INLAND WATERWAYS CORPORATION THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 1949 UNITED STATES SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10:30 a. m., in the committee hearing room, Capitol Building, Hon. Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas, presiding. Present: Senators Johnson of Colorado (chairman of full committee), Myers (chairman of subcommittee), Johnson of Texas, Reed, and Bricker. Also present: Senator Humphrey. Senator JOHNSON (Texas). The committee will come to order. The hearing this morning is on Senate bill S. 211, to amend the act entitled "An act to create the Inland Waterways Corporation for the purpose of carrying out the mandate and purpose of Congress as expressed in sections 201 and 500 of the Transportation Act, and for other purposes," approved June 3, 1924, as amended. This bill was introduced on January 5, 1949, by Senator Wherry for himself and Senators Gurney, Butler, Eastland, Ellender, Fulbright, Hickenlooper, Hill, Humphrey, Kefauver, Long, McClelland, Sparkman, Stennis, and Thye. Along with S. 211, the subcommittee also will consider two amendments which have been proposed to that bill. One amendment, numbered A, was proposed on March 23 by Senators Hill, Kefauver, and Sparkman. The second amendment, numbered B, was proposed on March 23 by Senators Wherry, Gurney, Butler, Kefauver, Long, Humphrey, Ellender, Sparkman, Fulbright, Hill, and Hickenlooper. The bill and the proposed amendments will be made a part of the record at this point. (S. 211 and amendments are as follows:) [S. 211, 81st Cong., 1st sess.] A BILL To amend the Act entitled "An Act to create the Inland Waterways Corporation for the purpose of carrying out the mandate and purpose of Congress as expressed in sections 201 and 500 of the Transportation Act, and for other purposes," approved June 3, 1924, as amended Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 2 of the Act entitled "An Act to create the Inland Waterways Corporation for the purpose of carrying out the mandate and purpose of Congress, as expressed in sections 201 and 500 of the Transportation Act, and for other purposes," approved June 3, 1924 (par. 152, ch. 5, title 49, Code of Laws of the United States, 43 Stat. 360), as amended, be, and the same is hereby, amended to read as follows: 1 "SEC. 2. The capital stock of the Corporation shall be $33,000,000, all of which is hereby subscribed for by the United States. Such subscription shall be paid by the Secretary of the Treasury within the appropriations therefor, upon call from time to time by the Secretary of Commerce. Upon any such payment a receipt therefor shall be issued by the Corporation to the United States, and delivered to the Secretary of the Treasury, and shall be evidence of the stock ownership of the United States. There is hereby authorized to be appropriated the sum of $18,000,000 in addition to the $15,000,000 heretofore authorized, for the purpose of paying such subscription." [S. 211, 81st Cong., 1st sess.] AMENDMENT Intended to be proposed by Mr. HILL (for himself, Mr. KEFAUVER, and Mr. SPARKMAN) to the bill (S. 211) to amend the Act entitled "An Act to create the Inland Waterways Corporation for the purpose of carrying out the mandate and purpose of Congress as expressed in sections 201 and 500 of the Transportation Act, and for other purposes," approved June 3, 1924, as amended, viz: At the proper place in the bill insert the following: That subsection (b) of section 3 of the Act entitled "An Act to create the Inland Waterways Corporation for the purpose of carrying out the mandate and purpose of Congress as expressed in sections 201 and 500 of the Transportation Act, and for other purposes," approved June 3, 1924, as amended (U. S. C., 1940 edition, title 49, section 153 (b)), is hereby amended by inserting after "Mississippi River," the words "including the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers" and by inserting after "Ohio River" the following: "and its tributaries above the confluence of the Cumberland and Ohio Rivers." [S. 211, 81st Cong., 1st sess.] AMENDMENT intended to be proposed by Mr. WHERRY (for himself, Mr. GURNEY, Mr. BUTLER, Mr. KEFAUVER, Mr. LONG, Mr. HUMPHREY, Mr. ELLENDER, Mr. SPARKMAN, Mr. FULBRIGHT, Mr. HILL, and Mr. HICKENLOOPER) to the bill (S. 211) to amend the Act entitled "An Act to create the Inland Waterways Corporation for the purpose of carrying out the mandate and purpose of Congress as expressed in sections 201 and 500 of the Transportation Act, and for other purposes", approved June 3, 1924, as amended, viz: At the end of the bill add the following: SEC. 2. Subsection (d) of section 3 of such Act is amended by inserting before the period at the end thereof a colon and the following: "And provided further, That no part of the carrier operations of the corporation shall be discontinued or disposed of for a period of at least five years following the date of enactment of the Inland Waterways Amendments of 1949". SEC. 3. Section 3 of such Act is further amended by adding at the end thereof the following new subsections: "(g) The activities of the corporation shall be primarily in the fields of pioneering and research in the development of its carload and less-than-carload traffic; in the development of modern and efficient public terminal facilities, open to all on equal terms, including rehabilitation and modernization of existing terminals; and in the development of all types of traffic on newly