250 people that lost 3 straight Air Force contracts to a firm operating, I believe, in Massachusetts, one of those New England States, with offices in New York.

We, of course, didn't like that. That created a labor surplus in the parachute field in Arizona. In fact, it completely eliminated that business. They went out of business, and I want to place myself in opposition to any suggestion of bid matching at this early stage so that it won't come as a surprise if I do it consistently.

Mr. LANE. I recall vividly the instance the Senator refers to back a few years ago. I remember it quite well.

Senator NEELY. Congressman, what percentage of the population of your State is now dependent upon the food that is furnished by the Federal Government?

Mr. LANE. Would you repeat that question again, Senator?

Senator NEELY. What percentage of your poulation is now dependent upon the food supplied by the Federal Government?

Mr. LANE. I am afraid I can't answer that, but I will be pleased to obtain that figure for the Senator and have it made a part of the record. Senator DOUGLAS. Thank you very much.

(The information appears in the appendix, p. 1158.)

Mr. LANE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee.

Senator DOUGLAS. We are also happy in having Congressman Flood of Wilkes-Barre here with us.

Congressman, would you like to testify on this bill?

STATEMENT OF HON. DANIEL J. FLOOD, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA

Mr. FLOOD. Just a few words, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Chairman, I am from the 11th District of Pennsylvania. That is the hard coal, the anthracite coal field of Pennsylvania.

I would like to say that since I first came here in 1944, I have felt like a voice in the wilderness on this problem of surplus unemployment and the distressed economic areas. I remember the wife of the distinguished chairman who served with me back in the 79th Congress would raise her voice on the distressed problem in the Illinois soft coal fields, and I remember the distinguished gentleman from West Virginia, the Senator here, in the House with me, and Senator Kennedy, as well, would join in these cries of distress.

I might say, Mr. Chairman, this is the seventh time that I have appeared before a House committee, a Senate committee, a joint committee, independent commissions, executive commissions, and commissions against commissions on this problem.

So far, altogether, we have accomplished practically nothing effectively to strike at the heart of this cancer, and this is a cancer upon the economic body of this Nation, this question of surplus employees and economic distress.

It reminds me of the old adage about the weather; everybody talks about it, but so far nobody does anything about it. I hope and pray that this is it, and I think that in the composition of this bill it can be. I think so much of the bill that I introduced it in the House to try and help in any way that I can.

I would like to point out, as will be pointed out here by the people from the anthracite coal fields of Pennsylvania that nearly all of the anthracite coal in this part of the world comes from just a dozen counties in one corner of northeastern Pennsylvania. Mr. Chairman, that is not in the remote hinterland of this Nation. It is less than an hour by air from where you sit right now. We are 195 miles from the Capitol Building.

I have here this morning at your request Miss Min Lurye Matheson, an organizer for the International Ladies' Garment Workers Union who came into our area several years ago, and now employs 9,000

women.

God knows what we would do if it had not been for the extraordinary contribution of this lady and the industry she represents. You will have here later this week Mr. William Sword, who is the chairman of what we call a committee of one hundred. That is the name we give to the local industrial development board. They are doing gigantic things locally on this "Operation Bootstrap." I would like to assure you that the local people cannot successfully meet this kind of problem without the aid of the Federal Government and of the State government in dollars. When these dollars are used to build buildings under your act, Mr. Chairman, I would like to caution you that you do not permit indiscriminate loans and grants just to build buildings, hoping something would happen.

It will call for proper administration of the act and proper planning or this can be a dangerous thing. And you don't want that to happen.

Senator Neely, when I first came here, I had 425,000 people in my district 11 years ago. Now, I have 375,000. I am losing them at the rate of 220 a month, this month, next month, last month. That is what is happening. My people are working all over the eastern seaboard, all over the Middle West, any place where they can get work. Mr. Chairman, I think you know that we don't want relief; we don't want surplus food; we don't want the dole; we don't want DPA. We don't want anything like that. All these people want to do is work. They are great workmen. They have a tradition for that, as you

know.

I have 60,000 people, Senator Neely, on surplus food this week; out of 370,000 people, 60,000.

Senator DOUGLAS. In one district?

Mr. FLOOD. In my district alone.

Senator DOUGLAS. About one-sixth of the population?

Mr. FLOOD. Exactly. And that is no worse than is true in Congressman Van Zandt's district; Congressman Fenton's district; and Congressman Carrigg's district and part of Congressman Walter's district, which is the hard-coal field. That percentage is about general for the entire northeastern area. The sociological aspects of this thing are horrible, and the witnesses you subpenaed or asked to come here will detail that.

