questions are. There was some discussion about the way the program operated pre-1967 and the fact that there was more autonomy particularly at the Federal level, but also at the State level for the rehabilitation program. There was an expression I believe that that was a better way to operate the program than what we presently are thinking about and what many of the States have on their own determined that they wish to see changed in the interests of better coordination of service delivery which presumably yields more effective, better service to all persons who are receiving Governmental service, whether it be rehabilitation or whatever.

I think that generally summarizes the points of concern that I heard reflected.

I think you have to recognize that there has been a prolonged period of uncertainty in this program. And some of the factors are that it took a while to get the legislation extended. It has taken us longer than it should have to appoint a permanent Commissioner, and these are some of those kinds of questions which I guess, if I was sitting at the State level, I would be concerned about.

But I think that, when we get finished, there will be support for what we are trying to accomplish in the program.

Mr. HANSEN. I would just express the hope that there will be, as you move toward the final decisions the most far ranging consultation with the State directors so that if some of these fears are based on misapprehensions that they will be laid to rest.

Thank you, and thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. BRADEMAS. Mr. Dwight, following a couple of the questions that have been put to you by Mr. Hansen, I would ask you this question, after the following observation.

On the 24th of December, the old law expires and the new law becomes effective. As Mr. Reedy, I believe, is today retiring and let the Chair take advantage of this opportunity to express to you, Mr. Reedy, the warm appreciation of the Members of this subcommittee and the committee and, indeed, of all the Members of the House of Representatives, to you for your most distinguished service over many years to the rehabilitation of handicapped persons.

I think you have a record of which you have every right to be justly proud and we are very grateful to you for what you have done. Mr. REEDY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. BRADEMAS. But in light of your retirement, and in light of the fact, Mr. Dwight, that as of Christmas Eve you will have total authority unless a delegation is made by the Secretary, and in light of the fact that Congress will be in recess and that a delegation of authority would not be possible because the Secretary under the Statute is required to submit such delegation request to Congress, who is going to be running the program in that period of hiatus?

Mr. DWIGHT. Mr. Reedy will function as the Commissioner until the end of this month at which time his retirement is going to be effective. I am most appreciative of the fact that Corbett has been willing to extend and extend and extend his planned retirement, and I accept his decision that it must be this month with a great deal of reluctance, because even in a very short period of time, I have grown to rely heavily on his judgment and his knowledge of this program.

As a consequence it will be very difficult to find somebody who will be able to carry the program assuming that we have not announced a permanent Commissioner by the end of this month and thus is probably a valid assumption.

But, I would assure you, as Chairman of this subcommittee, and anybody else, that the program will not languish and that it will be given adequate and strong leadership consistent with the law. This means that the authority for operation of the vocational rehabilitation act will move entirely to the Commissioner-it will be with the Secretary presumably delegated to the Commissioner commencing December 24.

But who that individual will be, come January 1, I am not prepared to discuss that at this point in time.

Mr. BRADEMAS. Are you saying, Mr. Dwight, that you are confident that you will have a Commissioner as of January 1?

Mr. DWIGHT. I am confident we will have an acting Commissioner who will be well qualified to assume this responsibility.

Mr. BRADEMAS. Just two other matters.

Could you submit to the subcommittee, Mr. Dwight, a chart-I think we made this request at the last hearing-showing the links of authority between the organization of SRS at the Federal and regional levels? [Material referred to appears in appendix.]

Mr. DWIGHT. I have organization charts of the 10 Federal regions here which I brought in response to that request. I am not sure if that is totally responsive in light of the comments you just made we are talking about entire SRS.

Mr. BRADEMAS. Correct.

Mr. DWIGHT. On the basis of current organization?

Mr. BRADEMAS. Correct.

Mr. DWIGHT. I did not bring that along with me because I did not understand what you wanted.

But we can get that to you this afternoon as it is published in the Federal Register. That would be the way we are presently structured to operate.

Mr. BRADEMAS. Thank you.

Finally, let me ask a question, returning to some of Mr. Quie's follow-up questions on the Arizona plan. That the State of Arizona comes within the San Francisco regional office is relevant to my questions because I understand there has been considerable turnover in that regional office.

I wonder if you can give us some comment on the change of personnel in the office of SRS regional Commission out there?

