I remember in every session we have had on these bills, going back to 1949, Mr. Bennett has expressed a very keen interest in this endeavor. Mr. BENNETT. Thank you, Mr. Wier.

Mr. WIER. I think he knows more about it than I do. I am not going to question him.

Mr. ELLIOTT. He knows considerable about it. I know that.
Mr. BENNETT. Thank you very much.

Mr. ELLIOTT. The gentleman from South Dakota, Mr. McGovern. Mr. McGOVERN. I will defer my questioning for the time being, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. ELLIOTT. What was the number of your bill?

Mr. BENNETT. 3603.

Mr. ELLIOTT. Without objection, H. R. 3603, by Mr. Bennett, will be made part of the record immediately following his testimony. (H. R. 3603 follows:)

[H. R. 3603, 85th Cong., 1st sess.]

A BILL To establish the Federal Agency for Handicapped, to define its duties, and for other purposes

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may be cited as "An Act to increase defense manpower; provide for the general welfare; and by establishing the Federal Agency for Handicapped help preserve our Nation."

TITLE I-PURPOSES

SEC. 101. The purpose of this Act, in furtherance of the general welfare, and to aid the national defense and improve our domestic economy, are

(a) to provide for maximum extension of medical services, vocational guidance and counseling, education and training, and full-employment opportunities to citizens handicapped by physical or mental disabilities;

(b) to provide for effective coordination of functions relating to rehabilitation and employment of the handicapped;

(c) to establish an independent Federal Agency for the Handicapped, and to establish in said Agency an Advisory Council on Affairs of the Handicapped;

(d) to establish an Office of Services for the Blind in said Agency for the handicapped;

(e) to provide for cooperative enterprises for the handicapped;

(f) to provide for the establishment of rehabilitation centers for the handicapped;

(g) to provide special programs for severely handicapped persons, including establishment of workshops;

(h) to establish a Federal service to the handicapped revolving loan fund, from which fund States may borrow money at such times as their own funds for vocational rehabilitation or employment of the handicapped, or for both, are exhausted, and to appropriate an initial sum of $10,000,000 for such revolving loan fund;

(i) to establish a Division for the Handicapped in the United States Civil Service Commission;

(j) to promote public-safety programs designed to eliminate and prevent conditions which tend to promote injuries and disease in public buildings, institution, parks, and other public places;

(k) to provide for reports from all Federal agencies which now receive, or may in future receive, as a part of their functions, reports relating to handicapped persons;

(1) to provide variable grants to States for vocational rehabilitation; (m) to provide grants to handicapped persons who require special home training, and so forth;

(n) to establish a Federal second-injury tax and fund;

(o) to establish a Commission To Survey and Determine Proper Selective Placement of Handicapped Individuals;

(p) to provide interpreters for the deaf, and for other physically handicapped persons, who may be called as litigants or witnesses before Federal courts, departments or agencies, or congressional committees;

(q) to provide for grants to homebound handicapped; and

(r) to establish, in the United States Department of Labor, training courses, in cooperation with the States, especially to develop specialists in counseling and placement of the handicapped; and to develop procedures, manuals, handbooks, special disability guides, physical demand studies on twenty-five thousand three hundred and thirty-nine jobs, now shown in the Occupational Directory; methods of placing the severely handicapped, in cooperation with physicians, rehabilitation and social workers, and other experts in such matters.

TITLE II-ORGANIZATION

SEC. 201. (a) There is hereby created the Federal Agency for Handicapped (hereinafter referred to as the “Agency”) which shall be an independent agency under the direction and control of an Administrator of Services for the Handicapped (hereinafter referred to as the "Administrator") who shall be appointed by the President for a term of not less than two years, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and who shall receive compensation at the rate of $20,000 per annum.

(b) The Administrator is authorized to establish such rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry out his functions under the provisions of this Act. He may, subject to the civil service and classification laws, appoint such employees as he deems necessary to perform his functions and duties under the provisions of this Act. He may also employ such specialists and consultants as may be required, without reference to civil service laws. Whenever practicable, persons appointed under this subsection shall be drawn from otherwise qualified but physically handicapped applicants.

