February 5, 1945.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed

Mr. WOODRUM of Virginia, from the Committee on Appropriations, submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany H. R. 1984]

The Committee on Appropriations submits the following report in explanation of the accompanying bill making appropriations for the Executive Office and sundry independent executive offices, boards, and commissions for the fiscal year 1946.

SCOPE OF THE BILL

The bill provides appropriations for the Executive Office of the President and for sundry independent offices of the Government, estimated for in the independent offices chapter of the 1946 Budget, pages 39 to 118, inclusive, with certain exceptions the Federal Works Agency, pages 169 to 186, inclusive, and the National Housing Agency, pages 187 to 207, inclusive. In addition, items for certain public works for the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Veterans Administration, and the Federal Works Agency will be found under the General Public Works program chapter of the 1946 Budget, pages 658 to 669, inclusive. Also, supplemental estimates for the Federal Works Agency are contained in House Document No. 32 of the present Congress.

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APPROPRIATIONS AND ESTIMATES

A detailed tabulation will be found at the end of this report giving each appropriation in the bill for 1946, the amount appropriated for 1945, and the Budget estimates for the fiscal year 1946, together with the increase or decrease in appropriations and estimates as compared with the amounts recommended in the bill.

A summary of the totals in the tabulation is as follows:

The Budget estimates for 1946 total
The committee recommends in the bill.

This is a reduction under the estimates of.... The amount recommended in the bill is a reduction under the 1945 appropriation of..

$3, 295, 089, 718

3, 218, 808, 497

76, 281, 221

5, 321, 043, 577

The decrease in the bill of $5,321,043,577 under the current appropriation is due primarily to the fact that funds are not requested in the bill for continuation of the ship-construction program by the Maritime Commission. The 1945 bill contained $6,766,000,000 for this program. If this ship construction money is deducted from the 1945 appropriation total, an increase over 1945 of $1,444,956,423 is indicated. This substantial increase is directly due to the sharp upswing in funds recommended for the Veterans Administration and to an increase of $50,500,000 in the amount required to finance the Government's share in the civil-service retirement and disability fund. The increase of $1,436,707,185 in appropriations recommended for the Veterans Administration represents an advance of 113 percent over the 1945 appropriations for that agency.

In effecting a reduction of $76,281,221 under the Budget estimates the committee has made a net reduction in substantially every activity provided for in the bill. In view of the fact that approximately 85 percent of the total recommended in the bill is for purposes directly connected with the war program or on account of war, and as such are difficult if not impossible to reduce, it is believed that a creditable showing has been made in the consideration of the Budget proposals. An explanation of the reductions recommended will be found under appropriate headings in succeeding paragraphs.

Permanent appropriations, general, special, and trust accounts.-The permanent appropriations are those which occur automatically each year without annual action by Congress, having been created specifically by Congress in previous years and continuing as such until modified or discontinued. A tabular statement of such funds will be found at the end of this report.

WAR OVERTIME COMPENSATION

The act of May 7, 1943, which provided for the payment of war overtime pay will terminate on June 30, 1945, and since there has been no extension of the act and no authority exists for the inclusion of such pay in the 1946 estimates, the Budget estimates and the bill as reported contain no funds for this purpose, although the bill is drafted on the assumption that there will be a continuation of the existing hours of work per week. It is the understanding of the committee that supplemental estimates will be submitted and considered for this purpose when and if new legislation dealing with the payment of overtime and additional compensation is enacted.

PENALTY MAIL

Pursuant to Public Law 364 of the Seventy-eighth Congress, which requires all Federal agencies other than the Post Office Department and the legislative branch to deposit in the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts amounts equivalent to the estimated cost of penalty mail weighing 4 pounds or less which they dispatch, the committee considered estimates of the several agencies in the bill for such purpose totaling $1,554,766. The bill contains a total of $1,399,290 in lieu of such amount, the committee having effected a reduction of $155,476, or approximately 10 percent of the total amount estimated for penalty mail.

It is the understanding of the committee that the primary purpose of this legislation was to reduce the amount of penalty mail, which would ensue from closer surveillance of the nature and quantity of matter mailed, particularly pamphlets, documents, press releases, etc., which make up a substantial part of official matter distributed through the mails. In recommending a reduction of 10 percent in the several items in the bill the committee is of the opinion that administrative personnel of the various activities can, through closer supervision and control, meet such reduction without curtailment of essential functions.

MANPOWER SHORTAGE

In recognition of the critical manpower shortage, the committee has recommended few increases over the 1945 appropriation which involve the employment of new personnel, an outstanding exception, of course, being the Veterans Administration, where the need for additional doctors, nurses, and attendants requires no explanation. A shift of some personnel, largely in the professional, scientific, and technical groups from national defense to regular activities and affecting such agencies as the Federal Power Commission and the Federal Communications Commission has, in part, been approved by the committee as proposed in the Budget estimates.

