DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION AND SECURITY

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 1947

UNITED STATES SENATE,

COMMITTEE ON EXPENDITURES IN THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS,

Washington, D. C.

The committee met, pursuant to call at 10:15 a. m., in room 357, Senate Office Building, by Senator George D. Aiken (chairman). Present: Senators Aiken (presiding), Bricker, Thye, Ives, Hoey, Taylor, Robertson (Virginia), and O'Conor.

The CHAIRMAN. The committee will come to order, and we will proceed with the business at hand this morning.

The Chair is going to make a short preliminary statement concerning the matter which is before us at this time.

We have under consideration S. 140, introduced by Senators Fulbright and Taft, to create an executive department of the Government to be known as the Department of Health, Education, and Security. (Senate bill S. 140 is as follows:)

[S. 140, 80th Cong., 1st sess.]

A BILL To create an executive department of the Government to be known as the Department of Health, Education, and Security

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That (a) there is hereby established at the seat of government an executive department to be known as the Department of Health, Education, and Security (hereinafter referred to as the "Department"), which shall be administered by a Secretary of Health, Education, and Security (hereinafter referred to as the "Secretary"), who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and who shall receive compensation at the rate of $15,000 a year.

(b) Section 158 of the Revised Statutes is amended to include the Department of Health, Education, and Security, and the provisions of so much of title IV of the Revised Statutes as now or hereafter amended, as is not inconsistent with this Act, shall be applicable to the Department.

(c) The Secretary shall cause a seal of office to be made for the Department, of such device as the President shall approve, and judicial notice shall be taken thereof.

SEC. 2. (a) There shall be in the Department three Under Secretaries, each of whom shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Each Under Secretary shall receive a salary at the rate of $12,000 per annum. The Under Secretary for Health shall be a doctor of medicine licensed to practice medicine or surgery in one of the States or Territories of the United States or in the District of Columbia, and shall perform such duties concerning health as may be prescribed by the Secretary or required by law. The Under Secretary for Education shall be experienced and trained in the field of education, and shall perform such duties concerning education as may be prescribed by the Secretary or required by law. The Under Secretary for Security shall be experienced and trained in the field of social security and welfare, and shall per

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form such duties concerning social security as may be prescribed by the Secretary or required by law. The Secretary shall designate one Under Secretary who shall act as Secretary in the absence or disability of, or in the event of a vacancy in the office of, the Secretary. In any such case the Under Secretary so designated shall perform the duties of the Secretary until his return to duty or until the vacancy is otherwise filled.

(b) The Secretary shall appoint a general counsel and such other officers and employees as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act and as may be provided for by Congress from time to time. There shall also be in the Department such other officers and employees as shall be transferred to the Department under this Act.

SEC. 3. The Department shall promote the general welfare of the people of the United States by aiding and fostering progress throughout the Nation in the fields of health, education, security, and related services contributing to individual, family, and community well-being; and these objectives shall be carried out to the fullest possible extent through State and local agencies, public and voluntary, and in such manner as to preserve and protect to the highest possible degree the independence and autonomy of State and local agencies, public and voluntary, in education, health, security, and related fields.

SEC. 4. To carry out the purposes of section 3, the Department shall

(a) aid, stimulate, and encourage the development throughout the Nation of services and facilities, both public and voluntary, in the fields of health, education, security, and related fields;

(b) promote, foster, and encourage, State, community, and voluntary activity in those fields;

(c) advise and cooperate with other departments and agencies of the Federal Government, with State governments and agencies and with voluntary agencies functioning in those fields;

(d) collect and analyze statistics and make studies, investigations, and reports on conditions, problems, and needs in those fields in the United States and in other countries, and disseminate and make available information in those fields;

(e) make reports and recommendations with respect to the most effective policies and methods for the promotion of health, education, security, and related services, including recommendations with respect to legislation and matters of administrative policy;

(f) advise and cooperate with international organizations functioning in those fields; and

(g) administer such Federal programs, including grants-in-aid, and such powers, functions and duties in those fields as are assigned to it or provided through this or subsequent legislative enactment.

SEC. 5 (a) The Department shall include such offices, bureaus, and divisions as are necessary or desirable to carry out the purposes of this Act, including—

(1) a Division of Health which, under the immediate supervision of the Under Secretary for Health, shall have charge of the health functions and activities of the Department;

(2) a Division of Education which, under the immediate supervision of the Under Secretary for Education, shall have charge of the educational functions and activities of the Department;

(3) a Division of Security which, under the immediate supervision of the Under Secretary for Security, shall have charge of the social security and welfare functions and activities of the Department.

(b) The Secretary shall appoint advisory committees to advise and consult with him with respect to major policies in the fields of health, education, and security, and may appoint such other advisory committees in the areas of his responsibility as he deems necessary to advise, and consult with him with respect to policies, procedures, and other matters involving technical and professional questions in the public interest; and the Secretary shall include among the members of any committee or committees so set up such persons not otherwise employed by the Federal Government as are in his judgment most representative of voluntary organizations operating in the respective fields with relation to which such committee or committees may be appointed. Persons designated

to serve on such committees may receive a per diem allowance not to exceed $25 for each day spent in actual meetings or conferences held upon the call of the Secretary or his designated representative, plus necessary traveling expenses. (c) The Secretary is authorized to delegate to any officer, board, or employee of the Department designated by him such of his functions, powers, and duties as he deems appropriate, including the function of reviewing, approving, disapproving, or modifying any action of any officer of the Department who is subject to the direction and supervision of the Secretary, except that the function of promulgating or approving regulations may be delegated only to an Under Secretary.

