V. Prior Activities of Current or Continuing Interest

1. Savings in Communications Service Charges Due to Satellite Communications.

(a) Summary.-In House Report No. 613, 90th Cong., first sess., August 28, 1967, FCC estimated total benefits from rate reductions due to the composite rate approach supported by the committee at $7.2 million per year, or $72 million on a 10-year basis.

In House Report 1836, 90th Cong., second sess., August 1, 1968, FCC estimated such savings at $11,980,000 per year, or $119,800,000 on a 10-year basis.

(b) Previously unreported benefits. Subsequently, FCC reported added rate reductions based on composite rates and savings due to satellite circuits of $4,472,244 annually, or $44,722,440 on a 10-year basis. These savings were due to savings on the Australian portion of the Pacific circuits. Other large rate reductions were pending. Added to the prior report, this made the cumulative savings $16,452,244 per year or $164,522,440 on a 10-year basis.

VI. Projected Program for Remainder of 91st Congress

1. Preparation of report on military supply systems.

2. Continuing investigations in procurement areas suggested by previous hearings.

3. Comparative and analytical review of basic procurement statutes. 4. Assistance, as required, to the Commission on Government Procurement (Subcommittee Chairman Holifield has been appointed a member of the Commission).

5. Review of Defense Department techniques for cost control. 6. Continuing review of satellite communications and the national communications system.

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1. Use of the Postal Service for the unsolicited advertisement of hardcore pornographic or otherwise obscene material.

(a) Summary.-A hearing was held on July 8, 1969, for the purpose of considering what could be done about unsolicited advertising of hard-core pornographic or otherwise obscene material being sent through the public mails.

The subcommittee sought a firsthand appraisal of the problem from the standpoint of the Post Office Department and an estimate of the effectiveness of present statutes and regulations, together with an outline of what specific action the Post Office is taking to curb the traffic in obscene matter. The transcript of this hearing has been printed.

(b) Benefits.-In recent months, the entire Nation has been flooded with advertisements for filthy and obscene material. These advertisements in themselves are pornographic in nature and clearly fall within the scope of Federal statutes banning such material from the mail. Meanwhile, the Post Office Department is urging Congress to adopt additional legislation dealing with this problem. The benefit of these hearings was to urge the Postmaster General to utilize to the fullest extent the statutory authority presently available to him to curb the flow of this material. So, although the Postmaster General has not seen fit to do so as yet, the subcommittee continues in its efforts to persuade him to issue an appropriate regulation under present statutes, defining in specific terms those types of unsolicited advertisements which are obscene per se. By this means difficult judicial questions involving the interpretation of obscenity could be avoided and an effective remedy would be available to the Post Office Department in dealing with this problem.

2. Efficiency and effectiveness of the Operations of the Civil Aeronautics Board.

(a) Summary.-A hearing was held July 24, 1969, as a followup to an investigation the subcommittee conducted during the second session of the 90th Congress into the emergency problems confronting the air traffic control system, and, also, to hear the testimony of the Hon. John H. Crooker, Jr., outgoing Chairman of the CAB, as to his recommendations on improving the all-around efficiency of operations of the CAB. The transcript of this hearing has been printed.

(b) Benefits.-The views and recommendations of officials serving in key positions in the Government are particularly beneficial in the maintenance of effective and efficient government. The former CAB Chairman's views will be beneficial to the subcommittee in future evaluations of this agency as well as matters affecting the development of commercial aviation falling within the Department of Transportation.

3. Transportation of Hazardous Materials.

(a) Summary.-A hearing was held September 19, 1969, to inquire into the procedures and operations of the Department of Transportation in the area of regulating hazardous materials shipments. The transcript of this hearing has been printed.

(b) Benefits.-This hearing revealed that the Federal Government had no effective program to protect the public from the dangers involved in the transportation of hazardous materials. Each year countless accidents maim and kill thousands of people and expose large segments of the population to a potential danger should poisonous and other harmful materials escape from containers, incident to these accidents.

As a result of these hearings, the subcommittee obtained a firsthand report on what the Department of Transportation plans to do in this area. With this information, the subcommittee can follow developments to assure an efficient and effective program that will provide meaningful protection to the public in the transportation of hazardous materials.

4. The Operations of the Renegotiation Board.

(a) Summary.-The subcommittee met in closed session September 24, 1969, to hear testimony by Vice Adm. Hyman G. Rickover relating to the deficiencies in the present system of renegotiating defense contracts to avoid excessive profits. The transcript will be printed.

(b) Benefits. With a multibillion-dollar annual expenditure on defense, it is crucial that the public be protected against excessive profits from the thousands of contracts that are let each year in procurement of the goods and services we need in our defense effort. The Renegotiation Board has been established by Congress to provide this protection to the public. When preliminary reviews indicated serious operational problems within the Board, the subcommittee undertook this review to reach authoritative conclusions as to the nature and magnitude of the problems confronting the Renegotiation Board.