(c) The Administrator, with the consent of the head of the department or agency concerned, is authorized to borrow officials and employees, who are specialists in varied fields of the handicapped program, from other departments and - agencies of the Federal or State governments: Provided, that the Administrator shall compensate such departments or agencies for the use of such officials and employees.

SEC. 202. (a) All the functions of the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, under the provisions of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act, as amended, are hereby transferred to the Administrator.

(b) The functions of the National Advisory Council on Vocational Rehabilitation, established under the Vocational Rehabilitation Act, are transferred to the Advisory Council on Affairs of the Handicapped, established under the provisions of section 203 of this Act, and the National Advisory Council on Vocational Rehabilitation is abolished.

(c) There are transferred to the Agency, for use in connection with the functions transferred by the provisions of this section, all personnel (except the members of the National Council on Vocational Rehabilitation) property, records, and unexpended balances of appropriations, allocations, and other funds (available, or to be made available), as are determined by Director of the Bureau of the Budget to relate to functions transferred by the provisions of this section. SEC. 203. (a) There is hereby created in the Agency an Advisory Council on Affairs of the Handicapped, to consist of eighteen members, who are qualified in handicapped affairs, who shall be appointed by the Administrator, without regard to civil service laws, as follows: Three to represent employers; three to represent bona fide national labor organizations; three to represent bona fide organizations of handicapped who are, themselves, physically handicapped; three to represent bona fide organizations of farmers and stockraisers; three to be chosen from citizens experienced in public affairs; and three from the arts and sciences. (b) The Administrator shall be ex officio Chairman of the Advisory Council, which shall meet at least three times yearly on call of the Chairman. Members shall be appointed, one from each representative group of three to serve a oneyear term, one from each such group to serve a two-year term, and one from each such group to serve a three-year term. They shall be paid a per diem of $50 per day, and traveling and other necessary expenses, for each day of actual service and shall be eligible for reappointment.

(c) The Council is authorized to appoint such special advisory or technical subcommittees as may be necessary or useful in carrying out the functions of

the Council under this Act, and the Administrator may appoint such additional individuals and advisory and technical subcommittees as may be useful or necessary in carrying out his functions under this Act.

SEC. 204. (a) There is hereby established a Federal Interagency Committee on Rehabilitation and Employment of the Handicapped, which shall be composed of qualified representatives to be chosen by the heads of the Federal departments or agencies which have a substantial or significant participation in activities dealing with problems of the handicapped, such as the Veterans' Administration, United States Civil Service Commission, United States Bureau of Employment Security, Public Health Service, and so forth.

(b) The Administrator shall serve as Chairman of the Interagency Committee, and shall use the authority granted him under the provisions of this Act to effectuate programs and policies developed by the Committee.

(c) The Committee shall develop and encourage the effectiveness of more economical and efficient methods of administration of activities relating to the handicapped, encourage the coordination of the functions of the various Federal agencies serving the handicapped, and develop advanced programs for the blind, deaf, hard of hearing, amputees, arthritics, cardiacs, cerebral palsied, diabetics, epipletics, victims of muscular dystrophy, mutiple sclerosis, poliomyelitis, rheumatism, silicosis, or any large or distinct group of handicapped. In carrying out such duties the Committee is authorized

(1) to collect, tabulate and publish statistics relating to the physically and mentally handicapped;

(2) to ascertain and publicize the fields of employment available to the physically and mentally handicapped;

(3) to acquaint employers in private industry with the special capabilities of the handicapped, and to encourage the employment of the handicapped where feasible and practicable, on an equal footing with the nonhandicapped; and

(4) to cooperate with public and private agencies, organizations, and individuals in the medical and vocational rehabilitation and placement in suitable employment of the handicapped.

(d) In performing the activities authorized in this section the Committee shall, wherever possible, and with the consent of the heads thereof, utilize the services and facilities of the Agency, the Bureau of Apprenticeship, Civil Service Commission, Social Security Administration, United States Public Health Service, Office of Education, Children's Bureau, Bureau of the Census, and other appropriate Federal agencies.

