I might say that both parties in Kentucky, and all of the groups in leadership in Kentucky, strongly support this bill. We have only 49 counties of our 129 counties that are located in this particular area, and yet there has been demonstrated as much support for this bill in the other counties in Kentucky, even in my area of the State, which is far western Kentucky, as there is in the area that would be encompassed in the coverage of this particular act. We will push ahead with it from our standpoint as the Senator knows from my discussions with him previously. Senator COOPER. AS Senator Randolph knows, the Appalachian barrier, which in olden days prevented migration to the West, is still a formidable barrier because there are few gaps which permit passage between Kentucky and West Virginia and Virginia and Tennessee, particularly from those eastern States where there are great north and south channels of commerce. I think it is intended under this bill that the road systems of Kentucky, Ohio, West Virgina, Virginia and Tennessee be connected. Is that not correct? Governor BREATHITT. Yes, sir; that is correct, Senator. It is a regional network of highways utilizing the existing highways that have been built in our Federal aid program and those that we have built under our turnpike program by our own resources by the sale of bonds with no Federal aid. Senator RANDOLPH. Thank you, Senator Cooper. Senator Muskie. Senator MUSKIE. Governor, I know that one of the counties covered is Breathitt County. Governor BREATHITT. There was an old Governor of Kentucky, the first Democratic Governor, by the way, for whom this county is named. It is located in the very heart of this area. I do not happen to be from Breathitt County, although during the campaign I claimed right close kinship. Senator COOPER. Senator Muskie, may I say that Breathitt County is named for his distinguished forebear, the Governor of Kentucky, and although it is in eastern Kentucky, unfortunately it returns the largest Democratic majority in the State. I might say also that the Governor has had some very distinguished Republican forebears who have served as officials of our State. Senator MUSKIE. Governor, what is the economic past of this region? Is it an underdeveloped one, or is it one that technological change has passed by, or what is responsible for its present economic problem? Governor BREATHITT. Senator, the area was developed principally in the early days by the timber industry, utilizing the streams which flow through this area, the river as an avenue of commerce to float the logs down to market, down the Kentucky River, the Cumberland River, and the Big Sandy. After the development of the area through this, with the building of railroads in the area, we developed the coal industry, and this is the principal industry in the area. And as is true in so many of the Appalachian areas, with the automation of coal areas, the change in technology, the fact that our people in the area have not been trained properly to do other things, and there is not opportunity within the area, it is important that we provide the opportunity, and not that we just take the approach of artifically maintaining these very fine people. I might point out a point that sometimes is not made. These people want to work. They want opportunity. In our jobless parent program we have had only a 2-percent work stoppage among these people. Only about 2 percent of them do not work when given the opportunity. People will give up food stamps and relief programs just to have the opportunity to work. Senator MUSKIE. Is it still a forested area? Governor BREATHITT. Yes; it is a forested area, and we are developing our forestry industry. In fact, in Breathitt County we have established a wood use and utilization area at Quicksand under the joint Federal-State help in the development of this area, and under the administration of the University of Kentucky. We are having a new wood processing plant that is being developed with private capital, and with the assistance of Federal-State Government in Johnson County, adjacent to Martin County, which the President visited last year. We are working toward the development of the wood use and utilization industry in eastern Kentucky. We feel this is important, as 45 percent of this land area is suited for forestry and agricultural purposes. Senator MUSKIE. Is that the percentage of land that is forested in this area? Governor BREATHITT. Yes. A lot of it is not marketable in this yet, Senator, because we failed for many, many years to adopt proper forestry methods and management of our lands. I will say that is not true now. We have a very fine forestry program. But this bill adds greatly to our ability in these areas to develop our forestry. And, of course, this is one of the most important areas to us. Senator MUSKIE. The forest based industry is not significant in this area now? Governor BREATHITT. Well, it is significant in the total Appalachian area, certainly in North Carolina. Senator MUSKIE. I was