Mr. HAYS. That is underneath. I suppose you should read that. The WITNESS. The certification of the committee chairman:

I certify that the above articles have been received in good condition and in the quality and quantity above specified, or the services performed as stated, and that they are in accordance with the orders therefor; that the prices charged are just and reasonable and in accordance with the agreement.

Mr. DICKINSON. One further question. In connection with the certification by the chairman himself, is it true that the payee or employee could travel but he could not receive per diem without the express approval of the chairman?

The WITNESS. That is correct, Mr. Dickinson. In fact, the resolution that provides the money specifically states that all payments shall be made upon signature of the chairman.

Mr. DICKINSON. So the chairman has the ultimate responsibility in any event?

The WITNESS. Yes, sir; that is in the resolution or the law.

Mr. HAYS. Are there any other question; if not, that is all Mr. Langston.

(Witness excussed.)

Mr. HAYS. The committee will adjourn now and without objection will meet at 2 o'clock sharp.

(Whereupon, at 12:45 p.m., the committee was recessed to reconvene at 2 p.m., the same day.)

Mr. HAYS. Let the record show that I have received an ITT World Communication telegram dated at 11:12 this morning, addressed to Wayne L. Hays, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. Unable to testify public hearing.

(Signed) Mrs. ADAM CLAYTON POWELL.

The record will further show that I have instructed the clerk to ask the U.S. marshal to indicate to Mrs. Powell that this is not a public hearing and that she will not be asked to testify in public. She has been served with a subpena and we expect her to honor that subpena, or she could possibly be held in contempt.

We will hear now from Mrs. Dargans.

Mrs. Dargans, I have a statement here I wish to read to you.

Your appearance before this committee will be in executive session unless you request that it be a public session. If your appearance is in executive session, the public and the press will not be admitted to the hearing room, and pursuant to paragraph 26, House of Representatives rule XI, your testimony may not be released or used in a public session without consent of the committee, nor will you be permitted to purchase a copy of your transcript unless authorized by the

committee.

If your appearance is in public session, the public and news reporters will be admitted, but television cameras and news photographers will be excluded-except news photographers may be admitted briefly to take pictures. We have already ruled against that.

The question now is: Do you choose to appear in executive or public session?

Mrs. DARGANS. Executive session, sir, if you please.

Mr. HAYS. You are without counsel ?

A. Yes.

Mr. HAYS. But you did receive a copy of paragraph 26, rule XI, rules of the House, with the subpena?

if

A. Yes.

Mr. HAYS. You understand that you were permitted to have counsel you so desired?

A. Yes.

Mr. HAYS. Your constitutional rights, of course, will be recognized by the committee and properly you can make the claim of privilege. If you feel any answer might tend to incriminate you, you may say so. If you do, the committee will consider the claim and pass upon its validity.

Will you stand and raise your right hand, please.

LOUISE M. DARGANS having been duly sworn, was examined and testified as follows:

By Mr. TAYLER:

Q. State your full name for the record.
A. Louise Maxienne Dargans.

Q. Where do you live?

A. 301 G Street SW., Washington, D.C.

Q. Are you appearing before this committee today pursuant to a subpena served upon you?

A. Yes.

Q. Have you received a copy of the chairman's opening statement? Do you know what I am referring to?

Mr. HAYS. The statement I read this morning when you were all here?

By Mr. TAYLER :

Q. Your answer is "No"?

A. That is right. I wasn't here.

Mr. TAYLER. Mr. Chairman, may the witness be furnished with a copy of your opening statement? I believe we have some available. The WITNESS. I was asked to step out.

Mr. HAYS. I think you went back to the office, and we allowed the rest of them in to hear the opening statement.

Here is a copy of the opening statement, Mrs. Dargans. You may read it.

The WITNESS. I have finished it, sir.

By Mr. TAYLER:

Q. Mrs. Dargans, while we were off the record, did you receive and read a copy of the chairman's opening statement?

A. Yes.

Q. Do you understand it?

A. Yes.

Q. What is your present employment with the House of Representatives?

A. Chief clerk of the Committee on Education and Labor.

Q. How long have you held that position?

A. Since January 3, 1961.

Q. Will you briefly describe your duties as chief clerk of the Education and Labor Committee, particularly any duties you have relating to the handling of travel tickets and expense vouchers?

A. A brief outline of my duties, sir, are to attend all meetings of the full committee and other meetings as directed;

Record and hold for safekeeping record of all record sheets taken at the meetings;

See that minutes of the meetings reflect the proceedings and hold them in safekeeping;

See that notices of all meetings and caucuses are sent to the members of the committee;

Arrange adequate meeting space for the full committee, the subcommittee, the ad hocs and task forces as requested;

Notify members of meetings before House Administration and Rules Committee of particular interest to them;

Announce meetings and reports of the meetings to the Digest and the Press Gallery;

Prepare and present to the Clerk of the House, the Committee on House Administration, the Rules Committee and the chairman monthly, semiannual, and annual reports as required;

Notify the Rules Committee of legislation reported by the full committee, and request hearings as directed;

See that reports are filed in accordance with committee instructions when legislation is reported;

See that these reports are filed in the House;

Maintain accounting of expenditure of funds and process vouchers as authorized;

See that adequate equipment and supplies are furnished the full committee and our branches as required;

Supervise the preparation and distribution of all printing for the

committee.