improved rivers where it is presently authorized to operate, including the Missouri River. "(h) Except with respect to traffic in grain and soybeans and traffic originating at or destined to points on newly improved rivers, including the Missouri River, the corporation shall not substantially expand its bargeload traffic where privately owned barge lines and terminals are ready, willing, and able to provide adequate service." SEC. 4. (a) Subsection (a) of section 4 of such Act is amended to read as follows: "(a) The Secretary of Commerce shall appoint an advisory board of nine members (hereinafter referred to as the 'board') from individuals prominently identified with commercial or business interests in territory adjacent to the operations of the corporation. At least two of the members shall be representatives of privately owned carriers for hire operating on the Mississippi River system, of whom at least one shall be a representative of a certified carrier, and at least two of such members shall be representatives of less-than-bargeload shippers. No member of the board shall be an officer, director, or employee of, or substantially interested in, any railroad corporation. Each member of the board shall be appointed for a term of five years from the date of the expiration of the term of the member whom he succeeds, except that (1) any member appointed to fill a vacancy occurring prior to the expiration of the term for which his predecessor was appointed shall be appointed only for the unexpired portion of such term, and (2) members first appointed to the vacancies created by the Inland Waterways Amendments of 1949 shall be appointed for terms of three, four, and five years, respectively, from the dates of their appointments. A vacancy in the board shall not impair the powers of the remaining members to execute the functions of the board." (b) Subsection (c) of such section is amended by striking out the word "six" in inserting in lieu thereof the word "nine". SEC. 5. This Act may be cited as the "Inland Waterways Amendments of 1949'. Senator JOHNSON of Texas. Senator Myers was scheduled to preside, but unfortunately he has been detained. However, realizing that several Senators are here, who want to testify on the bill, and appreciating the duties of our able and likable minority leader, the Chair at this time welcomes him and asks him to proceed with any statement he may have to make. STATEMENT OF HON. KENNETH S. WHERRY, A SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF NEBRASKA Senator WHERRY. Mr. Chairman, I deeply appreciate your cooperation, and I want to thank you for your words of commendation. Usually, on the Senate floor, when they start out that way, you can get ready for something else. I hope you will look upon this bill with favor. Senator JOHNSON of Texas. I assure you I have no such intention. I am approaching it with the greatest sympathy. Senator WHERRY. Thank you. As to the mechanics of the pending legislation, let me just suggest to you that the original bill S. 211, introduced on January 5, has now been modified. That is, we have offered an amendment which I think the committee should consider together with the bill itself, which amendment, as the chairman has already so eloquently stated, was introduced on March 23. I think that all of the members who signed the original bill would have been glad to sign the amendment if they could have been reached. Is that not correct, Senator Long? Senator LONG. I believe that is absolutely correct. Senator WHERRY. Senator Long will go into this matter more in detail, but this amendment to the original bill was offered on March 23 because it met all of the objections, not only of the barge lines but of all the Government agencies and also the private shippers and operators, so that, really, while it is not one of these so-called roundrobin things they talk about in the Senate, yet, in a way, it was a compromise not the original Wherry compromise, but a compromise which meets the objections of all the interested parties. When the committee considers the bill, I think that amendment should be considered with the bill itself, because I now offer it as a modification of the bill itself, and the amendments that are requested will fit into the proper places in the original bill. Senator LONG. I believe it is fair to say that, in all probability, every author of the bill would approve these amendments. Senator WHERRY. Yes. I want to thank you. Now, there are other amendments, one by Mr. Hill, which extends the operations on the barge lines on the Tennessee and its tributaries, and then the amendment which the distinguished chairman mentioned, offered by Mr. Kefauver, which have other substantive matter which of course the committee should consider. But this is the heart of the bill. It is really the original bill that was introduced here on January 5, jointly by all of these Senators, including Senator Butler, Senator Gurney, Senator Eastland, Senator Ellender, Senator Fulbright, Senator Hickenlooper, Senator Hill, Senator Humphrey, Senator Kefauver, Senator Long, Senator McClelland, Senator Sparkman, Senator Stennis, Senator Thye, and myself. It is identical with the legislation proposed by the late Senator Overton during the Eightieth Congress. That bill simply provided for increased capitalization and was requested because the time would come when there had to be either the installation of new equipment or the old equipment had to be rehabilitated