The International Cooperation Administration, in the Department of State, and the Federal Aviation Agency sponsor several programs in specialized fields of aviation education. As a participating agency in technical assistance programs the Federal Aviation Agency and its predecessor organization, the Civil Aeronautics Administration, have provided or arranged aviation training for 1,991 selected foreign nationals since June 1, 1947.

Table 119 gives information concerning the Federal funds expended for aviation training of foreign nationals, the number of trainees, and the number of countries participating in the program for the past 10 years. This table indicates that 310 foreign nationals representing 37 countries participated in these training programs in 1957-58 with $793,450 in Federal funds expended for this training. During 1958-59 there were 377 participants from 45 countries with a total of $994,100 expended for their training. Cooperating countries and the number of foreign national trainees participating from each of the countries are given in table 120 for the years 1953-54 through 1958-59.

Table 119.-FEDERAL FUNDS EXPENDED FOR AVIATION TRAINING OF FOREIGN NATIONALS AND NUMBER OF TRAINEES FROM OTHER COUNTRIES: 1949-50 TO 1958-59

Table 120.-NUMBER OF FOREIGN NATIONAL TRAINEES PARTICIPATING IN AVIATION EDUCATION: 1953-54 TO 1958-59

Federal funds expended, as given in column 2 of table 119, do not include expenditures for training International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) fellows. An average of 10 ICAO fellows have been trained in each of the last 5 years at a cost of approximately $2,800 per fellow, exclusive of international travel. ICAO in Montreal, Canada, has paid the travel expenses of the fellows.

TUITION PAYMENTS FOR EDUCATIONAL SERVICES

A major responsibility of the Federal Aviation Agency is to maintain the proficiency of its employees. For this purpose, employees may enroll in such courses as Aviation Accident Investigation, Theory and Application of Transistors, Air Conditioning of Electronic Equipment, Automatic Data Processing, Technical Reports Writing, and Introduction to Computers. Authority to enter into agreements with universities or make other appropriate arrangements for the training of Federal Aviation Agency employees is contained in Public Law 85-507.

Table 121.-FEDERAL FUNDS EXPENDED FOR TUITION PAYMENTS FOR FEDERAL AVIATION AGENCY EMPLOYEES AND NUMBER OF TRAINEES: 1950-51 TO 1959-60

The Agency pays travel, per diem, tuition charges, and other reimbursable expenditures. Amounts are listed in table 121 for the Federal Aviation Agency and its predecessor organization, the Civil Aeronautics Administration of the Department of Commerce, for the 10-year period from 1950-51 to 1959-60.

FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION

The chief purpose of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, created by the Banking Act of June 1933, is to insure the deposits of all banks which are entitled to the benefits of insurance under the law.

Major functions of the Corporation are: (1) to pay off the depositors of insured banks closed without adequate provision having been made to pay claims of their depositors, (2) to act as receiver for all national banks placed in receivership and of State chartered banks placed in receivership when appointed receiver by State authorities, and (3) to prevent the continuance or development of unsafe and unsound banking practices.

EMPLOYEE EDUCATION

Two types of educational programs are offered for selected employees of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). One of these, for personnel engaged in the examination of insured banks, provides special on-campus training in schools of banking, while the other program is for selected correspondence courses. The latter program is primarily for FDIC employees engaged in bank examination, bank audit, and bank liquidation activities. Tuition charges for the resident training in educational institutions and the cost of the correspondence courses are paid by the Corporation.

Table 122 reports the Federal funds expended and the number of employees enrolled in the educational programs for the 1957-58 and 1958-59 school years. Information for this program was furnished by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

Table 122.-FEDERAL FUNDS EXPENDED FOR RESIDENCE TRAINING IN EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS AND CORRESPONDENCE COURSES OF FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION EMPLOYEES: 1957-58 AND 1958-59

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

The Library of Congress, established in 1800, was authorized primarily to assist the Congress and this remains its principal purpose. However, as the Library developed, its range of service has come to include all branches of the entire governmental establishment and the public at large. A single significant service for one segment of the public is reported here.

READING MATERIAL FOR THE BLIND

A program of serving the blind with reading materials is operated by the Library of Congress through 30 regional circulating libraries in large cities throughout the United States. In providing these services to individuals, materials are mailed from the regional libraries and following their use they are returned to the libraries for further circulation to other blind persons.

Reading materials provided by the Library of Congress are available for loan without charge to residents whose central visual acuity is 20/200 or less in the better eye with correcting glasses or whose field of vision at its widest diameter subtends an angular distance no greater than 20°. These materials are also available for loan to institutions for the use of eligible persons.

Through the Division for the Blind, the Library of Congress supplies books in braille and Moon type, as well as complete books recorded on phonograph records called "talking books" and record playing machines to blind residents of the United States and outlying parts of the Nation. This activity is supported by an annual appropriation authorized under the 1931 act of Congress identified as 2 U.S. Code 135a, as amended. For the 1959-60 school year, the appropriation permits the use of somewhat more than $1.5 million. In this program embossed books and records are loaned to readers of all ages throughout the Nation, and record playing machines are distributed through 55 agencies located in several States and insular possessions.

Since the reading tastes of the blind are essentially indistinguishable from those of sighted readers, it is the policy of the Division for the Blind to provide the best current and noncurrent books, both fiction and nonfiction, in the form of embossed and talking books. Reading materials for the blind are purchased by the Library from nonprofit institutions or agencies whose activities are concerned primarily with the blind.

In order to supply the demand for "singlecopy" braille books, the Library of Congress instructs sighted volunteers in the transcription of braille. The Library also offers a course to train blind persons to become certified proofreaders of braille transcriptions.