Government has afforded through giving you priority in the operation of stands in their buildings, parks, and on their properties. In the main have the blind people who have had this experience found that it is a profitable venture, or can you say how many failures there have been? Mr. ARCHIBALD. In general they have been quite profitable. Sometimes stands are set up in buildings where it turns out that the trade is not as large as expected and the stand is closed. For the most part, however, the stands are in constant operation; they go from one blind person to another. That is, in the event that one operator dies or discovers that he thinks that he has a better opportunity somewhere else, it goes to another blind person. Mr. WIER. You are going a little further into that than I wanted. to go. I just wanted to get your reaction as to whether there has been an unwarranted number of people who have said, "We cannot make a living here," or whether it has not been quite successful. Mr. ARCHIBALD. It has been quite successful. And it ought to be expanded a great deal. Mr. WIER. If we are going into this kind of a program, necessarily somebody ought to know the fields in which there are opportunities for people according to the degree of their disability. In this particular case it is the blind. Through State aid and through the interest of a great many organizations in this country, they are trying to establish a future for blind people. I know in my community they have felt that they could give the blind a feeling of independence. I have heard your statement, but has your organization developed fields that are of particular interest to the blind in which they feel they can be activated and do as good a job as anybody else? Mr. ARCHIBALD. Well, yes; to a certain extent. But it is rather impossible, Congressman, to say that any particular field is particularly adapted to the blind. It seems that the blind people are not limited in actual fact by much more than a physical nuisance. They can perform all kinds of different tasks and our blind people are doing all kinds of different things. They do not become airplane pilots or truck drivers for an obvious reason. But to say that any field is limited—that is, other than one which absolutely requires sight-is something which we would not admit, because if we do that, then we turn around and find some blind person who is doing it. Mr. WIER. Let me ask you more pointedly, Has your organization— and I speak of your organization because I feel that out of your organization comes a general knowledge and general information objectively-has your organization found fields in which your people have rather quickly adapted themselves to the operation of a particular job or profession? Mr. ARCHIBALD. Oh, yes; many of them. In many assembly jobs, where you have a task of assemblage in a plant, blind people can do that about as well as anyone else. It is a matter simply of putting a few parts together in rotation. We have also found that in the operations of actual machinery, such as a punch press or a drill press, or even a turret lathe, where it is a matter of operating the machine- that is, running it through a pattern so as to turn out a standard product-these things are all possible for the blind and there are many people doing it. The experience of the 94238-49-10 blind people themselves and of the placement officers is vastly growing in terms of the list of things that they can do. Mr. WIER. How many members does your organization represent? Mr. ARCHIBALD. We have about 35,000 throughout the country. Mr. WIER. In what State do you feel that your organization fares best in the way of aid? Mr. ARCHIBALD. In the way of aid? Mr. WIER. Aid and training; let us say care and attention— Mr. WIER. Well, I am not really interested in aid. I should not have used that word. Mr. ARCHIBALD. You mean that in the broader sense. Mr. WIER. Yes. We have passed the stage of aid a long time ago and we are looking further ahead. In what State are you faring the best in the advancement of the welfare of the blind, in an endeavor to put them on their own? Mr. ARCHIBALD. I do not know that I could select a particular State which has an over-all program which is best in all of its details. I am perhaps most familiar with the program in the State of California and I think it is a pretty well balanced program and one which is going ahead fairly rapidly. They are doing a rather remarkable job in terms of developing outlets. But they are severely limited at the present time by lack of staff. In fact, in that State they had to let several of their blind placement officers go, so that employment has slowed down. Mr. WIER. That is all. Mr. BAILEY. Thank you very much, Mr. Archibald, for your appear ance. Mr. ARCHIBALD. Thank you, sir. Mr. BAILEY. At this time we shall hear from Paul A. Strachan, president of the American Federation of the Physically Handicapped. Mr. Wender will also appear with him. STATEMENT OF PAUL A. STRACHAN, PRESIDENT, AMERICAN FEDERATION OF THE PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED, WASHINGTON, D. C. Mr. STRACHAN. Mr. Chairman, since, among other disabilities, I am totally deaf, I respectfully request that cross-examination following my statement be directed to our counsel. I shall offer for the record our formal statement. At this time I will state that my name is Paul A. Strachan. I am president of the American Federation of the Physically Handicapped. Since all of you have copies of my statement in explanation of this bill, I am not going to burden the committee by attempting to read something that would take probably three-quarters of an hour. I shall offer it for the record, however. Mr. BAILEY. It may be received. (The statement referred to is as follows:) STATEMENT OF PAUL A. STRACHAN, PRESIDENT, AMERICAN FEDERATION OF THE PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED Mr. CHAIRMAN: In considering the various bills before your committee to establish a Federal commission on services for the physically handicapped, we should provide some background for study. First, how many of our citizens are physically handicapped? No one knows the exact number, and estimates vary, according to the source, running as high as 55,000,000. Selective service rejected one out of three in the draft, and it should be considered that these were in the age limits of from 18 to 45, and thus presumably were persons in the prime of life. A summary of testimony of experts appearing before the House Committee to Investigate Aid to the Physically Handicapped, of which Hon. Augustine B. Kelley, of Pennsylvania, was chairman, estimated a total of not less than 38,000,000 of our people are, in some degree, physically handicapped. The Retraining and Reemployment Administration, under Maj. Gen. Graves B. Erskine, United States Marine Corps, Administrator, conservatively estimated at least 28,000,000 handicapped. Of these, it has been estimated that from 5,000,000 to 7,000,000 are totally and permanently disabled. To lend further weight to the disability list, I am citing the latest figures on our annual toll of injuries for the past 10 years. From the best estimates available, the permanent impairments are distributed as follows: There were, during the war years, a grand total of 11,112,600 injuries, and 88,100 fatalities, while in the various branches of the armed forces there were 296,602 killed and died, and 670,379 wounded in action; total military casualties, 966,981. We can see, thus, the tremendous scope of the disabilities incurred, and perhaps dimly realize that we have only scratched the surface in applying any effective means to remedy this situation. WHAT ARE WE DOING ABOUT IT? This poses a tremendous question for every think citizen: "What are we doing to enable our millions of handicapped to be rehabilitated and placed in suitable employment?" The problem and difficulties of these millions of disabled citizens are growing more acute each day. They have specialized problems which can only be dealt with successfully by specialists, in a specialized way. Hence, it is time for the Federal Government to take leadership in this field by establishing a Federal Commission on Services for the Physically Handicapped, to function solely in their interest. The practical administration of such agency should be independent of other phases of Government activity, although, of course, it should be properly based where its functions are understood and given sympathetic consideration. The President, the Congress, the public, and particularly the handicapped themselves are entitled to know what is being done for the disabled; by whom it is being done; the cost, and the results. Today, agencies dealing with these matters are scattered widely; they have little or no coordination, and there is bound to be duplication of effort and consequent waste of time and taxpayers' money, to say nothing of the fact that present services, facilities, and personnel are wholly inadequate to the needs of the handicapped. As cited, requirements of our millions of handicapped are growing more acute each day, particularly those who are civilians, and they cannot be adequately dealt with on any other than a basis of special service. If the transportation interests are serviced in the Government by the Interstate Commerce Commission; banking interests by the Federal Reserve Board, Reconstruction Finance Corporation, and serveral other agencies; farmers and cattle raisers by the Department of Agriculture; working people by the Department of Labor; veterans, by the Veterans' Administration; those of road builders and construction groups by the Federal Works Agency, and many other special groups having their interests represented by special services of the Federal Government, then, in justice and equity, to say nothing of conservation of lives and human values, as well as strengthening the national security by improving the welfare of our people the handicapped-who have no such services, and few real champions, are fully entitled to a special agency in their own interest-properly manned by experts and equipped with facilities, personnel and means sufficient to do a real job, instead of merely scratching the surface, as is now the case. WHO KNOWS THE MEANING OF THE WORD "REHABILITATION"? Rehabilitation is a meaningless term because only a few understand what it is supposed to mean and because of the prevailing confusion as to the objectives it should accomplish. For example, to the physician or surgeon it means medical treatment, surgery, or therapy. To the educator it means education and training or retraining. To the vocational-guidance expert it means counseling. And to the placement officer it means placement in suitable employment. To the handicapped it is our experience that at least 80 percent of them not only do not know the meaning of the word "rehabilitation" but cannot even spell it. Consequently, it has no significance to them nor bearing upon their problems, notwithstanding the 30-year-old effort to cram this piece of "gobble de gook" down the throats of the public and the handicapped. Therefore, to clarify and improve the understanding of the public, we propose changing the name of the present Office of Vocational Rehabilitation to the Federal Commission on Services for the Physically Handicapped, so that all people, and particularly the handicapped themselves, who, as stated, after all these years of attempting to sell them an almost inexplicable term, are still in ignorance of what rehabilitation stands for, will know exactly what the agency means and what it is supposed to do for them. Such a Commission would be able to cope more successfully with