found that the figure for 1953-54 is approximately 80 percent of the total number of children enrolled in school. At the present time in the county, we have a school classroom capacity of 4,459 children. A number of the classrooms prior to the time that Pike County became the critical area were not in use. It has been necessary to utilize one elementary building in Waverly on double sessions for elementary children. This building has been condemned for a number of years. In the central school district, Pike County, involving 5 centralized elementary schools, we have abandoned 3 lunchrooms in order that we might use the same for classrooms. In Piketon, a number of rooms have been converted in. the basement by partitions into classrooms. It has also been necessary both at Piketon and at Scioto to abandon the school-lunch program in order to make available more classrooms. The present construction (which by the way has just now started in Waverly and not yet in any other school districts) will provide for 2,915 children. This is a total of 7,374 children that can be housed with our present facilities and the classrooms authorized under Public Law 815 to June 30, 1954. We estimate that we will have a total enrollment for Pike County in the next 2 years of 9,560 children. This is 2,186 children that will be unhoused. Using the Federal standard of 30 children to the classroom, this will mean an additional 73 classrooms are needed to take care of these unhoused students. At the same time, it should be borne in mind that approximately 300 of the children are in inadequate classrooms. We do wish to express to the members of this committee our appreciation for the fine cooperation that we have had from United States Office of Health, Education, and Welfare, and from the Housing and Home Finance Corporation. You will find attached to this summary, statistical data that may be of value to you in the further examination of our problems. May I again express my personal appreciation for your kindness and cooperation. C. A. WAY, Assistant County Superintendent, Pike County Schools. AEC Portsmouth area— -Pike County school statistics (critical area), Ohio NOTE.-There are certain situations peculiar to 2 localities. Waverly Local School District and Piketon Local School District have had a large increase in the number of available dwellings through new construction and additional public housing units. The number of children in school at the end of the school year is far above the average daily membership for the year 1953-54. This can only be explined by the fact that these 2 communities have housing available for critical area workers and that such housing was not available until Jan. 1, 1954. At the end of school the Waverly Local School District had an enrollment of 1,478 children and Piketon an enrollment of 1,208 pupils. Source: Statistics in office of Pike County superintendent of schools and from reports of the U. S. Office of Health, Education, and Welfare. Senator COOPER. I see Senator Bridges is here. Did you want to testify? Senator BRIDGES. If I may take just a moment of your committee's time. Senator COOPER. We are glad to have you. STATEMENT OF HON. STYLES BRIDGES, PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE OF THE SENATE AND SENATOR FROM NEW HAMPSHIRE Senator BRIDGES. I won't go into any details here, because we have witnesses which my distinguished colleague, Senator Upton, as a member of your committee, has here from New Hampshire to testify on these matters. I just want to say that on S. 3629 I have joined with my colleague Senator Upton, and on S. 3628 I have joined with my colleagues Senator Upton, Senator Payne and Senator Smith, of Maine; I want further to state emphatically that I am wholeheartedly behind these bills. As you know, Mr. Chairman, I have endeavored in previous years to help, and we have taken care of some of these problems through appropriation bills. This year on the 3 percent absorption item we did put through on the health, education, and welfare appropriation bill a section which would, we felt, meet the situation. It was approved unanimously by the Senate Appropriations Committee and the Senate itself, but in conference we met very serious opposition from the House, and after lengthy conferences it was finally eliminated in conference from the bill. It seemed to us then as a result of our inability to get any acceptance by House Members that the only way to do it was to proceed through legislative action, which is the way that Senator Upton and I and our colleagues have proceeded on these two pieces of legislation. Now, we have before us the supplemental appropriation bill, which is the last supplemental appropriation bill before the Congress. The hearings are about completed on it, and we will watch the action of your committee with a great deal of interest and concern, because it if it impossible to get it through legislation, which is the better way, as we are proceeding before this committee, we will again attempt it on the supplemental bill, but I haven't too much faith that there will be any change in the House attitude. I am sure that the Senate Appropriations Committee and the Senate itself feels sympathetic enough to the problem so they would back the former proposal again. The only sure way out of a situation which poses a serious problem in many communities in my State, and I know in many States in the Union, is by the reporting favorably of these pieces of legislation and getting as early action as possible in the Senate and in turn by the Congress. Without going into matters which will be furnished by witnesses, who know the technical details, I just wanted to outline to you the situation as I saw it, and I hope after hearing the evidence that you may take favorable action, and if it is impossible to get favorable action, as I said, we will make another attempt through the supplemental appropriation bill, but we may be up against the same opposition from the