Mr. ROONEY. That is one thing, but does it restrict the following language: for the purchase, transportation, and storage of food and other subsistence supplies by contract or otherwise for resale to such employees, through commissaries and mess halls, the proceeds from such resale to be credited to the appropriation from which the expenditure for such supplies was made and a report shall be made to Congress annually showing the expenditures made for such supplies and the proceeds from such resale. I would not say that that applies only to Alaska and other areas outside of the United States. Mr. CAWLEY. That is our intention. There is no semicolon after the $20,000, and we felt the general provision preceding the earlier part of this section would modify the others. I have brought, for example, for the attention of the committee the annual report we submitted in connection with our commissaries. We show a report here of the Alaska commissary operation and the Hawaiian commissary operation. Those are the only two that were in effect last year. Mr. ROONEY. What is the authority for this? Mr. CAWLEY. The general provisions of our Civil Aeronautics Administration and the Weather Bureau to maintain employees in remote parts of the world. In other words, we feel that implicit in the authority to keep employees out there is also the implied authority to provide them with whatever food and medical supplies are necessary not only to attract them to these posts but to keep them on the job once they get there. Mr. STEFAN. It is general authority, then? Mr. CAWLEY. Yes, sir. Mr. ROONEY. Thank you, gentlemen. TUESDAY, MARCH 8, 1949. BUREAU OF FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC COMMERCE STATEMENTS OF THOMAS C. BLAISDELL, JR., ACTING ASSISTANT SECRETARY; BERNARD L. GLADIEUX, EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT TO THE SECRETARY; F. R. CAWLEY, BUDGET OFFICER; DONALD BURGESS, DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF PUBLICATIONS SUMMARY OF REQUIREMENTS Appropriations, 1949 (regular bill). Supplemental appropriations (Second Deficiency Appropriation Act, Proposed supplemental estimate due to pay increase. $6,600,000 4, 279, 500 195,000 11, 115, 000 Add: comparative transfer from "Printing and binding, Department of Deduct: Tin and antimony control program (expiring June 30, 1949). Base for 1950.. Net difference, 1950 over 1949: $12, 189, 500 $12, 510, 500 - 100,000 12, 410, 500 1 President's estimate, export control, Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce (H. Doc. 44)... $1,175,000 1, 000, 000 1, 115, 000 The 1950 figures include budget amendment, H. Doc. 97. Mr. ROONEY. The committee will please be in order. The first item for our consideration this afternoon is the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, found at page 96 of the committee print, and on page 245 of the justifications. Page 245 contains a summary of requirements for the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce. The total estimate for 1950 is shown as $12,561,000, which includes a supplemental estimate of $5,545,000 contained in House Document No. 97. COMPARATIVE SUMMARY OF POSITIONS AND OBLIGATIONS, 1948-50 We shall insert in the record at this point, page 246, which page contains a summary of positions and a summary by object of expendi ture. (The matter referred to is as follows:) Comparative summary of obligations by object of expenditure-Summary of positions NOTE.-Positions represent total number of positions; man-years, average number of positions. Mr. ROONEY. We have with us Mr. Blaisdell, Acting Assistant Secretary, Mr. Gladieux, Executive Assistant to the Secretary, Mr. Cawley, Budget Officer, and Mr. Burgess, Director, Office of Publications. Mr. Blasidell, do you have a general statement you wish to submit to us at this time? Mr. BLAISDELL. Mr. Chairman, if it is agreeable to the committee, I have a brief statement which I should like to present. Mr. ROONEY. You may proceed. Mr. BLAISDELL. The Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce was formed July 1, 1912. During the years when Mr. Hoover was Secretary of Commerce, the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce was organized to deal with two specific problems which were, in those days, of paramount importance. These were: (1) the development of export trade for the products of American industry, and (2) the study of business cycles. In the succeeding years, whenever there have been significant changes in the nature and relative urgency of the problems, the Bureau has modified its organization in order to carry out its assigned function. For example, in the years of depression a number of independent emergency agencies were established to deal with specific aspects of our economic troubles. The Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, to which some of the functions might have been assigned, collaborated with their efforts by supplying both materials and trained personnel. Mr. ROONEY. Mr. Blaisdell, if I may interrupt at this point, I think we might immediately insert in the record your general state ment, since it contains only glittering generalities. I believe we can save time if we proceed with consideration of the amount of money that is involved, rather than sit and listen to such a broad statement as you have been presenting. Mr. BLAISDELL. Very well. Mr. ROONEY. At this point we shall insert the balance of Mr. Blaisdell's statement in the record. (The balance of Mr. Blaisdell's general statement is as follows:) The Bureau broadened its activities in the domestic field in order to place added emphasis on marketing, merchandising, and the development of various regions and areas in the United States. In the international field, greater attention was given to information concerning different parts of the world, tariffs, commercial laws, and international finance. At a later time, when economic recovery had been attained, the balance of needed emphasis