(d) Insofar as he finds practicable and consistent with the purposes for which the respective appropriations are made by the Congress and with the Acts under which such appropriations are authorized, the Secretary, in administering Acts providing for grants to the States and in directing and supervising the administration of such Acts, shall establish (1) uniform standards and procedures relating to fiscal, personnel, and other requirements common to two or more such grants, and (2) standards and procedures to enable a State agency receiving more than one such grant to submit a single plan of operation and to be subject to a single fiscal and administrative review of its operation.

SEC. 6. (a) Upon the effective date of this Act, the Office of Federal Security Administrator, and the Federal Security Agency and its constituent units, together with all their powers, functions, and duties, shall be transferred to the Department and, subject to the provisions of subsections (b) and (c) hereof, shall be allocated, distributed, and administered under the direction and supervision of the Secretary, who may abolish such Office and Agency and any such unit in the interest of administrative efficiency.

(b) The following agencies and their functions shall be transferred to the division of the Department indicated:

To the Division of Health: Freedmen's Hospital, the United States Public Health Service, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Federal Board of Hospitalization.

To the Division of Education: The United States Office of Education.

To the Division of Security: The Committee on Economic Security and the Children's Bureau.

(c) Upon the effective date of this Act the functions of the Federal Security Agency relating to the administration of Howard University and the Columbia Institution for Deaf are transferred to the Division of Education.

(d) Upon the transfers provided for in subsections (a), (b), and (c) of this section all laws relating to any agency or functions transferred shall, insofar as such laws are not inapplicable, remains in full force and effect. Any transfer of personnel pursuant to this Act shall be without change in classification or compensation, except that this requirement shall not operate to prevent the adjustment of classification or compensation to conform to the duties which such transferred personnel may be assigned. All orders, rules, regulations, permits, or other privileges made, issued, or granted by any agency, or in coinnection with the functions so transferred, and in effect at the time of the transfer, shall continue in effect to the same extent as if such transfer had not occurred, until modified, superseded, or repealed. No suit, action, or other proceeding lawfully commenced by or against any agency or any officer of the United States acting in his official capacity shall abate by reason of any transfer made pursuant to this Act, but the court, on motion or supplemental petition filed at any time within twelve months after such transfer takes effect, showing a necessity for a survival of such suit, action, or other proceeding to obtain a settlement of the questions involved, may allow the same to be maintained by or against the appropriate agency or officer of the United States.

(e) All personnel and property (including office equipment and records) of the agencies which are transferred under this section shall be transferred to the Department.

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(f) So much of the unexpended balances of the appropriations, allocations, or other funds available or to be made available for the use of the agencies and of all officers and employees of the agencies transferred under this Act, as the Direc

tor of the Bureau of the Budget with the approval of the President shall determine, shall be transferred to the Department, but only for the use of such agency herein transferred to the Department for whose use such appropriation, allocation, or other fund was originally provided. In determining the amount to be transferred, the Director of the Bureau of the Budget may include an amount to provide for the liquidation of obligations incurred against such appropriations, allocations, or other funds prior to the transfer.

SEC. 7. The Secretary is authorized to make such expenditures (including expenditures for personal services and rent at the seat of government and elsewhere, for lawbooks, books of reference and periodicals, and for printing and binding) as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act, and as may be provided for by the Congress from time to time.

SEC. 8. The Secretary shall make at the close of each fiscal year a report in writing to Congress giving an account of all moneys received and disbursed by him and the Department, describing the work done by the Department, and making such recommendations as he shall deem necessary for the effective performance of the duties and purposes of the Department.

SEC. 9. There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to enable the Department to carry out the provisions of this Act and to perform any other duties which may be imposed upon it by law.

SEC. 10. As used in this Act, the word "State" includes the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.

SEC. 11. This Act shall take effect ninety days after the date of its enactment. The Secretary and the Under Secretary may be appointed at any time after the enactment of this Act, but shall not take office until its effective date.

SEC. 12. This Act may be cited as the "Health, Education, and Security Department Act of 1947."

The CHAIRMAN (continuing): The witnesses expected to be called today include the sponsors of the bill, Senators Fulbright and Taft, and Mrs. Eugene Meyer in behalf of the committee on reorganization of community scervices of the Woman's Foundation, Inc., who will also speak in behalf of the bill, I understand.

If time permits, the Federal Security Administrator, Mr. Watson Miller, who is here, will give the committee the Government's point of view. However, I think it is safe to say that time will not permit this morning, and we certainly want Mr. Miller to have ample time to explain the Government's point of view when he does testify.

Other witnesses who desire to testify both for and against the proposal will be given an opportunity to present their views at later hearings to be arranged either before the full committee or a subcommittee, as may be determined.

Among those who have indicated a desire to be heard already are the president of the American Council on Education; the secretary of the National Social Welfare Assembly, Inc.; the national legislative chairman of the League of Women Shoppers of New York; the president of the American College of Radiology, Chicago; the American Medical Association; and many more inquiries or requests have just come in the morning mail.

In fact, there is a great deal of interest in this, and a great many people have asked to be heard.

While it is not the purpose of the Chair to go into the details of the bill under consideration, perhaps it might be well to present a brief history or background and point out some of the issues involved, for the benefit of the members.