As a leadoff witness, the subcommittee heard Admiral Rickover, whose testimony will be of significant benefit as it relates to the procurement and pricing of defense items. As the subcommittee's review of the Board continues and administrative problems affecting the Board's effectiveness of operations are revealed, subcommittee recommendations for corrective action could logically result in substantial savings in tax funds annually through the maintenance of a more effective. and efficient renegotiation process.

II. Legislation

1. H.R. 10791-To amend the Budget and Accounting Act, 1921, to direct the Comptroller General to establish information and data processing systems, and for other purposes.

(a) Report number and date.-House Report No. 91-258, May 20,

1969.

(b) Summary of measure.-The purpose of H.R. 10791 is to provide for the efficient and effective utilization of modern data processing techniques to give committees and individual Members of Congress better information for decision making.

This proposal does not alter the jurisdiction or authority of any committee. Nor is the authority or jurisdiction of any of the subordi nate units of either the House or the Senate, or the Congress as a whole, affected to any significant extent.

The bill delegates authority to the Comptroller General of the United States to provide for an coordinate electronic data processing usage in the Congress. Three closely related, but distinct, responsibilities are delegated to him:

First, is the responsibility to cooperate with the Director of the Bureau of the Budget in the development of a compatible data system to support the Budget and appropriations cycle. Under this authority, the Comptroller General would see that the system and the data base under development in the executive branch of the Government have those inherent characteristics necessary to meet the needs of the Congress.

Second, the Comptroller General is delegated the coordinating authority necessary to extend these basic concepts of compatibility to all other data processing systems to be developed in the Congress to process substantive data pertinent to the legislative process.

Third, the Comptroller General is given responsibility to coordinate the general management of computers in the legislative branch, irrespective of their application or use, to assure effective and efficient exploitation of these techniques in the Congress.

Under this approach, Congress can work toward the development of an optimum level of computer capability without unnecessary duplication in computer capacity.

(c) Legislative status.-Pending before the Rules Committee.

(d) Hearings.-An open hearing was held on H.R. 404 and H.R. 5522 (identical bills) on April 23, 1969. On May 1, 1969, H.R. 10791 was introduced as a "clean" bill, sponsored by all members of the subcommittee, rather than amending H.R. 404 or H.R. 5522. The transcript of the hearing on H.R. 404 and H.R. 5522 has been printed.

III. Other Current Activities

A. GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE REPORTS

A total of 20 General Accounting Office reports were referred to the subcommittee between November 1, 1968, and October 31, 1969. Of these reports, two dealt with operations of the Department of Commerce, four with the General Services Administration, three with the Small Business Administration, nine with the Veterans' Administration, and two with the operations of various agencies and departments of the Government.

To a substantial degree, the recommendations these reports contain have either been implemented or are under continuing review by appropriate officials of the agencies involved.

B. OTHER REPORTS OR STATEMENTS

A total of 64 explanatory statements of proposed negotiated disposal and leases of Government surplus property were referred to the subcommittee for review during the first session of the 91st Congress in accordance with section 203 (3) (6) of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, as amended.

The amount the Government received pursuant to the sale of the property covered by the explanatory statements was $77,096,720, which was $5,092,830 in excess of the appraised value.

All of the property disposals submitted to the subcommittee were reviewed in detail. In most instances, the comprehensive appraisal report was studied and evaluated in addition to the explanatory statement submitted to the committee by GSA. In numerous instances additional information was requested, questions were asked, and estimates recomputed utilizing alternate means of valuation. The close scrutiny routinely given these sales over the years has resulted in improvements in the disposal program with a significant increase in return to the Government from the sale of surplus property.

Among the reports of special concern to the subcommittee are the following:

1. Sale of the major portion of the New York Naval Shipyard, Brooklyn, N.Y. Explanatory Statement dated February 12, 1969. (a) Summary of subcommittee action.-Extensive review of this proposal indicated that the property subject to sale contained two relatively small tracts of land that already belonged to either the State or the city of New York as a result of reversionary clauses dating back to 1801, the time the property involved was acquired by the Federal Government. Exclusion of these tracts reduced the purchase price by approximately $12 million.

Subcommittee review of the sale also led to the conclusion that the terms of sale providing for no down payment and a payoff period of up to 40 years, with periods during which no interest on the unpaid purchase price would accrue to the Government were unacceptable under the policies of the subcommittee. Accordingly, the subcommittee entered into further discussions with the GSA, which led to a subsequent offer by the city of New York providing for full payment of the purchase price within 2 years from the date of sale. The subcommittee, after review, found no basis to object to this proposal and, accordingly, the property was transferred to the city of New York on December 10, 1969.

(b) Benefits. As the result of subcommittee action, the Government will obtain a substantially higher purchase price for the property than would have resulted from the original offer of the city had the city elected the most liberal payoff option the proposed offer would allow.

A sum in the order of between $3 to $5 million on the Brooklyn Navy Yard property will accrue to the Government as the result of the subcommittee's action.

2. Sale of the Quincy, Mass., Naval Shipyard to the General Dynamics Corp.

(a) Summary of subcommittee action.-In 1968, the GSA submitted an explanatory statement covering the sale of Government-owned land