(e) The Administrator is authorized to detail to the Committee, upon its request, any officer or employee of the Agency, and, in his discretion, to reimburse, from funds available for the administration of this Act, the appropriation from which the salary or allowance of such officer or employee is paid.

SEC. 205. (a) The functions of the Division for Physically Handicapped in the Secretary's Office of the Department of Labor are hereby transferred to the Agency and shall hereafter be performed by the Administrator.

(b) It shall be the duty of the Administrator to provide such facilities, staff, and service to the President's Committee on Employment of the Physically Handicapped as shall be necessary for proper performance of the Committee's functions in connection with the annual observance of "National Employ the Physically Handicapped Week", and with the Committee's other continuing programs. Such Committee may reimburse, out of funds appropriated to it, the Administrator for any facilities or assistance, or both, provided under the authority of this section.

(c) The joint resolution entitled "Joint resolution authorizing an appropriation for the work of the President's Committee on National Employ the Physically Handicapped Week”, approved July 11, 1949 (63 Stat. 409), as amended, is amended by striking out $225,000 and inserting in lieu thereof $250,000.

TITLE III-COOPERATIVE ENTERPRISES FOR HANDICAPPED

SEC. 301. The sum of $10,000,000 is hereby authorized to be appropriated, out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the fiscal year 1957-58, and $5,000,000 annually, for each of the five fiscal years thereafter, for establishing and maintaining work projects cooperative enterprises for physically and mentally handicapped persons.

SEC. 302. Out of the sums authorized to be appropriated in section 301, the Administrator is authorized and empowered to make loans, on the recommenda

tion of State agencies engaged in the rehabilitation of the handicapped, to individuals, corporations, States, Territories, or subdivisions or agencies thereof, and to coperative, nonprofit, or limited dividend associations organized under the laws of any State or Territory, for the purpose of financing work projects cooperative enterprises for those handicapped persons regarded as unfeasible for rehabilitation, who require special conditions of employment and training. No single loan shall exceed $50,000, and not less than 25 per centum of the loans made in any fiscal year shall be for projects established or to be established in rural areas, as defined by the Administrator.

SEC. 303. Such loans shall be made on such terms and conditions as the Administrator shall determine: Provided, That all loans shall be self-liquidating within a period of twenty years, and shall bear interest at a rate not exceeding 2 per centum per annum: Provided further, That no loans for the purchase, construction, enlargement, rental, or operation of any plan, or property, shall be made in any State except upon the recommendation of the State agency engaged in the rehabilitation of the handicapped of that State: And provided further, That no loans shall be made except upon condition that the recipient thereof provide safeguards to assure the observance, in the operation of the program, of all applicable Federal, State, and local regulations, laws, or standards, regarding health, safety, wages, hours, and working conditions in industrial and commercial establishments, and the observance of such requirements not in conflict with such regulations, laws, or standards as the Administrator may, by regulation, prescribe to maintain adequate standards governing health, wages, hours, and working conditions.

TITLE IV-OFFICE OF SERVICES FOR THE BLIND

SEC. 401. Benefits now received by the blind shall not prejudice or debar the blind from seeking or receiving additional benefits as may be made available under this Act.

SEC. 402. (a) The functions of the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, under the provisions of title X of the Social Security Act, as amended, are transferred to the Administrator.

(b) There are transferred to the Agency for use in connection with the functions transferred by the provisions of this section, the personnel, records, and unexpended balances of appropriations, allocations, and other funds (available, or to be made available) of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, which are determined by the Director of the Bureau of the Budget to relate to such functions.

SEC. 403. (a) The functions of the Library of Congress and the Librarian thereof, under the provisions of the Act of March 3, 1931 (46 Stat. 1487), as amended, are transferred to the Administrator.

(b) There are transferred to the Agency, for use in connection with the functions transferred by the provisions of this section, the personnel, property, records, and unexpended balances of appropriations, allocations, and other funds (available, or to be made available) of the Library of Congress which are determined by the Director of the Bureau of the Budget to relate to such functions.

