THURSDAY, MAY 8, 1975.

RELATED AGENCIES

ACTION

WITNESSES

DR. MICHAEL P. BALZANO, JR., DIRECTOR OF ACTION
JOHN L. GANLEY, DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF ACTION

RONALD E. GEREVAS, ACTING ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR FOR DOMESTIC
AND ANTI-POVERTY OPERATIONS

DR. HARRY HOGAN, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR POLICY AND PLANNING, AND ACTING ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR CONGRESSIONAL AFFAIRS

EMERSON MARKHAM, DIRECTOR OF BUDGET DIVISION

DR.

FRANK REY, OPERATIONS

PROGRAMS

CHIEF, ACTION EDUCATION

DR. FRANK WILLIAMS, DEPUTY ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR FOR VISTA
AND ACTION EDUCATION PROGRAMS

ELMER LANGE, DEPUTY ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, SCORE/ACE
JAMES MAYER, DIRECTOR, SPECIAL VOLUNTEER PROGRAMS

VICTOR HRUSKA, DEPUTY ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR FOR OLDER AMER-
ICAN VOLUNTEER PROGRAMS

Mr. FLOOD. The committee will come to order.

We now have ACTION. The presentation will be made by Dr. Michael P. Balzano, Jr., the Director of ACTION.

Your biographical sketches will be placed in the record at this point.

[The biographical sketches follow:]

MICHAEL P. BALZANO, JR.

Michael P. Balzano, Jr., 39, was born in New Haven, Conn. The son of Italianspeaking immigrants, he dropped out of high school at the age of 16 and worked in odd jobs in New Haven. He was a refuse and garbage collector for 21⁄2 years until a serious back injury made heavy physical labor impossible. He then became an apprentice lens grinder for the American Optical Co.

Feeling handicapped by his inability to read or write English, he enrolled in night classes at his former high school at the age of 21. After graduating 4 years later he passed the Connecticut State optical examination and became manager of a Darien, Conn. optical company.

Later, Balzano left his business career to study history at the University of Bridgeport. He graduated magna cum laude at the top of his class, was named the outstanding senior and received the university's Top Scholar Award. Interested in astronomy, he received a lectureship at the Bridgeport Planetarium where he taught astronomy to school, community, and university groups. Awarded a fellowship for graduate study at Georgetown University, Balzano majored in political theory and became president of the Pi Sigma Alpha Honor Society. He received the Outstanding Young Man of America Award in 1969. He went on to earn his Ph. D. degree in political philosophy at Georgetown. His dissertation was based on an analysis of the VISTA program entitled "The Social and Political Ramifications of the VISTA Program."

After President Nixon created ACTION in 1971, bringing together VISTA, the Peace Corps, and other volunteer programs, Balzano served as a consultant and made his VISTA study available to officials planning the new agency. He later became special assistance to the director of the Office of Economic Opportunity.

In February 1972, Balzano became a staff assistant to the President. In March 1973, President Nixon nominated Balzano as Director of ACTION. The Senate confirmed the appointment and Balzano was sworn in by the President at the White House on May 10, 1973.

At that occasion, the President described Balzano as "a self-made and selfeducated man in the very best sense of the word." He said the story of Balzano's life "should renew a message of hope that anybody can start any place in this country and go to the top."

ACTION became represented on the Domestic Council for the first time when the President appointed Balzano to the Council in October 1973. The Domestic Council, composed of top cabinet officials, formulates and coordinates domestic policy recommendations for the President.

Also in October, Congress enacted Public Law 93-113, the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973. The act enables ACTION to operate existing programs, establish new programs and explore new approaches to voluntarism.

Balzano is married to the former Denise Wiens, daughter of Mrs. Henry Wiens of Rockville, Md. The couple lives in Arlington, Va. They have one son, Christopher Michael, who was born on February 6, 1974.

Besides the Peace Corps and VISTA, ACTION includes the Foster Grandparent program, Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE), Active Corps of Executives (ACE), Retired Senior Volunteer program (RSVP), Senior Companion program, ACTION Cooperative Volunteers, and University Year for ACTION.

JOHN L. GANLEY

John L. Ganley, 51, former Auditor General of the Agency for International Development (AID), was appointed Deputy Director of ACTION in June 1974, following nomination by President Nixon and confirmation by the U.S. Senate.

As Deputy Director, Ganley is responsible for the management of the day-to-day operations of the 3-year-old Agency. He oversees the planning and organization of volunteer efforts here and abroad.

Before coming to ACTION, Ganley served 1 year as Auditor General of AID. There he headed a professional staff of 40 people working in 40 countries. He was responsible for the Agency's worldwide audit, appraisal, inspection, and investigative and security functions. Ganley first served with AID from 1969 to 1970 as Director of the office of appraisal.

From 1970 to 1973, Ganley held various high positions with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. He first served as Assistant Deputy Under Secretary concerned with program evaluation, and later served simultaneously as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Housing Production and Deputy Commissioner for the Federal Housing Authority.

Prior to joining President Nixon's administration, Ganley held executive posts with three private corporations. They were Superior Manufacturing and Instrument Corp., in Long Island City, N.Y., Weston Instruments., in Newark, N.J., and AVCO Corp. in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Before entering private industry, Ganley spent 12 years in Federal Government service in Washington.

From 1954 to 1959, he was a senior staff member in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense-Comptroller. Between 1951 and 1954, Ganley was Comptroller of the Federal Renegotiation Board and deputy administrative assistant in the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force.

Educated at Boston and George Washington Universities, Ganley served as an Army enlisted man during World War II. He saw action in both the European and Pacific theaters.

On January 25, 1974, President Nixon nominated Ganley as ACTION Deputy Director. The U.S. Senate confirmed his appointment on May 30. He was administered the oath of office by ACTION Director Mike Balzano in Washington on July 16.

ACTION programs are the Peace Corps, Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA), University Year for ACTION, ACTION Cooperative Volunteers, Foster Grandparent program, Retired Senior Volunteer program (RSVP), Senior Companion program, Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE), and Active Corps of Executives (ACE).