tion, the Commissioner could provide funds to replace temporarily facilities destroyed as a result of the disaster. Assurance would be required that the appropriate State and local governments would also make reasonable expenditures for these purposes. Appropriations authorized in such amount as would be necessary to carry out this provision, and pending such appropriations the Commissioner could use funds appropriated for other sections of Public Law 874." If enacted by Congress, S. 2725 would become broad permanent general legislation that would benefit all areas of our Nation faced with disaster. Write to your congressional delegation. Offer your support for S. 2725.

Mr. MORSE. Mr. President, I assure those who have written me on this subject that it is my earnest hope that this needed standby legislation can receive congressional approval in this session of the Congress.

EXTENSION OF PUBLIC LAWS 815 AND 874

Mr. President, although the bills I have previously discussed do not in themselves contain provisions which would extend the life of Public Laws 815 and 874 which, unless they are further extended, are scheduled to expire on June 30, 1965, I feel that it would be most helpful to the members of my subcommittee, if at the time of our July hearings, witnesses would address themselves to the question of the further extension of the basic statutes, in addition to providing the subcommittee with their comments upon the proposed amendments.

I mention this point, Mr. President, because as a realist I feel that the Congress will be faced with this question sooner or later, and that perhaps the most propitious time to resolve the question would be in connection with the hearings on S. 2725 and S. 2528.

I do not mean to imply that the extension should necessarily be incorporated as an amendment to either of the bills, it could very well be handled as a separate clean bill, but I think, as I have indicated, it would be unrealistic not to take this opportunity to come to grips with the question of the number of years we can now extend these statutes prior to further review.

Extension heretofore, has been of 1 or 2 years duration. It is my judgment that we should explore more fully the advisability of at least a 3-year extension, because I feel that school superintendents in the affected areas need a certain amount of lead time in planning their budgets and operations. Senators are keenly aware, I am sure, of the manifold difficulties which were created last year, when for some 6 months there was no authority for expenditure of funds for the temporary provisions of the impacted areas laws.

It is a problem to be sure, which varies from school district to school district and it is at its most acute in those school districts which derive 20 percent or more of their operating budget from Public Law 874. There are some 289 such school districts in the United States which are set forth in the table I now ask unanimous consent to have reprinted in the Congressional Record, together with a statement prepared by Mr. Oscar V. Rose, superintendent of the Midwest City, Okla., schools under date of June 13, 1964, which sets forth the need and urgency of legislative action in this field.

(There being no objection, the statement was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows:)

JUNE 13, 1964.

The attached data is to point up the unusual problem which will result to certain school districts being assisted under Public Law 874 should this legislation not be extended during the present session of Congress. Certainly this problem will be of greater concern the longer any assistance is postponed prior to the present expiration date of June 30, 1965. It is not intended to evaluate or discount the problem which would maintain in all of the more than 4,000 schools assisted under this program, but it is believed that in general the fi nancial problem becomes more acute as the ratio of Federal funds to total budget increases. While this data concerns only those schools receiving above 20 percent of their budget from Public Law 874, it is not suggested that there is any magic in this percentage. However, it does create a division point above which we believe serious difficulty would be encountered in attempting to maintain a full term of school with the loss of Federal funds now being received. Perhaps many schools would find the same problem who receive less than 20 percent, but this study is designed only to point out the most serious cases. Some of the facts disclosed by this tabulated data are:

1. A total of 289 of the 4,182 school districts receiving aid under Public Law 874 in fiscal 1963 received 20 percent of their budget funds from this source. 2. This represented 6.9 percent of the total applicants.

3. These 289 schools received 23.3 percent of the entitlements of all 4,182 schools.

4. Whereas the 4,182 schools received only 5.2 percent of their budgets from Public Law 874 the 289 applicants received an aggregate of 37 percent of their annual budget funds from this source. (This serves to point out the acute problem faced by these schools in comparison to that faced by all applicants schools.)

These 289 schools will be forced to contract for teachers early in 1965 and reasonably soon after the next session of Congress convenes and with this shortage of funds a normal school program simply cannot be planned unless the administrators and boards of education involved are willing to place themselves in the illegal position of contracting expenditures for which there is no legal assurance that funds will be available. In view of the experience of the past year when legislation was not extended until just prior to the Christmas vacation and funds were not appropriated until early in the following session, it is believed that school officials will not wish to experience the same uncertainty again. This could result in a breakdown in school planning early next year and still prior to any reasonable expectation of this legislation being extended during that session. Delay such as that experienced last year and the delay which will result if action is not taken to extend this legislation during the current session will not serve to reduce Federal expenditures. It can have but one effect and that is damage to the educational program for millions of American children.

Prepared by:

OSCAR V. ROSE, Superintendent, Midwest City Schools.

Mr. MORSE. Mr. President, to conclude upon this point, I would suggest only that it becomes evident that we cannot in this Congress enact all the legislation which Senators deem desirable. To say this, however, does not mean that we should abstain from any further legislative effort in the field of education; rather we should consider it our obligation to pass as much of the soundly conceived legislation as we can prior to adjournment in order that we may give in the next session of the Congress full attention to the further recommendations in the educational field from our next President.

Mr. President. I have made my major point. I know that the Senator from Ohio [Mr. Lausche] is waiting to speak. I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record whatever other items that I care to insert in the Congressional Record in connection with this subject.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. MORSE. I thank the Senator from Ohio for his patience.

Senator MORSE. The chairman hopes that each witness will summarize briefly the material contained in the written statements, and he instructs the staff to place, following the oral statement, the complete written text provided by each witness.

He further directs that the hearing record be kept open until the close of business August 6, for receipt of additional statements upon

the bill.

I am pleased to call Mr. Robert E. McKay as our first witness. Mr. McKay is chairman of the legislative commission, National Education Association, and assistant secretary, California Teachers Association, Burlingame, Calif.

I want to say, Mr. McKay, that you have been a great help to this subcommittee in the past as I know you will again be today. I thank you not only for your testimony today but for your past help as well. You may proceed in your own way.

STATEMENT OF ROBERT E. McKAY, CHAIRMAN, LEGISLATIVE COMMISSION, NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION, AND ASSISTANT SECRETARY, CALIFORNIA TEACHERS ASSOCIATION, BURLINGAME, CALIF.

Mr. McKAY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. For the record my name is Robert E. McKay, of Burlingame, Calif. I am appearing today on behalf of the National Education Association as chairman of the legislative commission of the National Education Association.

On behalf of the 903,000 educators who comprise our membership I express to this subcommittee and to the Senate our deep appreciation for the outstanding record of the 88th Congress in support of increased Federal support for education. However, we are acutely aware, as is this committee, that the aid so far provided, while welcome and needed, does not touch the basic problem of providing financial assistance to the public elementary and secondary schools in the communities of this Nation. As important as aid to higher education, Vocational education and extension and expansion of the National Defense Education Act is and will be, only those who get a fair start in elementary schools will be able to profit from these programs. The slum child, from a broken or fatherless home too often attends a school which because of lack of funds cannot meet his special problems. He cannot compete on an equal basis with those, usually in suburban developments, who come from more favorable home environment, and