STATEMENT OF THE MANAGERS ON THE PART OF THE HOUSE The managers on the part of the House at the conference on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses on the amendments of the House to the bill (S. 1267) to promote the national defense by authorizing a unitary plan for the construction of transsonic and supersonic windtunnel facilities and the establishment of an Air Engineering Development Center, submit the following statement in explanation of the effect of the action agreed upon by the conferees and recommended in the accompanying conference report: LEGISLATION IN CONFERENCE The Senate passed S. 1267 relating to a unitary plan for construction of transsonic and supersonic wind-tunnel facilities and the establishment of an Air Engineering Development Center. The House amended S. 1267 by limiting the construction of facilities at educational institutions to the continental limits of the United States; by increasing the authorization for educational wind tunnels and deleting the number to be constructed; by reducing the authorization for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics from $150,000,000 to $60,000,000, directing the manner in which the $60,000,000 was to be spent and providing that such facilities should be made available to industry protesting experimental models in connection with the development of aircraft and missiles; by requiring the NACA to submit semiannual reports to the Congress covering the selection of educational institutions and contracts with said institutions; and by reducing the authorization for the Air Engineering Development Center from $150,000,000 to $100,000,000. Amendment No. 1: This amendment required that the windtunnel facilities authorized to be constructed at educational institutions be located at educational institutions within the continental limits of the United States. The Senate recedes. Amendment No. 2: The Senate bill limited the number of transsonic and supersonic wind tunnels to be constructed at educational institutions to a total of 13. The House amendment eliminated the Senate limitation on the number of such tunnels. The Senate recedes. Amendment No. 3: The amendment provided that the transsonic or supersonic wind tunnels to be constructed at educational institutions be "of a size, design, and character adequate for the efficient conduct of experimental work in support of long-range fundamental research." The Senate recedes. Amendment No. 4: This amendment specified that the wind tunnels to be constructed at educational institutions shall be located at such institutions within the continental United States. The Senate recedes. Amendment No. 5: The Senate bill imposed a limitation of $4,440,000 upon the cost of the wind tunnels to be constructed at educational institutions. The House amendment raised the limit to $10,000,000. The Senate recedes. Amendment No. 6: This amendment required that the approval of the Committees on Armed Services of both Houses of the Congress be obtained by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics before it could transfer the title to any wind-tunnel facility to the educational institution at which such facility might be constructed. The conference agreement requires that the Committee consult with the Committees on Armed Services of both Houses of the Congress before making any such transfer of title. Amendment No. 7: The Senate bill authorized the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, in implementation of the unitary plan for the construction of transsonic and supersonic windtunnel facilities, to expand the facilities at its existing laboratories by the construction of additional wind tunnels, including buildings, equipment, utilities, and accessory construction, and the acquisition of not to exceed 500 acres of land at the Langley Aeronautics Laboratory, Langley Air Force Base, Va., at a total cost of not to exceed $150,000,000. The House amendment authorized the Committee to expand the facilities at its existing laboratories by the construction of additional supersonic wind tunnels, including buildings, equipment, and accessory construction, and by the acquisition of land and installation of utilities. The amendment, however, specified that the expansion should occur at the Committee's laboratories at Moffett Field, Calif., and Langley Air Force Base, Va. It provided for the construction of one 2- by 2-foot supersonic wind tunnel and one 4- by 4-foot supersonic wind tunnel at each of such laboratories, and imposed limitations on the amounts to be spent for each such wind tunnel. The amendment provided for the acquisition of 500 acres of land at Langley Air Force Base, Va., and authorized the expenditure of a limited amount of money for the construction of utilities at the laboratories mentioned. The amendment imposed a limitation of $60,000,000 upon the funds to be expended in expansion of the laboratories but authorized the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics to vary upward by 5 percent the cost of particular items involved in the expansion program provided the total cost was kept within the $60,000,000 limitation. It further provided that the facilities authorized to be constructed should be operated and staffed by the Committee but should be available primarily to industry for testing experimental models in connection with the development of aircraft and missiles. The tests were required to be scheduled and conducted in accordance with industry's requirements and allocation of laboratory time was required to be made in accordance with the public interest, with proper emphasis upon the requirements of each military service and due consideration. of civilian needs. The conference agreement authorizes the Committee to expand its facilities at existing laboratories by the construction of additional supersonic wind tunnels at a total cost of not to exceed $136,000,000. It does not specify the particular laboratories which may be expanded. It adopts the provisions of the House amendment with respect to the use of the facilities authorized to be constructed and with respect to the manner in which tests shall be scheduled and conducted in such facilities. Amendment No. 8: The Senate bill contained a general authorization for the appropriation of such sums as might be necessary to carry out the purposes of title I of the bill. The House amendment eliminates the general authorization for appropriations and inserts in lieu thereof a provision requiring the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics to make semiannual written reports to the Congress with respect to its activities and accomplishments in carrying out title I of the bill. The Senate recedes. Amendment No. 9: The Senate bill authorized the appropriation of not to exceed $150,000,000 to be expended for the establishment and for initial construction, installation, and equipment of the Air Engineering Development Center. The House amendment reduced the um authorized to not to exceed $100,000,000. The Senate recedes. CARL T. DURHAM, LESLIE C. ARENDS, Managers on the Part of the House. O 1st Session No. 1452 POSTAL RATE INCREASES OCTOBER 17, 1949.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. MILLER of California, from the Committee on Post Office and Civil Service, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 2945] The Committee on Post Office and Civil Service, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 2945) to readjust postal rates, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with an amendment and recommend that the bill as amended do pass. The committee amendment strikes out all after the enacting clause of the introduced bill and inserts in lieu thereof a substitute which appears in the reported bill in italic type. STATEMENT The Post Office Department ended the fiscal year with a deficit of approximately $550,000,000. The bill which this report accompanies will raise revenues from postal rates and fees in the amount of $131,715,000 annually to meet part of this deficit, which is the largest deficit in postal history. The President, in his budget message and in other special messages, has directed the attention of the Congress to this mounting postal deficit and to the need for increased revenues to meet it. In his budget message delivered at the beginning of this Congress, the President stated as follows with respect to this problem: Postal service. The postal deficit for fiscal year 1950, on the basis of current postal rates, would be more than $400,000,000. A deficit of this size is unsound; it imposes upon the general taxpayer a financial burden which should properly be borne by the users of the service. Large postal deficits are resulting from a record volume of postal business, most of which is carried at rates which do not cover handling costs. The low rates for parcel post have led to substantial diversion of express traffic from common carriers, with the result that the Post Office Department is now receiving a volume and type of parcel business which it cannot efficiently handle with existing 97619-49- -1 |