Mr. BAILEY. I think that we can understand the interest of your group because of the large percentage of injuries resulting from machine operation.

Mr. WALKER. That is correct.

Mr. BAILEY. I take it there would be a large number of injuries. Mr. WALKER. That is correct, sir.

Congressman Wier is particularly interested in the number of blind. In our association the percentage of blind, those who have become blind due to industrial injuries, is very high, and one of the activities that our organization has participated in very fully is with an inde pendent agency known as the Guiding Eyes, and one of the very grave and regrettable things today is the terrifically high cost to a blind person of obtaining a guiding-eye dog, a seeing-eye dog, a properly trained dog. It would astound the committee to learn of the prohibitive cost to which blind persons are put to obtain a seeing-eye dog, We think that part of this program should certainly include ways and means of providing the blind, those who are physically capable otherwise of moving around, to have the services of a seeing-eye dog, or a guiding-eye dog, whichever you prefer.

Mr. KELLEY. What does it cost to train a seeing-eye dog?

Mr. WALKER. Offhand, I cannot give you the exact figure, but I think it is between $1,200 and $1,500. I would be glad to furnish you the exact figures we have, if you prefer to have them in the record.

Mr. KELLEY. If you will.

(The information is as follows:)

INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS,

Congressman AUGUSTINE B. KELLEY,

Washington 1, D. C., July 15, 1949.

House Office Building, Washington 25, D. C.

DEAR CONGRESSMAN Kelley: Yesterday morning, while appearing in behalf of President A. J. Hayes, of the International Association of Machinists, before your Subcommittee on Education and Labor with reference to H. R. 3095 and the related bills to establish a Federal Commission on Services for the Physically Handicapped, you asked if I would supply information as to the cost of equipping a blind person with a guide dog. I have checked our files and find that under date of March 1, 1949, Joseph W. Jones, Sr., president of International Guiding Eyes, Inc., in the letter to all our local lodges of our ladies' auxiliary, stated: "The total cost to us at present to completely equip a blind person with a guide dog is approximately $800, which is much less than the cost to any other guidedog organization I know of. Our guide dogs and the blind are trained by a licensed trainer, in a licensed school, and in strict compliance with the high standard required under the laws of the State of California. This cost is exclusive of transportation for the blind person to and from the school in Burbank, Calif., which is also paid by us when the applicant or their friends are unable to do so."

This is the latest information we have on this subject, and because of its recent date no doubt it represents the immediate minimum cost at which a guiding-eye dog can be trained.

Sincerely yours,

ELMER E. WALKER,

General Vice President.

Mr. BAILEY. Thank you very much.

Mr. KELLEY. We will now hear from Mr. Roger Arnett.

STATEMENT OF ROGER ARNETT, NATIONAL VICE PRESIDENT AND INDIANA STATE REPRESENTATIVE, AMERICAN FEDERATION OF THE PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED

Mr. ARNETT. I am Roger Arnett, of Columbus, Ind., and I am honored to appear before this subcommittee to express my opinions on H. R. 3095, introduced by Mr. Kelley, to establish a Federal Commission on Services for the Physically Handicapped. This proposed bill brings a bright ray of hope to millions of Americans. It is the first really good legislative act that is anywhere near adequate to cope with this tremendous problem.

Many severely physically handicapped write me of their problems because of my being a paraplegic. Thus, it is from their experiences as well as my own that I am speaking in favor of H. R. 3695. We civilian disabled know the limitations of present agencies to care for our needs. They do all that is in their power, but it is only 10 percent adequate. When the present agencies were established no one dreamed the need was so great.

As I see it, H. R. 3095 doesn't bring charity to the disabled. Thank God for that. Above all, we don't want charity. This bill will give the physically handicapped a far better chance to earn his way through life. Untold millions of taxeaters will become taxpayers. I am confident that Federal moneys spent in the execution of this act will be returned many times to the United States Treasury during the next 10 to 20 years. Each year the return will be greater. That is sound economics.

Among my friends was a fellow paraplegic by the name of A. Robert Cox, of Saginaw, Mich. In addition to being paralyzed from the waist down, Bob had both legs amputated at the hips. Yet you never saw a fellow with a broader smile. Why? Because he had a good business of his own. He wasn't getting rich, but he was making his way. Bob was paying taxes to the United States Treasury. Bob, 33 years of age, a comparatively young man, died last week because H. R. 3095 was not law at the time he was first injured. He couldn't afford the medical aid that would have saved his life-mediçal aid that this bill will provide.

