rather liked your putting the Big Muddy River in priority to the Nile. We have heard a lot about the Nile, but I think the Big Muddy River has more in future potentiality for America than the historic Nile.

Mr. HUGHES. If they can spend $56 million for Egypt over there, they ought to spend a few million for Egypt in southern Illinois.

Mr. O'HARA. While we want to help everybody wherever poverty exists, I agree that we should not stint on southern Illinois because if southern Illinois blooms, all the world will be in flower.

Mr. HUGHES. That is right. Those 190 counties all over the United States must be brought up to the level of prosperity with the rest of the Nation or they will have a tendency to bring the others down to their equal.

Mr. O'HARA. I give up the remainder of my 5 minutes, Mr. Chair

man.

The CHAIRMAN. I haven't held the watch on you. I don't know whether you can give back any or not.

Mr. HUGHES. I am enjoying this, but I will retire any time you say. The CHAIRMAN. Mrs. Griffiths?

Mrs. GRIFFITHS. I have no questions, Mr. Chairman.

The CHAIRMAN. Dr. Talle, do you have a question?

Mr. TALLE. Just a couple of little items, Mr. Chairman.

The CHAIRMAN. Go ahead, Doctor. I didn't mean to overlook you. Mr. TALLE. That is all right.

The CHAIRMAN. We don't want to do that.

Mr. TALLE. Mr. Hughes, there are some bituminous coal mines in southern Iowa. Are you familiar with employment conditions there? Mr. HUGHES. No, sir, I am not. I don't know too much about it. Mr. TALLE. I have no further questions, Mr. Chairman; but I am glad to report this, that the employment commission in Iowa sent out a report which came to my office this morning and unemployment there is just a little over 8,000 right now, so the prospect is that there may be a labor shortage. Most important in Iowa now is good rain, so that our farmers will get crops. That is our worry right now. We are suffering from drought.

Mr. HUGHES. Mr. Chairman, if I could say one thing more.

I would like to commend to your reading and supplement my remarks with what Senator Dirksen testified on Senate bill 2663, January 9, 1956, as reported in the Congressional Record of Tuesday, March 6, 1956. Senator Dirksen from Illinois, supplementing Senator Douglas' bill 2663, and his remarks here will strengthen this bill, House bill 8555.

Mr. BOLTON. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent that those remarks be put in the record and printed as a part thereof.

The CHAIRMAN. Without objection, they may be put in the record. (The remarks referred to above follow :)

[From the Congressional Record, 84th Cong., 2d sess.]

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS STAKE IN LEGISLATION FOR DEPRESSED AREAS

Extension of remarks of Hon. Everett McKinley Dirksen of Illinois in the Senate of the United States Tuesday, March 6, 1956.

Mr. DIRKSEN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Appendix of the Record a statement prepared by me relating to the stake of southern Illinois in legislation for depressed areas.

There being no objection, the statement was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows:

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS STAKE IN LEGISLATION FOR DEPRESSED AREAS

(Statement by Hon. Everett M. Dirksen, of Illinois)

On January 9, I appeared before the Subcommittee of the Committee on Labor and Public Welfare, which had scheduled a hearing on the general subject of depressed areas. This was the same day on which Senate 2892 was introduced by Senator Smith of New Jersey for himself and for Senators Bridges, Bush, Dirksen, Allott, Duff, Martin of Pennsylvania, Potter, Purtell, Cotton, Payne, Bender, Thye, Butler, Smith of Maine, Saltonstall, Flanders, Carlson, Aiken, Ives, Case of New Jersey, Beall, Capehart, Kuchel, Watkins, and Bennett. The title of this bill is "A bill to assist areas to develop and maintain stable and diversified economies by a program of financial and technical assistance and otherwise, and for other purposes."

An earlier bill, namely, Senate 2663, was introduced July 28, 1955 by Senator Douglas for himself, and for Senators Kilgore, Kefauver, McNamara, Humphrey, Neely, Murray, and Kennedy. The title of that bill is "A bill to establish an effective program to alleviate conditions of excessive unemployment in certain economically depressed areas."

This bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Labor and Public Welfare, whereas the bill introduced on January 9 was referred to the Committee on Banking and Currency.