Now, I would like to add that all of these Government programs, bona fide or otherwise, for the last number of years have not been effective. They have not been administered well; they have not been executed well; and they have done little or nothing to strike at the heart of this program.

The Small Business Administration loan operation as it now exists up until very, very recently, and then only as a result of the disaster aspect of the program, the Small Business Act is a bad law. It exists for the purpose of not granting loans, not for the purpose of granting loans. And it has so been administered.

The people who are administering it are not at fault. The Congress is at fault. It is a bad law; it can't be made to operate. Their hands are tied. That would have to be changed. Under the disaster sections they have done excellent work in my district. They are to be commended for the loans they have made and the work they have done. But striking at the purposes of your bill, no. It has not been done and cannot be, as the present law exists.

The defense contract program, channeling defense contracts and other procurement contracts of the various procurement agencies of the Government, defense, and otherwise, has been, and under no circumstances, could it be considered effective down through the years any place.

Certainly not in my district for which I speak today. They have tried, hit and missed, good and bad; but it has not "put a glove" upon the economic evil that you people are attacking today. There have been presidential directives; there have been executive orders; and may I say there exists in every agency in this city this morning, directly or indirectly concerned with this problem, a library of information and statistics to the point of exhaustion on anything in which you might be concerned.

Let me say finally, Mr. Chairman, that this is a blot upon this Nation. Our great, our secret weapon, is our people, our manpower.

Mr. Chairman, you are a distinguished economist. You abhor waste; and here you are wasting in my district alone 21,000 men this morning who are out of work; 21,000 between the ages of 18 and 50, All they want to do is work, and they are the greatest workmen in the world. I might say to the distinguished Senator Goldwater, I think we can work out something on the matching bids. I understand your problem. There certainly is merit to what you say. We have sectional problems in this Nation, and have had them for 150 years. Somebody always gets hurt. But I appeal to you, sir, that we are desperate. This is not a new thing. We are suffering from an economic cancer. You must try and help us some way even though in passing you may be damaged. The overall picture calls for special attention from the entire Nation toward this very evil bad thing.

We can work out a matching bid set-aside program to which you would find no objections if this act were law, and properly administered. And I know you would be the first to try and join in some way to help us even under a matching program by percentage setaside, Senator Kennedy. This can be done to everybody's satisfaction. I am pleased that you are sitting here for this purpose. And I lend my congratulations and compliments to the committee. And I am very happy that you have Mrs. Matheson here. She is an extraordinary lady who can give you great benefit of her wide experience. Thank you very much.

Senator DOUGLAS. Thank you very much.

The last witness is Mrs. William Matheson who is district director of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union from WilkesBarre. Mrs. Matheson, we are very glad to have you here.

STATEMENT OF MRS. MIN LURYE MATHESON, DISTRICT MANAGER OF THE WYOMING VALLEY DISTRICT, INTERNATIONAL LADIES' GARMENT WORKERS' UNION

Mrs. MATHESON. I would like to start by thanking you, Senator Douglas, and the committee, for inviting me here. I feel humble and extremely honored to sit in the company of the distinguished Senators and Congressmen who have spoken before me.

I listened carefully to their testimony and to all the problems they raised and the solutions which they suggested. I can only say "Amen."

I would also like to tell you, Senator Douglas, that when our local newspapers carried the story that I would appear before this committee, my telephone was kept constantly busy with calls from women, members of our union, who are deeply interested in employment for men. You have the combined blessings of all these women. They feel that this bill of yours may be the answer to their prayers. One of them, a garment worker, said to me, "It is a funny thing, Min, when the floods hit the valley everyone pitched in overnight to help us. Unemployment is worse than the floods and yet it takes years and years before the smart people of our Nation will sit down and do something about it." That women, Senator Douglas, has lived with this problem for a long time.

I am submitting a written statement to the committee but I would like to add a few remarks now.

Senator DOUGLAS. That will be done. We can have your statement printed in the record and then you will make comments which will also be printed.

(The statement referred to follows:)

STATEMENT OF MIN LURYE MATHESON, DISTRICT MANAGER OF THE WYOMING VALLEY DISTRICT, INTERNATIONAL LADIES' GARMENT WORKERS' UNION

I want to thank the honorable members of this committe for the opportunity of reporting to you on the conditions prevailing in the Wilkes-Barre, Pa., area, from which I come and which has today an unemployment problem in the midst of the general prosperity which the Nation enjoys.

