We have in many places situations where farmers need to install practices for the benefit of their own private farms on sites that are on federally owned noncropland. This bill would extend the authority to approve payments to them.

This does not propose to treat the conservation problems on federally owned noncropland nor does it propose any different allocation of the funds among the States.

It is not contemplated that it will involve any substantial difference in use of the money. It will permit more effective conservation by better site location largely for conservation measures.

The CHAIRMAN. In work undertaken on Government-owned land, who determines whether or not the contemplated improvement is actually needed or whether it amounts to an improvement?

Mr. CRUMPLER. The local county committee determines that and makes all the approvals for cost sharing under our program.

The CHAIRMAN. This is just an authority to make the improvements on Government-owned land.

Mr. CRUMPLER. For the benefit of the private lands only. It doesn't propose to treat with the conservation problems of the public lands at all.

The CHAIRMAN. It would not interfere with the Conservation Department program on Government-owned land. Is that correct? Mr. CRUMPLER. That is correct.

Mr. POAGE. Suppose somebody owns private land down the slope and Government land above it and wanted to seed it, he could get conservation payments, could he not, under terms of this bill?

Mr. CRUMPLER. If the purpose of making that seeding

Mr. POAGE. Or if I have a Government-owned land lease and I have private land adjoining it, I could go out there and build a tank on the Government land, could I not?

Mr. CRUMPLER. For the benefit of my private land principally.

Mr. POAGE. For the benefit of the Government land, too. I have to have some private land to do it. I could not just volunteer to build the tank on Government land, but if I owned adjoining private land I could do it, and that is true under the present setup in practically every bit of this Government land; is it not?

Mr. CRUMPLER. Yes.

Mr. POAGE. So as a practical thing it allows me to do that on Government land.

Mr. CRUMPLER. It does allow you to do it, Mr. Poage, but it allows you to do it only where the farmer is willing to invest his money to benefit his land and the county committee is willing to invest the public fund for it.

Mr. POAGE. That is right.

Mr. CRUMPLER. The purpose and the entire direction of the proposed legislation is a measure of direct benefit to the private land.

As you suggest, there will be largely, I think, incidental benefits to the publicly owned land. It is not proposed to undertake any effort to improve the public land for the public land agency which otherwise has the administration of it.

The CHAIRMAN. Are there further questions?

If not, we thank you very much.

(Thereupon, the committee proceeded to other business.)

ANIMAL QUARANTINE ACTS, AMENDMENT

ANIMAL QUARANTINE ACTS, AMENDMENTS

TUESDAY, JULY 12, 1955

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE,

Washington, D. C.

The committee met at 10 a. m. in room 1310, House Office Building, Hon. Harold D. Cooley (chairman of the committee) presiding. The CHAIRMAN. The next bill for consideration is S. 1166.

[S. 1166, 84th Cong., 1st sess.]

AN ACT To amend section 6 of the Act of August 30, 1890, as amended, and section 2 of the Act of February 2, 1903, as amended

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 6 of the Act of August 30, 1890 (26 Stat. 414, 416; 21 U. S. C. 104), “An Act providing for an inspection of meats for exportation, prohibiting the importation of adulterated articles of food or drink, and authorizing the President to make proclamation in certain cases, and for other purposes," as amended, is further amended by deleting the words "and the admission into the Virgin Islands" immediately following the word "Texas" in the first sentence of such section; deleting the period at the end of such sentence; and adding the following clause after the word "therefrom" in such sentence: ", and the admission from the British Virgin Islands into the Virgin Islands of the United States, for slaughter only, of cattle which have been infested with or exposed to ticks upon being freed therefrom.".

SEC. 2. That section 2 of the Act of February 2, 1903 (32 Stat. 791, 792; 21 U. S. C. 111), "An Act to enable the Secretary of Agriculture to more effectively suppress and prevent the spread of contagious and infectious diseases of livestock, and for other purposes", as amended, is further amended by deleting the proviso reading: "Provided, That no such regulations or measures shall pertain to the introduction of live poultry into the Virgin Islands of the United States."

Passed the Senate March 28 (legislative day, March 10), 1955.
Attest.

FELTON M. JOHNSTON, Secretary.

The CHAIRMAN. Dr. Clarkson, Deputy Administrator for Regulatory Program, Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, is present. We shall be glad to hear from you, Dr. Clarkson.

STATEMENT OF DR. M. R. CLARKSON, DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR, AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICE, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Dr. CLARKSON. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, S. 1166 would make two amendments to what we call the animal quarantine acts governing importation of animals and poultry into the United States and its possessions.

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During the last Congress, in revising the Organic Act of the Virgin Islands, two amendments were made in recognition of the fact that the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands are very closely tied together, both geographically and economically, and to provide for the orderly importation of cattle and poultry into the United States Virgin Islands for slaughter purposes.

The amendments in that act, in the view of the Department, went further than they should, so the Department has favored the further amendments contained in S. 1166.

At the beginning of our considerations the people in the Virgin Islands' government and also those in the Department of the Interior were fearful that with the amendments proposed in this bill they would not be able to provide for the supply of slaughter poultry and slaughter cattle that were needed, and they asked in telephone conversations that we put into the record the pertinent paragraphs of a letter that we have addressed to them regarding that matter.

I would like to read these two short paragraphs if I may.
The CHAIRMAN. All right.

Dr. CLARKSON (reading):

Under the authority of existing law (prior to the amendments contained in the Revised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands), this Department is prepared to amend its regulations to provide for the importation of poultry for slaughter purposes from the British Virgin Islands into the Virgin Islands of the United States, when accompanied with the usual health certificate issued by the competent British Virgin Islands authorities, showing freedom from disease and exposure to disease, provided that the poultry upon arrival in the United States Virgin Islands are inspected by an official of the Virgin Islands government authorized by this Department to inspect them for freedom from disease and make sure that they are appropriately identified and slaughtered within a reasonably short period of time. This would not involve a period of quarantine and would not require the dispatch of a veterinarian from Puerto Rico to make the inspections. Poultry imported for other purposes or from other parts of the world would of course be subject to the quarantine requirements under veterinary supervision.

It is our understanding that with the reecipt of the information given above the Department of the Interior will have no objection to the proposed language to amend section 6 of the act of August 30, 1890, and section 2 of the act of February 2, 1903, which was discussed with Mr. Arnold and Mr. A. M. Edwards, Acting Associate Solicitor of your Department, and Gov. Archie A. Alexander of the United States Virgin Islands on Wednesday, July 21, 1954. We have so informed representatives of the Bureau of the Budget.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much.

Mr. POAGE. This bill legalizes importation of cattle from the British Virgin Islands into the American Virgin Islands except upon statement by the British authorities that it was diseased. Isn't that about what it does?

Dr. CLARKSON. We would provide also for inspection and to make sure that they are free of ticks, and they would come in for slaughter purposes only.

Mr. POAGE. Make sure they are free of ticks. You can see the ticks but you cannot see the disease, of course. The inconsistency of the thing looms up to me when I recall that I was talking to you about the deportation of Charrolais cattle from Louisiana. They had been in the United States for nearly 2 years, at least well over a year, and there was no evidence whatsoever that there was any disease involved in those cattle at all and there hasn't been evidence of that kind yet so far as I know. Those cattle were not even exposed to disease. They had been in Mexico.