changed again in response to current developments. With the approach of the Second World War, rearmament, national defense, and aid to friendly powers became our uppermost concern. Again, in response to these new situations, the Bureau gave every possible assistance, and the then Secretaries of Commerce placed the facilities of the Bureau at the disposal of major wartime agencies with direct responsibilities, such as the WPB, FEÀ, OPA, and other new and old agencies. The war over, the problems of adjustment to an entirely new set of world conditions had to be grappled with. Several of the remaining economic controls were assigned to the Department of Commerce for administration or liquidation. Both the administration of these controls and the development of new programs, such as the European recovery program, demanded continuing appraisal of our domestic resource capacities and the demands on them in the light of a realistic approach to present conditions. The economic policy of our people shifted from the examination of business cycles and their effects, and evolved into an effort to maintain high levels of business in the interest of the whole economy. I call this evolution of economic policy in response to historic changes to your attention because it has affected the Bureau both in its functioning and its organization, and because I wish to emphasize that the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce exists today, not as an empty shell or in theory only, but as the framework within which the Department of Commerce discharges its responsibilities in the economic field. In 37 years, the Bureau has undergone many changes as a result of the changes in our business life. The present organization of the Bureau is our concept of a mechanism adequate to do the Bureau's present job. In order that the Bureau may be best equipped to meet new problems and changed emphases, its organization is continually under examination to improve its functioning. Several suggestions have been made regarding changes in the Bureau structure. Appropriations Committees of the Eightieth Congress, both in hearings and in committee reports, have indicated such changes. In recent weeks, the Bureau of the Budget has also offered suggestions as to the organizational pattern which it believed preferable to that now in effect. All of these suggestions have been fully considered and carefully studied in relation to the tasks to be performed. The view that originally the Bureau was organized on a commodity pattern is a misreading of the situation. The Bureau was organized to promote and improve the marketing of goods abroad. Commodities appraisal was secondary. The suggestion that expensive and inefficient duplication results from the existence of so-called commodity officers in the Office of International Trade and Industry officers in the Office of Domestic Commerce is, in our judgment, founded on a misunderstanding of the duties and functions of such officers. Further, it fails to give adequate consideration to the necessity of studying the conflicting interests of the domestic economy and the requirements of other nations. It is, perhaps, unnecessary to emphasize this last point before a committee of the Congress which is, itself, daily aware of these conflicting interests which must be reconciled in a period when the total supplies of certain materials are not sufficient to meet the world's needs for them. In short, one of the principal tasks of the Office of International Trade and of the Office of Domestic Commerce is to provide business information to United States businessmen, through publication of material and by answers to verbal or written inquiries. The international commodity specialists furnish information with respect to particular commodities on the following general subjects: (a) Markets abroad; (b) International competition outside of the United States; (c) Sources of imports, especially raw materials, and (d) Special international trade problems and practices. The domestic industry specialists, on the other hand, furnish information with respect to particular industries on the following general subjects: (a) Basic economic surveys of industries (capacity, markets, etc.); (b) Current domestic production and marketing trends, including outlook; (c) Special domestic manufacturing and distribution problems. From time to time, individual questions and problems arise which involve both foreign markets and domestic industries. Experience shows, however, that most of such questions concern primarily one or the other. A relatively small number of such questions that relate to foreign and domestic matters in a substantial way can be handled on a collaborative basis in the same way that any other matters of interest to two or more operating units are handled normally. This budget is drawn in the light of the needs of an organization which must serve the American business community, promote international trade, provide for allocation of scarce materials, control exports, promote the increase of production, aid its efficient distribution, protect and assist small business, and do its full part in implementing the economic program of our country in both the foreign and domestic fields. However, it does not provide funds for all these activities. They are taken care of in separate budget requests. Add comparative transfer from "Printing and binding, Department of Commerce" Deduct tin- and antimony-control program (expiring June 30, 1949). Base for 1950.. Net difference, 1950 over 1949: $4,889, 500 317,000 $5, 206, 500 -100,000 5, 106, 500 +48, 500 5, 155, 000 Mr. ROONEY. I suggest, Mr. Blaisdell, that you direct your attention first to the item "Salaries and expenses," which begins at page 248 of the justifications. COMPARATIVE SUMMARY OF POSITIONS AND OBLIGATIONS, 1948-50 We shall insert, at this point in the record, page 249, which contains a summary of estimated obligations. (The matter referred to above is as follows:) |