Initially established in 1946 under Public Law 584 of the 79th Congress, the Board of Foreign Scholarships was continued and institutions. The Board is responsible for the operation of the academic exchange programs authorized in Section 102 (a) (1), 102(b) (4), and 102(b) (6) of the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act. It establishes selection criteria and policies governing the program in the United States and abroad, reviews annual country plans, and selects all individuals receiving academic exchange grants under the Act. Policy determinations by the Board provide guidance to U.S. diplomatic posts and binational commissions abroad, three principal cooperating agencies in the United States, and the Department, HEW and USIA which assist in the administration of the program. The Board is also required to submit to the Congress annual reports and such other reports as it deems appropriate, and to make reports to the public in the United States and abroad to develop a better understanding of and support for the programs authorized under the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act. An Operations Staff, composed of three officers and three clerks, provides necessary secretariat services for the Board and performs the necessary liaison between the Board and the agencies and organizations which assist in the administration of the program. The funding for these positions is included under "Administrative Staff." Funds requested will provide for the compensation and travel costs for members of the Board, staff travel, printing and reproduction of a report to the Congress, and the public. The Bureau reimburses the United States Information Agency for administering the overseas services of the educational and cultural exchange program. Included in the FY 1976 total is a non-recurring administrative support cost to USIA of $417,000. USIA's administrative Mr. SLACK. You are requesting $58,500,000 for fiscal year 1977, an increase of $3,500,000 over the current year appropriation adjusted for the $5 million rescission. Mr. Secretary, you have a statement with respect to this item? Mr. SLACK. Please proceed. GENERAL STATEMENT Mr. RICHARDSON. Yes, sir. Mr. Chairman, the administration is asking Congress for appropriations, as you have said, in the fiscal year 1977 of $58.5 million for the programs conducted under the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act, and also $10 million for the East-West Center, which I would hope we could take up, with your permission, after you complete your review of the MEĈEA. These amounts for MECEA will not increase our general program level over this current fiscal year and will reduce our capability somewhat below the levels of fiscal 1975. The dollar increases over 1976 requested for 1977 cover essentially mandatory costs due to inflation. We are thus presenting a budget which reflects the President's desire for stringent fiscal restraint. Nevertheless, opportunities to which the people-to-people programs authorized by MECEA can effectively respond, continue to outrun available resources. PROGRAM EFFECTIVENESS These programs open doors to key leaders and institutions, and improve the international climate for negotiation and cooperation. The taxpayers' dollars are targeted on making friends and influencing people in ways that don't raise unreasonable expectations but do assure long-range benefits. Most of the problems of foreign policy, after all, require long-term rather than short-term remedies. Furthermore, these programs express basic American values-freedom, pluralism, democracy, private enterprise, and the rule of law-without being abrasive, condescending, or threatening. Given their two-way character, these programs also provide excellent opportunities to enhance American knowledge of key people, places, and activities in this increasingly interdependent world. FISCAL STRINGENCY The problem is to balance the need for fiscal stringency against the value of additional dollars spent on programs with a proven record for achieving high leverage and high multiplier effects. This is especially difficult in a year when the overall budget situation is so acute and when, at the same time, pressures on our resources are growing. PROGRAM CAPABILITIES There is a worldwide proliferation of important opinion leaders and decisionmakers. Also, rapid technological advances in all forms of communications, transportation, and information systems simultaneously increase tendencies both toward understanding and misunderstanding between peoples and nations. In this confused and often dan gerous situation, our programs are capable of promoting cooperative institutional relationships and constructive commitments to healthy dialog which favorably influences the political climate. They increase empathy, sensitivity, and the capacity for cooperative behavior. They reduce dangerous myths, misconceptions, prejudices, and hostility. More specifically: our programs have much to offer in response to current and prospective policy needs in Africa and Latin America; additional requirements have arisen in the Mideast resulting from new accords and Joint Commission initiatives; the agreement reached at Helsinki last year has stimulated a greater interest in exchanges with the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe; increased effort to build relationships with the new generation of leaders in Western Europe is urgent; and the need for greater understanding between the United States and the nations of Asia and the Pacific has never been more acute. PROGRAM RELEVANCE Mr. Chairman, we believe these programs are carefully planned, realistic, and costeffective. They are policy relevant and policy adaptable. They offer sound investments in meeting foreign policy objectives. We either take advantage of these opportunities as they arise, or lose them. These are the reasons why we need every dollar we are asking for in fiscal year 1977. I respectfully urge this committee to support the full amounts requested. Mr. SLACK. Thank you, sir. MANDATORY COSTS On page 268 of the justifications, there is shown a net increase of $4,071,000 over the adjusted appropriation. How much of that increase is for mandatory items? Mr. RICHARDSON. The increase of $4 million when combined with certain nonrecurring fiscal year 1976 costs totaling $667,000 results in an overall increase of $4.7 million. My answer is a little complicated. Mr. Chairman. When you take into account nonrecurring fiscal year 1976 costs. mandatory cost increases of $4,370,000. That leaves $368,000 which is not a mandatory increase as we figured it. Mr. SLACK. What is that balance of $368,000 for? Mr. RICHARDSON. That is an amount which will be programed to meet the urgencies of the situation around the world, where it is needed, but in fact, Mr. Chairman, in a budget of this size, when you speak of $368,000, I will guarantee you we won't have those dollars to spend as we move into fiscal year 1977. That is an illusory discretionary amount in my opinion. OFFICIAL ENTERTAINMENT Mr. SLACK. Page 270, Mr. Secretary, indicates an increase of $500 for the official entertainment allowance. Would you care to comment on that proposal? |