrs. Edith C., Cranston, R. I. Hartwell, Joseph C., Providence, R. I. MacColl, Kenneth D., Providence, R. I. Barney, James C., East Providence, R. I. Burt, Miss Ruth U., Cranston, R. Í. Hathaway, Mr. and Mrs. George R., West Warwick, R. I. Congdon, Mrs. G. Maurice, Providence, R. I. Kimball, Frederick B., Providence, R. I. Wass, Charles T., Barrington, R. I. Chase, Mrs. Florence B., Riverside, R. I. Jenness, Mrs. E. G., Malden, Mass. Gray, Thomas B., Providence, R. I. Peterson, Mrs. Guy C., New York, N. Y. Maxfield, Charles R., Jr., Jamestown, R. I. Rego, Mr. and Mrs. Gabriel, Middletown, R. I. Johnson, Carl E., Providence, R. I. Bishop, Mrs. Stuart S., Malden, Mass. Esau, W. S., Milton, Mass. Bingham, Mrs. Clarence J., Attleboro, Mass. Newman, Herbert F., New York, N. Y. King, Vernon A., Attleboro, Mass. Rogers, Dudley P., Esq., Danvers, Mass. Yeames, Arthur O., Arlington, Mass. Stone, George A., Barrington, R. I. Wililams, Dudley A., Providence, R. I. Rego, Mr. and Mrs. Gabriel, Middletown, R. I. Brown, Mrs. Aylsworth, Providence, R. I. Peirce, Mrs. Walter P., Providence, R. 1. Pearson, Dr. Rudolph W., Providence, R. I. Baron, James, Providence, R. I. Champlin, Lawrence W., Jamestown, R. I. Sawyer, Miss Annie E., Washington, Holmes, A. W., Providence, R. I. PRUDENCE ISLAND CORRESPONDENCE LISTING-Continued III. INDIVIDUALS-continued Gerry, James E., East Providence, R. I. Downes, Miss Edith G., Wollaston, Porter, Lloyd B., Boston, Mass. Cotting, C. E., Boston, Mass. Williams, Chester A., Warwick, R. I. Laliberte, Alfred J., Camden, Maine. Battcher, Mr. and Mrs. O. L., Bristol, Clauson, Mrs. J. Earl, Wickford, R. I. Ross, Miss Elizabeth P., Dorchester, Dietsch, John, North Attleboro, Mass. IV. OTHERS continued Cook, Barbara Norman (Anti-Prudence Republican Women, Rhode Island Fed- Kelly, H. J., Newport, R. I. Pinney, William W., Edgartown, Mass. Cook, Benjamin Ladd, Newport, R. I. FOOT-AND-MOUTH DISEASE RESEARCH LABORATORY WITNESS HON. JOHN W. HESELTON, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS Mr. WHITTEN. We will be glad to hear at this time from our able colleague, Mr. Heselton. Mr. HESELTON. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, I urge that your committee refuse to appropriate funds for the erection of a laboratory in connection with the hoof-and-mouth disease at Prudence Island, R. I. I would like to submit the latest information I have as to the milk industry in Massachusetts and the northeast. In 1949 there were 121,000 milk cows in Massachusetts. There were 3,164,000 milk cows in the North Atlantic States, that is, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. The cows in Massachusetts as of January 1, 1950, were valued at $31,242,000 and $733,059,000 in the North Atlantic States. The average milk production per cow in the North Atlantic States in 1949 was well over the United States average, and in fact, was exceeded only by the average production in Wisconsin, Washington, and California. The cash farm income from milk in 1949 in Massachusetts was $44,719,000. The cash income from milk in the North Atlantic States was $875,388,000. Among these herds are some of the most valuable breeding herds in the United States, and I am sure you will understand the concern of all those engaged in this industry as to the possibility of any unintended introduction of this disease into the northeast. While it is recognized that the Department proposes to take all possible precautions, obviously there can be no guaranty that some unfortunate accident would bring about this result. I recognize that any location in the proximity of other areas of the country would create similar concern in those areas. It would seem to me that it would be better judgment to cooperate with the work of existing laboratories in other countries rather than to take any chances of inroducing this disease into this country. May I include in the record a telegram I have received from Carleton I. Pickett, secretary of the Massachusetts Farm Bureau Federation, expressing their position with reference to this proposed appropriation. The telegram reads: Urge you oppose any appropriation for laboratory, Prudence Island. MONDAY, JULY 17, 1950. BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY RESEARCH FACILITIES WITNESSES DR. B. T. SIMMS, CHIEF, BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY DR. M. S. SHAHAN, IN CHARGE, FOOT-AND-MOUTH DISEASE RE- K. A. BUTLER, ASSISTANT CHIEF, BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY FRANK C. MORRIS, ARCHITECTURAL ENGINEER, BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY C. G. PALMER, CHIEF, ESTIMATES BRANCH, PUBLIC BUILDINGS SERVICE J. M. LOWE, ASSISTANT CHIEF, DESIGN SECTION, PUBLIC BUILDINGS SERVICE W. B. EITZEL, MECHANICAL ENGINEER, PUBLIC BUILDINGS SERVICE DR. B. T. SHAW, DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR, AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH ADMINISTRATION TERRY J. MCADAMS, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF PLANT AND OPERATIONS RALPH S. ROBERTS, DIRECTOR OF FINANCE AND BUDGET OFFICER, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE CONSTRUCTION OF RESEARCH LABORATORY Mr. WHITTEN. Dr. Simms, we are glad to have you and your associates with you. You are here, as I understand, in support of a budget request for the sum of $24,500,000, additional, to build a research laboratory at Prudence Island, off the coast of Rhode Island. We will insert at this time pages, 1, 2, 3, and 19 from the justifications. (The statements referred to follow :) AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH ADMINISTRATION, BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY RESEARCH FACILITIES, 1951 (H. Doc. 640) Appropriation to date, Second Deficiency Appropriation Act, 1949 $500, 000 Foot-and-mouth disease is a constant threat to the livestock industry of the United States since it exists in most countries of the world. Vigilent enforcement of laws and regulations designed to protect the United States against invasion by this disease has been an excellent defense, although on six occasions since 1900, the disease has been introduced into the country. These outbreaks have been successfully dealt with by slaughter of infected and exposed animals. Since 1947 the Department has been engaged in a cooperative project with the Government of Mexico to eradicate the disease there. The presence of footand-mouth disease in Mexico has presented a particular threat to the livestock industry because land barriers are not effective against its spread. Congress has recognized the serious economic consequences which might result from an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the country from any source, and in the Act of April 24, 1948 (21 U. S. C., Supp. III, 113a) authorized the establishment of facilities for conducting research on the disease. Pursuant to this authority, the Second deficiency Appropriation Act, 1949 (Public Law 119), appropriated $500,000 for plans and specifications and for acquiring options on a recommended site for the proposed facilities. The appropriation act specified that the total cost of such facilities should not exceed $25,000,000 and required that the construction proposals be submitted to the congressional appropriations committees, together with detailed information as to the estimated costs and the site proposed to be selected. Prudence Island, R. I., in Narragansett Bay, is recommended as the site. Options on land on the island have been acquired, and tentative building plans and cost estimates prepared. Since one of the options will expire August 5, 1950, this estimate in the amount of $24,500,000 is submitted to permit early consideration by Congress. EXPLANATION OF LANGUAGE The language provides additional funds to acquire land and to provide research facilities thereon in order that investigations of foot-and-mouth disease may be undertaken pursuant to basic authority in the act of April 24, 1948, and within the limitation of $25,000,000 established by the Second Deficiency Appropriation Act, 1949. About 500 acres of land will be required for this project.—A number of sites have been thoroughly studied on the basis of the 10 requirements set forth in Senate Document No. 211, Eightieth Congress, and the requirement prescribed by the act of April 24, 1948, that the island selected shall not be connected by a tunnel with the mainland. Prudence Island, in Narragansett Bay, R. I., has |