Mr. DWIGHT. In San Francisco?

Mr. BRADEMAS. Yes.

Mr. DWIGHT. The only turnover that I am aware of is the regional commissioner retired at the end of June of last year.

Mr. BRADEMAS. That was who?

Mr. DWIGHT. Mr. Schaeffer. The process of selection is a slow one. Hopefully we are in the process of finalizing a selection in that office at the present time.

Mr. BRADEMAS. Who is the acting SRS regional commissioner in San Francisco at this time?

Mr. DWIGHT. At the present time it is Mr. Ostrum-he is the associate commissioner for management out there. That was commencing today. Prior to that time, Mr. Sylvester had been detailed out there, but that detail expired on Friday.

Mr. BRADEMAS. As of today Mr. Ostrum has replaced Mr. Sylvester as the acting SRS commissioner of San Francisco, is that correct? Mr. DWIGHT. That is correct.

Ms. BETTS. Mr. Sylvester was acting there for a period of 120 days. at the end of which we had expected a permanent appointment. The 120 days has elapsed and we did not have time to extend that through the Civil Service Commission process.

Mr. BRADEMAS. I will not follow further on the line of questions I have been engaged in here, but I think you have perhaps detected that there is a degree of apprehensiveness in my tone of voice when I ask you why there are several changes in view of some of the disagreements about the Arizona plan.

Mr. Dwight, I did not understand, from what you said, is Mr. Reedy leaving his office, physically leaving his office today or is he remaining until the end of the year?

Mr. DWIGHT. His retirement is official at the end of the year. He plans to spend the balance of the year or the balance of the month on annual leave. That is my present understanding, so he is not going to be around very much between now and the first of January.

Mr. BRADEMAS. So who will be the person who will be actively in charge of making decisions in view of Mr. Reedy's retirement?

Mr. DWIGHT. I assume it is-whenever Mr. Reedy is out of the office somebody else takes his place and—in other words, there is a normal chain of command that goes down through the agency.

Mr. BRADEMAS. Like Calvin Coolidge's famous observation, "When people are out of work, unemployment results."

I am not trying to be difficult, Mr. Dwight, I just want to know who is going to run the RSA program with Mr. Reedy gone.

Mr. DWIGHT. Mr. Reedy will be in charge of the program until the first of January.

Mr. BRADEMAS. I thought you told me he was leaving the office today?

Mr. DWIGHT. But he is not leaving the employ of the agency today. Mr. BRADEMAS. Who is going to be there? What is the name of that human being?

Mr. DWIGHT. Mr. Eschelman is second in command at the agency. Mr. BRADEMAS. Eschelman? Mr. what Eschelman?

Mr. REEDY. Mr. William Eschelman.

Mr. BRADEMAS. What is his title?

Mr. REEDY. Assistant Commissioner for Special Programs, but in the months past he has been serving as Acting Deputy Commissioner, assisting me in the overall task of administering the agency.

Mr. BRADEMAS. Would one assume Mr. Dwight until you get an acting commissioner or a permanent commissioner that Mr. Eschelman will be the acting commissioner? I am not trying to be difficult. Mr. DWIGHT. Not necessarily.

Mr. BRADEMAS. I just want to know who is going to be the person responsible. Suppose Mr. Reedy is gone. We have this discussion this

afternoon among members of your staff on the question of the regulations. Whom do we ask for when we telephone there?

Mr. DWIGHT. Mr. Eschelman, unless we determine that we want to designate somebody else as the acting commissioner in Mr. Reedy's absence, in which case we would have to take an affirmative action. [Material supplied to the committee subsequent to the hearings follows:]

To: The Secretary.

From: The Administrator, SRS.

DECEMBER 19, 1973.

Subject: Delegation of Authority to Administer Titles I, II, and III of Public Law 93-112, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

Pursuant to sections 3(a) and 400(b) of Public Law 93-112, a delegation of authority from the Secretary to the Commissioner of the Rehabilitation Services Administration for administration of Titles I, II, and III of this Act (including, but not restricted to, authority for approval of State plans, projects, and grant awards from funds under this Act) is proposed to become effective December 25, 1973. This is the effective date of Public Law 93-112.

