industries is a salutary provision of your bill. We in the Scranton area have been clamoring for this type of tax relief for prospective industries for a number of years and strongly urge that this section. of the bill be retained.

Our industrial commissioner, Major Lee White, who has had extensive industrial contacts, has informed me that this device in your bill will attract a wide variety of new industries in the area and will be a real inducement and an impetus to locate here.

This tax concession, when added to other locational advantages, will inevitably lead to a channeling of new industrial plants and achieve the economic redevelopment of these areas which is the basic purpose of your legislation.

I heartily endorse section 15 of your bill providing for vocational training facilities in distressed areas. Many of our workers displaced from employment and mining operations and other young people who are either unable to, or unwilling to work in, or cannot find employment in the mines lack the necessary training to secure immediate employment in new industries.

The training of these workers through the vocational facilities provided in your bill would prove to be a very tangible advantage to the new industries in that it will make readily available a trained labor pool of workers now essential to the intricate and technological changes in industrial and manufacturing operations.

I wish to make one final recommendation to this committee which although it is not part of the present bill is not foreign to it. Because its objectives would be the same, and that is to relieve unemployment in critical economic areas, I suggest a change in the present procurement policy of the Federal Government with relation to the award of contracts in chronic labor-surplus areas.

The present procurement policy, as directed by the Office of Defense Mobilization, merely suggests that procurement agencies exercise their best efforts to award contracts to corporations located within these areas to the extent that procurement objectives will permit.

It is apparently evident that in application of manpower policy No. 4, as revised, the only consideration a bidder from a distressed area could possibly hope for would be at the sole discretion or the whim of the awarding officer. We have found this directive completely innocuous and ineffective in diverting defense industries or defense contracts to our area.

I believe that the Office of Defense Mobilization should be granted authority by legislation to implement and coordinate a workable uniform policy of procurement to relieve the unemployment situation in chronically affected labor surplus areas.

Preservation of the economy in these areas is vital to the national economy in any consideration of the maintenance of the mobilization base. I, therefore, recommend an amendment to your bill which would make it mandatory upon the Office of Defense Mobilization to channel contracts to chronic labor-surplus areas to the extent that qualified unsuccessful bidders from such an area would be given the opportunities to meet the lowest bid for the particular procurement in question. Before considering the award of the contract, the procurement agency should (1) determine whether or not the lowest qualified bidder is located in a chronic labor surplus area; (2) if not, to ascertain

which qualified bidders are located therein; (3) the lowest bidder of this group shall then be afforded an opportunity to match the lowest qualified bidder which is not located in the labor surplus area; (4) if this bidder refuses, the same offer shall then be made to the next lowest bidder in this group, and so on, until one such bidder accepts or all have refused; (5) if all bidders in this group refuse, only then shall the contract be awarded to a bidder outside of the designated laborsurplus areas.

If the above five points can be incorporated into the procurement policy, such a revision will in no way be at a greater cost to the United States Government in securing defense material. And it will at the same time be of tremendous assistance to those qualified bidders located in chronic labor-surplus areas.

This change in the procurement policy would serve to implement the other salutary provisions of your bill, and would utilize the facilities of existing plants in this area which are on the Government's qualified list of bidders. I believe that the pending legislation, if amended within constitutional limits, will not only aid communities which are presently suffering from substantial persisent unemployment and be their salvation, but also now prosperous communities of the country which in the future, through economic maladjustments or technological changes not presently anticipated, may become classified

as such.

Senator NEELY. Thank you.

Your suggested amendments will be brought to the attention of the full committee.

May we now hear from Mr. Blier, the next witness on the list. STATEMENT OF BERNARD BLIER, SECRETARY OF THE CITY PLANNING COMMISSION OF SCRANTON, PA., AND DIRECTOR OF THE REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY AT SCRANTON, PA.

Mr. BLIER. My name is Bernard Blier, and I am secretary of the city planning commission at Scranton, and I am director of the redevelopment authority there, and also public relations director for the Northeast Industrial Development Commission.

I have prepared statements which I will introduce into the record. Senator NEELY. It will be printed in full.

Mr. BLIER. I would like to make these three observations:

(1) In support of Mr. Preate and other speakers here, it is my firm belief that the financial lending provisions of your bill are the type of assistance that is absolutely and vitally necessary to the various community programs and possibly some State programs that may be developed.

The other point is that I think there has been enough said over the years about the type of consideration that should be extended to depressed areas where contracts, Government contracts, are involved. We have heard many high and lofty pronouncements over the years. And I think this is about time that included in your bill should be some provision to give adequate assistance and relief to distressed areas on a contract base.