While I am recorded as a cosponsor of the bill introduced on January 9, I shall let no pride of sponsorship stand in the way of any effort to secure reasonable legislation to deal with this problem.

It appears that there are roughly 190 counties or parts of counties throughout the Nation which are located in so-called depressed areas. The areas are divided into 10 major and 74 minor areas. I note, however, that 7 States contain 123 of these counties so it is fair to assume that the greater proportion of this problem will be found in those 7 States.

They include West Virginia with 23 depressed counties, Pennsylvania with 23, Kentucky with 17, and Illinois with 19. It is quite evident from the names of the States where these counties are located and the nature of their activities and industries that coal has been a contributing factor to the problem, because southern Illinois, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Kentucky are among the foremost coal-producing States in the Nation.

The abandonment of coal mines, the increased efficiency in coal mining, the competition from other fuels and still other factors have doubtless had an impact upon the coal industry, and the abandonment of many mines in those counties particularly, become the hard core of the problem which is before us. I am quite aware of the fact that under the classification which is carried by the Department of Labor, the decrease of employment in these areas does shift from one class to another from time to time. In some cases there is an improvement in the condition and in other cases the condition becomes more aggravated. I believe, however, it is fair to assume that this is a hard core problem with which the Congress should deal and it should not be a half-hearted approach. To provide a program which is too limited or too restrictive in nature might prove entirely fruitless and abortive, and I for one am anxious that a real broad-gauge effort be made to find a sound and durable remedy for the problem.

When one recalls that we have been quite generous in the field of economic aid to foreign nations as a part of our overall security program, surely we will be equally generous with Federal funds, Federal loaning power and Federal authority to meet the problem which is on our own doorstep. As I recall, the aggregate of loans and grants in the foreign-aid field last year was in excess of $500 million, and we would be wanting indeed in our solicitude for our own people if we did not take an equally generous approach with respect to the problems at home, even though the foreign-aid program is essentially geared to national security.

Let me emphasize the opinion that any solution worthy of the name must be durable. Merely to scratch the surface and to provide temporary employment in these depressed areas will not meet the problem.

At this point I might mention the interest which has been mainifested in this problem by the Eisenhower administration. In all candor it must be said that

the prior administration was not unmindful of this problem. As early as 1946 an area development organization in the Department of Commerce in the Business and Defense Services Administration was created to make surveys and suggest remedies which would alleviate these depressed conditions in certain areas. Efforts were made to direct defense industries to these areas and also defense contracts. As I recall, 25 or more defense facilities at a cost of $210 million were established in different depressed areas and accounted for some 10,000 jobs. Last year the Department of Commerce requested of Congress $370,000 for its Business and Defense Services Administration to further explore and deal with the problem in depressed areas. Unfortunately this request was sharply pared and when it was finally approved, it was reduced to the same figure which obtained in the prior year, and as a result the Commerce Department had but $120,000 to deal with this problem. It appears to me from such figures as I have seen, that in southern Illinois there are somewhere between 15,000 and 20,000 jobless people. The relief load has been extremely heavy. In a consideration of a measure of this kind we should keep that fact in mind because the amount that might be saved if jobs can be substituted for relief would over a period of time go far to offset whatever funds might be required, whether in the form of loans or grants to carry out a depressed area program. I am quite familiar with the pending bill and my principal purpose in suggesting a number of amendments was to make it a broader and more wholehearted approach to the problem. Let me, therefore, outline suggestions which I firmly believe would improve the legislation to deal with the depressed areas problem.

1. Instead of creating an independent agency to administer a depressed area program, I would suggest that the agency be placed under the direction of the Secretary of Commerce. You will recall that much of the time and energy of the Hoover Commission was devoted to the general scheme of relieving the President of the responsibility of receiving a direct accounting from so many Federal agencies. The hope has been to minimize the number that would report directly to him. If, therefore, the Depressed Areas Administration were placed in the Department of Commerce, it would be just as effective, provided for a better line of responsibility, and be in keeping with the general theme of the recommendations of the Hoover Commission.