the multiple requirements of handicapped than any mere office or bureau. It should have independent powers because it deals with many subjects not heretofore a part of the rehabilitation concept, some of which require judicial authority, and which are all necessary if the job is to be done right. After more than thirty years' observation, study, and practice in this field, we firmly believe passage of this bill to be essential to the proper development of a program for the handicapped and for the welfare of the Nation itself. We feel that Congress can thus express its long-publicized desire and intent to afford better services for the disabled, and by so doing concentrate sufficient of the present thirty-odd activities under one head so that better administration and more economy will produce greater results. Obviously, Congress cannot be expected to be familiar with all details of a field now covered by these thirty-odd Federal agencies, each of which has a part of the handicapped program. Neither is it the intent of this bill to arbitrarily uproot all of these agencies and pitch them into one pot, but rather take one agency and build around it, and from time to time such agencies as are shown to be within its defined area could be properly integrated in the Commission until a well-proportioned whole is achieved. In one sense, the proposed Federal Commission on Services for the Physically Handicapped is not a new agency, but simply a present one under a new name and with adequate powers and means to deal with these great problems of the handicapped. We stress that the Commission would provide important and necessary services which are not now provided and because of their lack make present operations of the program incomplete, awkward, and in many instances wholly unworkable, all of which is a detriment to the Nation's welfare and particularly the welfare of the millions of handicapped who require such services. Title I. Purposes EXPLANATION OF THE BILL This briefly outlines the scope of the act. Title II. Organization This outlines and defines the functions of the Commission and the Administrator thereof. Under this title, it is pointed out that much of the present duplication and waste of effort and money could be eliminated because the prime objective here is to coordinate many functions now scattered through various agencies. Also, present agencies lack requisite powers to educate the public, particularly employers, as to the value of handicapped as workers, and this title confers such powers upon the proposed Commission. This title transfers the functions of the Federal Security Administrator relating to vocational rehabilitation and the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation to the proposed Commission, and henceforth all Federal vocational rehabilitation acts shall operate under the Commission. The present staff of the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation would be retained and the Federal-State relationship continue as under the present law. It establishes an Advisory Council on Affairs of the Handicapped, composed of experts in this field, as a policy-developing unit; the need for which is very clear. It provides a base for, and outlines the functions of, the Federal Interagency Committee on Rehabilitation and Employment of Handicapped, as a coordinating body, to bring order out of the present chaos, wherein approximately 30 agencies go in different directions at the same time. The proposed Commission is the logical place to coordinate such activities, and its composition would, doubtless, thus be the means of effectuating greater efficiency and economy in the operations of the various agencies involved. It establishes a National Commission on Employment of Handicapped, to consist of representatives of national organizations and individuals outside of Government, to function voluntarily, on a year-round basis, to encourage employment of handicapped. This would provide a necessary and logical base, for example, for the activities of the present President's Committee on National Employ the Physically Handicapped Week, which should, logically, be based in the Commission. Title III. Cooperative enterprises for the handicapped The Congress should remedy the present situation, wherein submarginal public assistance to handicapped does not provide them means to even live, let alone be treated, trained, etc., so that they may earn their own living and thus make substantial contributions to the national economy, if possible to do so, by learning trades or occupations under conditions wherein their handicap is not a factor, or, at least, is properly evaluated and provided for. Cooperative enterprises for handicapped offer great opportunities for such vitally needed functions. Among other activities they would permit establishment and operation of sheltered workshops, which are not a new concept, but have already proven of great value in many respects. Yet, they are too limited in number, have inadequate facilities, personnel and means, and in many instances lack proper business management. They offer a practical solution for the lack of training schools, as well as a means of affording income for otherwise capable, willing, and ambitious handicapped people, who have never had opportunity to earn a living, especially when pitted against nonhandicapped in our rigid, competitive employment system. By all means, the Congress should approve Cooperative Enterprises for Handicapped, and get this work into function as quickly as possible. Title IV. Grants to States for totally disabled, unfeasible for rehabilitation Nearly 5 years ago, the Social Security Board estimated that there were then, conservatively, 3,600,000 totally and permanently disabled people in the United States, and since that time, unquestionably, there has been a very material in |