572753 COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS SEVENTY-SIXTH CONGRESS EDWARD T. TAYLOR, Colorado, Chairman CLARENCE CANNON, Missouri J. BUELL SNYDER, Pennsylvania GEORGE W. JOHNSON, West Virginia ROSS A. COLLINS, Mississippi JOHN TABER, New York R. B. WIGGLESWORTH, Massachusetts MARCELLUS C. SHEILDS, Clerk SUBCOMMITTEE ON INTERIOR DEPARTMENT EDWARD T. TAYLOR, Colorado, Chairman JED JOHNSON, Oklahoma II ROBERT F. RICH, Pennsylvania ALBERT E. CARTER, California DUDLEY A. WHITE, Ohio INTERIOR DEPARTMENT APPROPRIATION BILL, 1941 HEARINGS CONDUCTED BY THE SUBCOMMITTEE, MESSRS. EDWARD T. TAYLOR (CHAIRMAN); JED JOHNSON, OKLAHOMA; JAMES G. SCRUGHAM, JAMES M. FITZPATRICK, CHARLES H. LEAVY, HARRY R. SHEPPARD, ROBERT F. RICH, ALBERT E. CARTER, AND DUDLEY A. WHITE, OF THE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, IN CHARGE OF THE INTERIOR DEPARTMENT APPROPRIATION BILL FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 1941, ON THE FOLLOWING DAYS, NAMELY: MONDAY, JANUARY 29, 1940. CONDUCT OF HEARINGS FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Mr. JOHNSON of Oklahoma. Members of the committee will regret very much that Chairman Taylor is unable to be present at this time. We hope, however, that he will be able to be with us very soon. As acting chairman of the subcommittee I am continuing the practice of Chairman Taylor in dividing the work among the several subcommittee members, and also of continuing the custom of having each member of the subcommittee preside while the Bureau assigned to him is being heard. Incidentally, we are delighted to welcome Mr. Sheppard of California as a new member of this subcommittee on appropriations. I am sure he will enjoy his service. He has been assigned to handle the estimates of appropriations for the Bureau of Mines. We will now take up the consideration of the Interior Department appropriation bill. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1940. STATEMENT OF HON. HAROLD L. ICKES, SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR, ACCOMPANIED BY EBERT K. BURLEW, FIRST ASSISTANT SECRETARY Mr. SCRUGHAM. We are pleased to have you with us this morning, Mr. Secretary. Secretary ICKES. Thank you. Mr. SCRUGHAM. As you know we have deferred requesting you to come before us on account of the illness of our Chairman, Mr. Taylor. He has sent word that he would not be here today and has requested us to proceed. Secretary ICKES. I am very sorry to know he cannot be present. GENERAL STATEMENT Mr. SCRUGHAM. We will be glad to hear any statement you may care to make. Secretary ICKES. If I may I will just read a brief formal statement. 1 COMPARISON OF ESTIMATES FOR 1940 WITH APPROPRIATIONS MADE Last year when I appeared before this committee the Budget estimates for the Interior Department for 1940 carried increases aggregating approximately $21,000,000. This year the estimates as carried in the 1941 Budget show decreases, as compared with the 1910 appropriations, aggregating almost $38,000,000. The decreases for 1941 include $29,805,166.60, in various items contained in the committee print which you have before you and the balance is made up largely of two relief items amounting to $8,350,000 for which appropriations are not being considered at this time. The major cuts made by the Bureau of the Budget are reflected in construction items of the Bonneville project, the Bureau of Reclamation, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the National Park Service. Other reductions are also reflected in items involved in the reorganization transfers and in several appropriation items of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. During the last year several changes were effected in the Department pursuant to the Reorganization Act of 1939. The Office of Education was transferred to the Federal Security Agency. The United States Housing Authority and the Branch of Buildings Management of the National Park Service were transferred to the Federal Works Agency. In return we received the Bureau of Biological Survey from the Department of Agriculture, the Bureau of Fisheries from the Department of Commerce, the Bureau of Insular Affairs from the War Department, and the Mount Rushmore National Memorial Commission which was carried as an independent agency during the fiscal year 1939. We have also established in the Secretary's office a division designated as the Bituminous Coal Division to carry out the functions of the National Bituminous Coal Commission which was abolished under Reorganization Plan No. 2. Another division designated as the Consumers' Counsel Division has also been established in the Office of the Solicitor to assume the duties of the Consumers' Counsel of the National Bituminous Coal Commission, which office was also abolished under the same reorganization plan. From an administrative standpoint these changes have greatly improved the organization of this Department and, as will be noted in the Budget estimates, economies in operating expenses, notably in the administration of the National Bituminous Coal Act, are being effected. There are several items which I would like to mention especially at this time. DIVISION OF PERSONNEL SUPERVISION AND MANAGEMENT In the estimate for salaries of my immediate office there is an increase of $45,340 for the Division of Personnel Supervision and Management. I wish to stress the fact that this item is urgently needed irrespective of the policy which Congress may adopt concerning personnel procedures contemplated in the Executive order of June 24, 1938. With the growth of the Department's activities since 1933, involving an increase of over 135 percent in the number of employees, from 19,615 in that year to over 47,000 at the present |