The Bureau of the Budget advises that from the standpoint of the Administration's program there is no objection to the submission of this report. Sincerely yours, H. G. TORBERT, Jr., Acting Assistant Secretary for Congressional Relations. COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES, Washington, D.C., December 22, 1969. Hon. WARREN G. MAGNUSON, DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Further reference is made to your letter of October 31, 1969, requesting our comments on S. 3081, a bill to improve and clarify certain laws affecting the Coast Guard. The bill would make changes to titles 10, 14, and 37 of the United States Code, some of a clarifying nature and some involving substantive changes in the law, relating to Coast Guard personnel, administration of the Coast Guard Academy, family housing, and transportation of school children. It would, among other things, increase the number of authorized appointments to the Coast Guard Academy; require a cadet who does not fulfill his service obligations as an officer to serve on active duty as an enlisted member for not more than 4 years; provide that certain Coast Guard Academy staff members will not be subject to mandatory retirement prior to age 64; authorize the promotion of ensigns after 12 months' service instead of after 18 months' service; provide permanent authority for the Coast Guard to lease family housing for assignment to Coast Guard personnel and to rent inadequate quarters to them; provide transportation of dependents between schools and Coast Guard facilities where public transportation is not provided on a regular basis; authorize language training for dependents of Coast Guard personnel in anticipation of the member's assignment to permanent duty outside the United States; provide a uniform allowance to an enlisted member appointed a warrant officer; and authorize additional pay of $250 a month to certain members of the permanent commissioned teaching staff at the Coast Guard Academy. On the basis of the justification contained in the letter of transmittal of the draft of the bill to the President of the Senate, we have no objection to favorable consideration of S. 3081 except that, in view of the general policy of the Congress to provide uniform legislation for the several armed services, we offer the following comments with respect to family housing for the consideration of your Committee. The bill would amend 14 U.S.C. 475 to provide permanent legislation not only to lease privately owned housing facilities in the United States for assignment as public quarters to Coast Guard personnel and their families, but to provide inadequate family housing for them on a rental basis. Original authority to lease family housing within the United States was first authorized for the Army, Navy and Air Force, by section 515 of the act of July 15, 1955, ch. 368, 69 Stat. 352, and has been authorized only on a temporary basis since that time. Governmental leasing of private family housing for assignment to military personnel has not been regarded as a desirable method of providing quarters for military personnel and has been authorized temporarily for the Department of Defense only because of the housing shortage and subject to various conditions and annual limitations. See note to 10 U.S.Č. 2674, Supp. IV. The Congress has consistently refused to authorize the Department of Defense to lease family housing in the United States on any basis other than an individual basis as opposed to block leasing (see the various military construction authorization acts cited in the above note), and no longer authorizes the initial designation of inadequate family housing for assignment on a rental basis (see 42 U.S.C. 1594j). While the situation with respect to family housing available for members of the Coast Guard may be different than that for the other military services, we doubt that there is justification for the enactment of permanent legislation authorizing the Coast Guard to assign additional inadequate family housing on a rental basis. The difference in the situation of Coast Guard family housing apparently has warranted the granting of temporary authority to lease family housing onan individual or multiple unit basis, such as that contained in the act of June 8, 1968, Public Law 90-334, 82 Stat. 173, authorizing the leasing of multiple unit through June 30, 1970. In view of the policy of the Congress in the past to authorize the leasing of family quarters in the civilian sector for Coast Guard and military personnel only on a temporary basis with periodic reviews by the Congress on the need to continue such authorization, we think that your Committee may want to consider whether it is appropriate to grant permanent authority to the Coast Guard to lease family housing in the civilian sector without any limitations or conditions other than those contained in the present bill. Under the provisions of law in 42 U.S.C. 1594j the military services, including the Coast Guard, were formerly authorized to designate housing as inadequate and rent such quarters to military personnel without loss to them of the basic allowance for quarters. Later the Congress required that housing so designated as inadequate be either altered or improved so as to qualify as public quarters, or be demolished or otherwise disposed of prior to certain dates there stated. For various reasons the Congress has found it appropriate to make special temporary provisions for the exemption of some quarters therefrom under the conditions there stated. It is understood that the Coast Guard presently is renting quarters previously designated as inadequate to members in Cape May, New Jersey, and Yorktown, Virginia. Granting new permanent authority to the Coast Guard to designate public quarters as inadequate and rent them to members of the Coast Guard without loss of the basic allowance for quarters would grant authority to the Coast Guard not presently granted to the other military services. Sincerely yours, R. F. KELLER, Assistant Comptroller General, of the United States. Senator LONG. S. 3080 and H.R. 13716 are companion bills to improve and clarify certain laws affecting the Coast Guard Reserve. These bills relate, for the most part, to the manner in which Reserve officers are selected for promotion and the time of their promotion. (The bills and agency comments follow:) 91ST CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 3080 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES OCTOBER 28, 1969 Mr. Magnuson (by request) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce A BILL To improve and clarify certain laws affecting the Coast Guard Reserve. 1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 3 That title 14, United States Code, is amended as follows: (1) Subsection (b) of section 762 is amended by strik 4 5 ing out the words ", but not above the grade of captain". 6 (2) Section 770 is amended by striking out the figur 7 “795" in both of the places it appears and inserting in lieu 8 thereof, the figure "798"; by redesignating clause “(9)” as 9"(10)"; and by adding a new clause "(9)" as follows: 10 11 "(9) the 'active duty promotion list' is as defined in section 41a of this title." 43-555 0-703 2 1 (3) Section 772 is amended by inserting before the 2 period in the second sentence of subsection (b) the phrase 3 "or because an excess results directly from the operation of 4 mandatory provisions of this or other laws". 5 (4) Section 774 is amended to read as follows: 6 "A Reserve officer must be in an active status to be 7 eligible for consideration for promotion and to be promoted 8 under this subchapter. Officers retained in an active status 9 and excluded from promotion by the provisions of section 787 10 of this title are not eligible for consideration for promotion." (5) Section 775 is amended by adding a new subsec 11 12 tion (f) to read as follows: 13 "(f) Whenever a selection board is convened to con14 sider officers of the Women's Reserve not serving on active 15 duty, membership of the board shall include, when reason16 ably available, not less than two members of the Women's 17 Reserve not serving on active duty." 18 19 20 21 (6) Section 780 is amended (A) by amending subsections (c) and (d) to read as follows: "(c) Each selection board, from among those officers 22. whose names are submitted to it as determined by section 23 783 of this title, shall recommend for promotion to the next grade: "(1) those male officers serving in the grade of 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 3 lieutenant (junior grade) or above whom it considers to be best qualified; "(2) those male officers serving in the grade of ensign whom it considers to be fully qualified; "(3) those officers of the Women's Reserve serving in the grade of lieutenant or below whom it considers to be fully qualified; and "(4) those officers of the Women's Reserve serving in the grade of lieutenant commander or above whom it considers to be best qualified. The recommendation of a selection board shall be based on comparative fitness for the duties to which officers of the Women's Reserve are normally assigned." "(d) Before convening a board to recommend officers 15 for promotion to any grade above lieutenant (junior grade), 16 the Secretary shall determine the total number of officers to 17 be selected for promotion to that grade. Unless the Secretary 18 takes action pursuant to the provisions of subsection (c) of 19 section 772 of this subchapter, this number shall be equal 20 to the number of vacancies existing in the grade, plus the 21 number of vacancies estimated for the next twelve months, less the number of officers on the promotion list for that grade." 22 23 24 25 (B) by adding a new subsection (i) to read as follows: |