CONGRESSIONAL RECORD -- SENATE
February 18, 1969
Page 3694
S. 1072 -- INTRODUCTION OF A BILL TO EXTEND THE APPALACHIAN REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT ACT
Mr. RANDOLPH. Mr. President, for myself, Senator JOHN SHERMAN COOPER, and 60 other Senators, I introduce a bill to extend the Appalachian Regional Development Act for 2 additional years until June 30, 1971. We would also extend for 2 years -- until June 30, 1971– title V of the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965, pursuant to which five other regional commissions have been established for: the Ozarks region, the upper Great Lakes region, the New England region, the Coastal Plains region, and the Four Corners region in the Southwest.
The Appalachian region comprises the following States: New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi.
Included in the Ozarks region are parts of Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Kansas.
The Four Corners region includes major parts of New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Utah.
The New England region covers all six New England States: Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode: Island, and Connecticut.
Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota form the Upper Great Lakes region, and Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina also belong to the Coastal Plains region.
Under the chairmanship of Senator JOSEPH MONTOYA, of New Mexico, the newly established Subcommittee on Economic Development of the Committee on Public Works will soon begin extensive and intensive hearings, both in Washington and around the country. The purpose will be to ascertain to the fullest extent possible the capability of the agencies that have been created in the various development regions to carry out the responsibilities that the Congress has assigned to them.
The members of the committee felt that the earlier Special Subcommittee on Economic Development, in order better to perform its legislative function, should be transformed into a standing subcommittee. The members, under Senator MONTOYA's chairmanship, are the Senator now speaking, Senators EDMUND S. MUSKIE, of Maine; WILLIAM B. SPONG, JR., of Virginia; THOMAS F. EAGLETON, of Missouri; MIKE GRAVEL, of Alaska; HOWARD H. BAKER, JR., of Tennessee; JOHN SHERMAN COOPER, of Kentucky; ROBERT J. DOLE, of Kansas; and ROBERT W. PACKWOOD, of Oregon.
The Appalachian regional development program has already proved to be a successful experiment. In submitting the annual report of the Appalachian Regional Commission for fiscal year 1968, on January 18, 1969, President Johnson took note of the visible results "not only on the landscape but in the new hopes of the people." He mentioned the new highways, the new or expanded airports, the new vocational education schools, the new or improved hospitals, the new aid to institutions of higher learning, the libraries, the housing projects, the new educational television stations, the new water and sewage systems, and the hundreds of other new and separate projects going forward in the 13 States of Appalachia. These effective efforts are aimed at restoring and enhancing the living conditions and the environment of the millions of people. who live in this good region of our land.
This program, underway only three and a half years, merits continuance. Recommended funding for the program is at a level of $225 million for the next 2 fiscal years, an increase of $55 million over the past 2 fiscal years. As in the past, the new funds for Appalachia will be expended on projects developed only after detailed study by the Governors of the States that form the regional commissions.
Mr. President, the excellent record of contributions by the Governors of the Appalachian region to the success of this program merits commendation. Their earnest support and enthusiastic participation have been truly valuable to the growth and accomplishments of this new dimension -- this partnership -- in our federal system.
The committee hopes, as a result of anticipated findings in the projected hearings on this bill, that it may prove possible to finance the other regional commissions more adequately. The amounts suggested by the Bureau of, the Budget are bare bones. We must do more if we are to meet with realism the needs of these lagging areas of our economy.
We have held preliminary discussions among our committee's members and with representatives of our counterparts in the other body. I can assure the Senate that the operation of each of the regional commissions during the past 2 years will be thoroughly reviewed and that their plans for the next 2 years will be carefully examined.
The point of departure for these title V commissions was the act of 1967, under which, finally, some funds were appropriated for their activities. We came to that point due, in large measure, to the efforts of Senator EDMUND S. MUSKIE, of Maine, Senator JOSEPH MONTOYA, of New Mexico, Senator FRED HARRIS, of Oklahoma, and Senators JOHN MCCLELLAN and WILLIAM FULBRIGHT of Arkansas. I salute their vision and thank them for their strong support.
Mr. President, I express tribute to the splendid cooperation we have always received in these efforts from the minority members of the committee, from my able friend, JOHN SHERMAN COOPER, and from the ranking minority member of the subcommittee on Economic Development, the diligent junior Senator from Tennessee, HOWARD H. BAKER.
The bipartisan nature of this endeavor will, I am sure, continue and prosper.
The successes already attained under the Appalachian program augur well for what can be achieved in the other subsequently established development regions.
At a later date the committee plans to study the general program of the Economic Development Administration, but only after the new administration has had time to look into it and to make recommendations with respect to it. We are not seeking to press the administration unduly for its overall views on this matter. The hearings we plan are designed to help us face realistically the fact that the money for Appalachia and the other five regional commissions will expire in June of this year and should be renewed. Later we will counsel with the officers of the new administration on the Federal EDA program when we can have the benefit of their considered judgment.
