REMOVING CERTAIN LANDS FROM THE OPERATION OF PUBLIC LAW 545, SEVENTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS OCTOBER 11, 1949.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. ENGLE of California, from the Committee on Public Lands, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany S. 939) The Committee on Public Lands, to whom was referred the bill (S. 939) to remove certain lands from the operation of Public Law 545, Seventy-seventh Congress, having considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass. EXPLANATION OF THE BILL S. 939 provides that Public Law 545 (56 Stat. 273) shall apply only to lands not restored from the withdrawal of May 3, 1939. As and when lands are restored they shall become subject to mining location for nonmetalliferous minerals under the general mining law. The bill is further explained in the report of the Department of the Interior which is as follows: UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Hon. JOSEPH C. O'MAHONEY, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, Washington 25, D. C., June 30, 1949. Chairman, Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, United States Senate. MY DEAR SENATOR O'MAHONEY: This is in reply to the request of your committee for a report on S. 939, a bill to remove certain lands from the operation of Public Law 545, Seventy-seventh Congress. I have no objection to the enactment of the bill. Since the withdrawal was made under the authority of the act of June 25, 1910 (36 Stat. 847), as amended August 24, 1912 (37 Stat. 497, 43 U. S. C. sec. 141 et seq.), Executive Order No. 5105 withdrew the lands from the operation of the general mining laws with respect to nonmetalliferous mining. In order to permit the mining of nonmetalliferous minerals on the lands, the act of May 9, 1942 (56 Stat. 273) was passed. This act provides: "That the Secretary of the Interior be, and he is hereby authorized, under the rules and regulations adopted pursuant to the provisions of the Act entitled 'An Act to promote the mining of coal, phosphate, oil, oil shale, gas, and sodium on the public domain,' approved February 25, 1920, as amended, so far as applicable, to lease for the exploitation of the deposits of silica sand and other nonmetallic minerals found thereon, the lands withdrawn by Executive Order Numbered 5105, dated May 3, 1929." It was held in the Department of the Interior that the provision for leasing nonmetalliferous minerals under the act of May 9, 1942, was applicable to all the public lands withdrawn by Executive Order No. 5105 on May 3, 1929, even if those Îands were later restored in whole or in part (Beverly W. Perkins. A. 24802, Carson City 2144066, January 5, 1948). S. 939 would limit the operation of the act of May 9, 1942, to lands not restored from the withdrawal of May 3, 1929. The restored lands would thereupon become subject to mining location for nonmetalliferous minerals under the general mining laws. The act of May 9, 1942, was obviously passed to meet the problem created by the withdrawal. I see no reason, therefore, to oppose the enactment of S. 939, so as to make the general mining laws applicable once again to those lands which have been lifted from the withdrawal. Since I understand an immediate hearing is being held on this bill by your committee, this report has not yet been submitted to the Bureau of the Budget. I am, therefore, unable to advise you, at present, concerning its relationship to the program of the President. Sincerely yours, OSCAR L. CHAPMAN, Under Secretary of the Interior. The Senate Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs heard and reported this bill favorably. It was passed by the Senate July 26, 1949. Consideration by this committee confirms the Senate findings. The passage of this measure will not require expenditure of Federal funds. The Committee on Public Lands unanimously urges the passage of this bill. CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW Pursuant to the provisions of clause 2a, rule XIII, of the Rules of the House of Representatives, proposed changes in existing law are indicated below with the matter proposed to be omitted in black brackets, and the new matter proposed to be inserted in italic: [56 STAT. 273] AN ACT to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to lease for the exploitation of silica sand and other nonmetallic minerals, lands withdrawn by Executive Order Numbered 5105 dated May 3, 1929 That the Secretary of the Interior be, and he is hereby, authorized, under the rules and regulations adopted pursuant to the provisions of the Act entitled "An Act to promote the mining of coal, phosphate, oil, oil shale, gas, and sodium on the public domain", approved February 25, 1920, as amended, so far as applicable, to lease for the exploitation of the deposits of silica sand and other nonmetallic minerals found thereon, the lands withdrawn by Executive Order Numbered 5105, dated May 3, 1949. This Act shall be effective with respect to any lands so withdrawn only so long as such lands remain so withdrawn. EMERGENCY PROFESSIONAL HEALTH TRAINING ACT OF 1949 OCTOBER 11, 1949.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. PRIEST, from the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, submitted the following REPORT To accompany H. R. 5940) The Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 5940) to amend the Public Health Service Act and the Vocational Education Act of 1946 to provide an emergency 5-year program of grants and scholarships for education in the fields of medicine, osteopathy, dentistry, dental hygiene, public health, and nursing professions, and for other purposes, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with amendments and recommend that the bill as amended do pass. The amendments are as follows: Page 2, line 6, after "physicians," insert "optometrists,". Page 6, line 10, strike out "enrollment." and insert in lieu thereof "enrollment:" and after line 10 insert the following indented paragraph: (5) to each school of optometry which provides training leading to a degree in optometry or an equivalent degree, $250 for each student enrolled for such training, and, subject to the limitations in subsection (c). an additional $250 for each student so enrolled in excess of its average past enrollment. Page 8, line 23, after osteopathic," insert "optometric,”. Page 9, line 22, after "osteopathic," insert "optometric,". Page 14, line 19, after "osteopathy," insert "optometry,". Page 17, line 12, after "osteopathy." insert "schools of optometry," Page 18, line 1, strike