"2. These bills are predicated on the creation of community committees or organizations which would do the development work, provide the plans and seek to attract industries. I can, however, foresee some problems in this field because there doubtless will be instances where a committee covering a larger area might be more effective and more useful. I suggest, therefore, that the measure also include a provision for regional committees with authority to cooperate with the administrator and with the State authorities and be clothed with the same authority as the local committees. In this connection I think of the possible necessity for developing power and water resources in certain areas. To do so might prove quite costly and would have to cover a much wider area than a single community if it were to be effective. I can think of a number of areas where water is a real problem and as such it embraces a considerable number of communities. Obviously such a problem could not be handled on a strictly local or community basis and hence the need as I see is for regional committees as well.

3. In general, the measure now before this committee contemplates Federal loans for the construction of industrial plants and other industrial and commercial facilities. I, for one, am not at all sure that this language would cover the machinery and equipment necessary to establish an industrial plant. From my own industrial experience, I know that quite often machinery and equipment is a far larger, more costly, and more important item than the construction of a plant. It would, therefore, seem advisable that the bill clearly state that a Federal loan might be obtained to cover machinery and equipment as well as plant construction. This is no novel departure, because we followed a pattern of that kind during the war in connection with war plants.

4. The bill should contain a provision under which the administrator of the act would have authority to make loans and grants for the construction of laboratories and pilot plants for the processing of the resources which are native to these depressed areas. Perhaps an example will suffice to make this clear.

In the last session of Congress I offered an amendment to the Interior Department appropriations bill to provide funds for the construction and maintenance of a pilot plant and other appurtenances and for payment of technical and scientific personnel to make extended researches in the field of coal utilization.

This proposal should be of particular interest to West Virginia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and other coal States. A great deal of work has already been done in this field. What it contemplates is the distillation of coal in the hope that the char and the heavy oil which would result from such a process could be broken down and utilized in industry.

I am advised that from a single ton of coal, one could derive about 40 gallons of heavy oil or distillate and perhaps 1,500 pounds of char or residue.

The distillate would become the raw material for the manufacture of many items, including pharcaceuticals, perfumes, alcohols, and a host of other things so widely used in industry. The real problem is the use of the resulting char, and I know from the expressions of interest by a good many people identified with the steel industry that this char might have practical use in the reduction of low grade iron ores which are found in considerable abundance in Middle Western States. If these pilot plant operations could be carried to a practical and commercial conclusion the results would be the answer to the problems of depression which presently confront the coal areas of the country.

One might say as much for the utilization of timber resources. It has been my good fortune to work closely with the University of Southern Illinois and to procure a modest amount of money in the agricultural appropriation bill during the last several years for the pilot operations which they are conducting in the utilization of timber and forest products which are native to southern Illinois. Excellent work has already been done in this field but progress would be faster if out of the funds made available under this bill the Administrator were authorized to make additional grants for these purposes because they contain the hope of a real and durable remedy for the problem before us.

I regret extremely that the proposal which I had incorporated in the Interior Department appropriation bill was not finally approved. No comparable provision was inserted in the House of Representatives and the members of the conference committee of the House of Representatives refused to concur in this proposal. I am persuaded that it has great merit and that it must be pushed with all diligence.

5. I understand that adverse freight rates have had a retarding effect on industrial development in certain areas like southern Illinois. To what extent this is true I cannot at the moment say without further exploration. I am authentically advised, however, that not too long ago a Chicago manufacturer was attracted to a city in southern Illinois and was prepared to establish a plant only to discover that an adverse freight rate on his particular product made it quite difficult to compete with producers of that same product in other areas. Wherever such a condition arises the administrator should be clothed with power not only to make an app'ication to the Interstate Commerce Commission for a more favorable freight rate but should, in fact, have the benefit of prior consideration of such an application by the Commission so that wherever possible reasonably advantageous rates could be established to make the job easier in meeting the problems in these depressed areas. Obviously to establish a plant by means of local and Federal funds and then discover that it would have difficulty competing in the commercial market because of adverse freight rates would be indeed a fruitless undertaking.

6. The same general approach should be taken with respect to areas in which the depressed condition has in whole or in part resulted from the importation of competitive commodities from foreign countries which can sell in our market at a price below the cost of production in our own country.