thinking specifically of this one. Governor BREATHITT. In eastern Kentucky it is not a significant factor, although it is a growing factor. Senator MUSKIE. In the past was it largely lumbering? Governor BREATHITT. No. This plant being developed now in Johnson and Martin Counties is a processing industry using low-grade lumber. Senator MUSKIE. What are the other sources of employment now? You mentioned coal, and that is dropping off, I take it. Governor BREATHITT. Of course, in eastern Kentucky the Ohio River near Huntington and Asheville and down the Big Sandy Valley we have adequate waterpower, and a fine and available labor source, and there we are developing industry, but our problem is in the areas of central-eastern Kentucky and southeast Kentucky, where we previously had no good system of highways. This will be solved by this bill through our joint Federal efforts and the cooperation of the adjacent States, because it is a regional highway program. This will help greatly, with the development of the industrial sites. There are good water supplies in this area, with which you are vitally concerned, and with which I am vitally concerned. I might say Kentucky, as indicated in Pennsylvania in Governor Scranton's testimony, in our 1962 legislature passed a strengthened strip mining and reclamation law. We are right now reviewing our experience under this law to determine if we need to make additional amendments to our law in the 1966 session of the legislature. We are developing industry in the area. Senator Cooper's home community is a very fortunate county in this. Senator MUSKIE. You do not have a Cooper County in here? Governor BREATHITT. No, but we found on election day there are a lot of Cooper counties, sir. Senator MUSKIE. Thank you, Governor, very much. Senator BOGGS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Senator RANDOLPH. Senator Boggs? Senator BOGGS. Thank you, Senator. Governor, I want to join the committee in thanking you for appearing here, and for your fine testimony. I was especially impressed by what you had to say, and said so well, about the passage of the Appalachia bill, that it would not in any way cause the States to lower their own efforts, but rather increase their efforts. It was one of the questions in my mind. I had some doubts about it, and I was glad to hear you speak out vigorously as you did on that. And if it will accomplish that, help the States to increase their efforts, I think the overall result will certainly be wonderful. The other thing you mentioned just now in answer to questions from Senator Muskie I think about increasing the opportunity for employment, employment opportunity, and you got into the timber industry. What other opportunities did you have in mind, particularly? Governor BREATHITT. We are making a great effort in eastern Kentucky to develop our tourist industry. We have built a series of major vacation parks, lodges, fine dining facilities, on our Corps of Engineer lakes and our small lakes that we are developing, and then in the areas such as Natural Bridge, Ky. These are as fine vacation facilities as you can find anywhere in the Nation, and we are operating them at a cost range that can attract vacationers from all over the country. Kentucky is located in a 500-mile radius, within 1 driving day's distance, of 65 percent of the population of the United States. Because of this location, we are in eastern Kentucky pushing this. We have some year-round facilities now. We feel that this stimulates the area. We of course are trying to attract industry to diversify the economy of the area. Then we are working to establish what portion of our agriculture economy can be established in the area, although this is somewhat limited. But we are working in this particular area. Senator BOGGS. I want to get back to my roads question, you probably heard me ask Governor Scranton. With these access roads built, however, many miles may be in your area, will that be a State responsibility, or a county responsibility to keep them up? Governor BREATHITT. It will be a State responsibility in Kentucky. Counties only have a responsibility on rural roads in Kentucky, and they are not encompassed in this particular program. Our rural secondary program, which is the major rural highway system in Kentucky-that is not on our State or Federal aid or interstate or turnpike systems also financed by the State. But all the roads that would be encompassed in this program in Kentucky would be the responsibility of the State of Kentucky. Senator BOGGS. I am glad to have your testimony on that. I had doubts about it, because I visualized these access roads, many of them, as being really not hard surface roads, but simply dirt roads moving into isolated areas, and I did not realize that they were to be on a State system. Senator RANDOLPH. Senator Boggs, I might just at that point say I am sure you mean the gravel roads as envisaged in the bill. Senator BOGGS. That is right. Governor BREATHITT. These particular access roads would be maintained