COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

EDWARD T. TAYLOR, Colorado, Chairman

MARCELLUS C. SHEILD, Clerk

SUBCOMMITTEE ON STATE, JUSTICE, AND COMMERCE DEPARTMENTS APPROPRIATIONS

LOUIS C. RABAUT, Michigan, Chairman

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE APPROPRIATION

BILL FOR 1942

HEARINGS CONDUCTED BY THE SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, IN CHARGE OF THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE APPROPRIATION BILL FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 1942; NAMELY, LOUIS C. RABAUT (CHAIRMAN), JOHN H. KERR, BUTLER HARE, JOHN M. HOUSTON, HARRY P. BEAM, VINCENT F. HARRINGTON, ALBERT E. CARTER, KARL STEFAN, AND ROBERT F. JONES, ON THE DAYS FOLLOWING, NAMELY:

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1941.

STATEMENTS OF HON. JESSE H. JONES, SECRETARY OF COMMERCE; ROBERT H. HINCKLEY, ASSISTANT SECRETARY; AND MALCOLM KERLIN, ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT TO THE SECRETARY

GENERAL STATEMENT

Mr. RABAUT. Gentlemen, we are about to take up the appropriations for the Department of Commerce and we have with us the Secretary of Commerce, Mr. Jones. The committee are very happy to welcome you, Mr. Jones.

Secretary JONES. Thank you.

Mr. RABAUT. It is the first time you have been before this committee. I may say in the beginning that the total appropriations for 1941 for your department were $147,701,272 and the amount requested for the fiscal year 1942 is $108,909,101, or a decrease of $38,792,171.

I assume, Mr. Secretary, you will want to make a general statement. There may be some questions by the members that the heads of the various bureaus of the department will answer as to the details. We are glad to hear from you at this time.

Secretary JONES. I am very happy to be before you, Mr. Chairman, representing the Department of Commerce, which includes the Weather Bureau, and I call your attention to the fact that we brought you a nice day. [Laughter.] And if we can make the Department of Commerce measure up to this day on the average I think we will do a pretty good job.

There has been prepared for me by these gentlemen who will speak for the various bureaus a general statement. I do not think it necessary for me to read it, although I should like it made a part of the record at this time.

Mr. RABAUT. We shall be glad to put it in the record at this point, Mr. Secretary.

1

(The Secretary filed a general statement, as follows:)

STATEMENT OF SECRETARY OF COMMERCE BEFORE SUBCOMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, ON 1942 ESTIMATES

Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I welcome the opportunity to meet and discuss with this committee the fiscal requirements of the Department of Commerce. During the brief period in which I have been Secretary of Commerce, I have been greatly impressed with the many and varied activities under the jurisdiction of this Department, including such functions as promoting trade and commerce between foreign nations and the United States, as well as within the country, conducting scientific research, discharging certain regulatory functions, and the furnishing to industry and the public of many service facilities. The Department of Commerce was vitally affected by Reorganization Plans Nos. III and IV by which the Weather Bureau of the Department of Agriculture, and the Civil Aeronautics Authority, an independent agency, were transferred to the Department of Commerce. The plans provided for a division of the functions of the Civil Aeronautics Authority between the Civil Aeronautics Board and the Administrator of Civil Aeronautics, and that the Board shall perform its functions of rule making, adjudication, and investigation independently of the Secretary of Commerce. The functions under the jurisdiction of the Administrator of Civil Aeronautics were materially broadened and are now performed under the direction of the Secretary of Commerce by the Administrator and his staff designated as the Civil Aeronautics Administration.

The transfer of these additional activities to the Department has, of necessity, increased the fiscal requirements of the Department for the fiscal year 1942 considerably above the amounts provided by Congress for the current fiscal year.

The 1942 Budget contains items in the amount of $108,909,101 as the requirements for all agencies of the Department during the fiscal year 1942 as compared with a total of $147,701,272 available to those activities for the current fiscal year, a reduction of $38,792,171.

However, the 1941 available funds include as nonrecurring items $2,700,000 for construction of hangars for the Washington National Airport and $1,500,000 for purchase or construction of surveying vessels for the Coast and Geodetic Survey, neither of which will be required in 1942. Adding to these amounts the reduction in the requirements for the Bureau of the Census of approximately $11,000,000, the reduction of $6,500,000 in the estimate for construction of airports, and $18,000,000 in the estimate for civilian pilot training, will give a gross reduction. of $39,700,000. Offsetting this gross reduction against the net reduction of $38,700,000 discloses an increase for other items of approximately $1,000,000.