The third point I want to make is a point that is included in the Smith bill that has been introduced, I understand, by the administra

tion. Under that bill several provisions permit administration activities that would accomplish the development of industrial sites in communities of chronic labor surplus.

I am affiliated with the Scranton Redevelopment Authority. Our first site, our first site that was set up by the planning commission, was an area that did not qualify under the present bill. However, I believe that the provisions in the Smith bill will take care of that. I would like this committee to examine those provisions and make some effort to incorporate them in the bill.

I want to thank you for the privilege of appearing before your committee.

Senator NEELY. The provisions mentioned will be duly considered, and your statement will be printed in the record.

(The statement follows:)

REMARKS OF BERNARD BLIER, SECRETARY CITY PLANNING COMMISSION, SCRANTON, PA., BEFORE THE SPECIAL SENATE LABOR SUBCOMMITTEE, TAKING TESTIMONY ON S. 2663, DEPRESSED AREAS ACT, ON FEBRUARY 10, 1956

Governor Neely and committee representatives, I am Bernard Blier of Scranton. I am secretary of the city planning commission, director of the city's redevelopment authority, and public-relations director of the Northeast Pennsylvania Industrial Development Commission.

The great interest displayed by the Senate Labor and Public Welfare Committee in developing grassroots observations on the Douglas-Flood bill through such onsite field hearings, is a clear demonstration to me that the 2d of the 84th Congress is intent on providing vital Federal assistance to those areas in our country which do not share the average prosperity now being enjoyed by more fortunate regions.

I am grateful to this subcommittee for your invitation to appear here today, and to briefly state my personal feelings drawn from close association with the problems and the progress of our chronic anthracite labor-market area.

At the very outset, I would like to clearly state that I am in full accord with the theme of S. 2663. I further believe that those among us who are familiar with community programs of self-help or who plan to wage such programs in the future, will be in full support of this measure.

While representatives of area industrial-development programs have already presented testimony, or will during the course of this afternoon, designed to point out the great need for Federal loan capital to share the risk in communityproject financing, I will discuss two other major points very germane to this entire program.

I believe that the Congress of the United States can make a substantial contribution to the restoration of soft spots economy by initiating a very well planned and adequately financed public-facilities program.

Under section 9, many projects, now deferred because of the condition of the local economy, could be launched that would furnish new and needed public facilities, relieve the local public agency from such financial burden, but most of all, provide sadly needed male construction jobs. In the thirties, the Federal Government, when the national economy faltered after a brief period of about 5 years, kicked off a public-works program to infuse new earned dollars into the economy.

Many of our so-called distressed areas have been visited by chronic labor surpluses for almost 25 years. In many sections of this very area the prosperity of the twenties was beclouded by the depression of the thirties, which continued through the forties, and is continuing past the midway point in the fifties-despite the claims of total prosperity made in some quarters.

I know that the cities and other political subdivisions in northeastern Pennsylvania, and I am sure in all other labor-surplus areas, would welcome some concrete public-facilities program which is very significantly a major part of this proposed legislation.

I know that Congressman Flood feels that this program of public improvement for areas such as ours, joined together with industrial-development loan provisions of the bill, will go a long way toward assisting our communities help themselves.

The other major point that I would like to express before the subcommittee is the absolute necessity of incorporating those sections of S. 2892, which would permit the Housing and Home Finance Administrator to assist local communities in the preparation of badly needed industrial sites.

I am executive director of the Scranton Redevelopment Authority, and we have three urban renewal projects now in varying stages of development. Because of the conditions that such project areas must be clearly predominantly residential in character, to quote the law, Scranton was forced to bypass several blighted sections of the city that could be very easily redeveloped for industrial reuses.

I strongly suggest to the subcommittee that it consider adding sections 103 through 106 of Senate bill 2892 or expand the Housing Administrator's authority further, to assure full participation of communities such as ours in the urban renewal program and its proposed adjunct the industrial-site development plan. In conclusion, I would like to say that our Scranton Chamber of Commerce, through its nonprofit community-development corporations has utilized all of our local financial resources, simply because of the success of their technique of building and financing. Now, they, together with other similarly successful communities, need the assistance of the Congress. They need risk money. They want to borrow this money under your revolving-fund principal. They are not in support of any giveaway program. S. 2663 will accomplish that in spirit.

Others have no doubt labored this point before. But it demands further emphasis. The best way to help a soft-economy region is to help and expand existing industry. I am sure that your committee can devise some reasonable manner by which our procurement authorities might provide special contract preference to surplus-labor-area regions. Many pious Government pronouncements have been broadcast periodically from Washington, but not yet in my experience has any of these granted any help.

