GUARD AGAINST INFLATIONARY PRESSURES

As members of the Senate Appropriations Committee, we are in a position to do something about Government spending, and thus relieve the inflationary pressures somewhat, at least.

As chairman of the subcommittee, I intend to inquire into every request for funds, to be certain that the request is absolutely justified; that it is one that is connected with the defense effort or will affect the fundamental activities of the Government. In other words, I believe that we can ill afford some of the governmental luxuries that we are inclined to indulge in. Our people are being called upon to pay a crushing tax burden, and the least that they can expect in return is that every dollar spent by the Government would be spent efficiently and only for those activities that are absolutely necessary.

EXTRAVAGANT FOREIGN SPENDING

In addition to supporting their own Government, our people are also called upon to give tremendous sums of dollars to support our activities in foreign fields. I am very much afraid that some of these programs are not making a fair return on the investment. The attitude in some sections of the Government is to meet every problem that arises with more and more dollars. There are some who become very irritated if the Congress questions the logic in pouring out more and more money to accomplish certain objectives, when the facts are plain that nothing will be accomplished.

As one example, of many that could be cited, witness the so-called Voice of America program. The program started out as a modest adventure, but it has grown and grown, and the end is not yet in sight, until it has some 47 percent of the total personnel of the Department of State, and requires some 49 percent of the total funds that are being requested by that Department.

Still another example of this desire to pour more and more dollars overseas is the so-called point 4 program. If we are not careful, gentlemen, our friends across the seas will be called upon to give us money in order to restore our standard of living, which we might lose trying to raise theirs.

Programs of this type have merit, but my point is: Can we afford them at this time?

The last example I will cite to you, as members of this subcommittee, is the desire to spend more and more dollars in certain quarters to make grants of food to foreign countries, while being insulted if a country wants to obtain a legitimate loan to purchase such needed foodstuffs. The outstanding example of this is Spain and India. Approval of a loan to Spain to buy wheat is refused, and we are quick to give Yugoslavia, and now India, millions of dollars worth of foodstuffs. The loan to Spain would be repaid, but even this does not satisfy the give-away people. They are insulted because we do not have another opportunity to give our dollars away.

NEED FOR HALT TO SPIRAL OF GOVERNMENT SPENDING

The spiral of Government expenditures must stop or the Government will become larger than the people. At this time of grave

international crisis, it is time to call a halt. Simple justice and good sense dictates that since the people must tighten their belts, the departments of Government must do likewise. We must go on a lean budget, getting rid of all of the fat that is in every budget; and members of this committee and the Congress must see that this is done.

I, for one, intend to bend my efforts toward the accomplishment of this end.

STATEMENT BY HON. HOMER FERGUSON, MEMBER OF THE

SUBCOMMITTEE

Senator FERGUSON. If the Senator has finished his statement, and at present being the only member on the opposite side of the aisle, I want to join with the Senator in that statement; and I wondered whether or not that could be printed and given to the various departments that the chairman has supervision of under this particular committee? I want to say one word about open hearings. The Senator is familiar with the fact that my side of the aisle has voted on occasions for open hearings. I can see reasons, on some of this particular testimony, for security, and therefore closed hearings are appropriate.

I want to also state that I feel at times that things are taken off the record that should not be off the record. They are material to the whole program and all, and I have always felt, as I have expressed to the chairman before in other meetings, that a Senator should feel that as a representative of his sovereign State, nothing is executive to go to the floor of the Senate.

Now, there is a reason for not going out of this room and printing it in the newspapers, but at times he may want to use it on the floor, and I think that he has that privilege at all times.

I join you in this desire, and a great desire, because I think there is an absolute necessity for a reduction. I feel very keenly about this Voice of America program. I want it to do a job. I think that there is a job to sell the ideals of America. But I do not think that you can sell them by giving dollars away.

I look across the table this morning and see a man from Louisiana, a Senator, who has had some experience with the Senator from Michigan in looking into this program as to how it works, and I know the Senator from Nevada has had experience also on how it works, and the Senator from Tennessee.

However, this whole question of appropriations and Government spending is important. Of course, I know that the Attorney General is not vitally interested in the Voice of America since his appropriation does not cover particular programs.

Mr. McGRATH. I have an interest in it.

Senator FERGUSON. You have an interest in the whole problem, and therefore, I would like just to see the statement go to the various Departments so that it can be distributed to the Department, that they may know how this committee feels, this subcommittee feels and the whole committee feels, on their trying to do the job of cutting down on some of these things, and, when we do spend money, that we get a dollar out of the dollar.

Senator MCCARRAN. You have got to raise it an awful lot from what it is now, Senator.

Senator FERGUSON. It is very important that we get a dollar's worth.

Senator MCCARRAN. Thank you, Senator.

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

STATEMENTS OF HON. J. HOWARD MCGRATH, THE ATTORNEY GENERAL; HON. PEYTON FORD, THE DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL; F. C. KILGUSS, DEPUTY ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL; AND E. R. BUTTS, BUDGET OFFICER OF THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

JUSTIFICATION FOR AMOUNT REQUESTED AND 1951 APPROPRIATION

Senator MCCARRAN. We will take up for consideration today the appropriation request for the Department of Justice for the fiscal year 1952. I will insert in the record at this point the table showing the total amounts requested by the Department, the total amount available to the Department for the current fiscal year as $151,672,000, and for the next year you are requesting a total of $156,831,000, which is an increase of $5,159,000.

(The justification follows:)

Appropriations for fiscal years 1950 and 1951, and estimates for 1952 and increases or decreases from 1951 to 1952