CONTRACTUAL MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR Question: You have requested $536,000 for contractural maintenance and repair beyond the capability of your employees. What types of work are beyond the capability of your employees? Answer: As previously mentioned, repair and resealing of asphalt roads and paths, repointing of masonry structures, repair and resealing of roofs, and repair and replacement of utility lines, and maintenance of monuments remotely located from the cemeteries. CEMETERIAL EXPENSES, ARMY STATEMENT OF COL. ANN B. SMITH, DIRECTOR, CASUALTY AND MEMORIAL AFFAIRS, OFFICE OF THE ADJUTANT GENERAL ACCOMPANIED BY: MAJ. JAMES P. KING, MILITARY ASSISTANT, ASSISTANT SECRETARY ARMY (CIVIL WORKS) RAYMOND J. PETTIS, CHIEF, BUDGET AND ACCOUNTING DIVISION, OFFICE OF THE ADJUTANT GENERAL RAYMOND J. COSTANZO, SUPERINTENDENT ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY PAUL TOWELL, BUDGET ANALYST CASUALTY AND MEMORIAL AFFAIRS DIRECTORATE JULIUS L. SMITH, ENGINEER TECHNICIAN CASUALTY AND MEMORIAL AFFAIRS DIRECTORATE Senator GARN. Next we would like to invite Colonel Smith and her associates. Colonel Smith, we are happy to welcome you here this morning. You have the responsibility for the operation of Arlington and Soldiers' Home National Cemeteries. These facilities contain the remains of over 193,000 persons and comprise approximately 628 acres. Your budget assumes the 3,575 interments/inurnments during fiscal year 1982. The account also pays for cemetery personnel who care and maintain the shrubs, roads, the Memorial Amphitheater, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and various buildings and vehicles. Your budget request for fiscal year 1982 is for $7,386,000 which is an increase of $2,080,000, or 39 percent, over your fiscal year 1981 request. Since your opening statement is only three pages long, you may want to read the entire statement at this time. Senator GARN. Please proceed. Colonel SMITH. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It is a pleasure to appear on behalf of the Secretary of the Army for Cemeterial Expenses, Department of the Army budget. I will summarize my remarks. PREPARED STATEMENT AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Senator GARN. We will put your entire statement and biographical sketch in the record. [The statement and biographical sketch follow:] (17) STATEMENT OF COL. ANN B. SMITH Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee: Good morning. We welcome the opportunity to testify in support of the requested 1982 appropriation for Cemeterial Expenses, Department of the Army. We are appearing on behalf of the Secretary of the Army, who is responsible for Arlington National Cemetery and Soldiers' Home National Cemetery. The funds provided through this appropriation will finance operation and maintenance, construction, and administration at both cemeteries. Mr. Chairman, with the knowledge that there are new committee members I would, with your permission, like to provide some background information concerning Arlington National Cemetery. The current eligibility for interment in Arlington includes all Medal of Honor recipients, members of the Armed Forces on active duty, retired members of the Armed Forces, veterans who served in major posts in the Federal Government, veterans who have been awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, Distinguished Service Medal, Silver Star, or Purple Heart or their equivalent, and veterans whose service resulted in a disability of 30% or more and who were medically discharged before 1 October 1949. Any honorably discharged veteran who is cremated is eligible for inurnment in the Columbarium. The spouses, minor children, and dependent adult children of eligible persons may also be buried or inurned at Arlington. Arlington is a unique memorial to America's war dead from the Revolution to Vietnam, and the final resting place of two Presidents and other important public officials. Over 3 million people visit Arlington each year. The two most frequently visited locations are the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and President Kennedy's grave. Citizens from across the country also attend more than 400 ceremonies held each year at Arlington on such occasions as Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and other holidays. Included are approximately 50 ceremonies involving foreign or high-level dignitaries such as the President of the United States, Members of Congress, Cabinet officers, visiting foreign heads of State, and military and political leaders. The Master Plan for the expansion of Arlington National Cemetery from 202 acres to 612 acres was approved by the Congress in 1966. The Master Plan is comprised of 18 construction projects, 5 landscaping projects, and 3 land development projects. To date, 22 of these 26 projects have been begun or completed. Remaining projects include the construction of a Permanent Visitors Center and parking facility; Land Development of the final 40 acres for burial purposes; construction of new warehouse facilities; and replacement of the west boundary wall. The major ongoing construction project is the rehabilitation of the Memorial Amphitheatre. The first 5000-niche increment of a 50,000-niche modular Taken together, the Arlington and Soldiers' Home National Cemeteries comprise 628 acres. At Arlington there are about 14 interments/inurnments a day; for Fiscal Year 1982, 3,575 interments/inurnments