The one example that readily comes to mind is fluorspar. This mineral is mined in southern Illinois and particularly at Rosiclare. I know something of the problems which have confronted the fluorspar industry and have for a period of 3 years worked steadily with the representatives of the industry in securing more favorable treatment by the United States Tariff Commission with respect to the duties imposed on imported fluorspar. It is a fact that imports of fluorspar from Mexico, Spain, and elsewhere, mined with cheap labor, have in large measure contributed to the distress of this industry. We have been moderately successful in securing some amelioration of this condition. It would appear, however, to be the part of wisdom to give the administrator of the depressed areas act authority to appear before the United States Tariff Commission and present the case for increased duties and to require the Tariff Commission to give priority to such a petition. If in the case of southern Illinois the fluorspar mines could be placed on a sound basis so that the men might have steady employment this would go far toward alleviating the distress which

now exists and prove durable indeed in assuring the communities where these mines are located that the jobs are secure.

In this connection perhaps I should point out that these mines were developed with private capital and in the utmost of good faith over a long period of time. Could we do better than to recreate the jobs which were lost or placed on a slender part-time basis by crushing imports by bringing the matter very forcefully to the attention of the Tariff Commission with a request for relief.

7. The instant bill calls for the appointment of a local industrial development committee which shall prepare plans for the construction of industrial plants and facilities and then be authorized to borrow not to exceed two-thirds of the cost if and when the plans have the approval of the administrator. I believe it would be well to extend the same rights and privileges to private industrial enterprisers who are willing to locate industrial plants in such depressed areas. This would save the time and energy of many people in the community and at the same time achieve the very objectives and purposes which the bill has in mind. In fact, it would be highly desirable if such incentives could be made available to private enterprisers as well as to communities because it is fair to assume that men who are willing to risk their own capital and energies in the location of a plant would be thinking in terms of a plant which would be continuously in operation and thereby bring assurance that the jobs would be continuing instead of temporary. Provision should also be made for aid in the expansion of industries which already exist.

8. Under certain circumstances I believe that the loan provisions in any bill should be made more generous. The bill on which hearings were held provides for a loan not in excess of 66% percent of the cost of construction of the project. Naturally this would mean that the community where the plant is located would have to subscribe the other one-third. Since we are dealing with depressed areas, for such a community to subscribe one way or another one-third of the cost of a plant might become a truly difficult burden. For example, to build a plant of some consequence might cost a million dollars. If the project were approved, it would mean that $333,000 would have to be raised locally. In many communities this is not an easy undertaking. It is enitrely possible, however, that a plant operator of character, background, and experience would be willing to operate a plant in a community and give adaquate assurances that it would continue in operation for 5 or 10 years or even longer. If such an operator were willing to enter into a legal and enforceable contract to that effect and gave the necessary guaranties it would occur to me that a substantially larger loan might be made out of Federal funds in order to achieve the construction and location of such a plant. It would be within the province of the administrator to determine the effects and to be satisfied that such was the case before a loan of as much as 80 or 85 percent of the construction cost might be made.

9. With reference to the funds made available in the bill for industrial-loan purposes, there is no limitation on the amount which the administrator might loan to any one depressed area in any given State. It has been the custom in connection with so many other measures approved by Congress that in the interest of equity and fairness, such funds be allotted on a percentage basis so that every area could be sure of completely fair treatment. We have done this in connection with farm-tenant loans under the Farmers' Home Administration. We have done this in connection with rural-electrification loans. It is, therefore, my suggestion that the funds made available under the bill be set up so that 75 percent of the whole fund be allotted to the respective States on the basis of the number of unemployed in the distressed area in that State bears to the whole number of unemployed in all of the depressed areas throughout the country. This would simply mean that if there were 20,000 unemployed in the depressed area in Illinois and the whole number of unemployed in all of the depressed areas now cataloged by the Department of Labor totaled 200,000, that 10 percent of 75 percent would be earmarked for Illinois. Since provision is made for $100 million in loan funds and if $75 million were placed under allotment, 10 percent of the $75 million would mean that $7,500,000 would be assured to the State. The remaining 25 percent could be dispersed within the discretion of the administrator. This would supply sufficient latitude for the administrator and at the same time assure every depressed area that funds up to a given amount would be available for the purposes of the bill.

10. The same formula could be used with respect to that provision in the bill which provides for assistance to public facilities. There is a provision under which $100 million would be made available for loans and grants to depressed