The plan is that as an interim arrangement, I shall request the Regional Commissioners of SRS to detail a high-level Regional SRS staff member in each Region to the Commissioner of RSA. Upon redelegation by the Commissioner, this Regional Office staff member will review such State plans and projects and act upon them. This is proposed as an interim procedure pending submission to the Congress of a subsequent delegation of authority.

Attached is a memorandum for your signature to accomplish this purpose. JAMES S. DWIGHT, Jr.

Attachments.

To: The Administrator, SRS.

From: The Secretary.

Subject: Delegation of Authority to Administer Titles I, II, and III of Public Law 93-112, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

Effective December 25, 1973, and pursuant to sections 3(a) and 400 (b) of Public Law 93-112, I hereby delegate to the Commissioner of the Rehabilitation Services Administration the authority to administer Titles I, II, and III of the aforementioned act. This includes, but is not restricted to authority to approve State vocational rehabilitation plans, projects, and grant awards.

CASPAR W. WEINBERGER.

DECEMBER 26, 1973.

To: Regional Commissioners, SRS.

From: Administrator, Social and Rehabilitation Service.
Subject: Detail of Personnel to RSA Commissioner.

The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 becomes effective on December 25, 1973. Section 3 of the Act establishes the Rehabilitation Services Administration as the principal agency for conducting the programs under Titles I through III. This Section further provides that the delegation of functions of the Commissioner cannot be made to any other officer not directly responsible to the Commissioner unless the Secretary shall first submit a plan for such delegation to Congress.

In order to provide for the proper administration of this Act, I am requesting that you detail to the Commissioner of RSA, a high level staff person, fully knowledgeable of the Rehabilitation program, for a period of 90 days. This staff person shall, subsequent to final delegation by the Commissioner, exercise all authority delegated to him under the Titles I through III of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

Please submit the name of the individual being detailed to the Acting Commissioner of RSA by Friday, December 28. A copy should be transmitted to me. Additionally, prepare and process immediately the necessary personnel action documents related to this detail.

Thank you for your cooperation.

JAMES S. DWIGHT, Jr.

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFARE,
December 27, 1973.

To: The Administrator, SRS.
From: The Acting Secretary.

Subject: Delegation of Authority to Administer Titles I, II, and III of Public Law 93-112, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

Effective December 25, 1973, and pursuant to sections 3(a) and 400 (b) of Public Law 93-112, I hereby delegate to the Commissioner of the Rehabilitation Services Administration the authority to administer Titles I, II, and III of the aforementioned act. This includes, but is not restricted to authority to approve State vocational rehabilitation plans, projects, and grant awards.

Mr. JACK DUNCAN,

FRANK C. CARLUCCI.

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFARE,
SOCIAL AND REHABILITATION SERVICE,
Washington, D.C., January 31, 1974.

Counsel, Select Subcommittee on Education, Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C.

DEAR MR. DUNCAN: As you requested, I am enclosing a copy of the delegation of authority from the Commissioner, Rehabilitation Services Administration to the newly designated Regional Rehabilitation Representatives in the Regional Offices. Pursuant to the provisions of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Section 3 (a) and Section 400 (b), delegation of functions of the Commissioner cannot be made to any other officer not directly responsible to the Commissioner, unless the Secretary shall first submit a plan for such delegation to the Congress.

In order to carry on the rehabilitation program under the new Act, the Administrator has detailed one person in each Regional Office to the Commissioner of the Rehabilitation Services Administration for a period of ninety (90) days, so that certain functions of the Commissioner can be delegated to and administered by the newly designated Regional Rehabilitation Representative of the Rehabilitation Services Administration.

The persons detailed and receiving the delegations are the same individuals who served as Associate Regional Commissioners, they are:

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFARE,
SOCIAL AND REHABILITATION SERVICE,
December 27, 1973.

From: Acting Commissioner, RSA.
Subject: Delegation of Authority to Administer Selected Functions of Titles I,
II, and III of Public Law 93-112, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

Effective December 27, 1973, pursuant to Section 3(a) of Public Law 93-112, you are designated Regional Rehabilitation Representative for the Rehabilitation Services Administration.

I hereby delegate to you the authority to administer certain functions of Titles I, II, and III of the aforementioned Act. This includes the authority to approve State vocational rehabilitation plans, projects, grant awards, and such other functions as may be described in later communications.

CORBETT REEDY.