Mr. HAYS. Let's go off the record.

(A discussion was held off the record.)

By Mr. TAYLER:

Q. Mrs. Dargans, you said that among other duties you process vouchers as authorized.

Would you explain what vouchers you are referring to and what sort of processing you give them?

A. All vouchers, because all vouchers would have to do with expenditure of funds. They come to me from the chairman's office, the office of the minority, and from the offices of our several subcommittees, ad hocs, and task forces. We have a control in my office where we indicate the expenditures against the allotment.

Q. Is that the only review that you make of these vouchers, to check the amount of the voucher?

A. Strictly a figure review.

Q. Let me finish it. Check the voucher against the amount of the appropriation available?

A. Yes.

Mr. HAYS. Mrs. Dargans, you do not make any attempt when you process these vouchers to verify the expenditure that was actually made?

The WITNESS. No; other than meeting the requirement of House Administration that the proper receipts be attached to the vouchers. Mr. HAYS. But if a person sends through a voucher with the proper receipts and with an airline ticket, we will say, for a hypothetical question, and asks to be reimbursed, so long as everything is in order from the appearance of it, you process it?

The WITNESS. And provided I get from the subcommittees the signatures from the subcommittee chairmen, and the initials of the ranking minority member. I need either a signature or a memo or word from the chairmen that that voucher is in order.

Mr. HAYS. Do you know whether other committees follow that same procedure, or is this a special procedure with the House Education and Labor Committee?

The WITNESS. This is just a procedure which we devised. We haven't been afforded the opportunity to compare our method of control.

Mr. HAYS. Wasn't there something in your appropriation-I am speaking from memory, but it seems to me there was some dispute about your appropriation between the majority and the minority, and some subcommittee chairmen, and didn't the House Administration Committee say that, "We will give you the money provided it is allocated so much to each subcommittee, and expenditures from those subcommittees have to have the subcommittee chairman's signature in addition to the full committee"?

The WITNESS. That is right. That is why I mention the special units which had to have the signatures of those chairmen, and the minority had the initials of the ranking minority member.

The full committee gets 70 percent of the allotment. The minority gets 30 percent. The subcommittees get money as outlined in the resolution.

Mr. HAYS. Thank you.

By Mr. TAYLER:

Q. Mrs. Dargans, when you receive a voucher for processing in your office-let's take, for example, the voucher for travel by one of the committee staff members do you check the supporting data, such as receipts for automobile rental and things of that sort? Do you check other supporting data, such as airline transportation receipts, to see if they are in order and whether they match up with the items on the voucher?

A. Yes, we do, because if these receipts are not in order, they would be returned by House Administration unpaid unless the proper supporting data accompanied the voucher.

Q. When you check a voucher that has airline-travel expense on it, what would be attached to that voucher to support the claim for payment for the airline ticket?

A. A voucher which claimed reimbursement of airline travel would have to have the receipt or the coupon left from the ticket.

Q. A traveler's coupon?

A. Yes.

Q. Which would bear the name of the traveler on it?

A. Yes.

Q. And you would check that to see whether it coincided with the name of the person submitting the expense voucher?

A. Yes.

Q. Do you also receive in connection with the performance of your duties requests from staff employees to purchase airline tickets for their travel on your credit card?

A. Yes.

Q. How do you process such a request when you receive it?

A. Well, may I preface my remark by saying that if I received a request from a staff member, I would check back with the chairman to find out if that request was authorized. The request would come to me in a memo "The chairman has authorized such and such."

I would then proceed to make out a travel request and send it over to the airline ticket office for the ticket to be made up and delivered back to my office for delivery to the staff member.

Q. How is the actual airline ticket delivered to the staff member after you receive it from the airline office?

A. They are called to either pick it up or if the chairman has asked me to order a certain ticket and send it over his office, I would do that either send it to the chairman's office or deliver it to the staff member. I have a T-4 in my office that is signed as a receipt when the ticket is picked up.

Q. In other words, the person who receives the ticket, the person who is scheduled to perform the travel, has to receipt for it by signature on a form that you have in your office?

A. Yes. That's for tickets that are purchased on my card.

Mr. HAYS. I am asking this, Mrs. Dargans, because I am unfamiliar with this procedure. You say you make out a request and send it over to the airline ticket office?

The WITNESS. Yes.

Mr. HAYS. You gave some sort of name to it. Do you send your card along with it?

The WITNESS. Heretofore I went over to the airline ticket office with my card and had several requests stamped with my card, so that when I sent the request over, my card did not have to go along with it, just this request.

Mr. HAYS. I see.

The WITNESS. A little later another control was put on the ticket; that the signed travel request, along with the card-this was the chairman's order—would have to go over to the airline ticket office for every ticket that was issued. In other words, I

Mr. TAYLER. When was this? Mr. Chairman

Mr. HAYS. When was this done?

The WITNESS. As closely as I can recall, some months ago. I am sorry I can't pinpoint it as to the exact time.

Mr. HAYS. It has been a matter of some months?

The WITNESS. Yes.

Mr. DEVINE. Prior to adjournment?

The WITNESS. Oh, yes.

By Mr. TAYLER:

Q. When you say that a transportation request is sent over to the airline ticket office here in the Capitol, are you referring to this airline-Eastern Airlines-form for transportation receipt, universal air travel plan?