leaders of a community examine the problems of their area, appraise their resources, determine those things that need to be done in order to overcome these problems, and initiate specific actions for getting more payroll jobs, more income from tourists, or more income from recreation enterprises. At the same time they move toward more efficient family size farms in place of farms that supply inadequate incomes and do not fully employ those who live on them. In the rural areas development program, the local leadership committee is supported and helped with information, technical assistance, and services, by Department of Agriculture agencies, representatives of other Federal agencies, and by State officials, but the desire for economic improvement, the basic planning and the initial forward steps should be taken by the local leaders. We know of the success of Peace Corps men in identifying themselves with people in foreign countries and of the guidance and assistance that has been given in taking the first steps toward economic development. We have every reason to believe the corpsmen carefully selected and carefully trained can become identified with local communities in this country to the point where they will be warmly received. When the corpsmen can become a part of a community, they can help turn ineffective discussion about the need for a new water system, a new sewage system, a new factory, a new hospital, and a new school into a sustained drive toward at least one of these things that the community needs. Also, they can offset the feeling of pessimism so often present in an impoverished community with a feeling of optimism. Apathy and frustration can be offset by pride in accomplishment. The Food and Agriculture Act of 1962 gave us new tools to use in revitalizing the economy of the rural areas. We can make loans to assist rural people in reshaping their areas in the same way as urban areas are reshaped by urban renewal. As has been demonstrated in the urban renewal, a basic change in the economy produces innumerable facets and factors which must be handled expeditiously. Local leaders may visualize the new economy they seek, but someone needs to carry this vision forward and relate the small pieces of progress being made to the overall program underway. Meanwhile, errands must be run, people must be contacted, contracts and proposals must be reevaluated. All of this is the type of work that in the end must be done by the local community leaders. In the formative state, however, the stimulus of carefully selected and trained corpsmen may well represent the margin between abandonment of the project and its successful completion. The 1962 Food and Agriculture Act also provided for pilot resource conservation and development programs. These can result in the more efficient use of land and water resources for recreation, for supplying the needs of small communities, and for agricultural production. Corpsmen by being on hand to make contracts between rural people, to help with educational meetings, and to keep before the people the goal of the conservation and development plan, can greatly accelerate the completion of these programs and their contribution to the economic development of the communities. Poor housing, lack of sanitary facilities, difficulties in obtaining basic education, and in finding proper vocational training, all are problems of the rural people. Alert corpsmen becoming identified with these people can point the way toward making the housing, training, and community facilities programs most effective in reaching those people most in need of the services. Over half of the poverty in the United States is in rural areas. Farm and rural nonfarm families living on substandard incomes total 4.1 million. This compares with 3.9 million urban families with similar substandard incomes. In the rural areas, there are 22 million people under 20 years of age. Over 4 million of these are in poverty-stricken families. There are almost 1 million migratory families with low incomes, inadequate homes, and little opportunity for proper education of their children. About 800 counties in the Nation have predominantly low income. More than 25,000 small towns are involved. Younger adults have migrated to the city from many of these areas. Leadership is hard to find, and there is apathy. frustration, and fear. In our rural-area development program in the Department of Agriculture. we are setting about revitalizing these communities so that they are again strong, viable, economic areas. We want to support the proposed legislation for National Service Corps men in order that we may have the young people and the older individuals to assist us in this effort. THE WELFARE FEDERATION, Hon. HARRISON WILLIAMS, Chairman, Subcommittee on Migratory Labor, DEAR SENATOR WILLIAMS: The Advisory Committee of the Central Volunteer Bureau of the Welfare Federation of Cleveland has given careful consideration to H.R. 5625, to create a National Service Corps. We are strongly of the opinion that in order to accomplish the worthy aims of this legislation, it is imperative the following provisions be included: High quality supervision should be a requirement for approval of projects. The effectiveness of performance, and the value of the experience of corpsmen, will be dependent upon the quality of supervision which they receive in the operating agencies to which they are assigned. By and large, local agencies would require financial supplementation to secure sufficient staff to assure such supervision. In view of the fact that most corpsmen probably will be working in conjunction with existing operating agencies, it is important thaat the local agency have the prerogative of final selection of corpsmen referred and of supervisory personnel. In promotion of this program from the national level, it is important that Federal agency contacts with the local community be through an existing central coordinating agency in order that we avoid inadvertent overlapping and conflicting planning. The concept of full-time employment for corpsmen during their term of duty is essential. This work should be distinctly unique when compared with the ordinary concept of voluntary service which, in most communities, is very extensive, and must not be confused or undermined. It is preferable that assignments of corpsmen be made in a community other than the individual's home community. The potential of this program, both in terms of its productiveness and its values in development of community leaders, will be found in the quality of the personnel selected. We would hope this program would be most attractive to college graduates as an extension of their experience and education. They would be able to make the best contribution toward work to