are projected. Of this total, 2,975 will be inground burials and 600 will be the placement of cremated remains in niches in the Columbarium. We are requesting $7,386,000 for Fiscal Year 1982. This reflects an increase in estimated obligations of $1,794,000 from FY 1981. The increase is primarily for major construction projects. For operation and maintenance of Arlington as an active cemetery and because it is this Nation's foremost memorial to our honored dead we are asking for $5,416,000 to cover three major areas. First, we ask for the direct hiring of personnel to perform 153 man-years of service; i.e., for interments/inurnments and a portion of cemetery maintenance, Second, we require contracting with an outside firm for security functions and maintenance of cemetery grounds (these functions have been contracted since FY 1978). Third, we request procurement of operating supplies, equipment, vehicles, and utilities. We are asking $322,000 for administration of the Army's Cemetery Program. Administrative personnel monitor cemetery activities to assure adherence to the Master Plan for construction at Arlington and to enforce established policies and regulations. Budget development and execution are also a part of the administrative functions. We request $1,648,000 to continue the Construction Program at Arlington National Cemetery. This will provide financing for three projects: general repair of cemetery roads, Phase III, design of a new warehouse facility, and landscaping of the Columbarium area. In connection with construction projects, I am pleased to report that the contract for rehabilitation of the Memorial Amphitheatre was recently awarded for considerably less than the original estimate of $3,000,000. The actual contract price is $1,817,000 which results in an unobligated balance of $1,183,000, of which $250,000 was reprogrammed to cover the cost of urgently required repairs of cemetery roads. The Army Corps of Engineers attributes this favorable bid to real competitiveness among contractors during this period of relatively low activity in the construction industry. With the Committee's approval, the balance of $933,000 could be applied to our FY 1982 projects, thereby reducing the 1982 construction request by this amount. Another option would be to apply these funds for designing of other programed projects, such as the Permanent Visitors Center and parking facility, an additional 5000-niche Columbarium, or to development of project 90. Mr. Chairman, this concludes my opening remarks. We will be glad to answer any questions. STATEMENT OF COL. ANN B. SMITH Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee: Good morning. We welcome the opportunity to testify in support of the requested 1982 appropriation for Cemeterial Expenses, Department of the Army. We are appearing on behalf of the Secretary of the Army, who is responsible for Arlington National Cemetery and Soldiers' Home National Cemetery. The funds provided through this appropriation will finance operation and maintenance, construction, and administration at both cemeteries. Mr. Chairman, with the knowledge that there are new committee members I would, with your permission, like to provide some background information concerning Arlington National Cemetery. The current eligibility for interment in Arlington includes all Medal of Honor recipients, members of the Armed Forces on active duty, retired members of the Armed Forces, veterans who served in major posts in the Federal Government, veterans who have been awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, Distinguished Service Medal, Silver Star, or Purple Heart or their equivalent, and veterans whose service resulted in a disability of 30% or more and who were medically discharged before 1 October 1949. Any honorably discharged veteran who is cremated is eligible for inurnment in the Columbarium. The spouses, minor children, and dependent adult children of eligible persons may also be buried or inurned at Arlington. Arlington is a unique memorial to America's war dead from the Revolution to Vietnam, and the final resting place of two Presidents and other important public officials. Over 3 million people visit Arlington each year. The two most frequently visited locations are the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and President Kennedy's grave. Citizens from across the country also attend more than 400 ceremonies held each year at Arlington on such occasions as Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and other holidays. Included are approximately 50 ceremonies involving foreign or high-level dignitaries such as the President of the United States, Members of Congress, Cabinet officers, visiting foreign heads of State, and military and political leaders. The Master Plan for the expansion of Arlington National Cemetery from 202 acres to 612 acres was approved by the Congress in 1966. The Master Plan is comprised of 18 construction projects, 5 landscaping projects, and 3 land development projects. To date, 22 of these 26 projects have been begun or completed. Remaining projects include the construction of a Permanent Visitors Center and parking facility; Land Development of the final 40 acres for burial purposes; construction of new warehouse facilities; and replacement of the west boundary wall. The major ongoing construction project is the rehabilitation of the Memorial Amphitheatre. The first 5000-niche increment of a 50,000-niche modular |