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, will the Senator yield?
Mr. RANDOLPH. I yield.
Mr. MUSKIE. As the Senator knows, I am a cosponsor of the bill. As the Senator also knows, I had some reservations about it, because I believe we need some additional legislation to deal with the New England problem.
May I qualify what I have just said, to express my appreciation to the Senator for his support in the past for the extension of the Appalachian region to New England and other regions of the country.
I think it might be appropriate to indicate today in the RECORD that tomorrow I will introduce a bill of my own, undertaking to expand the legislation dealing with the regions other than Appalachia.
I express my appreciation to the distinguished Senator, the chairman of my committee for cosponsoring the bill I will introduce tomorrow.
Mr. RANDOLPH. Mr. President, I am delighted to associate myself with the effort the distinguished Senator from Maine is making to spell out the needs of New England.
Of course, this region of New England is the only one that has been established where all the States -- not parts of the States -- are members of the developmental region.
I know of the need in the State of Maine in reference to a developmental road which would run from the west side of the State to the ocean.
As the Senator well knows, I have given very careful thought to what I believe to be a rather substantial sum of money for the development of the five regions, keeping in mind, that in the Appalachian region we have approximately 16 million persons. In the five regions including New England we have approximately the same number of persons. In those 17 States that will supplement the 13 States in the Appalachian region, we have in process the development of this program in 30 States.
The amounts of money which are proposed for the continuation of the program in Appalachia would be not to exceed $225 million for the 2-year fiscal period ending June 30, 1971; and for the five new regions, we would authorize $175 million for the same 2-year fiscal period.
The differential between the $225 million and the $175 million is for the reason that in the Appalachian States this program has been in progress for 4 years, and was based on a presidential task force report.
This program is an attempt to work these problems out not on Pennsylvania Avenue but in the valleys and on the mountains and in these great areas of Appalachia.
Now, to a degree, the people in the area of the Senator from Maine have suffered from their later start, but our experiences will help them. The few errors we have committed in part will be their successes.
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, will the Senator yield?
Mr. RANDOLPH. I yield.
Mr. MUSKIE. One mistake we do not want to make is to delay too long in getting the money to implement the projects in New England.
Mr. RANDOLPH. That is correct.
Mr. MUSKIE. We have learned that lesson from the Senators who represent the Appalachian region.
Mr. RANDOLPH. I thank the Senator. When we brought the Appalachian regional development idea to the floor of the Senate, I promised that I would follow through with the other regions of this country which had common problems that needed to be attacked -- not by timid steps, but by an all-out frontal effort to stimulate and generate business, industry, and the well-being of the people.
Mr. President, there will be hearings on the proposed legislation in New England, and I say to the distinguished Senator from Maine that the hearings will be on his measure as well. We will not confine the hearings to the proposal that I introduce this afternoon with the support of the Senator from Maine and the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. BYRD), my colleague, who has such an intricate knowledge of this program.
Mr. MUSKIE. May I suggest to the distinguished Senator that his proposed legislation is essentially a continuation of the present programs for Appalachia and the other regions.
The measure I shall introduce tomorrow will seek an expansion of the program to permit the implementation of the projects that have been developed by the regional commission and which could not be fully implemented under the existing authorization.
So I believe there is sense to separating the two at this point, until we have had an opportunity to judge my measure on its merits and in the light of the projects which have been recommended by the New England Regional Commission.
Mr. President, again, I appreciate the Senator's cooperation in cosponsoring the legislation I shall introduce tomorrow.
Mr. RANDOLPH. It is my privilege to cooperate with the able Senator from Maine in these matters as in other matters that concern the strengthening of our economy and the well-being of our people. I commend him for the effort he makes here, particularly for New England. We feel it is important, however, as best we can, to keep all of them in concert.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be made a part of the RECORD, and I ask unanimous consent also that the excellent report submitted by Gov. Mills E. Godwin, of Virginia, to the Council of Appalachian Governors at the January 19, 1969, meeting held in Washington be printed in the RECORD following my remarks. Governor Godwin reported to the Appalachian Governors' Council for the period covered by his incumbency as the cochairman for the 13 States in the Appalachian Regional Development Commission. His summary is worthy of our study and attention as we move into legislative consideration of measures to extend and authorize appropriations and expenditures for the Appalachian Commission and those for the Ozarks, the Upper Great Lakes, New England, the Southeastern Coastal Plains, and the Four Corners region of the Southwest.
The VICE PRESIDENT. The bill will be received and appropriately referred; and, without objection, the bill and report will be printed in the RECORD.
The bill (S. 1072) to authorize funds to carry out the purposes of the Appalachian Regional Development Act of 1965 as amended and title V of the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 as amended, introduced by Mr. RANDOLPH (for himself and other Senators), was received, read twice by its title, referred to the Committee on Public Works, and ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows: