Documents Dept. COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS JOHN TABER, New York, Chairman RICHARD B. WIGGLESWORTH, Massachusetts H. CARL ANDERSEN, Minnesota ERRETT P. SCRIVNER, Kansas FREDERIC R. COUDERT, JR., New York EARL WILSON, Indiana NORRIS COTTON, New Hampshire CHARLES R. JONAS, North Carolina OTTO KRUEGER, North Dakota SAM COON, Oregon MELVIN R. LAIRD, Wisconsin ELFORD A. CEDERBERG, Michigan CLARENCE CANNON, Missouri J. VAUGHAN GARY, Virginia JOHN E. FOGARTY, Rhode Island ANTONIO M. FERNANDEZ, New Mexico OTTO E. PASSMAN, Louisiana SIDNEY R. YATES, Illinois ALFRED D. SIEMINSKI, New Jersey GEORGE Y. HARVEY, Clerk KENNETH SPRANKLE, Assistant Clerk (II) A6 838 DOCUMENTS DEPT. THIRD SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATION BILL, 1954 SUBCOMMITTEE ON LABOR AND HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND FRED E. BUSBEY, Illinois, Chairman F. L. MILLER, ASSISTANT CHIEF FOR UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE EUGENE LOVE, CHIEF, ESTIMATES AND EXPENDITURES DIVISION H. DANIEL DARLING, CHIEF, ACTIVITY ANALYSIS BRANCH, ROCCO C. SICILIANO, ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR EMPLOYMENT UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION FOR VETERANS Mr. BUSBEY. The committee will come to order. We have before us for consideration, supplemental appropriations for 1954, for "Grants to States" and "Unemployment Compensation for Veterans." Without objection, we will include in the hearings at this point the "Unemployment compensation for veterans" portion "UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION FOR VETERANS "For an additional amount for "Unemployment compensation for veterans," Unemployment compensation for veterans, next succeeding fiscal year: For making, after May 31 of the current fiscal year, payments to States, as authorized by title IV of the Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act of 1952, such sums as may be necessary to pay benefits for the first quarter of the next succeeding fiscal year, and the obligations and expenditures thereunder shall be charged to the appropriation therefor for that Based on experience in recent months, it is now estimated that the requirements for benefit payments to eligible veterans will be $20,500,000 more than the amount provided by the existing appropriation. This proposed supplemental appropriation is necessary to permit the Department of Labor to meet the increased requirements. The proposed provision is needed to provide authorization to advance funds to the States, at the end of the current fiscal year, out of the succeeding fiscal year's appropriation so that the States may have funds on hand, as required by State law or regulation, before the succeeding fiscal year begins. This authorization is similar to those heretofore provided for "Grants to States for unemployment compensation and employment service administration” and “Grants to States for public assistance." Mr. BUSBEY. Mr. Goodwin, you may proceed. Mr. GOODWIN. The one you wish to start on is the unemployment compensation for veterans, as I understand it; is that correct? PRIOR FUNDS APPROPRIATED Mr. BUSBEY. Yes, and in connection with that item, I want the record to show that this committee included $15 million in the second supplemental bill even though we didn't have time to hold hearings between the time the request for $20,500,000 was received and the time the bill was reported. We did that because we recognize that this is an uncontrollable item and that we might have a real emergency if all of the $20,500,000 request were deferred until we could hold hearings and consider it in an orderly manner. Mr. GOODWIN. I would like to say on the record what I said to you a moment ago, that we certainly appreciate that action on the part of the committee, because as you know, we are up against a deadline, on running out money for this program and the willingness of the committee to expedite it will greatly help on that problem. We appreciate it very much. Mr. Chairman, Mr. Siciliano, the Assistant Secretary of Labor, accompanied us, today. He may have something of a general nature referring to both of these items that he would like to say before we start on the detail, if you would care to hear from him. Mr. BUSBEY. I would like for the record to show that Mr. Siciliano is from the great State of Illinois. We welcome you to the committee, sir. GENERAL ECONOMIC REASONS FOR FUND SHORTAGE Mr. SICILIANO. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have this very brief statement which is going to be general in nature and that is just to comment about the reason we are here, today. The reason is to present this supplemental appropriation which more or less is because of a gradual rise in the unemployed ranks during the past few months. Regardless of any reasoning that might account for this rise, I think that we must recognize that at least as far as one-half of the request is concerned, that dealing specifically with unemployment compensation for veterans, we are speaking of benefit amounts that is to go to the benefit of veterans. Necessarily, we think there is a relation to the other half of the request and that relation has to do with grants to States for their normal unemployment compensation increases and the consequent effect that it would have on the administration of the State programs for all of this, both parts. |