Another friend, Orville Mitchell, of Ann Arbor, Mich., had an accident 18 years ago which broke his neck, leaving him almost completely helpless from his chin down. He has regained a very limited use of his hands. A friend helped Orville start a little business. Now he is paying taxes to the United States Treasury. After 12 years in the hospital, he has his own home, saving the taxpayers thousands of dollars a year and helping pay the way of others who may not be disabled as much but who do not have a friend to start them.

Rehabilitation said when I went to them for help 18 years ago that I was not feasible for rehabilitation; I was too seriously disabled.

I hate to think of how completely useless my life would have been had W. D. Whitehead, of Owosso, Mich., not taken an interest in me in 1933, 22 years after my accident. Those 211⁄2 years of idleness and burden on society would have stretched out until death. With that little start and the help of God, I have been able to marry, adopt three wonderful children, own my own home and conduct a 10-acre gladiolus

business. Above all I am proud to pay taxes. I think that makes me just about the happiest man in the United States.

I moved to Indiana about 8 months ago and I have become acquainted with approximately 40 severely disabled people in my area. Practically all of them have contacted the rehabilitation department down there in one way or another to seek help. They have not been getting it. One of the young men, with just one arm disabled, applied for a job. He had the educational facilities and was able to do the work, but the rehabilitation department down there told him they were not hiring disabled persons in that department.

But, for every Robert Cox or Orville Mitchell or myself, I know of at least 10 physically handicapped individuals who are a burden to society. They are waiting for that certain "friend." Present agencies have failed them. Enacting H. R. 3095 into law will give that other 90 percent a chance to live a normal, purposeful life that a few of us fortunate individuals now enjoy.

Gentlemen, it is that other 90 percent for whom I am speaking. They will receive the direct benefits. Everyone in the United States, however, will be indirectly helped.

Thank you.

Mr. KELLEY. Mr. Arnett, you say that you do most of the work yourself. Do you do it from that chair?

Mr. ARNETT. I have a tractor that I fixed up, and I have a motortruck that I get around through the field in, and I do my own cutting and plowing.

Mr. KELLEY. Do you move yourself from your chair to the tractor? Mr. ARNETT. Yes; I have a hoist designed so that I can get on the tractor myself. I drive my own car and my own truck.

Mr. BAILEY. That is a remarkable presentation and demonstration. It is very effective.

Mr. KELLEY. The next witness is Hon. Robert Ramspeck, whom we are glad to have with us at this time.

STATEMENT OF HON. ROBERT RAMSPECK, WASHINGTON, D. C.

Mr. RAMSPECK. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, my name is Robert Ramspeck. I am appearing solely in my personal capacity as a citizen. Mr. KELLEY. If I may interpose, you might say something about your experience in the House and on this committee. You are interested in this matter before us?

Mr. RAMSPECK. That is right, Mr. Chairman.

What I have to say is based upon my service of more than 16 years in the Congress, and upon my experience during the past 2 years as a member of the President's Committee on the Employment of the Handicapped.

I am appearing for two reasons. The first is because I strongly feel that the problem of the handicapped citizen needs the earnest attention of the Congress, and the second is my desire to pay tribute to my personal friend Paul A. Strachan, himself a handicapped individual, who is devoting his considerable talents and his entire time to those of our citizens who suffer from some form of handicap.

I do not undertake to express an opinion as to the details of the proposed legislation, nor as to its form or the organizational set-up it proposes.

I do wholeheartedly endorse the purpose of H. R. 3095 and urge this committee and the Congress to give thorough study to the problem it seeks to deal with.

I do not deal with the form of the organization proposed because Congress has before it the reports of the Commission on the Reorganization of the Executive Branch of the Government. This Commission, under the chairmanship of former President Hoover, and composed of members of both political parties, at considerable expense of funds and time, has thoroughly examined the various departments and agencies of the Government. I do not agree with all of their recommendations, but I do know that too many agencies and departments exist and far too many people must report directly to the Chief Executive of our Nation.

