which falls under the jurisdiction of the Office of Economic Development. I am one of the strongest supporters of the Office of Economic Opportunity programs, but I am rapidly becoming forced by realities to become a member of the disillusioned clientele.

My experiences with the Office of Economic Opportunity and the administration of its program has not been a happy one in recent months. I have come to the conclusion that it is honeycombed with shocking inefficiency. I base this on my experience with their handling of the Job Corps closures, which in their own analysis was a result of gross incompetency. This is not related, of course, to the decision to close the Job Corps. Although I think the savings should have been made elsewhere.

The Director of the Office of Economic Opportunity, Mr. Shriver, I fear, permitted the incompetency to go unchecked.

Now, my observations of the operation of a good many of the poverty programs cause me serious doubts as to whether or not the agency itself, is competent to carry out legislative intent or to administer the legislation which has already been put on the books. I think the time to stop it is now, and I shall be the first to cooperate with the Office of Economic Opportunity when it gives me some concrete evidence that it is checking its malfunctioning administration. Therefore, may I say to counsel of the committee that I want from HEW, and I want from the Department of Labor, and I want from any other agency of this Government, a detailed memorandum dealing with any program under any legislation that involves any joint administrative responsibilities between the Office of Economic Opportunity. I request this in connection with legislative oversight activities that this subcommittee is conducting in response to the majority leader's request of more than a year ago that we make a surveillance of the expenditures of funds by the various agencies in Government that fall within the purview of the jurisdiction of this subcommittee, to see whether or not the money is being expended in keeping with the intent of the Congress, as expressed in the legislation, and in keeping with standards of efficiency and proper administration.

I want to know what the Office of Economic Opportunity, is doing, in fact, in administering such programs.

It may be as incompetent as it was in connection with the Job Corps matter although I was one of the legislative originators of the Job Corps program and think that the objectives are most desirable of that program, I am afraid they are being grossly mismanaged by the Office of Economic Opportunity.

I have given an example of incompetency in the Office, and I want to know whether or not it is reflected in the other programs.

Mr. SULLIVAN. Senator Morse, we will cooperate in any way we can with the committee in determining the nature of such a report and the contents as it relates to our role in these cooperative efforts with other agencies.

Senator MORSE. Will counsel notify the Office of Economic Opportunity that I am going to expect the information from it in regard to this matter? If any investigations made by counsel show that growing criticism of the Office is justified, then the sooner we look to the transfer of its functions to other agencies of the Government, and to the ultimate liquidation of this Office, the better.

Senator Prouty would like to have the Veteran's Administration training program included in this memorandum.

As far as the chairman is concerned, the growing development of problems with the Office of Economic Opportunity in connection with jurisdictional problems in the administration of our educational programs, particularly in the field of vocational education, has become a matter of much serious concern.

I want counsel to send the Director of the Office of Economic Opportunity a transcript of the remarks that I have just made, and also to be prepared to stand ready if the committee decides, after it receives the memorandums it is calling for, to appear before this committee for testimony in regard to the memorandums received.

Senator Murphy has asked the Chair to ask this question: First, what has vocational education learned from the Job Corps program; what changes have taken place in the vocational education field as a result of the Job Corps program? I think it would be most helpful to Senator Murphy, if counsel agrees, if we ask for a detailed memorandum in answer to that question, because I do not think it is fair to ask the witnesses to go into a detailed answer to the question without time to analyze it and prepare a memorandum.

Second, how closely do you work with the Job Corps program; what changes have taken place in the Job Corps program as a result of your suggestions? I would like to have a memorandum on that, too.

Mr. SULLIVAN. Would those, Senator Morse may I ask, would not at least the second question be really a part of the other report that you have asked for? I think it may be.

Senator MORSE. Well, I think that is true, but I think you ought to give-after you have prepared the other report-you ought to excerpt from that report that part dealing with Senator Murphy's question.

Well, I want to thank you very much, gentlemen. You have made a very, very fine presentation. The statements you have made are going to be of great help to the committee.

We will stand in recess until tomorrow morning

Mr. SULLIVAN. May I say to you, Senator Morse, again, we appreciate being here, and may I, in your presence, pay tribute to the staff for the preparation of materials in this hearing here today?

Senator MORSE. Well, both your staff and the subcommittee staff have made a record for which we will all be in gratitude and debt, and we thank you very much.

