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Mr. LUND. Yes; we do. There were some legal involvements that needed clarification and if you do not mind I would rather have counsel give you the background on it.

Mr. HILLER. Mr. Chairman, there did occur a rather unfortunate incident in the State of Florida. Many eligible clinics and health centers throughout the country which come squarely within the enumeration of organizations eligible to acquire donable property for public-health purposes, also operate mosquito-control functions, and in that connection in the State of Florida there were mosquito-control activities which enjoyed the benefit of donable property which had been acquired through the clinics or the health centers to which they were officially and formally attached.

As a result of this circumstance, several mosquito-control districts, it is my understanding, which were not attached to such clinics or health centers, but which were not technically under the law eligible to receive donable property, had received the property because their fellow brethren who were attached to the eligible institutions had also received it.

As a result of this confusion, there was donated to some ineligible mosquito-control districts the property to which the Congressman has referred.

It was a rather unfortunate incident, and we certainly would avoid seeing any similar occurrence recur.

However, the Department has not administered the law or has never understood that mosquito control districts where they constitute an independent and distinct instrumentality of a State or if they are nonprofit would be eligible under the present language of the Federal Property Act, and to the extent that they would, under Congressman Herlong's bill, become eligible, to that extent the bill does constitute a slight extension of eligibility, and would constitute a change over the Department's current administration of existing legislation.

Mr. HERLONG. Mr. Chairman, if I may say a word in that connection. The gentleman may be entirely correct and I assume it is entirely correct as far as the technical aspects of it are concerned. We are concerned with the objective we are trying to seek and that is to eradicate mosquitoes. There is a Government agency working on it. If we do not have quite the correct technical setup, we do not think that is any ground for depriving them of the benefit of getting the donable property even if it means broadening it to the extent of taking those people in because the objective is the same throughout all of these mosquito-control programs in the State of Florida and that is to get rid of mosquitos and that is a public function, it is a governmental function and operation and even if it does mean broadening it, we say that is no excuse for not getting corrective legislation in here. Mr. McCORMACK. Any further questions, Mr. May?

Mr. MAY. No further questions, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. McCORMACK. Well, thank you very much, Congressman Herlong.

Any other witness here in support of this legislation, 10010, and similar legislation?

All right, the next bill is Mr. Keating's bill, H. R. 9522.

Is Miss Colborn here?

STATEMENT OF FERN COLBORN, SECRETARY, SOCIAL EDUCATION AND ACTION, NATIONAL FEDERATION OF SETTLEMENTS AND NEIGHBORHOOD CENTERS, NEW YORK CITY

Miss COLBORN. I am Fern M. Colborn, secretary of social education and action of the National Federation of Settlements and Neighborhood Centers, New York City.

Mr. Chairman, I have here a short statement on behalf of the National Federation of Settlements that I will be glad to file for the record rather than taking your time to read it.

Mr. McCORMACK. Without objection the statement will be included in the record.

(The statement is as follows:)

STATEMENT OF FERN COLBORN, SECRETARY, SOCIAL EDUCATION AND ACTION, NATIONAL FEDERATION OF SETTLEMENTS AND NEIGHBORHOOD CENTERS, NEW YORK CITY

I am Fern Colborn, secretary of social education and action, of the National Federation of Settlements and Neighborhood Centers, 226 West 47th Street, New New York City. I appear before you today on behalf of said organization.

There are approximately 300 member settlements and neighborhood centers connected with the national federation. These agencies are located in the major cities throughout the United States. Most of these local centers own one or more buildings from which their work is conducted. Some 90 of them own camps, and many operate day camp programs. A sizable number of our members operate day care centers, health services, and recreational activities. We are welfare agencies operating in many kinds of neighborhoods, from the very underprivileged to privileged sections of our cities. We are located there to work with neighborhood people for the purpose of providing needed services and to help families work together toward making the neighborhood the most desirable place possible for family life.

Settlements and neighborhood centers, by and large, are red feather agencies and are supported by united funds or community chests. Some of our members receive special public moneys from local or State governments for services such as recreation, special programs with juvenile delinquents, and mental health services.

