PROVIDING FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A VETERANS' HOSPITAL FOR NEGRO VETERANS AT THE BIRTHPLACE OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON, IN FRANKLIN COUNTY, VA. AUGUST 24, 1949.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. RANKIN, from the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 6034] The Committee on Veterans' Affairs, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 6034) to provide for the establishment of a veterans' hospital for Negro veterans at the birthplace of Booker T. Washington, in Franklin County, Va., having considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass. EXPLANATION OF THE BILL In considering the advisability and practicability of constructing a hospital solely for the care and treatment of Negro veterans, your committee took cognizance of the fact that such a hospital has been very successfully operated by the Veterans' Administration at Tuskegee, Ala. This hospital now cares for a total of 2,113 Negro veterans. The hospital is managed and completely staffed by Negroes. On March 15, 1947, there was also authorized for construction a 200-bed hospital at Mound Bayou, Miss., for Negro veterans. The construction of hospitals solely for Negro veterans, therefore, is not an innovation but has precedent to support it. In proposing the location and erection of a hospital for Negro veterans in Franklin County, Va., the committee considered the Negro population in the area to be served and the number of Negro veterans in Veterans' Administration hospitals in the area included in the jurisdiction of the former Veterans' Administration branch office at Richmond, Va. On June 30, 1949, there were 1,879 Negro veterans hospitalized in Veterans' Administration installations in that area, distributed as follows: Fort Howard, Md., 129; Huntington, W. Va., 11; Kecoughtan, Va., 180; Martinsburg, W. Va., 106; Washington, D. C., 57: Oteen, N. C., 373; Perry Point, Md., 332; Roanoke, Va., 499; and Richmond, Va., 192. The War Department records as of January 1945, show that the State of Virginia alone has 51,341 Negro veterans. In addition to the advisability and the need for such a hospital to serve the Negro veterans in that area, the committee also felt that it is a timely recognition of the services rendered by Booker T. Washington, one of the most outstanding leaders of the Negro race. The report of the Veterans' Administration of July 29, 1949, on H. R. 3296, a bill on the same subject, is as follows: Hon. JOHN E. RANKIN, VETERANS' ADMINISTRATION, Washington 25, D. C., July 29, 1949. Chairman Committee on Veterans' Affairs, House of Representatives, Washington 25, D. C. DEAR MR. RANKIN: This is with further reference to your request of March 12, 1949, requesting a report on H. R. 3296, Eighty-first Congress, a bill to provide for the establishment of a veterans' hospital for Negro veterans at the birthplace of Booker T. Washington in Franklin County, Va., the provisions of which are as follows: "That the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs is hereby authorized and directed to acquire at the birthplace of Booker T. Washington in Franklin County, Virginia, a suitable site for the erection thereon of a hospital for Negro veterans. "SEC. 2. The sum of $5,000,000 is authorized to be appropriated for the purpose set forth in section 1 of this Act." It will be noted that there is a variance between the title of the bill and the text. The title provides for the establishment of a hospital while the language of the text refers to the acquisition of a suitable site "for the erection thereon of a hospital" without specifically directing that the hospital be erected on such site. There is for consideration in connection with proposals to expand the hospital construction program of the Veterans' Administration the following excerpt from the President's message to the Congress transmitting his recommendations for the 1950 fiscal year budget: "Hospital and domiciliary construction.-The construction program under which the Veterans' Administration has been proceeding was planned and authorized during and immediately after the war. Now that we have the benefit of a period of postwar experience, I have reviewed the veterans' hospital and domiciliary construction program and find that to continue with the construction of the full number of 90 authorized hospitals will result in a serious overbuilding, in terms of beds needed to meet foreseeable requirements. A reduction in the program will still make it possible to provide for all service-connected patients in every geographical area and will provide an even more liberal allowance of beds for non-service-connected patients than at present. "I have therefore directed that the program which I had previously authorized be curtailed by approximately 16,000 beds and asked the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs to recommend specific adjustments in the program. I have approved his recommendations for the cancellation of 24 hospital projects, and the reduction in planned capacity of 14 additional hospitals. This will result in a reduction of $279,000,000 in the total of 1.2 billion dollars of construction previously authorized, and will reduce expenditures in the fiscal year 1950 by $115,000,000. However, hospitals scheduled for completion will cost $42,000,000 more than originally estimated. Therefore, a net rescission of $237,000,000 in contract authorizations is recommended. Under this revised program, expenditures in the fiscal year 1950 for construction of hospital and domiciliary facilities are estimated at $260,000,000, an increase of $77,000,000 over the fiscal year 1949, due to the progress of construction already under way." Attention is invited to H. R. 4177, Eighty-first Congress, a bill making appropriations for the Executive Office and sundry independent executive bureaus, boards, commissions, corporations, agencies, and offices, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1950, and for other purposes, which bill passed the House of Representatives on April 14, 1949. This bill, as it was passed by the House of Representatives and reported by the Senate Committee on Appropriations (Rept. No. 639, July 8, 1949), does not provide sufficient funds to operate existing beds at ratios which more nearly approach the standard believed necessary for giving adequate medical care to veterans nor to operate beds which are scheduled to come into operation during the fiscal year 1950. Of course, the Veterans' Administration stands ready to give the committee any additional information or assistance which it may desire with respect to the proposal. Sincerely yours, LOCATION SURVEY FOR A RAILROAD TO CONNECT ALASKA AND THE UNITED STATES AUGUST 24, 1949.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. MANSFIELD, from the Committee on Foreign Affairs, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 2186] The Committee on Foreign Affairs to which was referred the bill (H. R. 2186) providing for the construction of a railroad connecting the existing railroad system serving the United States and Canada and terminating at Prince George, British Columbia, Canada, with the railroad system serving Alaska and terminating at Fairbanks, Alaska, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon with amendments and recommends that the bill H. R. 2186 do pass. The amendments are as follows: On page 1 line 1 of the title, strike out the words "the construction of" and insert in lieu thereof the words "a location survey for". On page 1, line 5, beginning after the word "for", strike out through the first of" on line 6, and insert in lieu thereof the words "a location survey for". On page 2, line 12, strike out the words "and location". On page 2, line 12, after the word "railroad" insert a period and strike out through the word "President" on line 17. On page 2, line 21, after the word "such," insert the word "location", and after the word "survey" strike out the comma through line 22 and insert a period in lieu thereof On page 3, line 7, after the word "Act", strike out the colon through line 11, and insert a period in lieu thereof. I. GENERAL NATURE AND PURPOSE OF THE BILL The bill as amended has two purposes. The first is to authorize the President to negotiate and conclude an agreement with the Dominion of Canada for a location survey of a standard-gage railroad of about 1,400 miles to connect the Alaska railway system with the existing |