be done. We would not see this program as a solution to the youth employment problem. The legislation suggests partial local financing of projects. While this seems reasonable in principle, we believe that extension of this principle of direct Federal-local relationships in the financing of community services should be given thorough study. There are some indications that inducements to take advantage of Federal funds complicate local financial planning. It may be that the State should be the channel for Federal programs which contemplate local financial participation in operating costs. We believe the greatest value which may emerge from a National Service Corps program will be development of a corps of civic leaders who, in the future, from this experience could carry on most effectively in their own communities when the federally sponsored program is terminated. Sincerely yours, Mrs. MARTIN R. KING, Chairman, Advisory Committee, Central Volunteer Bureau. NATIONAL NEWMAN CLUB FEDERATION The following resolution was passed by the National Executive Committee of the National Newman Club Federation at its spring meeting, April 6-7, 1963, in Cincinnati, Ohio: Title: The National Service Corps. Fact: At the December 1962 meeting of the United States Young Adult Council, the National Newman Club Federation issued statements in support of the National Service Corps. The National Service Corps is a program using the techniques and skills of young adults to recover the loss to our Nation from unemployment, underdevelopment, and natural and manmade conditions requiring economic, social, technical, and cultural rehabilitation. This program would utilize volunteer workers in a manner similar to the Peace Corps. Principle: The inherent dignity of man demands that we as responsible Christians cooperate with organizations using morally correct means to promote the common good and the cause of God. Statement: The National Executive Committee of the National Newman Club Federation endorses the efforts of the U.S. Congress to create a National Service Corps and strongly recommends the participation of Catholic students in such a National Service Corps. Implementation: President Kennedy, majority and minority leaders of the House and Senate, chairmen of permanent House and Senate committees. chairman of the United States Young Adult Council, all federation officers and member clubs. AMERICAN PUBLIC WELFARE ASSOCIATION, Chicago, Ill., June 11, 1963. Hon. HARRISON A. WILLIAMS, Jr., DEAR SENATOR WILLIAMS: On behalf of the American Public Welfare Association I should like to express our support for the principles and general objectives embodied in the proposal to establish a National Service Corps (S. 1321). The American Public Welfare Association is the national voluntary organization representing the field of public welfare. Our membership includes public welfare agencies at all levels of government and individuals who work in these programs, as well as others having an interest in this field. The members of our association are well aware of the services needed among migrant workers, Indians living on reservations, the mentally ill in institutions. and individuals and families living in the blighted areas of large cities. In almost all situations of these kinds public welfare agencies are already carrrying heavy responsibilities for providing assistance and services. But we doubt that there are any of these instances in which much more help is not needed. We believe there are many situations in which National Service Corps projects could provide services that are urgently needed and which could not otherwise be made available. It also appears to us that the mechanisms for sponsorship and organization which are proposed would open new opportunities for volunteer service. Such opportunities, we believe, would not be in competition with the existing volunteer services, but would rather augment the total contribution of volunteers by recruiting new workers. In our view one of the essential features of the proposal is that projects would be set up and corpsmen assigned only on the invitation of a responsible local sponsoring authority. We believe that a provision of this kind is a necessary safeguard and that it will also result in increased public support for the undertaking. We are confident that if this program is enacted public welfare agencies throughout the country will be prominent among the sponsors of projects. Sincerely yours, HAROLD HAGEN, Washington Representative. PROVIDENCE, R.I., June 1, 1963. FREDERICK B. BLACKWELL, Counsel, Senate Subcommittee on Labor, DEAR MR. BLACKWELL: I wish to file the following statement in support of legislation which proposes to establish a national service program : Through my responsibilities and activities I am in continuous touch with older adults and have felt a growing need for the development of desirable opportunities for volunteer service. The establishment of the National Service Corps through passage of H.R. 5625-S. 1321 will serve significantly to answer the need not only for constructive and meaningful activity for retired folks. but also for combating our country's problems of poverty, ignorance, and disease. We therefore urge prompt passage of H.R. 5625-S. 1321, and offer our professional resources to the National Service Corps to assist in the implementation of its objectives. I respectfully request that this statement be made part of the official record of the hearings on the national service program bill. Respectfully yours, Dr. MARY C. MULVEY, President, National Council of Senior Citizens Education and Research Center. PREPARED STATEMENT OF GARRETT J. BOWMAN, AMVETS NATIONAL SERVICE DIRECTOR Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, AMVETS appreciate the opportunity to express our views on S. 1321 to establish a National Service Corps. The National Executive Committee of AMVETS, at their April meeting, unanimously adopted a resolution supporting a National Service Corps. As AMVETS National Veterans' Administration voluntary service representative, I know firsthand what tremendous good can be accomplished by properly coordinated volunteer service. We of AMVETS, from our experience with the VAVS program, cannot help but agree with the statement made by the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs, the Honorable John S. Gleason, Jr., during his testimony before this committee on June 5, 1963. The poverty stricken, the mentally retarded, the mentally ill, and the deprived millions living in our depressed areas are a waste of human resources that this Nation cannot morally or economically long endure. The American people have always shown a willingness to help others. Their response to properly organized appeals is on occasion almost