Sufficient budget to develop the program to meet the needs of people is always hard to come by. Accordingly, some of the board members of the settlements in Rochester, N. Y., approached Hon. Kenneth Keating and asked if he would introduce legislation to make surplus property available to welfare or recreation agencies. I am pleased to say he did just this. Prior to this our board of directors had discussed the securing of surplus goods and directed our staff to work with other agencies and with Congress toward getting these goods available to settlements. Our national office has had numerous inquiries from our local members as to why these goods were not available to us since other agencies of similar type get them. I refer to the Boy Scouts and boys' clubs, although I believe there are others also to whom the Secretary of Defense has given special priority.

I wish to say on behalf of settlements that we appreciate the surplus foods and surplus milk that Congress has already made available. These programs have operated smoothly and have done great good. We believe that we can have as good an experience with surplus goods if you will open it up to us. We know it would be a useful way of stretching our budgets, and we believe it is a right use of the tax money that has gone into these goods.

In addition to the National Federation of Settlements' request to you, I am pleased to present telegrams from the following agencies who also favor H. R. 5922.

Mr. Chairman, we would appreciate it if these telegrams could be made a part of the record of this hearing.

Thank you.

Miss COLBORN. I would like to make a few off-the-cuff remarks in addition.

Settlements and neighborhood centers use all kinds of material over the country. We operate some public programs such as recreation, health clinics, and so on.

Now we have not been able to get any of this material because we are not eligible even though we do some of this public work, because of the administration of the law at present.

In addition to our own concern, in order to again save the time of the committee, I have here telegrams from a group of nine national agencies.

I happen to be chairman of a subcommittee on surplus goods for the National Social Welfare Assembly. There are 20 national agencies on that committee, and yesterday morning we started telephoning them to let them know the hearing was here this morning. Because of vacations and so on we were not able to get to the heads of all of them, but I do have nine telegrams that I would like also to present for the record.

Mr. McCORMACK. Without objection, so ordered. (The telegrams referred to follow :)

Mr. GUINNESSY,

619 D Street SE., Washington, D. C.:

NEW YORK, N. Y., July 30, 1958.

The national board of the Young Women's Christian Association of the USA wishes to express its support of H. R. 9522, authorizing the disposal of surplus property to qualified welfare agencies. We would appreciate your conveying this expression of our support to the Government Operations Committee and your urging their favorable consideration of the bill on our behalf.

LILACE REID BARNES, President.

NEW YORK, N. Y., July 30, 1958.

JOHN J. GUINNESSY,

619 D Street SE., Washington, D. C.:

The Salvation Army will back your testimony recommending passage of H. R. 9522 making welfare agencies eligible for certain surplus property.

Lieutenant Commissioner L. W. COWAN.

NEW YORK, N. Y., July 30, 1958.

JOHN J. GUINNESSY,

619 D Street SE., Washington, D. C.: Respectfully request you represent the Child Welfare League of America before the Subcommittee on Government Operations of the United States House of Representatives. We strongly urge the passage of H. R. 9522. It would be of great assistance to the 1,800 agencies in the United States who service America's dependent and neglected children.

JOSEPH H. REID,

Executive Director, Child Welfare League of America.

JOHN GUINNESSY,

NEW YORK, N. Y., July 30, 1958.

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619 D Street SE., Washington, D. C.: Have wired Congresmen Keating and Dawson as follows: "United funds, community chests, community welfare councils, and over 25,000 local health, welfare, and recreation organizations affiliated with them earnestly desire passage of H. R. 9522. Expansion of the list of organizations eligible to purchase surplus Government property as provided for in this bill will be of material help in furnishing more and better service to local communities." Would appreciate your expressing our interest in H. R. 9522 at the hearing on Friday, August 1, 1958. CHARLES X. SAMPSON, Director of Administration, United Community Funds and Councils of America.

JOHN J. GUINNESSY,

National Federation of Settlements,

619 D Street SE., Washington, D. C.:

NEW YORK, N. Y., July 30, 1958.

Strongly urge favorable consideration H. R. 9522 with hopes that favorable action on this legislation will be taken by present Congress.

ERNEST F. WITTE,

Executive Director, Council of Social Work Education.

NEW YORK, N. Y., July 30, 1958.