Before we recess until tomorrow, I want to bring to the attention of my colleagues the excellent presentation of my very good friend and most distinguished colleague, the junior Senator from the State of New Mexico, Mr. Montoya.

STATEMENT OF HON. JOSEPH M. MONTOYA, A U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO

Mr. MONTOYA. Mr. Chairman, in my estimation, one of the most important pieces of legislation which this session of Congress will consider is that measure which you have before you today-that is, the proposed amendments to the Vocational Education Act of 1963.

One of my major interests has been trying to bring to the administrators of education programs in the State of New Mexico and other

officials, an awareness of the purpose and intent of the Vocational Education Act of 1963, and related measures, of the need for expanded vocational education facilities and programs, of the promises of vocational education, and of the opportunities which are available to our State leaders to meet the challenges of our modern-day needs. The following are among the more pressing problems which face my State of New Mexico:

In New Mexico we have one of the highest dropout rates in the Nation. Approximately 32 percent of all students that begin the ninth or 10th grade of school in New Mexico drop out before graduating from high school.

Among the Indians and in the northern counties of New Mexico, we have perhaps the highest unemployment record in the Nation. In some of the northern counties the unemployment rate runs as high as 14 or 15 percent, while among the Indians the employment picture is even more depressing with unemployment rates as high as 43 percent, excluding the Navajos.

We have in New Mexico a high concentration of citizens with academic, socioeconomic, and other handicaps whose needs must be provided for.

Local school districts in New Mexico are bonded to capacity and, thus, unable to provide for the construction of new facilities to meet our needs.

In short, Mr. Chairman, I think it is fair to conclude that lack of an employable skill, unemployment or underemployment, and poverty, go hand in hand. If we are to effectively attack the problems of poverty, we must attack the underlying problems of unemployment or underemployment, and, if we are to attack the problem of unemployment and underemployment, then we must move expeditiously to provide an opportunity to all Americans to acquire an employable skill. In this, vocational education must play their key role.

New Mexico is attempting to meet the challenges and this, undoubtedly, is true nationwide. However, Congress must renew its commitment to provide the guidance and the assistance to effectively carry out the purpose for which vocational education legislation was enacted.

Therefore, Mr. Chairman, I welcome this opportunity to bring some of my experiences before this committee and to make a number of recommendations for your consideration.

Mr. Chairman, I have been shocked by the lack of understanding which I have found of the very intent and purpose for which Congress has enacted the various vocational education measures. The intent of Congress was that every effort should be made to reach out to the high school dropout, to the high school student who does not intend to go on to college, to the unskilled, the unemployed, and the underemployed, to prepare them with a skill and to prepare them for gainful employment.

It has been brought to my attention, however, that Congress intent and purpose is probably being circumvented if not completely ignored. I was dismayed when informed that the emphasis is not being placed on preparing individuals for gainful employment, but on home economics courses-courses which do not prepare a student for anything closely resembling gainful employment.

Congress meant for our schools to use vocational education moneys to train carpenters, bricklayers, electronic engineers, electronic technicians, keypunch operators, and offset printers, to mention only a few of the occupations. Instead, our schools are wasting these funds on the teaching of nonoccupational homemaking courses.

We must insure, during this session of Congress, that this misuse of funds is stopped and that efforts be redirected in the manner intended by Congress. We must provide a mandate to the U.S. Office of Education to begin the close scrutiny which should have been in operation all these years but, which in fact, has been lacking. We must provide for a closer coordination between the local and State administrators, the U.S. Office of Education, and the Congress.

Mr. Chairman, we must seek new and innovative ways by which to not only renovate existing facilities but to construct new and sorely needed facilities. In New Mexico, with two or three exceptions, vocational education facilities are virtually nonexistent. There is a growing interest in vocational education but the local school districts have absolutely no resources. They are bonded to capacity. They can provide no additional financing for such facilities.

The Federal Government gets a higher return for every tax dollar it spends on vocational education than for any other type of training program. It is, thus incumbent upon us to provide the necessary appropriations for this purpose.

We must also encourage the State legislatures, through an education program of our own, to play a larger role in providing increased appropriations for the construction of vocational education facilities. Our States, in general, are not carrying their fair share of the load.