unbelievable not only in dollars, but in their willingness to give of their own time, talent, and energy. The only elements lacking nationally and locally to put this great potential to work for the good of our less fortunate citizens are organization, coordination, and leadership. In the opinion of AMVETS, a National Service Corps would provide the organization, coordination. and leadership that is needed to tap our greatest of all "natural resources"; namely, the willingness and generosity of the American people in giving of themselves to help others help themselves. This is a Nation of people who like to help others and want to help, but they need the direction that a National Service Corps program would provide. This response of the people of this great Nation to appeals to relieve poverty and suffering in foreign lands, their willingness to assist in the relocation of refugees; should be adequate proof, that if given the leadership, they will do as much or more to relieve the suffering and poverty of our own citizens who so desperately need assistance. We urge your support of S. 1321. RESOLUTION ADOPTED AT THE 30TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE, U.S. CONFERENCE OF MAYORS, HONOLULU, HAWAII, JUNE 12, 1963 YOUTH OPPORTUNITIES Whereas the young people of our Nation constitute our most valuable national resource; and Whereas the future strength and vitality of this country depends upon the qualifications and fitness of our youth to successfully cope with the responsibilities of life; and Whereas the number of young people under the age of majority is increasing yearly at a greater rate than the population as a whole; and Whereas extraordinarily heavy demands have been placed upon the resources of our cities in an effort to meet the needs of our youthful citizens; and Whereas a constant and distressing rise in school dropouts, youth unemployment, and juvenile delinquency compels the cooperation and assistance of all levels of government to find solutions for these problems; and Whereas these problems cost the Nation billions of dollars annually which could be saved with concerted attacks on the causes of the problems: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the U.S. Conference of Mayors support public and private programs designed to stop the spread of juvenile delinquency and explore new approaches and resources in facilitating the educational, vocational, and civic training needed by our youth; and be it further Resolved, That the conference, in pursuing these aims, support (1) establishment nationally of a Youth Conservation Corps, Home Town Youth Corps, and National Service Corps; (2) enactment of a Youth Employment Act; and (3) extension of the Juvenile Delinquency Act of 1961. PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE AMERICAN FARM BUREAU FEDERATION, PRESENTED BY MATT TRIGGS, ASSISTANT LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR At the last annual meeting of the American Farm Bureau Federation the voting delegates of the member State farm bureaus unanimously approved the following policy statement: "We vigorously oppose the establishment of a Domestic Peace Corps. It would duplicate governmental agencies already in the field and would add to an already top-heavy centralized Government. We support efforts to deal with individual and community problems through the expansion of local training facilities." Our position in this respect is based on a conviction that it is not necessary or desirable for the Federal Government to direct every phase of human life or undertake responsibility for the solution of every individual or community problem. The activities of private individuals, charitable, and religious institutions, local and State governments in the areas of human problems covered by the National Service Corps proposal, are innumerable and comprehensive. In addition, many Federal agencies and programs have been set up to get at the same problems. It would appear that if the Federal Government is going to assume responsibilities through the National Service Corps for such problems this will tend to induce others to step aside and let the Federal Government take over the major responsibility. We appear to be piling program on top of program in a bewildering kaleidoscope of Federal activity in every conceivable field, with a constantly growing force of Federal agents and agencies which are absorbing a larger and larger proportion of the resources of the Nation. Thus we have had the enactment or proposed enactment of the Manpower Training Act, the Youth Conservation Corps, the Youth Employment Act, a variety of Federal aids to education, an expansion of the Area Redevelopment Act, a continuation of the public works acceleration program and other proposals. It is asserted that a reduction in Federal taxes is needed to provide greater incentives to economic growth and employment-and at the same time a whole new phalanx of Federal spending programs is proposed. Many of the new proposals do not initially appear to involve major expenditures, but each commits us to a Federal responsibility in a new area, almost certainly to be followed by expansion of expenditures and responsibility in succeeding years. We agree that tax reduction is needed to provide the basis for economic growth to absorb the rapidly growing labor force. But this reduction in our opinion must be accompanied by comparable reduction in Federal expenditures if we are to avoid continuation and acceleration of inflationary trends. This necessitates a rigorous reexamination of all existing Federal expenditures with an urgent sense of priority and the avoidance of new spending proposals. Federal tax policy cannot, or should not, be divorced from Federal spending policy. We cannot find in the bill any restriction on the kind of agency, organization. or individual to which "corpsmen" might be contracted or any limitation relative to the type of work to which "corpsmen" might be assigned. The asserted purposes of the preamble that the program is designed to "open new opportunities for full-time service, working with those Americans in great need; to illuminate those needs so as to expand the attack on deprivation in the United States: to motivate many more citizens to volunteer their services in their own communities *** and to inspire more people to choose professions that serve their fellow citizens” are so broad as to include virtually any kind of activity. The authority of the bill to require contributions by cooperating agencies leaves the determination of whether or not contribution shall be required or the amount of such contribution to the sole discretion of the administrator. The "corpsmen" would be provided such living, travel, housing, medical care, subsistance, clothing, |