out "or any State agency". Page 18, line 25, after "medical," insert "optometric,". Page 19, lines 22 and 23, strike out ", and in his special report to the Congress under section 372 (f),". Amend the title so as to read: A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act and the Vocational Education Act of 1946 to provide an emergency five-year program of grants and scholarships for education in the fields of medicine, osteopathy, optometry, dentistry, dental hygiene, public health, and nursing professions, and for other purposes. I. INTRODUCTION Public hearings on a number of bills in the field of health were held before the Subcommittee on Public Health, Science, and Commerce of the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce. Part or all of several of these bills dealt with the problem of Federal assistance for the education and training of professional health personnel. It was apparent from the testimony presented at these hearings that the financial problems confronting the institutions which must be relied upon to train doctors, nurses, and other essential health personnel, as distinguished from other health problems dealt with by several of the bills considered, were sufficiently serious and were sufficiently separable from the other health problems to warrant immediate and separate treatment. H. R. 5940, as here reported, represents what your committee believes to be the best temporary solution to the emergency financial problems confronting the institutions providing professional health education and training. II. SUMMARY OF BASIC PROVISIONS of Bill H. R. 5940 would authorize a program of Federal grants: First, to approved educational institutions in the fields of medicine, osteopathy, optometry, dentistry (including dental hygiene), nursing, and public health (including hospital administration) (a) to assist in meeting costs of instruction, (b) to provide a means and an incentive for increasing enrollments, and (c) to aid in the maintenance, improvement, and expansion of existing facilities and in the establishment of new schools; and Second, to States for assistance in the development of programs for practical-nurse training under approved State plans administered by State boards for vocational education. The bill would also authorize a program of scholarships to be awarded to qualified students, selected on the basis of ability and financial need, in professional health fields in which there are not enough qualified applicants to fill enrollment capacity in accredited schools. An annual appropriation of $2,500,000 is authorized for the StateFederal practical-nurse training program. The amounts to be appropriated annually for the other programs authorized by the bill would be determined by Congress each year, but these amounts may not, in the case of appropriations for grants to professional health education institutions for construction, exceed $5,000,000 for the fiscal year 1950 and a like amount for each of the four succeeding years. Except for the State-Federal program for practical-nurse training, which would be administered by the Commissioner of Education, administrative responsibility at the Federal level would be assigned to the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service, who would have the assistance of a National Council on Education for Health Professions, appointed by the President, with which he would be required to consult on the establishment of regulations and all other major questions and whose recommendations he would be required to report to the Congress. It is specifically provided that the bill shall not be construed as authorizing any Federal control over the curriculum or administration of any school, or the admission of applicants thereto, or the exercise of any influence upon a scholarship holder's choice of a course of training or study, or of the educational institution he will attend. III. NEED For and ExplANATION OF THE LEGISLATION The problem in the field of education for the health professions which now confronts the Nation is twofold. It involves the development and application of measures which will assure the maintenance of existing educational institutions in this field on such a basis as will permit them to turn out graduates at the customary rate. At the same time it requires new developments designed to expand enrollment in such institutions so as to meet currently unfilled demands for additional health personnel and to prevent even more serious future shortages. Financial problems The testimony presented to the committee indicates that the institutions which produce our highly skilled physicians, dentists, public health officers, nurses, and related workers in the field of health are confronted with financial problems so critical as to seriously threaten their ability to provide either the quality or the quantity of trained personnel essential to maintain the health of our people. While the costs of education in the health professions have risen, particularly in the specialized graduate fields, income from tuition fees has not increased comparably and other sources of income relied on in the past-gifts and endowments-have greatly diminished. Even State-supported institutions have felt the adverse effects of declining yield from endowments, while the needs of other programs have resulted in a highly competitive struggle for tax moneys. Such figures as are available show that tuition fees meet only a small share of the costs. It is estimated that in medical schools the annual costs per student average $2,200 as against an average of $500 a year per student received in tuition fees. For dental schools, the estimated average annual costs per student are $1,500 while annual tuition income averages $450 per student. Schools of public health spend an average of $4,500 per student per year and receive annually only about $440 per student from tuition fees. The degree program schools of nursing spend about $800 year per student and receive an average annual amount of about $200 per student from tuition. In basic diploma schools of nursing, instruction costs average about $300 per student per year as compared with an income from tuition that amounts to an annual average of $50 per student No reliable estimates are available for average costs of training and tuition payments for dental hygienists, practical nurses. or optometrists. Many schools and universities are having to use up all emergency reserves and are dipping into capital to meet the operating costs of their medical, dental, public health, and nursing schools. The |