SEC. 404. The first sentence of the first section of the Act of June 20, 1939 (52 Stat. 1196), is amended to read as follows: "There is hereby created a committee to be known as the Committee on Purchases of Blind-Made Products (hereinafter referred to as the 'Committee') to be composed of a private citizen conversant with the problems incident to the employment of the blind, and a representative of each of the following Federal agencies: The Department of Defense, the Department of the Treasury, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Commerce, the Department of the Interior, and the Department of Labor."

SEC. 405. For the purpose of coordinating services to blind persons, the functions transferred by this title shall be placed in an Office of Services for the Blind, which shall be headed by a Director, appointed by the Administrator. SEC. 406. The Act entitled "An Act to authorize the operation of stands in Federal buildings by blind persons, to enlarge the economic opportunities of the blind, and for other purposes," approved June 20, 1936, as amended (20 U. S. C., secs. 107-107F), is hereby amended as follows:

(1) Renumber section 6 to be section 7 and section 7 to be section 8, and insert a new section 6 as follows:

"SEC. 6. In addition to blind persons hitherto designated as potential operators of stands in Federal buildings, hereafter, citizens handicapped to the extent

of not less than 75 per centum disability, by cerebral palsy, cardiac conditions, arthritis, epilepsy, poliomyelitis, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, rheumatism, amputations, paraplegia, hemiplegia, quadriplegia, or results of other diseases, injuries, or congenital defects or deformities, if such person is otherwise qualified, or may be trained in the same manner as have, heretofore, the blind who have qualified for such positions, they shall be given equal opportunities with the blind to avail themselves of privileges of operating stands in Federal buildings."

(2) Amend the title so as to read: "An Act to authorize the operation of stands in Federal buildings by blind persons and other severely handicapped persons; to enlarge their economic opportunities; and for other purposes."

TITLE V-REHABILITATION CENTERS

SEC. 501. There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary for making payments to States which have submitted and had approved by the Administrator, in addition to State plans under the Vocational Rehabilitation Act, as amended, State plans for rehabilitation centers under this title. SEC. 502. To be approvable under this title, the State plan, in addition to fulfilling the conditions specified in the Vocational Rehabilitation Act, as amended, shall

(a) provide such rules, regulations, and standards as the Administrator may find reasonable and necessary to assure, in the establishment, maintenance, and operation of rehabilitation centers established pursuant to this title

(1) the observance of minimum standards for their adequate establishment and economical and efficient maintenance and operation, and the provision of services therein at reasonable rates and in accordance with professional standards;

(2) the observance, by such centers, of all applicable Federal, State, and local regulations, laws or standards governing health, safety, wages and hours, and working conditions;

(3) the maintenance of accepted business standards, including adequate financial safeguards (including insurance), as may be necessary to provide stability and protection for such centers; and

(4) that such centers will remain available for the provision of services to the physically and mentally handicapped;

(b) provide that no portion of any money paid to the State under this title shall be applied, directly or indirectly, to the cost of establishing any rehabilitation centers unless

(1) the State agency heretofore submitted such information as the Administrator may find necessary to justify the need therefor;

(2) the Administrator has determined that need exists for such center in that locality and that the plans and specifications for its establishment and operation, including financial arrangements for its establishment, and its maintenance and operation when completed, are practicable and calculated to achieve the purposes of this Act; and

(3) in the case of any rehabilitation center within the purview of section 503 of this Act, application therefor has been approved under such section.

SEC. 503. In the case of any rehabilitation center which constitutes a "hospital," as defined in clause (c) of section 631 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U. S. C. 291 1 (e)), an application therefor shall also be made under section 625 of such Act for Federal assistance in the cost of the construction and equipment thereof. The determination of the Surgeon General and the State agency (designated pursuant to subsection 623 of such Act), whether to approve such application, shall be made without regard to the project's priority or inclusion in a State construction program under such Act, and without regard to the availability of funds from the State's allotment under section 624 of such Act. Federal payments with respect to construction and equipment of such project shall

(a) be made from appropriations pursuant to this Act and not from appropriations pursuant to section 624 of the Public Health Service Act; (b) be made in the manner and subject to the same conditions as provided for payments under this Act and not under section 625 of the Public Health Service Act: Provided, That payments therefor under this Act shall be at the rate provided under part C of title VI of the Public Health Service Act as in effect at the time such payments are made; and

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