I believe, too, that the fast tax write or other tax incentive plan should be expanded for so-called distressed areas.

I wish to express my appreciation to the subcommittee for their sincere interest in endeavoring to help hard-pressed communities that have made a valiant effort to help themselves.

Thank you.

Senator NEELY. Our next witness is the distinguished Mayor Kelly, of Carbondale.

STATEMENT OF FRANK P. KELLY, MAYOR OF CARBONDALE, PA.

Mr. KELLY. Thank you, Senator.

It certainly is a pleasure to be invited to come here. I know you are pressed for time, and I have a printed statement. I just want to read the closing remarks.

Our community is 100 percent behind this bill. We think it is something that is needed, not only for our community, but for the entire region here who are suffering the same effects that we are. Our community is trying to help themselves. We are not unmindful of our conditions, and we are not sitting back doing nothing. We have organized an industrial development group, and with the chamber of commerce we are endeavoring to solve our problems. And we feel that with the help that we would receive through this bill, that we can solve our problem. And Carbondale is a city that is fighting to stay alive. The Carbondale Chamber of Commerce and CarbondaleLackawanna Industrial Development Co., along with other organizations, are doing all they can to save the community. I have appointed a five-man city planning commission, designed to work with the Federal Government in an effort to map out a program for the future. We do not want to see Carbondale, a typical God-fearing American city, die. The city and its people deserve a better fate.

That is why, gentlemen, I have come before you today to appeal to you for aid. I would welcome a visit from this committee to our

city so that they could see conditions for themselves * so that they could talk with our people *** so that they could learn what it means to live in a great country but still live in a city that has no apparent future.

We love Carbondale very dearly. That is why we are still fighting to save all that she represents to us-a great city with great people.

In closing, I wish to extend to you my heartfelt thanks for this opportunity of appearing before you. I have stated the case of Carbondale as briefly as possible. I trust that you will give our city every possible attention in your recommendations. All that you do for Carbondale will be remembered for generations in the prayers of a grateful populace.

Thank you, Senator Neely.

Senator NEELY. Mayor, we are much obliged to you. Your written statement will be printed in the record.

Mr. KELLY. Thank you.

(The prepared statement of Mayor Frank P. Kelly, of Carbondale, Pa., is as follows:)

The people of northeastern Pennsylvania and those of the city of Carbondale, in particular, are most fortunate that this senatorial committee has seen fit to come here to obtain firsthand information about conditions in his acutely distressed area.

As mayor of the city of Carbondale, I am thankful to be offered this opportunity of telling the story of an American community that is now in the throes of death.

To acquaint you honorable gentlemen with today's facts permit me to go back over 140 years ago *** and, in a brief manner, relate the Carbondale story.

Carbondale, you can say, came into existence in 1812-36 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Resolute settlers, seeking the then free land, came into this northeastern Pennsylvania valley and built their humble log cabins along the banks of the tranquil Lackawanna.

These hardy souls little suspected that they had established their farms upon a great section of the world's finest anthracite deposits-but they were not long in finding out. Less than 8 years later, two engineers from Philadelphia came through the forests and made preliminary tests to uncover the coal.

These engineers had heard other settlers tell the Indian legend about the mountains of black rock that could be sighted up where the Lackawanna began its leisurely course.

The engineers did not stay long. That autumn they were back in Philadelphia to form a mining company, aided by New York capital.

The following spring the first Carbondale coal was hauled by mule to Philadelphia and then sent by ship to New York. An exhibit of coal at the Battery in 1820 bore the legend "Removed from the ground at a junction called Ragged Island in northeastern Pennsylvania." "Ragged Island" was the name placed upon Carbondale.

Shortly afterward, Philip Hone, New York financier and political leader, had the name on coal shipments changed to "Carbondale" upon the suggestion of his good friend, author Washington Irving.

The name "Carbondale" has been with this great city, through prosperity and poverty, through joy and sadness, since that time.

Incorporated as a third-class city in 1851, Carbondale was built around the mining industry. When anthracite prospered, as it did for 80 years, Carbondale prospered. The good people of the Pioneer City never believed that the supply of coal would dwindle or that the market demand for it would drop by an amazing percentage.

Because of faith in anthracite, the people of Carbondale were lulled into becoming a one-industry community. The few plants that did come into the city were hard pressed to match the wages being paid out to mineworkers, and some of them left the scene abruptly. Others, though, stayed for some years.

Mine strikes began to take a toll in Carbondale as they did elsewhere in the Nation. Back in 1922, Carbondale began to feel the pressure of a restricted