To begin with, may I say that the garment industry and our union, the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, are growing in our area. While that might seem to be a cause for rejoicing, I am sorry to say that it is rot always so with us, for ours is primarily a woman's industry with very few men employed and, today, many of the women work in the garment factories only because the men in their homes, men with industrial ability and skill, are unemployed and are at home doing the housework, the shopping and tending to the children-a complete reversal of the normal course of family life.

The problem which we have in the anthracite coal-mining regions of Pennsylvania is one that may affect any town which depends in the main on one industry when that industry migrates elsewhere, closes down or installs new machines which displaces large numbers of workers. Textile towns in New England and other northern areas have had this problem for years. We have it in a very severe form today.

May I give you just a few of the figures from reports of the Pennsylvania State Employment Service for the years 1950 and 1955? During that time the apparel industry in our area rose from 13,350 to 15,750 employees. Remember, those employees are almost entirely women. In the same 5 years the mining industry, continuing the curtailment of the previous 5 years, declined from 33,900 to 17,700, a reduction of 16,200 workers. Other areas in the anthracite region have been similarly affected. The Employment Service reports that 3 out of 5 of the men unemployed in our area are experienced skilled workers including such trades or skills as inspectors, machinists, car

penters, painters, welders, electricians, pipefitters and plumbers, mechanics, crane operators, engineers, molders, metal workers, boilermakers and foremen. Fifty percent of them are under 45 years of age. We have a good climate, good transportation, good water supply and all that's necessary for good healthful living except jobs for our men. It seems to me that the Government should encourage industries to locate their new plants in established communities where labor is available rather than establishing new towns and uprooting and transporting workers there.

Let us look at the problem as it affects a worker. Here is the picture: A man works in a coal mine and is doing fairly well; he is married and has children; he takes out a loan and builds a home; his children attend a school built by him and others like him; he attends services in a church which he helped to build; he has a vital stake in every facility the area offers, including, very likely, a family plot in a nearby cemetery. His children have friends in the neighborhood; his entire family is bound to the social life of his community. He is a typical American citizen, proud of his country, his town, and his home. Then the mine closes down; his income stops; he registers at the Employment Service; there is no work available; he draws his unemployment compensation and that runs out-bills must be met--what is he to do?

In many cases, in home after home, men have gone to New York, New Jersey, and other parts of Pennsylvania in search of work, leaving their families here. In other cases, women have sought employment in garment factories, becoming the breadwinners in the homes while men, who are ready and able to work, are left to eat out their hearts in idleness and futility. The greatest loss which any community can suffer is a continuation of this unhealthy and morally dangerous condition. Every day women, members of our union, call me at my office. They tell of a husband unemployed and beg of me, "Can you get a job for him? Anything that will make it possible for him to remain here and earn a living?" Continued unemployment leads to loss of faith in themselves, loss of hope, and to broken homes and other evils. Committees of public-spirited citizens have been set up and they are making efforts to bring in new industries. They have had some success and hope for still further success in the future, but the problem is here now; it's today that it needs solution. Idle factories can stand for years and then be reconditioned and opened up, but human beings are different; the human spirit, once destroyed, can never be restored.

Senate bill 2663 has for its purpose Federal assistance in bringing in new industry into depressed areas. I am wholeheartedly in favor of that. I believe this bill should be enacted into law. In addition, I believe that steps should be taken to find out in advance where, due to local causes, large numbers of men are to be thrown, permanently, out of employment. Companies planning to migrate to other areas, or expecting to close their plants or lay off large numbers of people for other reasons should notify the proper governmental agencies of their intentions. Representatives of the Government, both State and Federal, should then meet with the company in question, consult with the union in the plant and find out just why the migration, the layoff or shutdown is proposed. In some cases it might be possible and much less costly, and better for all concerned, to find a means to overcome the cause and to continue the operation of the plant in its present location. Even if that was not possible, the appropriate Government agencies, warned in advance, would be able to take the necessary action to provide employment and forestall the development of another depressed area. I think the possibilities along that line should be explored by this committee. In Wyoming Valley a committee of 100 representatives of all sections of our people are doing what they can to bring in new industry. They are doing well but the continued closing down of mines and textile plants add new numbers of unemployed as fast as new industries absorb others. As the queen in Alice in Wonderland said, "Here it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to go somewhere, you must run twice as fast as that." With the enactment of S. 2663 we hope that the Federal Government will aid us in bringing in industry twice as fast so that we can really get somewhere.

We have made many efforts to bring men into the garment industry as operators of sewing machines. Our efforts have met with failure. That is one of the reasons why I am very much in favor of the clause in your bill which provides for vocational training. Such training, properly ran and supervised, could be a lifesaver for men in our area. This clause calls for an additional 13 weeks of payments equivalent to unemployment compensation for those taking train