ties in the area, and such out-migration has brought about a high proportion of the aged in our total population. Moreover, there has been no organized program for the development of human skills in the area. A 1954 survey of our unemployment showed that 30 percent of them fell in the unskilled category and another 30 percent fell in the semi-skilled category-with a relatively smaller percentage of skilled workers unemployed. There are two things which must be done, (1) job opportunities must be provided for our youth by an industrialization of our area, and (2) we must embark upon a vocational training program. We should not delay any longer the introduction of a widespread and detailed vocational training program in Hardin County. In conclusion, may we say it is, alas, true that our local efforts up to date to exploit our assets have been fruitless in the specifics of bringing new businesses to Hardin County or lifting our economic levels, but we must claim that our efforts have built for us, we believe, a richer and warmer social climate for our community-our people know one another better, are more intimately conscious of our mutual problems and feel a greater and firmer sense of unity and community spirit in the area. We would welcome the helping hand of any Government agency in the volunteer effort we are now engaged in to improve our community. Mr. MULTER. Mr. Chairman, Congressman Celler has indicated that he is authorized by the New York Democratic delegation to make a statement for that delegation on this bill, and if we should recess the public hearings before he is ready to testify, because he is now quite busily engaged in his own committee, I ask leave that his statement be made a part of our record. The CHAIRMAN. Without objection, that may be done. (The statement follows:) STATEMENT BY REPRESENTATIVE EMANUEL CELLER ON BEHALF OF THE MEMBERS OF THE NEW YORK DEMOCRATIC DELEGATION Mr. Chairman, on January 30, 1956, the entire membership of the New York democratic delegation introduced identical bills to reduce unemployment in economically depressed areas. In an era such as this, in which our country is enjoying high levels of national productivity and national income, and in which more people are enjoying improved living standards and a greater prosperity, we are confronted with the devastating fact that many areas throughout the land are faced with depressed economic conditions of appalling proportions. We introduced this legislation, mindful of the necessity to forestall the deleterious effects which might accrue, were we to permit this present load of unemployment to broaden and permeate our national economy. It is both inhuman and wasteful economically to sit idly by as some regions deteriorate. It has not been for want of trying that the depressed areas have been unable to revive their economy. Local and State efforts have, in most cases, not been sufficient to meet the totality of the problem, and reviving them may be a requirement for the survival and health of our national economy. A depressed area inevitably affects the areas around it and can thus prove harmful to the business development of an entire State. No degree of national prosperity is so sufficient that it can afford to ignore such pockets of disaster. These areas involve thousands of families who have little hope of finding employment, who live wholly on relief, and whose human morale and family conditions are fast deteriorating. Much of the difficulty has arisen from the decline of industries upon which they once depended for a living, and the lack of sufficient industrial replacement programs to make up for the jobs they lost. This is a particularly favored time for us to develop the depressed areas in our midst. Our big industries are at a booming level. It will take a number of years for present capacity to meet the broadening demands for metals, aluminum, electronics, jet and rocket equipment our present society requires. With the increase of industrial progress and the growth of population, the need for more and more skilled workers, industrial buildings, additional transportation, becomes increasingly apparent. It is, indeed, an ideal time to rehabilitate and rejuvenate those areas where vital skills and human willingness seem to be drifting in a vacuum for lack of appropriate support. The question at issue is not one which can be solved by suggestions that families or business ventures move from a depressed area to one more favored at the moment. We are living in the twentieth century, and our physical expansion to the shores of the Pacific has been accomplished. It is not for us now to leave areas of desolation, for we are in need of all our areas to permit the expansion that science has brought to the 20th century. It has been said that a program of rehabilitating depressed areas might serve to injure other areas. But experience has shown that revitalizing an area, enriches not only the area in question, but all areas surrounding it. The TVA and the Columbia River development, for example, have illustrated this fact amply. In own own State of New York, if the Mohawk Valley area is prosperous, New York City benefits immensely. The city becomes the market, the transfer point, the financial center, and often, the site of the offices of the plants in the valley. We cannot escape the fact that there is chronic unemployment in 19 major labor market areas and in 64 smaller areas of the country. Moreover, there are also other small areas throughout the country which have never been classified by the Department of Labor. All such areas should be eligible for assistance in the legislation under consideration. Some form of Federal aid which can strike at the root of the problem and supplement and coordinate local and State efforts to help the depressed areas is a necessity. The bills we have introduced would authorize loans and grants to aid in the construction of industrial plants in areas where excessive unemployment exists. Although we have defined a depressed area as a community in which it is determined that 9 percent of the labor supply has been unemployed for at least 18 months, or at least 6 percent for at least 3 years, it is our view that any formula adopted should be sufficiently flexible to recognize the particular needs of labor-depressed areas. Joint efforts by Federal, State, and local groups should be made to alleviate the unemployment by initiating programs of needed public facilities. Other forms of relief, such as technical and tax assistance, should be included in any adequate Federal program. We fully indorse the recommendation that there should be an absolute prohibition in the legislation to withhold assistance to firms that move from one section or region of the country to the depressed community. The assistance must be limited to expansion purposes. To do otherwise will put a premium on depressing one area in order to aid another. To stem the tide of unemployment as it exists today and offer constructive aid to depressed areas is, we feel, of the utmost importance to our well-being and our national security. We wish to thank you for the courtesy of permitting us to submit this statement. Emanuel Celler on behalf of Victor L. Anfuso, Charles A.. The CHAIRMAN. He wants to appear personally, and if he can't appear personally, we will have his statement? Mr. MULTER. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. If there is nothing further, we will adjourn, to meet tomorrow morning. We are going to have our colleagues here tomorrow morning. great number of them have bills, and they all want to be heard. A We thank you very much for the statement you made. It is quite a contribution. We will consider it when we go into executive session. (Whereupon, at 11:58 a. m., the committee adjourned, to reconvene at 10 a. m., Thursday, April 26, 1956.) AREA ASSISTANCE ACT OF 1956 THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 1956 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON BANKING AND CURRENCY, Washington, D. C. The committee met at 10:08 a. m., the Honorable Brent Spence (chairman) presiding. Present: Chairman Spence (presiding), and Messrs. Brown, Rains, Multer, O'Hara, Fountain, Mrs. Griffiths, Messrs. Vanik, Healey, Wolcott, Talle, Betts, Mumma, McVey, Nicholson, and Bass. The CHAIRMAN. The committee will be in order. STATEMENT OF HON. FRANK THOMPSON, JR., A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE FOURTH DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY Mr. THOMPSON. Mr. Chairman, I am Frank Thompson, Jr., from the Fourth District of New Jersey. I certainly appreciate very much the opportunity to appear before this distinguished committee today to discuss one of the most important problems facing our Nation in the field of economics, the so-called depressed areas. It is one which demands immediate and thoughtful consideration and action. I have prepared a statement here which I hope in perhaps some small way might offer my thoughts, and I hope that those thoughts. might be of some value. I would like to cooperate fully with whatever solution the committee in its wisdom arrives at, and I would pay tribute to the distinguished chairman and to those on the committee who are giving this. problem so much thought. I have, as you know, introduced a bill, H. R. 10443, and this is one of the measures before your committee this morning. My bill is a companion measure to S. 2663 offered in the Senate last year by Senator Paul Douglas for himself and Senators Kefauver, McNamara, Humphrey, Neely, Murray, and Kennedy. Hearings have been held on this Democratic proposal to meet the problems of depressed areas in our country by the Senate Labor and Public Welfare Committee. The CHAIRMAN. Your statement may be filed. I am sure the committee will consider it when they go into executive session. As you say, this is an important problem, not alone for the depressed areas but for the Nation. It will need our best efforts to find some satisfactory solution. 313 We are very glad to have your views and give us the benefit of your experience. I know you come from an area that is considered a depressed area. Mr. THOMPSON. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. (The statement follows:) STATEMENT OF HON. FRANK THOMPSON, JR., A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY Mr. Chairman, it gives me a great deal of pleasure to appear before this distinguished committee today to discuss one of the most important problems facing the Nation today in the field of economics the so-called depressed areas. Recently, the Eisenhower administration has changed its tune regarding necessary Government action in aid of depressed economic areas. They now admit the existence of such areas and that they do need help. I suppose that is progress of a sort, but it is my belief that the aid they propose to extend to the depressed areas falls into that alltoo-familiar category-too little, too late. This is a most serious problem for many of the people of our Nation, particularly those who live in what are called areas of chronic labor surplus. Much has been said, recently, both in the Congress and in the Nation's press, about the economic plight of the farmer. Now I certainly agree that the farmer's situation is not good and has been getting steadily worse over the past few years. Much less is said and a still smaller amount is done, however, for the industrial workers in the textile industry or the miners in Pennsylvania and West Virginia who face not just declinnig income, but total loss of all income. These people need help now, and it would seem that the Federal Government is the only agency in a position to offer help to the extent that it is needed. For this reason, I regard the legislation which I have introduced on this subject to be of the utmost importance. The bill is a companion measure to one introduced in the Senate by Senator Paul Douglas. As I see it, this bill would go a long way toward meeting the needs of these unfortunate peoples. I should like to discuss very briefly what the bill proposes to accomplish. In the first place, the bill would establish a Depressed Areas Administration and an Advisory Committee consisting of the heads of the major Federal bureaus concerned with the various aspects of the problem. Also, it would set up local committees in the affected areas to work with the Administrator in coordinating local and Federal activities. The necessity for these agencies is, I think, perfectly apparent. Many Federal agencies take actions and institute policies which impinge on the whole problem. Clearly, coordination is necessary if duplication and waste of effort are to be avoided. This can best be accomplished through establishing a central agency with responsibility for the overall program and giving them the benefit of the advice of the various bureau heads most conversant with various details of the problem. The local committees would insure the attention of the large central agency to the immediate needs of individual localities. These needs are certain to be complex and varied since the depressed areas them |