March 14, 1963
Page 4248
AUTHORITY TO STUDY INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND STATES AND MUNICIPALITIES
Mr. HUMPHREY. Mr. President, I move that the Senate proceed to the consideration of Senate Resolution 45, to authorize a study of intergovernmental relationships.
The motion was agreed to; and the Senate proceeded to consider the resolution (S. Res. 45) authorizing a study of intergovernmental relationships between the United States and the States and municipalities, which had been reported from the Committee on Rules and Administration, with amendments, on page 2, line 5, after the word "from", to strike out "February" and insert "March", and on page 3, line 2, after the word "exceed", to strike out $115,000" and insert "$97,290"; so as to make the resolution read:
Resolved, That the Committee on Government Operations, or any duly authorized subcommittee thereof, is authorized under sections 134(a) and 136 of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946, as amended, and in accordance with its jurisdiction specified by subsection 1 (g) (2) (D) of rule XXV of the Standing Rules of the Senate, to examine, investigate, and make a complete study of intergovernmental relationships between the United States and the States and municipalities, including an evaluation of studies, reports, and recommendations made thereon and submitted to the Congress by the Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations pursuant to the provisions of Public Law 86-380, approved by the President on September 24, 1959.
Sec. 2. For the purposes of this resolution the committee, from March 1, 1963, to January 31, 1964, inclusive, is authorized (1) to make such expenditures as it deems advisable; (2) to employ upon a temporary basis, technical, clerical, and other assistants and consultants: Provided, That the minority is authorized to select one person for appointment, and the person so selected shall be appointed and his compensation shall be so fixed that his gross rate shall not be less by more than $1,600 than the highest gross rate paid to any other employee; and (3) with the prior consent of the heads of the departments or agencies concerned, and the Committee on Rules and Administration, to utilize the reimbursable services, information, facilities, and personnel of any of the departments or agencies of the Government.
Sec. 3. The committee shall report its findings, together with its recommendations for legislation as it deems advisable, to the Senate at the earliest practicable date, but not later than January 31, 1964.
Sec. 4. Expenses of the committee under this resolution, which shall not exceed $97,290, shall be paid from the contingent fund of the Senate upon vouchers approved by the chairman of the committee.
The amendments were agreed to.
Mr. ELLENDER. Mr. President, I should like to ask some questions. I understand that this subcommittee was a new one last year.
Mr. HUMPHREY. That is correct.
Mr. ELLENDER. The amount requested was $40,000; and I understand that the subcommittee spent approximately $21,000.
Mr. HUMPHREY. The Senator from Maine is the chairman of the subcommittee, and he is familiar with the details.
Mr. ELLENDER. I understand the subcommittee is now asking for $97,290, for 11 months. Why is the increase requested?
Mr. MUSKIE. The original request last year was for $40,000, which was to cover a period of operations of 5 months. We tried to estimate it as accurately as we could. The resolution was approved by the Senate on July 12, 1962. We undertook the staffing of the committee, and we completed much of it about Labor Day, and worked for approximately 5 months. However, the staffing really was not completed until October.
The actual expenditures during the 5-month period ending January 31, 1963, were in excess of the figures set forth in the report.
Mr. ELLENDER. They amounted to $21,000-plus, did they?
Mr. MUSKIE. The actual cash balance as of January 31, 1963, was $15,057.07.
Mr. ELLENDER. Is that the amount which remained from the $40,000?
Mr. MUSKIE. Yes. So we spent approximately $25,000.
Mr. ELLENDER. What did the subcommittee do with the $25,0009 Did it begin hearings of any kind?
Mr. MUSKIE. Yes, we held hearings. If the Senator from Louisiana will refer to report No. 26, on page 3 he will find that the nature of the activities we undertook at that time is spelled out. I shall be glad to review them briefly now.
First of all, our activities in that period fell into three categories. In the first place, several bills in the intergovernmental field, which were referred to the subcommittee, had been pending in the full committee, but had not been attended to, because no subcommittee for the purpose of studying them had been available. That had been the case for the last 4 years in the committee.
Largely because no subcommittee had been specifically assigned to that area, such legislative measures had been referred from time to time to ad hoc subcommittees.
One of the reasons for the establishment of the subcommittee was to provide a forum in which to consider such proposed legislation.
The principal measure on which we held hearings last fall had to do with the disposition of Ellis Island, which has been surplus, as the Senator probably knows, since 1954 or 1955. The executive agencies have been struggling with that problem over much of that time. Many proposals for the disposition of the island have been advanced, but there has not been a meeting of the minds in regard to the question of what to do with it. So we held those hearings last fall, and invited testimony by those who had proposals to make regarding the disposition of the island. At the hearings we heard from all persons who had proposals to make in regard to the disposition of the island. We learned that the disposition of the island is clearly in the interest of many millions of Americans, who regard it as a national shrine, and would like to see it disposed of in a way which will fit in with that situation.
It was also our purpose to pinpoint the proposals in the intergovernmental field, in accordance with the mandate of the committee. We did two things to implement that mandate of the committee: First, during the fall we held hearings to which we invited witnesses from all levels of government to express their views on the nature of the problems confronting us in the intergovernmental field. I think those hearings were very worthwhile and constructive, and I have the reports here.
Mr. ELLENDER. Has the Senator from Maine been adding new fields in which to investigate, since the original resolution was adopted?
Mr. MUSKIE. No.
Mr. ELLENDER. How long will this investigation continue?
Mr. MUSKIE. The subcommittee is set up as a permanent subcommittee to deal with problems in this field.
Mr. ELLENDER. So it would be another permanent subcommittee, with no end to it?
Mr. MUSKIE. The Senator from Louisiana is correct.
Mr. ELLENDER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed at this point in the RECORD the budget for this -- shall I say -- new subcommittee, which the Senator from Maine says will be another permanent subcommittee.
There being no objection, the excerpt from the report (No. 26) was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows,
Funds requested, Senate Resolution 45, $115,000.
Funds approved by the Committee on Rules and Administration, $97,290.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. If there be no further amendment to be proposed, the question is on agreeing to the resolution, as amended.
The resolution (S. Res. 45), as amended, was agreed to.