JOHN J. GUINNESSY,

619 D Street SE., Washington, D. C.:

Very much favor seeing bill H. R. 9522 passed dealing with surplus property for recreation and welfare agencies. It would greatly assist all nonprofit agencies.

JOSEPH PRENDERGAST,

Executive Director, National Recreation Association.

NEW YORK, N. Y., July 30, 1958.

JOHN J. GUINNESSY,

619 D Street SE., Washington, D. C.:

Urge adoption of bill H. R. 9522. Eligibility for Federal surplus property should be broadened to include other similar qualified and worthy organizations. VIVIAN C. MCCOLLOM, Chairman, National Board of YMCA's.

JOHN J. GUINNESSY,

National Federation of Settlements,

619 D Street SE., Washington, D. C.:

NEW YORK, N. Y., July 31, 1958.

The National Jewish Welfare Board strongly supports passage of H. R. 9522 in behalf of 350 Jewish community centers and YM-YWHA's helping one-half million Americans to wholesome citizenship-developing activities. Access to surplus properties important need in providing essential services.

SAMUEL D. GERSHOVITZ,
Executive Vice President.

Miss COLBURN. I just want to read you the names of those organizations.

National Board of the YMCA; National Jewish Welfare Board; Child Welfare League of America; National Recreation Association; Council of Social Work Education; the Salvation Army; National Board of the YWCA; United Community Funds and Councils of America.

Now we have on our committee, national organizations from all three faiths. I do not happen to have telegrams for the reasons that I said, from that group.

We have had several committee meetings about this, and Mr. Lund or one of his staff has been present at most of our committee meetings, and we have talked this over and tried to work out a way that would make it possible to administer surplus goods in as equitable a way as possible, and to assure that they would not be wasted, because we agree fully with Mr. Lund in his desire along this line, and commend him for his leadership.

Accordingly, we then worked with Congressman Keating, who has put in a bill along the lines that our committee worked out.

Now I might say for your information that on the committee we have several people who were connected with the priorities system in

the last war and who did distribute materials so they have some background in this, and I would add further that at no time has Mr. Lund or any of his staff raised questions about this with us that we did not feel could not be worked out and our committee is ready to work with him in working out a system so that this material could be equitably distributed and so that it would not be wasted.

Now, right now all of the agencies that I have named are eligible for surplus foods, surplus milk, and we are using this program to great advantage, and if we can handle perishable stuff without waste and for the benefit of the taxpayer rather than have it spoil, we surely ought to be able to handle this material, you see.

Now we recognize the business of scarcities and we have a lot of experience on surplus foods with that.

Sometimes we get practically nothing, sometimes we are loaded up with turkeys. Other times we are loaded up with cheese and so on but we have been able to work through this successfully so that the material was used and we are willing to take our chances on surplus goods, knowing that we won't always get the things that would be useful to us at a given time, but feeling we would get a great many things that would help all of our budgets and use the surplus goods to better advantage than is the case now.

We think it is better that they be used than that they rust away, as we all know is the case with some of them.

I should add in view of the fact that Congressman Baldwin testified here about public recreation, I should add a word on behalf of the National Recreation Association and explain that they have worked with our national committee and have been backing H. R. 9522 because it would provide for the goods to go to both public and nonprofit private welfare or recreation agencies, and they are very anxious to have the goods for public recreation just as the rest of us are for our general work.

me.

That is all, sir, that I have to say unless you have questions to ask

Mr. McCORMACK. Any questions?

Mr. MAY. No questions.

Mr. McCORMACK. Thank you, Miss Colborn.
Any other witnesses here in support of this?
Mr. Traycik?

STATEMENT OF LOUIS B. TRAYCIK, FLINT, MICH.

Mr. TRAYCIK. Mr. Chairman, I am Louis B. Traycik. I am a member of or a resident of Flint, Mich., part of the Sixth Congressional District of Michigan.

I have turned over to Mr. Ward a copy of the statement which I would like to present to this committee today.

I am happy to have the privilege of speaking to you today on behalf of two organizations with whom I have been closely associated; namely, the YMCA and the Salvation Army, who are two entities who would qualify under the terms of H. R. 9522, now before you. Both of these organizations are subject to standards set by the Michigan State Health and Welfare Department, are nonprofit and tax-exempt voluntary agencies, and receive their funds through a

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