Whatever you may decide to recommend regarding the handicapped, the governmental machinery set up for that purpose should be fitted in with the over-all plan for the organization of a more efficient executive branch of our Government.

I, therefore, do not undertake to even discuss the question of whether the handicapped should be aided through an independent agency or be given assistance through some present department.

There is a problem. It does need a plan of solution. Present efforts toward a solution are scattered in various places in the Government.

Various estimates of the number of persons who are handicapped run from 25,000,000 upward. I do not know how many there are. No census of the handicapped has been made. That is a part of the problem-to find out the extent of the job facing us.

As a Member of the Congress I supported the efforts of others to provide aid from the Federal Government to the States for the rehabilitation of the handicapped, so that they might become selfsupporting. That was a worthy undertaking and I feel that it has resulted in bringing hope into the lives of many of our less fortunate citizens. During the war thousands of these rehabilitated citizens gave a good account of themselves. They proved, once trained, they could render service in industry. They became self-supporting and in many cases did work in certain jobs which excelled that of employees having no handicap.

I might say, outside of my prepared statement, Mr. Chairman, that the story you just heard from the witness who preceded me certainly justifies all the efforts anybody has ever put into this cause. The fact that a man can be taken out of the category of a dependent person, incapable of taking care even of himself, and become a selfsupporting businessman, carrying on his own business operations, is enough I think to warrant the consideration which your committee is giving to this matter and the money that it may cost to give others a like chance.

Congress passed an act setting aside a week in October of each year known as National Employ the Handicapped Week. That act was a result of the fertile mind of Paul Strachan. It has been implemented by the President's committee of which I am a member. The Congress recently passed a resolution to give that committee a small sum of money to staff its activities.

I might say, Mr. Chairman, that I know this committee is glad to know that the President signed that bill and it is now law.

I

have just come from a conference with the President, along with Dr. McIntire, the chairman of the President's committee, with reference to plans for celebration of the week this year. And I am not disclosing any confidence when I say to you that he is deeply interested in the matter of the President's committee's work and that he has always cooperated with the committee and is going to do so this year.

We have succeeded in bringing into play a large measure of cooperation between employers, labor unions, and the Federal, State, and local governmental authorities.

I might add there that there are 46 governors who have appointed State committees in connection with the work of the President's committee.

Rehabilitation is a futile thing unless the person trained can find employment. That is the object of the President's committee, and the results have been considerable.

Paul Strachan, though totally deaf and not otherwise strong physically, has rendered great service to the cause of persons suffering various forms of handicap. I urge you to give sympathetic consideration to whatever he says on this subject.

There are many good reasons why our Nation should do everything possible for the handicapped. Some of those reasons were recently stated in words better than any I might compose by the distinguished Senator from Wisconsin, Alexander S. Wiley. I quote from his statement appearing in the Congressional Record of July 7, page 9197, as follows:

To me, there are few more rewarding tasks in this world than to make a disabled person whole, to make a disabled person adequate, to earn his or her own way insofar as possible. What joy we can bring to their hearts. What pleasure we can give to the bedridden, to those who are broken in health, who still retain, however, active, alert, intelligent minds, eager to make a contribution to their country.

If we do not help them to help themselves, if we do not rehabilitate them, they are a liability to themselves, to their families, to their country. If on the other hand we encourage them, train them, reeducate them, they prove to be great assets-adaptable, productive, reliable workers. American industry has found that out. Our Government has found it out, too, in the splendid employment record of handicapped workers during the war.

I also commend to you, for reading, the winning essay on the subject, writen by a young citizen of the State of Wisconsin, which the Senator placed in the Record of July 7, page 9198.

I might explain that that essay is the result of the work of the President's committee. We are carrying on a contest in which students are writing essays. The winner is going to be brought to Washington in honor of that victory.

In conclusion, I again urge a careful and thorough study of the subject by this committee. In my opinion, the Congress will find a huge problem in this field. Its solution will make the United States a better place in which to live and will bring satisfaction to each of those having a part in bringing aid to our fellows who labor under the difficulty of some form of handicap.

Thank you very much.

Mr. KELLEY. You appeared with Admiral McIntire before this committee on the resolution carrying funds to do the work of the President's Employ the Physically Handicapped Week Program. You and the admiral gave us some figures as to the number of the