This Congress must seek new ways in which to meet the special needs of the Spanish speaking American, the American Indian, the Negro, and others with academic, socioeconomic, and other handicaps. New programs to meet their needs should be encouraged through the use of grants to institutions which are willing to develop programs to help those that need the help become taxpayers instead of tax liabilities. Mr. Chairman, these are but a few of the points-although the major ones-which I would like to now discuss in more detail and to offer concrete recommendations for dealing with our past failures and for meeting the new, increasing, changing, and complex needs of this space age.

Mr. Chairman, I would like to have my complete prepared statement appear following this testimony.

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. JOSEPH M. MONTOYA, A U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO

Mr. Chairman, members of the distinguished Subcommittee, Fellow Colleagues. It is a distinct pleasure for me to appear here before you today. I have always had great respect for the many accomplishments of this Committee and I am here today to voice my views on what I have long felt, and on what I now feel more strongly than ever, is the number one problem facing us on the domestic scene. That is, to train all citizens to be productive, to meet the challenges of today's job market, to give hope to high school dropouts, to the underemployed, to the unskilled, to the unemployed. In short, the need for vocational education.

Mr. Chairman, for years now I have been traversing the length and breadth of my home State of New Mexico preaching the need for vocational education

to meet the needs of our modern society and to answer many of the economic ills which our state is facing. I have been pointing out and trying to bring home the fact that there are by far more high school students who do not go on to college than those who do, and who, without vocational training, will be thrust into the labor marker with minimum training, making them unemployable.

What can a newly graduated high school student do with a college preparatory course if he has no intention of continuing this education at a higher level? Very little. We know that. These individuals are unemployables, and hence start their post high school careers with a millstone round their necks.

In New Mexico we are haunted with the additional problem of one of the highest dropout rates in the nation. According to figures released by the National Education Association, New Mexico ranks number thirty-eight among all states in the number of students that actually graduate from high school. Only 68% of all students that begin the 9th or 10th grade of school in New Mexico actually graduate from high school. What happens to the other 32%? They become disenchanted, disinterested, and they drop out of school, unwilling to continue their formal education but yet unable to compete in today's world because they lack an employable skill. Vocational education can be their salvation. We can equip them with a skill. We can give them a ray of hope for the future. We can help them gain self respect and make them productive, tax-producing citizens instead of future welfare cases and a drag on society.

Mr. Chairman, I have been preaching the fact that vocational education is also for persons who have already entered the labor market and need training or retraining to achieve stability, advancement in employment, or who have regrettably been unable to find employment due to lack of a skill. I have been preaching that vocational education is for those who have academic, socioeconomic, or other handicaps that prevent them from succeeding in the regular Vocational education program.

In short, Mr. Chairman, I have been trying to make the educators in my home State aware of the purpose for which Congress enacted the Vocational Education Act of 1963. That is, that it was the intention of Congress that persons of all ages in all communities of the State-those in high school, those who have completed or discontinued their formal education and are preparing to enter the labor market, those who have already entered the labor market but need to upgrade their skills or learn new ones, and those with special educational handicapswill have ready access to vocational training or retraining which is of high quality, which is realistic in the light of actual or anticipated opportunities for gainful employment, and which is suited to their needs, interests, and ability to benefit from such training.

However, Mr. Chairman, in spite of my own personal efforts, and, in spite of efforts on the part of those in New Mexico who recognize the importance of vocational education, the progress and the direction in New Mexico has been extremely disappointing to say the least. Nor should New Mexico be singled out in this respect, for only recently the Advisory Council on Vocational Education, after a comprehensive review of vocational education training programs and facilities in the U.S., concluded that the emphasis and direction which Congress had meant for vocational education has never materialized in this Nation.

Why has this been so? Why have our educators not taken advantage of the opportunity afforded them under the Vocational Education Act of 1963 to provide the training that is needed? If my experiences in New Mexico are an indication of what has been happening nationwide-and I think they probably are-I would list the following among the reasons:

Failure to realize the full potentials of vocational education.
Lack of information on the programs available.

Confusion arising from the fact that there are a number of programs under which funds and assistance can be secured for vocational training.

Lack of resources at the local school district level where overtaxed school districts find themselves unable to come up with the necessary matching funds. Outmoded and totally inadequate facilities combined with a lack of necessary matching funds for construction.

An overemphasis on homemaking courses as meeting the need to prepare individuals for gainful employment.

A hesitation on the part of many educators to move away from the traditional "general" curriculum to a more specialized type of training called for by those in need of obtaining a skill.