of the Treasury Department and prior to audit or settlement by the General Accounting Office, pay to the treasurer or corresponding official of such State the amount certified for such fiscal year in four equal installments, as soon after the first day of each quarter as may be feasible, beginning with the first quarter of the fiscal year for which appropriations made under the authorization of this Act are available. Such treasurer or corresponding official shall pay out such funds only on the requisition of the State educational authority. SEC. 7. In order to qualify for receiving funds appropriated under this Act a State shall by appropriate State action (1) accept the provisions of this Act and provide for the administration of funds to be received; (2) provide that the State treasurer or corresponding official in the State shall receive the funds paid to that State under this Act and shall be required to submit to the Commissioner, on or before the first day of November of each year, for transmission to the Congress, a detailed statement of the amount so received for the preceding fiscal year and its disbursement; (3) provide that its State educational authority shall represent the State in the administration of funds received; (4) provide for an annual audit, and for the submission of a copy thereof to the Commissioner, of the expenditure of funds received under this Act, and for a system of reports from local school jurisdictions and other educational agencies to the State educational authority; (5) provide that the State educational authority shall make reports to the Commissioner with respect to the progress of education, on forms to be provided by the Commissioner, which reports the Commissioner shall transmit to the Congress with recommendations for such revision of this Act as in his judgment the Congress should consider, with particular reference to recommendations arising from changing conditions in our national economy; and (6) transmit through its State educational authority to the Commissioner notice of acceptance and certified copies of the legislative enactments and the administrative regulations that may be issued by the State educational authority in connection with such funds, and any amendment of such enactments and revisions of regulations shall in like manner be transmitted to the Commissioner. SEC. 8. In the event a State educational authority is dissatisfied with any action by the Commissioner taken with respect to such State pursuant to this Act, or with his failure to take any action with respect to such State pursuant to this Act, such authority shall have the right to appeal to the Commissioner to change the action he has taken or to take the action he has failed to take, and to present to him in support of such appeal such statement and other evidence as such authority may deem appropriate. If the action taken by the Commissioner on such appeal is not satisfactory to the State educational authority, or if he fails to act thereon within ninety days after he receives such appeal, such authority shall have the right to appeal to the United States district court for any district in which any part of such State is located. The court shall receive in evidence a copy of the statements and other evidence presented by the State educational authority to the Commissioner, and such further evidence as the court in its discretion deems proper; and shall have jurisdiction to enter such judgments as the facts and the law may require. SEC. 9. As used in this Act (1) The term "State" shall include the several States, the District of Columbia, Alaska, Hawaii, the Canal Zone, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, and Guam ; (2) The term "State educational authority" means, as the State legislature may determine, (a) the chief State school officer (such as the State superintendent of public education, commissioner of education, or similar officer), or (b) a board of education controlling the State department of education; except that in the District of Columbia it shall mean the Board of Education, and in the Canal Zone, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, and Guam, it shall mean the Governor; and (3) The term "Commissioner" means the United States Commissioner of Education. SEC. 10. If any provision of this Act or the application thereof to any State, person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the Act, and the application of such provision to other States, persons, or circumstances shall not be affected thereby. MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This is in reply to your requests for the views of the Bureau of the Budget on Senate Joint Resolution 48, S. 191, S. 869, S. 1237, S. 1727, S. 2505, S. 2622, S. 2917, S. 3157, and S. 3157 amended. All of these bills would provide Federal assistance to students in the form of scholarships, loans, or loan insurance for study at institutions of higher education either at the undergraduate or graduate level. Some of the proposed enactments would restrict aid to certain groups. S. 2622 would apply only to highschool graduates of Indian blood, and S. 2505 would limit aid to veterans who are prospective teachers. Senate Joint Resolution 48 would provide loans to individuals who desire training as teachers or who wish to pursue studies in science, engineering, or medicine. In three other instances-S. 869, S. 1727, and S. 3157— science, mathematics, or other fields of study related to national defense are emphasized. The President, in his January 27 message to the Congress on education, reconmended a temporary program of Federal assistance to help strengthen general and science education. This proposal, embodied in S. 3163, includes both scholarships and fellowships as part of a comprehensive program. The scholarship proposal would limit eligibility considerations essentially to the individual's ability and financial need and provides that preference be given to those with good preparation in, or high aptitude for, science or mathematics. With regard to fellowships for graduate study, preference would be given individuals interested in teaching in institutions of higher education. The Department of Health, Education, and Welfare in its January 27 letter to the President of the Senate and in its testimony before your committee discussed in detail the recommendations of the President. As in the case of the President's recommendation, the instant bills are designed to broaden the opportunities for higher education. However, we recommend enactment of S. 3163 in preference to the instant bills as a more appropriate and comprehensive measure to strengthen our educational system in areas of direct and compelling national interest. MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This is in reply to your requests for views of the Bureau of the Budget on S. 1298, a bill to assist States in providing needed vocational education of less than college grade in essential occupations, including retraining made necessary by scientific and technological developments, through establishment and maintenance of area vocational-school programs providing |