Kunkel, Hon. John C., a Representative in Congress from the State Latch, D. W., president, National Association of State Agencies for Surplus Property; accompanied by S. W. Maynard, vice president _ - Marsh, Hon. John O., Jr., a Representative in Congress from the Rhodes, Hon. John J., a Representative in Congress from the State of Excerpt from statement of Robert H. Arnold, past president, National Association of State Agencies for Surplus Property.. Summary presented by the Amherst lifesaving and first aid crew_ Monagan, Hon. John S., a Representative in Congress from the State of Connecticut, and chairman, Special Subcommittee on Donable Letters, statements, etc., submitted for the record by-Continued Poff, Hon. Richard H., a Representative in Congress from the State Senner, Hon. George F., Jr., a Representative in Congress from the Whalley, Hon. J. Irving, a Representative in Congress from the State Zablocki, Hon. Clement J., a Representative in Congress from the Exhibit 1.-Report from the Department of Commerce.. Exhibit 2.-Reports from the Department of Defense.. Exhibit 3.-Reports from the Department of Health, Education, and Exhibit 4.-Report from the Department of the Interior_ Exhibit 5.-Report from the Department of Labor.. Exhibit 6.-Reports from the Bureau of the Budget_ Exhibit 7.-Reports from the General Accounting Office.. Exhibit 8.-Reports from the General Services Administration_ 43 41 51 52 82 AMENDING THE FEDERAL PROPERTY AND ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES ACT OF 1949 (Donation of Surplus Government Property to Volunteer Firefighting Organizations and Other Nonprofit Organizations, and for Other Purposes) MONDAY, JULY 19, 1965 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SPECIAL SUBCOMMITTEE ON DONABLE PROPERTY, Washington, D.C. The subcommittee met at 10:08 a.m. in room 2203, Rayburn Office Building, Hon. John S. Monagan (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Present: Representatives John S. Monagan and John N. Erlenborn. Also present: Norman G. Cornish, staff administrator; Peter S. Barash, counsel; and J. Phillip Carlson, minority counsel. Mr. MONAGAN. We will call the hearing to order. During the early part of June, this special subcommittee conducted public hearings on the current status of the donable property program. The overall effectiveness of the program was reexamined with particular attention to various problem areas. Although donation approvals were at an all-time high, the Department of Defense, which generates 95 percent of all donable property, informed the subcommittee that the amount of property available for donation would in all probability decline in future years. One of the chief reasons for this is the increasing Federal utilization of property which has been declared excess. Federal agencies, at the urging of President Johnson, are turning more and more to excess property to meet their equipment needs, rather than purchasing new items. This is saving the taxpayers a considerable amount of money and should be applauded and encouraged. Of course, much surplus property is still being put on sale, and it is our hope that the State agencies will intensify their screening efforts so that as the amount of donable property decreases their utilization of what is available will increase. If this is done, much valuable property can be put to use for educational and health purposes and prove to be of continuing great benefit to the Nation. There are efforts to expand the list of eligible donees from time to time. This poses a difficult question, and opposition has arisen, not because the activities were unworthy but because there was a strong feeling that this action would dilute the program and spread it too thin. A number of bills are currently pending before this subcommittee 1 which would add new donees and bring about other changes. I have invited the sponsors of these bills to present their testimony today and tomorrow. The subcommittee will give serious consideration to all persuasive arguments and then act in what it considers to be the best interests of the program and the Nation. We are in the process of receiving reports from various executive agencies on all of these bills and, without objection, they will be inserted at the appropriate place in the record as they become available. The bills under consideration are: H.R. 456, H.R. 514, H.R. 682, H.R. 809, H.R. 938, H.R. 1067, H. R. 1460, H.R. 2253, H.R. 2421, H.R. 3947, H. R. 6541, H.R. 7115, and H.R. 9163. This particular hearing is called to consider various bills that have been introduced with the purpose of expanding the donable property program, and they vary rather greatly from one to the other. Some are concerned with special situations. Other bills concern groups of possible beneficiaries. This, of course, has been a somewhat difficult problem, and there has been opposition from the executive in many cases, not with any idea that the beneficiaries are not worthy or the activity is not worthy but because the executive has felt that expanding the program would dilute the effectiveness for the rather large group of agencies that are now beneficiaries of the program. And that is the question that we have to determine as we consider these bills. Our colleague Congressman Rhodes has a bill, H.R. 1460, the purpose of which is to authorize the disposal of surplus equipment, materials, books, and supplies to the Arizona Boys' Ranch and EpiHab Phoenix, Inc. Congressman Rhodes, we are happy to have you here. We will be pleased to have whatever statement you care to make in connection with H.R. 1460. (H.R. 1460, introduced by Congressman John J. Rhodes, follows:) [H.R. 1460, 89th Cong., 1st sess.] A BILL To authorize the disposal of surplus equipment, materials, books, and supplies under section 203(j) of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 to the Arizona Boys' Ranch and EpiHab Phoenix, Inc. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That, for the purposes of section 203(j) of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, as amended (40 U.S.C. 484), the Arizona Boys' Ranch, a nonprofit organization incorporated under the laws of Arizona; and Epi-Hab Phoenix, Inc., a nonprofit organization incorporated under the laws of Arizona, shall be deemed to be tax-supported schools, and their purposes shall be deemed to be educational, within the meaning of such section. STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN J. RHODES, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF ARIZONA Mr. RHODES. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate the opportunity of being heard at this time. I appreciate the hearings which the subcommittee is having on this subject. I think it is a very important area of legislation, and certainly the Congress should be grateful to the chairman and the members of the subcommittee for the attention which is being paid to it at this time. I have for a number of years been vitally interested in the welfare. of the two organizations listed in H.R. 1460, namely, the Arizona Boys' Ranch and Epi-Hab Phoenix, Inc. Appropriately, I have worked closely with these organizations in a series of endeavors aimed toward their qualification for surplus donable properties available under the provisions of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, as amended (40 U.S.C. 484), culminating with the introduction of H.R. 1460. Arizona Boys' Ranch is a nonprofit organization devoted to the care of boys who have had difficulty adjusting to life, many times because of the adverse environmental conditions arising out of broken homes. The boys are given a more desirable home environment at the ranch, where they are also taught skills and given jobs to perform. Enrollment in regular public schools makes possible a continuance of their formal education, which has sometimes been previously interrupted in their more hostile situation. The ranch thus provides not only home life but also the development of needed skills and encouragement of academic achievement which might not otherwise occur. Established in 1958 under a Federal grant through the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Epi-Hab Phoenix, Inc., is a nonprofit corporation conducting a rehabilitation and training facility for epileptics. Some of the trainees have previously been employed in industry, and some are military service veterans who, because of injury or illness, have become afflicted with epilepsy. Others have never had employment or schooling and can neither read nor write. Epi-Hab Phoenix trains and teaches them, and, although the outlook of victims of epilepsy is bleak, has brightened their prospects for employment. As an indication of their success, you will note that of the first 90 trainees 51 were placed in gainful employment. The worthiness of these organizations cannot be questioned. They have made the recipients of their respective services more productive citizens of the economic community. It would be impossible to ascertain the dollar-and-cent value of this contribution. More than this, however, is the development of the capacity of these individuals to function more effectively as members of society. With new confidence in themselves, those who have participated have been enabled, with their improved skills and human understandings, to face and adapt more realistically to the everyday experiences which might otherwise have caused them to fall by the wayside. Wisdom would tell us that the strengthening of programs of worth, already in operation, is a desirable and wholesome goal. These programs have already proven their worth. They do, however, need to be strengthened. The surplus goods which each needs would not only enrich the program as it now is, but would also make possible future expansion of programs to encompass other persons not now served. Mr. Chairman, I urge the enactment of H.R. 1460, in order that the status of Arizona Boys' Ranch and Epi-Hab Phoenix, Inc., as educational, tax-supported institutions can be clear and definite for purposes of qualification under the provisions of the subject act. Mr. Chairman, I might say also that these are not the only institutions of this nature that I know of in my own district. They happen to be the only two who have brought to my attention their need for the special treatment sought for the purchase of surplus property. |