DEPARTMENTS OF LABOR AND HEALTH, EDUCATION, HEARINGS BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS EIGHTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION SUBCOMMITTEE ON DEPARTMENTS OF LABOR AND HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND JOHN E. FOGARTY, Rhode Island, Chairman WINFIELD K. DENTON, Indiana FRED MARSHALL, Minnesota MELVIN R. LAIRD, Wisconsin GEORGE H. MAHON, Texas HUGH Q. ALEXANDER, North Carolina JOHN TABER, New York FRANK T. BOW, Ohio CHARLES RAPER JONAS, North Carolina MELVIN R. LAIRD, Wisconsin ELFORD A. CEDERBERG, Michigan JOHN J. RHODES, Arizona JOHN R. PILLION, New York PHIL WEAVER, Nebraska WILLIAM E. MINSHALL, Ohio ROBERT H. MICHEL, Illinois SILVIO O. CONTE, Massachusetts WILLIAM H. MILLIKEN, JR., Pennsylvania EARL WILSON, Indiana DEPARTMENTS OF LABOR AND HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFARE APPROPRIATIONS FOR 1962 TUESDAY, MARCH 14, 1961. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFARE WITNESSES HON. ABRAHAM A. RIBICOFF, SECRETARY, HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFARE DEPARTMENT IVAN A. NESTINGEN, UNDER SECRETARY BOISFEUILLET JONES, SPECIAL ASSISTANT (HEALTH AND MEDICAL WILBUR J. COHEN, ASSISTANT SECRETARY JAMES F. KELLY, DEPARTMENT BUDGET OFFICER Mr. FOGARTY. The committee will come to order. We have before us this morning our new Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, Mr. Ribicoff, and his associates. Needless to say, Mr. Secretary, I am very happy to see you here. We had about 4 years together in previous Congresses, and I have always valued your friendship. I was very pleased with your appointment, and I am sure you are going to do a good job. You were one of the most respected Members of Congress and one of the very good Governors of New England. So, will you, as we require from everyone, give us just a little of your background before you start with your prepared statement so we will have it for the record. BIOGRAPHY OF THE SECRETARY Mr. RIBICOFF. Yes, sir, Mr. Chairman. It is a decided pleasure for me to be here as Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. It is good seeing my former colleagues. May I say that I am very pleased to be before this subcommittee because I have been aware ever since my days in Congress of the chairman's leadership in these important fields. This subcommittee has contributed much to the great progress that has been made in America during the last decade in the fields of health, education, and welfare. Personally I was born in New Britain, Conn.; brought up in New Britain; went to school there; graduated from the University of Chicago. I practiced law in Hartford, Conn. I was a member of the Connecticut Legislature for two terms. I was a judge in Hartford for 4 years. I was a Member of Congress in the 81st and 82d Congresses. I was Governor of the State of Connecticut for 6 years before becoming a member of the Cabinet. (1) As Governor, the vast majority of our expenditures were spent in these fields for which I now have responsibility. As Governor, our relationship with the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was very close, particularly in connection with the large grant programs and the relationship between this Department and the States. A large amount of money goes throughout the 50 States in the health fields. We have been vitally interested in mental health, mental retardation, and public health. We believe, in the State of Connecticut, that we have assumed a position of leadership in the development of all these fields. We are very proud of it. We believe our educational system in Connecticut is a good one. Our welfare programs have been a model for the Nation. I look forward with great interest and anticipation in working in these most important fields. Mr. FOGARTY. Thank you. You have a prepared statement for the committee? Mr. RIBICOFF. Yes: I have, sir. GENERAL STATEMENT Mr. RIBICOFF. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, it is well known that the national progress which has been achieved in the fields of health, education, and welfare is due in no small measure to the work of this committee and its counterpart in the Senate. It is my earnest hope that the years ahead will represent not only a continuation of this progress but an evermore effective working partnership between the Congress, represented by such distinguished committees as this, and the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Since I am new to this Department and most of you gentlemen have been studying it for years, I ask for both your help and advice as we seek the goal of making the Department an even more outstanding institution to serve the American people than it already is. INCREASING RESPONSIBILITIES OF HEW The budget of the Department has increased each year since the Department was created. The year 1962 will be no exception. Some people have the impression that this growth represents a carefully planned effort to expand the Federal Government, as such. For my own part, nothing could be further from the truth. Any expansion which may occur hereafter-and I presume this is largely true of the past-will be a very prudent determination of what is necessary to meet the Federal Government's responsibility in the fields with which we are concerned. We will continue to send the vast majority of all appropriations to States, local governments, institutions, and individuals to assist them in serving the Nation's urgent health, education, and welfare needs. In the current fiscal year, 1961, $3.4 billion, or 89.5 percent of all appropriated funds, are paid out for this purpose. The appropriations for these grants are distributed as follows: Grants to States $2.6 billion or 67.9 percent of total 1961 funds already appropriated. Grants to local units-$251 million or 6.6 percent of total 1961 appropriated funds. |