The heads of the respective bureaus and their assistants will appear before you as you may wish them to explain in detail the individual items and appropriations.

I should like to touch briefly on some items which I feel should have your careful consideration and also to mention some of the activities which are being conducted during the current fiscal year.

BUREAU OF THE CENSUS

The estimate for 1942 for the Bureau of the Census is to enable that Bureau to carry on the third-year activities of the Sixteenth Decennial Census. The estimate of $6,950,000, while a reduction of almost $11,000,000 below the amount provided for the current year, is consistent with the original estimate of $45,100,000 as the total cost of the Sixteenth Census presented to this committee at the time of the initial appropriation, with the two subsequen modificaions-(1) The National Census of Housing Act provided for a census of housing to be taken at the same time and as a part of the Sixteenth Decennial Census, and authorized an appropriation of $8,000,000 for that purpose; and (2) the transfer from the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce of the collection and tabulation of current trade statistics, the cost of which during the remainder of the census period amounted to $150,000.

Recently the Bureau has been confronted with the task of providing citizenship data to persons who are employed or expect to be employed in companies which have, or expect to have, contracts with the Federal Government in connection with the national-defense program. These contracts require that the contractor employ only citizens on certain phases of the work. The companies, accordingly, are requiring all employees or prospective employees to furnish docu

mentary evidence of citizenship. While it is comparatively easy for a naturalized citizen to prove citizenship, it is often quite difficult for a native-born citizen to produce evidence as to his place of birth. Birth registration is a comparatively recent requirement and was not required in many localities until recent years. The result has been a flood of requests from employees and prospective employees of these companies for citizenship data. The census records, in many instances, are the only recorded facts which are available as acceptable evidence of American citizenship.

By the broad language of the appropriation act, the funds provided for expenses of the Sixteenth Census are available for the expenses of this type of work. However, in order that the regular work contemplated by the Sixteenth Census appropriation may be continued without delay or curtailment, it may be necessary to submit a supplemental estimate to cover the cost of these searches for citizenship data.

CIVIL AERONAUTICS ADMINISTRATION

During the current fiscal year, in addition to the regular functions of the Civil Aeronautics Administration, which include the establishment, maintenance, and operation of air-navigation facilities, the inspection and certification of aircraft and the examination and licensing of airmen, the organization has had the added responsibility of carrying on the civilian pilot-training program for which $37,000,000 was provided to train civilian pilots, and for directing the development of landing areas, for which $40,000,000 was provided. If future developments require resuming the activities on the present level, I hope Con. gress will give sympathetic consideration to a supplemental estimate for such a requirement.

The Washington National Airport, which has been constructed under the direction of the Civil Aeronautics Administration, will be completed during the current year. Its maintenance and operation will be carried on under the direction of the Administrator, and funds have been provided in the 1942 estimates for that purpose.

The marked broadening of the jurisdiction of the Administrator of Civil Aeronautics under Reorganization Plan No. III to include such major functions as enforcement of safety regulations and conduct of pilot training, plus inauguration of an airport-construction program, have necessitated the creation or adaptation of administrative machinery to carry out these duties. The administration of this agency and the funds required for support of its activities should be carefully viewed in the light of the fact that the agency serves one of the Nation's fastest-growing industries, which has repeatedly demonstrated that it is capable of expanding as much as 100 percent in the course of 1 or 2 years.

COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY

The Coast and Geodetic Survey was provided with approximately $1,500,000 during the current fiscal year for the construction of two additional surveying vessels. These vessels, together with the two now being completed, will enable this bureau to render more satisfactory service in producing of nautical charts for use of the Navy and the maritime industry. Some moderate increases have been provided in the estimates for the regular activities of this bureau to enable it to meet the increased demands for charts and aeronautical maps and to perform special work, all of which are more or less directly connected with the nationaldefense program.

BUREAU OF FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC COMMERCE

The continuing changes in the commercial and economic structure of the United States during the past few years and, more particularly, since the outbreak of wars abroad and the inception of our own national-defense program, have created a pressing need for a more intimate knowledge of our business life. The responsibility for providing the facilities to assemble and analyze business facts, on both our domestic economy and foreign trade, for Government and business, belongs to the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce. To meet this responsibility, I have recently authorized a reorganization of the Bureau, allocating its functions and responsibilities to five major divisions, which are briefly set forth in a departmental order, a copy of which I will leave for your information and to incorporate in the record if you think desirable.