SEC. 12. The Secretary of Commerce is authorized and directed to transmit to the Committees on Public Works of the Senate and of the House of Representatives not later than December 31, 1954, a suggested draft of a bill or bills for a Federal Highway Act, which will include such provisions of existing law, and such changed or new provisions as the Secretary deems advisable. The Secretary shall also submit a report commenting on the draft of bill or bills, which shall include specific reference to each change in, or omission of, any provision of existing law. That is section 12 of the act we passed last year. I might remind the committee that that section was incorporated following the development of testimony that our highway legislation had become more or less a hodgepodge of amendments and that there are difficulties in administering the law from the viewpoint of the Secretary of Commerce or the Bureau of Public Roads; that they had been compelled to rely upon Solicitor's opinions to reconcile conflicts or overlappings. So we thought last year that we should have a comprehensive decodification of the highway laws. Section 12 was a result of that. With respect to section 13, I had introduced a resolution, Senate Concurrent Resolution 21, on the 20th of March, 1953-that was the year before the 1954 act was adopted-which proposed that a joint committee be appointed consisting of 5 members from the Senate, 5 from the House, both to come from the Committee on Public Works, that would be authorized and directed to inquire into the methods currently used and the sources from which funds are now provided for financing highway construction, maintenance, and operation as now authorized by Federal, State, and local laws, practices and procedures, including toll roads, and an appraisal of the adequacy or inadequacy of the present financing to meet the highway needs of the public national defense and safety, and to report its findings thereon with a recommendation to the Congress at the earliest practicable date and so forth. Following the introduction of that, the House committee indicated that it would not care to go into a joint study, so we incorporated in the Highway Act of 1954 section 13, which proposed such a study by the Secretary of Commerce. It is not long, and it reads: SEC. 13. The Secretary of Commerce is authorized and directed to make a comprehensive study of all phases of highway financing, including a study of the costs of completing the several systems of highways in the several States and of the progress and feasibility of toll roads with particular attention to the possible effects of such toll roads upon the Federal-aid highway programs, and coordination thereof, and to make a report of his findings including recommendations with respect to Federal participation in toll roads, to be submitted to the Congress not later than February 1, 1955: Provided, That not to exceed $100,000 from funds available for administrative expenses shall be expended for the purpose of this section. You have indicated that in this letter from the Secretary of Commerce he stated that a request had been made for an extension of time for the filing of those reports, that that had been communicated in a letter to the Speaker of the House and to the Vice President as the presiding officer of the Senate. Has any action been taken by the Senate or by the Senate Committee on Public Works with regard to this request for a delay in that report? Senator GORE. I do not believe so. The Secretary says that the House committee granted the extension he requested, but if any action has been taken by the Senate Public Works Committee I am not aware of it. Senator CASE. I would like to point out that the request for this study originated in the Senate; that it had its basis in this concurrent resolution which I introduced. Section 13 was in the bill as a result of the action developed in this committee. It is a little odd if the request for an extension of time can be acted upon by the House committee and have it regarded as granting that extension of time if the matter is never even brought up to the Senate committee where the original call for the report was developed. Senator GORE. I might read the paragraph of my letter which requested this information. This is my letter to Secretary Weeks, inviting him to appear before the committee: DEAR MR. SECRETARY: Senator Chavez, chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Works, has appointed me Chairman of the Subcommittee on Public Roads, and has asked me to conduct hearings on proposed Federal highway legislation. On February 11, I introduced Senate bill 1048, which, as you will see from the attached copy, amends and expands the present road program. Hearings on this bill and other Federal highway bills that may be pending before the committee at that time, will begin at 10 a. m. on Monday, February 21. Due to your legal responsibilities in connection with the Bureau of Public Roads, I extend you an invitation to be the first witness before the subcommittee, at 10 a. m. on February 21. Your early advice in this regard will be appreciated. Meanwhile, the committee would appreciate the earliest possible submission by you of the reports, studies, and recommendations provided by the Federal Highway Act of 1954. I am sure you appreciate our desire to study these recommendations prior to the hearing on February 21. Senator CASE. What is the date of the letter? Senator GORE. February 14. Senator CASE. Did the committee receive, by reference, the letter to the Vice President? Senator GORE. I have that letter which has been furnished to the committee. I will without objection place that in the record. Senator CASE. What is the date of that letter? Senator GORE. January 31, and that is the exact date on which the law requires that they be submitted to the committee. Senator CASE. What action was taken on that letter? Senator GORE. I do not know that any action was taken on that letter. The clerk of the committee informs me that there has been no action taken. Senator CASE. Was it referred to this committee? Senator GORE. It has been referred to this committee. Just when I did not know. Without objection, the letter of Secretary Weeks to the Vice President will also be placed in the record. I will be glad to submit it for your examination. The letter is as follows: JANUARY 31, 1955. DEAR MR. VICE PRESIDENT: Sections 11 and 13 of the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1954 (Public Law 350, 83d Cong., ch. 181, 2d sess.) authorize and direct the Secretary of Commerce to make studies of the problems posed by relocation and reconstruction of public utilities services resulting from highway improvements, and of all phases of highway financing, reports on such studies to be submitted to the Congress not later than February 1, 1955. Preparation of these reports has required the collection of data from State highway departments, public utilities, and utility regulatory agencies in every part of the country. It was first necessary to carefully plan collection of data on a uniform basis, explain the plan to cooperators, allow them considerable time to consider the problems involved, and assemble a large mass of statistical information relating to many thousands of miles of highway. In preparation of the report regarding utilities it has been necessary to review the pertinent laws of each of the States and also to make a study of court decisions under them. In some instances it has been necessary to engage in lengthy correspondence, and discussion to eliminate inconsistencies and report data uniformly. The data have been received and tabulated and are now being analyzed by the Bureau of Public Roads. Various statistical analyses, maps, charts, and diagrams required for an informative report are in preparation but have not been completed. It is our desire to submit fully adequate reports on the important public questions assigned to us. It is requested, therefore, that the time for sub. mission of the reports be extended 60 days beyond February 1, 1955. We will, however, make every effort to submit the reports at the earliest possible date. Sincerely yours, WALTER WILLIAMS, Acting Secretary of Commerce. Senator GORE. I dare say Mr. du Pont will have a statement on this when he appears. I would like to also place in the record two tables which Commissioner Curtiss has submitted for the record. One table shows the allocation to the various States and Territories under the present law; the other table shows the allocation to the various States and Territories under S. 1048. (The tables referred to above are as follows:) |