so the Federal Barge Lines could continue to operate. Senator JOHNSON of Texas. The capitalization would be $15,000,000? Senator WHERRY. Fifteen to thirty-three million dollars. I think that bill would have passed, except that, as I recall it, the Comptroller General felt that there ought to be an explanation as to what those funds would be used for, and, in order to meet the objections of all parties, it has now come up in its present form. I would like to pay a tribute to the late Senator Overton of Louisiana. I look upon him as the father of navigation on the Mississippi River system. I always looked upon him as an authority, and I am satisfied that those of us who joined with him in the original bill looked to him to rather father the bill through the Senate and also help in the House. It was because of my affection and respect for him and his judgment on these matters that I joined with him in the first place, and I am quite satisfied that I could say the same about other Senators, although we all looked it over-and one who believed so strongly in the free enterprise system would have to look a bill of this kind over in order to be able to join in it, with its provisions-but I think, as I go along, you will see why I feel that it is in the interests, not only of private enterprise but of transportation and economic welfare generally that it be adopted. This increase I just mentioned, from 15 to 33 million dollars, is authorized capital stock and will make it possible for the Congress to appropriate funds for the rehabilitation and replacement of the obsolete equipment now being operated by the Federal Barge Lines. This will result in considerable economy of operation. It will permit the corporation to continue the pioneering and experimental work in the development of modern low-cost water transportation on our inland rivers, which has been so beneficial to the midcontinent area. It is essential to the prosperity of agriculture and industry in the great midcontinent area. The continuance of those activities is of particularly vital concern to the people of the Missouri River Valley. During the last few years, through the United States Army Engineers, there have been expended great sums of money. Whether you believe it or not it has been done to control the waters of the Missouri and provide an adequate avenue of low-cost transportation to that landlocked valley. That channel is only now becoming a reality and if its benefits are to be fully realized, for the purposes for which it has been done, there must be a period of experimentation and pioneering in order to develop suitable freight business and inaugurate regular and dependable service. As I have already stated, I am an ardent advocate of private business enterprise. But the inauguration of adequate and dependable service on such a newly developed stream, involving as it does considerable outlay for floating equipment and other facilities, with the prospect of comparatively small returns during the initial stages, is as much a function of government, I think, as is the provision of the channel itself. I think, therefore, that they go hand in hand; if one is to be justified economically so is the other. The history of the development of our rivers since the First World War demonstrates that, with the provision for adequate channels and the pioneering by the Government-owned line, private industry can and will follow in its wake. During the past 20 years privately owned carriers have come into operation and have very greatly expanded their facilities on the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers, where today they are handling a heavy volume of traffic. It is not the purpose of the sponsors of this legislation that the facilities and services of the Federal Barge Lines should be expanded or enlarged in competition with those privately owned carriers. In order to insure that such will not be the case, and that the future activities of the Federal Barge Lines will be primarily in the field of experimentation and pioneering, in accord with its original concept, a group of the sponsors of the original legislation have proposed the amendment which I just told the chairman about, which was printed on March 23, 1949, and which is also before you for consideration. In order to insure that the future activities of the Federal Barge Lines will be primarily in the field of experimentation and pioneering, in accord with its original concept, a group of sponsors of the original legislation have proposed this amendment. Before you came in, Senator Reed, I had just stated that we wanted to modify the original bill with the amendment before you and consider the amended bill as the committee subject. I want to acquaint you with the fact that this amendment that is now offered has been thoroughly considered, not only by the Federal agency and by private barge lines but by the private shippers, so the amendment has been agreed upon as the most feasible, and one on which there is a mutual understanding under which we might start operation. Senator REED. The private-enterprise people, engaged in river transportation, think that this is a publicly subsidized operation that should not be here. Senator WHERRY. May I make this observation to the Senator: That is the reason I wanted to bring this to your attention, because this amendment does meet with the approval of the private operators who have come to me and protested the original bill as it was introduced. |