COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

GEORGE H. MAHON, Texas, Chairman

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR AND RELATED AGEN

CIES APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 1971

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 1970.

Mrs. HANSEN. The committee will come to order. We have the privilege this morning of hearing from our very distinguished colleagues, the Members of the House of Representatives and other interested individuals and organizations, who are appearing in behalf of various items in or relative to the budget.

THE WOODROW WILSON INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR SCHOLARS

WITNESSES

HON. HUBERT H. HUMPHREY, CHAIRMAN, BOARD OF TRUSTEES, WOODROW WILSON INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR SCHOLARS BENJAMIN H. READ, DIRECTOR, WOODROW WILSON INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR SCHOLARS

Mrs. HANSEN. This morning we have our very distinguished former Vice President, Mr. Hubert H. Humphrey, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Please insert your statement in the record and summarize it for us, Mr. Vice President.

(Mr. Humphrey's full statement follows:)

I appreciate the opportunity to appear today as chairman of the board of trustees of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars to review with the committee the progress and plans of the center to date and to present our estimates and request for appropriations needed in the coming fiscal year to permit this new presidential memorial institution to open next October as presently planned.

ORIGINS

Let me trace briefly the origins of the center.

In response to a joint resolution of the Congress, President Kennedy appointed the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Commission in October of 1961 to plan the Nation's memorial to Woodrow Wilson, 28th President of the United States In its final report to the President and the Congress in 1966, the Commission recommended that the Wilson memorial include a center for scholars in downtown Washington. The Commission's proposal was considered, expanded upon, and endorsed by then Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, John W. Gardner, and the President's Temporary Commission on Pennsylvania Avenue in 1967. Legislation to create the Center was introduced and passed in the 90th Congress.

The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars was established by act of Congress approved October 24, 1968, to be “a living institution expressing the ideals and concerns of Woodrow Wilson *** symbolizing and strengthening the fruitful relation between the world of learning and the world of public affairs." A copy of the statute (Public Law 90-637) accompanies this statement as attachment E. The Center was placed in the Smithsonian Institution under the administration of a 15-man, Presidential Board of Trustees, eight to be chosen from private life and seven from executive branch positions. The trustees of the Center were appointed subsequently by President Johnson and President (1)

Nixon. I was designated Chairman of the Board with a 6-year term and Mr. Allan Nevins was named Vice Chairman with a 5-year term.

The other private members with their terms of office indicated are: Mr. Harry C. McPherson, Jr., of Washington, D.C. (6 years); Mr. John P. Roche, of Waltham, Mass. (6 years); Mr. James MacGregor Burns, of Williamstown, Mass. (4 years); Mr. Charles A. Horsky, of Washington, D.C. (4 years); Mr. Ernest Cuneo, of Washington, D.C. (2 years); and Mr. Kevin Roche, of Hamden, Conn. (2 years).

The public members are: The Secretary of State, Hon. Wiliam P. Rogers; Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, Hon. Robert H. Finch; the Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, Hon. Barnaby C. Keeney; the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Hon. S. Dillon Ripley; the Librarian of Congress, Hon. L. Quincy Mumford; the Archivist of the United States, Hon. James B. Rhoads; and Hon. Daniel P. Moynihan of the White House staff, who was appointed by President Nixon as the one non ex officio public member. Former President Harry S. Truman and former President Lyndon B. Johnson have both consented to become honorary members of the Board of Trustees.

The Board held its organization meeting on March 6, 1969, adopted bylaws, established an executive committee, and appointed Mr. Benjamin H. Read to serve as the Acting Director of the Center. Mr. Read is an attorney from Pennsylvania, who served as Executive Secretary of the Department of State and Special Assistant to the Secretary of State (1963-69). On the recommendation of the Selection Committee last October, the Board designated Mr. Read as Director of the Center.

During a 7-month planning period last year the Director and I corresponded with several hundred persons-educators, public officials, professional people, businessmen, and others in every State and in many countries to obtain advice about the future substantive programs of the Center. More than a hundred individual interviews and group discussions were held in Washington and elsewhere for the same purpose. To help design programs that would complement those of other institutions for advanced scholars, particularly those in the District of Columbia, and to best serve the needs of visiting scholars working in the Capital area, the staff visited several dozen organizations in the United States and elsewhere and reviewed the programs of a number of others in correspondence and discussions. The conclusions and recommendations were incorporated in a comprehensive report to the trustees from the Acting Director last September.

At its fall 1969 meeting the Board of Trustees decided to open fellowship and guest scholar programs on October 15, 1970, in prime space offered for the interim use of the Center by the Smithsonian Institution in the newly renovated original (1847) Smithsonian Institution Building on the Mall.

FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM

The theme we chose for the fellowship program is designed to accentuate those aspects of Wilson's ideals and concerns for which he is perhaps best known a half century after his Presidency-his search for international peace and the imaginative new approaches he used to meet the pressing issues of his day-translated into current terms.

Thus, the statement of policy adopted by the Board states:

"Emphasis will be placed on studies designed to increase man's understanding of significant international, governmental, and social problems, and to improve the organization of society at all levels to meet such problems. The focus will be on the public policy aspects of contemporary and emerging issues which confront many peoples and, where applicable, on comparative analyses of different cultural, regional, and other approaches to such issues."

While a wide variety of studies of current problems will be welcome under this general statement of policy, the Trustees have selected two subjects on which they would like to see substantial studies undertaken and proposals developed during the opening period at the Center: (1) the development of international understanding, law and cooperation in ocean uses; and (2) contemporary man's overall relations with his deteriorating environment, with special attention to the new forms of international cooperation needed to address effectively environmental problems that transcend boundaries. Brief summaries and longer staff papers on the objective of the oceans and environmental studies are included at attachment G.

When the fellowship program is fully operational, up to 40 scholars-approximately half from the United States and half from other countries-will be selected to work at the Center. They will be chosen-again in approximately equal measure-from academic and nonacademic occupations and professions. The former will come from a number of the social and behavioral sciences, from the humanities, and from the natural sciences. The latter will be drawn from diverse careers including government, international organizations, law, diplomacy, labor, business, foundations, and journalism. The primary concern will be to find persons whose intellect, experience, and dedication will enable them to contribute to the increase and diffusion of knowledge about subjects of interest to the Center in a community of scholars of like purposes.

All fellows invited will be persons of distinguished scholarly capabilities and promise. Academic participants will be limited normally to established scholars at the postdoctoral level (or the equivalent in other countries). There will be no precise higher degree requirements for nonacademic fellows, but their standing in their profession or occupation, advanced degrees, writings, and honors will be considered.

While no arbitrary age limite have been set and there will be a wide spread of ages among the fellows at the Center, it is anticipated that most scholars chosen will be in their thirties or forties.

The average fellowship at the Center will probably extend from several months to a year in duration, but some periods of study of only a few weeks and a limited number of long-term appointments will also be accepted.

The announcement of the opening programs of the Center was mailed in November to a large number of individuals and institutions in every State and in a number of other countries. With the consent of the Secretary of State, we asked the assistance of several Fulbright-Hays binational commissions and foundations in disseminating information about the Center's programs and in preliminary screening of non-U.S. candidates.

By the end of January we had received more than 40 applications for fellowships from scholars in the United States and other countries-largely from political scientists and other social scientists, law professors, diplomats, historians, and some scientists, who wished to work in field falling within the Center's theme. References were obtained and the completed files were submitted to outside advisory panels of distinguished academic and other persons (list at attachment D) for recommendations about the qualifications of the candidates and recommendations about rankings. In advising us on the applications we asked the Center's advisory panels to use the following agreed criteria: (1) scholarly capabilities and promise in areas of primary interest to the Center; (2) likelihood of contributing the complementary experiences and knowledge needed for a lively and productive intellectual community; (3) relevance of Washington area intellectual resources for people to proposed areas of studies; and (4) thorough speaking and writing knowledge of English. The Trustees Fellowship and Guest Scholar Subcommittee met in mid-March and approved the issuance of nine fellowship invitations, as funds permit, and six invitations to guest scholars. The exceptionally high caliber of these scholars is suggested in the brief summaries contained in attachment F to this statement. We are continuing to receive applications all the time and plan to repeat the selection process and issue additional invitations by July 1, 1970.

Each fellow will be asked in the first instance to seek financial support from his own institution, government, foundation or other source, and-until the Center's initial funding requirements are fully met-fellowship candidates with some such outside means of support may be in a preferred position. Thereafter, within an agreed ceiling, the Board hopes the Center will be in a position to offer stipends to help meet the fellow's previous year's salary rate, with cost-of-living adjustments for scholars from other countries, based on the general principle that the fellowship should not involve financial loss or gain to the recipient. Return trip air economy travel expenses for the fellow and his immediate family to and from Washington and limited housing allowances should also be available.

Each fellow at the Center will be expected to pursue his own or his group's scholarly concerns on a full-time basis in Washington during his fellowship except for agreed vacations, trips, and other absences.

Since one of the statutory objectives of the Center is the creation of an intellectual community which could hel pstrengthen the relation between "the world of learning and the world of public affairs," each fellow accepting an appointment will be expected to participate in a regular evening discussion dinner with his

colleagues and invited guests from "the world of public affairs" and the Washington community at large and to take a turn at leading such discussions or in presenting a paper for discussion on such occasions. Two or three times a year each fellow would also be expected to lead or participate in special discussions, seminars, and other meetings for the public or invited guests on themes to be determined by the fellows and Center staff. The papers and transcripts of discussions on such occasions would normally be considered public property, and the Board hopes that the results will yield new insights, perspectives and proposals in significant areas of wide contemporary concern. As I have indicated we anticipate that legislative and executive branch people will be included on these occasions at the Center from the beginning.

GUEST SCHOLAR PROGRAM

The other program approved by the trustees for the opening period at the Center is called the guest scholar program, which we visualize as a sensible and complementary adjunct to the fellowship program.

Under the guest scholar program several offices and desks of the Center will be reserved and other space temporarily vacant will be made available as well as the other privileges of the Center for relatively short-time use by distinguished U.S. and non-U.S. scholars on arrangement with the director of the Center, who will follow criteria to be established by the Trustees Fellowship and Guest Scholar Committee.

By this means the Board hopes that the Center will begin to be able to answer on a limited scale the almost universal plea of those who testified during the Legislative and Memorial Commission proceedings and those who advised us during the planning stage for a center to serve the needs of U.S. and nonU.S. scholars who visit Washington.

Prof. Julian Boyd and President Robert F. Goheen of Princeton University were early advocates of an institution to serve the transient scholarly community.

The 1967 Pennsylvania Avenue Commission report on the Woodrow Wilson Commission recommendations stated the case as follows: "Academic visitors to Washington, whether domestic or foreign, frequently have a limited set of contacts upon which to base their work and an information center at the Woodrow Wilson Center appropriately staffed and maintained will provide a very much needed service in Washington. It can refer scholars to the appropriate people and places and can provide introductions to people within Government and without, and it can maintain a continually updated index of scholarly resources in the Washington area."

H.M.R. Keyes, Secretary-General of the International Association of Universities in Paris, wrote to us about the particularly difficult problems encountered by scholars from other countries who visit Washington: "If, as President Goheen points out, it is already very difficult for an American to take rapid bearings among the various institutions where (intellectual) resources are available, the task is far more complex for foreign visitors. These have often only a slight knowledge of the academic and scientific American landscape, and its complexity, extreme diversity and sheer size can easily take on for them the characteristics of a labyrinth. The existence of a Center able to give them information on the intellectual, artistic, and scientific resources of the United States would be of real value."

Many established intellectual institutions in the capital area help visiting scholars at present, but none of them specifically holds itself out as serving this role as one of its central objectives.

The Woodrow Wilson International Center guest scholar program will begin to provide a small-scale answer to this need. We have already engaged a staff member specifically to gather data to enable the staff to perform a modest information center service, and each of the Center's staff members will be expected to be knowledgeable and helpful in assisting visiting U.S. and non-U.S. scholars to gain knowledge about and access to the rich and growing public and private intellectual resources, programs and expertise of the capital area. While the Center's small staff will have to concentrate primary efforts on assisting the fellows and guest scholars working at the Center, the Board hopes that the Center will be increasingly responsive and helpful to the information needs of the broader visiting scholarly community in Washington. Here, as in so many other areas, the Center will be fortunate to be able to draw on the strong resources of the Smithsonian Institution, including its Science Information Ex