House that we experienced earlier. Senator COOPER. You just spoke about the committee action on this, but suppose we get favorable committee action here, would we be still further along toward it? Senator BRIDGES. I think we would at least have a stronger talking point than we had before when we tried to get it through on the appropriation bill. We had no definite steps in that direction at all, as the distinguished chairman knows, and so we were pretty well without a substantial legislative argument to back us up on the appropriation. Senator COOPER. When do you think your bill will be completed? Senator BRIDGES. Hearings are about concluded, and I don't know just what the action will be. We will hold it up as long as we safely can and still have in mind the adjournment of the Congress. We are going to start hearings on our foreign-aid bill on Monday of next week, and we will have completed all except possibly last minute action on the supplemental bill, so that I would think that the latest it could be held probably would be perhaps 10 days from now before we took action on it. Senator COOPER. Thank you for coming here and also for your very practical suggestions. Senator BRIDGES. Before I leave, may I submit a more complete statement to be made a part of the record? Senator COOPER. Let the statement be made a part of the record. (Senator Bridges' statement is as follows:) STATEMENT OF SENATOR STYLES BRIDGES, PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE OF THE SENATE, IN SUPPORT OF S. 3628 AND S. 3629 Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, I do not intend to take more than a few minutes of your time inasmuch as I realize how busy you are in these late days of the Congress. I just want you to know as a cosponsor of this legislation S. 3628 and S. 3629, my serious concern over the situation now facing many communities of this country. I am very pleased to be associated with my colleagues, Senators Robert W. Upton, Margaret Chase Smith, and Frederick G. Payne, in sponsoring this legislation to provide relief to the affected school districts for school construction and administrative cost purposes because of the tremendous burden placed upon these communities by Federal installations of various sorts. I am certain that this problem can be explained far better by those educators and administrators who are more directly connected with the problem and for this reason I will not comment further but will submit at this time a written statement and ask that it be accepted by the committee and made a part of the record so that the information therein may be considered when the committee meets in executive session to consider the various proposals offered. My distinguished cosponsor, Senator Upton, will present as witness our fellow citizens of New Hampshire who are thoroughly familiar with southeastern New Hampshire's problem in this regard. I submit herewith a copy of my oral presentation and append thereto my written statement. "STATEMENT OF SENATOR BRIDGES "S. 3628, introduced by my colleague, Senator Upton and myself to amend Public Law 815, 81st Congress, in order to provide a permanent program of assistance for school construction under the provisions of such law, seeks simply to provide benefits on the same basis as that prevailing throughout the past few years, to local communities whose economy is affected by Federal activities resulting from events transpiring currently, or in the future. Those communities whose economy was affected by these Federal activities in former years have established entitlements to funds under Public Laws 874 and 246, and have received, or will receive, benefits pursuant thereto, and this bill, S 3628, would make similar benefits available to communities which might be affected after June 30, 1954. "The philosophy underlying the enactment into law of Public Law 815 and Public Law 246 is equally applicable to this bill-'to provide assistance for the construction of urgently needed minimum school facilities in school districts which*** have had substantial increases in school membership as a result of new or increased Federal activities.' "Our local communities in New Hampshire, as well as in many other States, will be required to furnish school facilities for many additional children resident as a result of Federal activities now in the planning or construction stage. With respect to those children with parents living and working on Federal property, no revenue accrues to the local government directly from the business or from the abode of the family, in recognition of which we have heretofore allowed for each child in this group 95 percent of the average per pupil cost of constructing minimum school facilities in the State-for fiscal year 1953 such cost in the State of New Hampshire was $1,060. "And with respect to children living with parents living or working on Federal property, no revenue accrues to the local government from the abode in one case, or from the business in the other, in recognition of which we have heretofore allowed for each child in this group 50 percent of the average per pupil cost of constructing minimum school facilities in the State. "The drain upon the finances of the local educational agencies will continue beyond the termination of the current law if we do not enact this bill, or a similar one. We have, or will have within the next few months, provided Federal funds to meet all entitlements under Public Laws 815 and 246, for increases in school membership occurring prior to July 1, 1954. There is every justification to provide similar aid to school districts who will be likewise affected by events transpiring subsequent to June 30, 1954, the termination date within the present law. "S. 3629 in like manner offered by Senator Upton and myself from New Hampshire and by our two colleagues from our neighboring State of Maine, to amend Public Law 874, 81st Congress, so as to eliminate the 3 percent absorption requirement is proposed