under our rural secondary program. In this particular program that, together with the arterial highways that are the regional network highways encompassed in the bill, will actually open this area up and open up commerce between West Virginia and Kentucky and between Virginia and Kentucky. Senator BOGGS. Thank you very much, Governor. Senator RANDOLPH. Governor Breathitt, we are appreciative of your presence, and your expert and very helpful testimony. You will recall yesterday the President of the United States in the inaugural address mentioned "ridges." Perhaps people missed that as they listened. We do have these narrow valleys and ridges. Here live a people whose aptitudes we know are good, and whose attitudes, more importantly, are just right for this type of program. We hope it will move forward very quickly. Thank you very, very much. Governor BREATHITT. Thank you, Senator, and I want to thank the members of this committee for their courtesies in tendering this opportunity to me on behalf of all the people of Kentucky, and this region. I want to particularly pay a tribute to you for your efforts, which I think are making a better bill of this Appalachian bill, which is so important to our area of the country. Senator RANDOLPH. Thank you very much, Governor. We are privileged now to have the very distinguished Governor of Georgia, Carl Sanders. I might say he is the chairman of the Appalachian Governors' Commission. We are very happy to have sitting with the committee Representative Mathias of Maryland, part of whose district is encompassed by this legislation. Senator Brewster will be heard from very briefly. Representative Hechler of West Virginia, who was here on Tuesday, has returned again today. We appreciate his interest in the area of West Virginia for which he has a very particular commitment. Representative Kee, also of West Virginia, is present and we would like the assistance of these fine people. We know we shall have it in the passage of this bill in the House of Representatives, which we hope will be in a very short time. Governor Sanders, it was my good fortune to hear your welcome to Georgia, particularly to the city of Atlanta, within recent weeks, at the 50th anniversary convention of the American Association of State Highway Officials in your progressive city of Atlanta. I was very gratified to know of your grasp of the problems of highway construction not only in your own State, but in the Appalachian region. If you will proceed, we will be very happy to hear you. STATEMENT OF HON. CARL E. SANDERS, GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF GEORGIA Governor SANDERS. Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee on Public Works, I would like to make a brief statement, if I might, and then I will be glad to elaborate on the points that I raise in the State. It is my duty, my privilege, and my pleasure as chairman of the Conference of Appalachian Governors to appear before this committee to endorse the Appalachian Regional Development Act of 1965 and to urge your favorable consideration. In a sense, we are meeting here to reaffirm last September's decision when the Senate passed the Appalachian development bill by better than a 3-to-1 margin. The House did not take action. The problem remains. Senator RANDOLPH. At that point, Governor, might I indicate that Senators Russell and Talmadge gave their support on rollcall to this measure. Governor SANDERS. Thank you, sir. I would like to have that in the record, too, if I might. This bill is well designed to meet the needs of the region and to strike at the roots of poverty in Appalachia. I agree completely with the majority report of your committee last year that this program will "in the long run eliminate much of the need for public assistance payments by the development of the region's natural and human resources." I would like to point out to the committee that there has been little change in Appalachia since the original information, based on the 1960 census, was collected. The people of that region are still bound in an isolated and stagnant economy. In Georgia, our 35 Appalachian counties have substantial and persistent unemployment ranging from a high of 12.3 percent to a low of 5.1 percent, with an average of over 7 percent. There is a great need for better access to Appalachia. Major highways and connector roads are needed to improve accessibility for the tourist trade as well as to aid the landowners in marketing the abundant timber resources. For example, only 50 percent of Georgia timber is now being marketed. Better management of the timberlands and improved access will increase the available timber by another 30 percent. Such an improvement would enable the people of Georgia and the other Appalachian States to take advantage of the growing markets for wood products. We in Georgia have in preparation for early consideration a timber sources survey in which we propose to diagnose the problems of the area before treatment is prescribed. We must not ignore the attitudes |