TITLE II. GENERAL PROVISIONS

Title II of the bill consists of general provisions relating to the expenditure of funds appropriated in all appropriation measures. Uniformity is achieved by such a course, as well as economy in printing and timesaving of the two legislative bodies. New general provisions included in the bill for the first time are recommended as follows:

Section 201 (a): Amended to permit the payment of transportation expenses of an employee's family when he is transferred from one official station to another for permanent duty.

Section 201 (c): Authorizes payment of travel expenses of a new appointee and transportation expenses of his immediate family and household goods to his first post of duty outside the continental United States and for similar expenses on his return.

Section 201 (d): Authorizes all agencies to pay 3 cents per mile to employees for the use of privately owned automobiles on official business within the limits of their official stations.

Section 201 (e): Permits heads of departments and agencies to delegate to certain subordinates the authority to authorize the payment of travel and transportation expenses incurred in connection

with the transfer of employees from one official station to another. Section 201 (f): Makes the appropriations of all departments and agencies available for the payment of expenses of attendance at meetings concerned with the work of the agencies.

Section 201 (g): Provides for the payment of travel expenses of persons employed intermittently by the Government as consultants or experts and serving without compensation or at $1 per annum or on a "when actually employed" basis.

Section 203: Excepting the Military and Naval Establishments, prevents the purchase, maintenance, or operation of aircraft unless specific authority is granted.

Section 210: Extends application of the section to appropriations of the Department of State other than the Foreign Service.

Section 212: Permits payment of money allowances in advance to enlisted men at rate of 3 cents per mile.

BUREAU OF THE BUDGET

In explaining the action of the committee in connection with this appropriation the amounts for "Salaries and expenses" and for "National defense activities" have been combined to present a more accurate picture of the appropriations requested for 1946. As presented to the Congress the estimates propose the transfer of approximately $265,000 from national defense to the regular appropriation item. The following tabulation gives the basis for the 1946 estimate for both regular and national defense items:

In recommending an appropriation of $2,672,557 for the combined. regular and national defense items for salaries and expenses, the committee has effected a reduction of $217,543 in the amount proposed in the estimates. The increase of approximately $200,000 over 1945 obligations recommended by the committee will be available for the establishment of additional field offices, for the managementimprovement program, the administrative office, and to bring the staff level up to that provided by current-year funds.

CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION

For salaries and expenses for the so-called regular activities, the Budget estimate proposes $10,016,000, an increase of $1,342,118 over the 1945 appropriation with overtime compensation deducted in each instance. The committee recommends a reduction of $503,480 in

the Budget estimate and has allocated deductions among functions under the various project heads as follows:

Preparing and issuing standards-field classification work..........
Budget and Finance Division..

229, 810

30, 489

While the total recommended by the committee for regular activities represents an increase of approximately $840,000 over the 1945 appropriation, this increase is more than offset by a reduction of $2,639,465 in national defense activities, the 1946 Budget indicating a trend to regular activities which may or may not be justified in the light of future events.

Civil Service Retirement Fund.-Attention is invited to the necessity for an increase of $50,500,000 in the current appropriation of $194,500,000, making a total of $245,000,000 available during the fiscal year 1946 as the Federal Government's contribution to the Civil Service retirement and disability fund. This estimate is based on 1,545,000 employees, with an annual pay roll of $3,090,000,000, as having acquired rights under the Retirement Act by the fiscal year 1946. The amount recommended, $245,000,000, represents 7.92 percent of the pay roll of employees covered-the amount determined by the Board of Actuaries as necessary to keep the fund in a sound financial condition.

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

For this activity the committee recommends a total of $5,005,400, which is a reduction of $201,600 under the Budget estimate and $495,072 less than the current appropriation, with overtime compensation excluded from the comparison. A net reduction of $1,225,914 in the current appropriation for national defense is largely offset by a proposed increase in the estimates of $928,142 for regular activities. The committee has allowed an increase of $726,542 in the regular appropriation to meet the upsurge of work which is anticipated during the next fiscal year, the increase to be used primarily in the regulatory and licensing field. Testimony presented to the committee was to the effect that a tremendous increase in standard and FM broadcast applications is anticipated; that applications for new television stations are increasing; and that facsimile broadcasting, international broadcasting, and experimental and relay broadcasting are subjects which will require immediate consideration at the conclusion of the war. The proposed increase in funds for "regular activities" will enable the Commission to utilize a considerable portion of the trained personnel no longer required under the national defense appropriation.