to eliminate this provision which will work such a hardship upon the school districts. "In the bill, H. R. 9447, making appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health, Education, and Welfare, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1955, I offered an amendment, adopted in the Senate Committee on Appropriations without dissent and agreed to on the floor of the Senate without a word in opposition, to suspend for 1 year the 3-percent absorption provision. The explanation offered in our committee report set forth in concise phrases our reason for this action, and will be equally applicable to this pending bill, so with your permission I shall read from our report: ""The 3-percent absorption provision was included in Public Law 248, 83d Congress, upon the recommendation of the Office of Education and the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, with testimony that such a provision would eliminate 10 percent of eligible school districts. But 600 of 2,528 districts, nearly 25 percent, will be ineligible under section 3 by virtue of this provision. And 522 of the 2,528 districts, in excess of 20 percent, will lose in excess of 50 percent of benefits by this absorption provision while an additional 578 will lose between 25 and 50 percent. It is the sense of this committee that such a provision imposes an undue hardship upon the school districts and accordingly recommends the suspension of the absorption for 1 year, during which time it is hoped that proper legislative review will be made by the standing committees concerned." Unfortunately in conference with the other body we were unable to sway them in their concerted opposition to our attempt to make more adequate provision for our school districts upon which have fallen the onerous cost of providing schooling for the federally affected school children, with their families contributing little or nothing through the usual tax sources for such schooling. "The Senate Committee on Appropriations was supplied a tabulation by the Office of Education showing effects of the 3 percent absorption or entitlement and total expenditures of districts, which will be made a part of the record. This tabulation indicates that the school districts of my State would receive 23.1 percent less because of this 3 percent absorption requirement than was received during the fiscal year just ended; 9 of our 27 districts receiving help in fiscal year 1954 will receive nothing in fiscal veer 1955. While the amounts lost may appear small, they are significant when the local governing officials seek to replace them through new tax ordinances." Senator COOPER. Senator Upton. Senator UPTON. In the appropriations bill you undertook to suspend the absorption clause for a fixed period, if I recall the approach correctly. Senator BRIDGES. Yes. Senator UPTON. What was that period? Senator BRIDGES. We suspended it until a year after the date which it would normally go into effect. 50286-54-5 Senator UPTON. Was that June 30, 1955? Senator BRIDGES. June 30, 1955. Senator COOPER. Senator Murray? Senator MURRAY. I would just wish to add I am glad Senator Bridges was able to come here this morning and give us the advice and suggestions that he has because of his great experience. I think we can rely on the advice he gives us here, and I am very glad that he appeared this moring. Senator BRIDGES. Thank you, Senator. Senator CoOPER. Senator Goldwater? Senator GOLDWATER. I have no questions. Senator COOPER. Thank you very much, Senator Bridges. I see Senator Pastore of Rhode Island here. Senator Pastore, I am glad you are here. Senator PASTORE. I am glad to be here. STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN O. PASTORE, A UNITED STATES SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND Senator PASTORE. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, first of all, I express my appreciation to you for the courtesy and privilege of coming here this morning to speak on this legislation. It is my considered opinion that the subject matter before this committee today is of vital importance to the national well-being. There is nothing more essential to the growth and development of this great. Nation of ours than the proper education of our children who will have to assume the burdens and the leadership of the future. A welleducated citizenry is a well-informed citizenry and if we fail in our responsibility to render to our children a high quality of education, then I believe that we have faltered in the highest responsibility of our time. It should be almost unnecessary for me to urge upon the distinguished members of this subcommittee, the reenactment of this law. Its importance speaks for itself. Every community in this land of ours, from every phase of our society, including parent-teacher associations, citizen groups, civic organizations, and constituted elected governmental bodies, are alive to the need for better education and better education facilities. At a terrific strain to the local taxpayers, archaic educational facilities are being modernized and replaced. No matter where, the educational part of every community's budget by far exceeds other phases of our governmental services. Citizens are conscious of their responsibility and they are meeting it the best way they can. The bill that we are talking about today has to do with the National Government's part in assisting the communities where there has been a tremendous influx of military personnel. The children of these Government servants are entitled to the same quality of education that is being enjoyed by the children of the local citizenry. For the most part, this influx takes place in sparsely populated towns and cities, where the strain to meet this responsibility of added school population is aggravated because of the strained and unusual conditions that are brought about. In this regard I speak from experience. installations in the State of Rhode Island. We have two large naval |