the comparable 1947 appropriations to $178,189,417. Our total estimates for 1948 as now before you are $277,912,238, an increase of $99,722,821 over comparable appropriations for 1947. Mr. STEFAN. Mr. Kurth, so that the committee shall not be confused, these figures you are giving us, have they been adjusted up to date? Mr. KURTH. Yes, they have been adjusted. These figures are absolutely up to date. They take into account everything that is in the budget document plus the additional amount requested in House Document 158. Mr. STEFAN. Will you resume. Mr. KURTH. To repeat: Our total estimates for 1948 as now before you are $277,912,238, an increase of $99,722,821 over comparable appropriations for 1947. For the benefit of the committee, if you will refer to page 2 of the justification you will see that that figure has been adjusted. Mr. STEFAN. That is the one from which I was reading when we opened the meeting this morning and which has been inserted in the record in General Marshall's testimony. Mr. KURTH. That is correct. Also in connection with your reference at the bottom of that page you will note that the amount we requested of the Bureau of the Budget was $299,235,855 for the printed budget and in House Document 158, $9,495,794, or a total of $308,731,649. REDUCTIONS BY THE BUDGET BUREAU Mr. STEFAN. That is what you asked for. And what did the Budget allow you? Mr. KURTH. The Bureau of the Budget allowed us $277,912,238. Mr. STEFAN. When did they allow you that? Mr. KURTH. That was allowed in the early part of December after they had reviewed the estimates. Mr. STEFAN. And they cut off how many million dollars? Mr. STEFAN. What were some of the large items that they eliminated? Why did they cut you $31,000,000? Was that just a guess? Mr. KURTH. No, it was not a guess. It was their considered judgment of course, I cannot tell you what was in their mind, but I surmise that it was their considered judgment Mr. STEFAN. Were you present at the hearings? Mr. KURTH. Yes; but I was not present when they made their final decisions. I would surmise that this was their considered judgment as to what we actually needed to operate after hearing all the evidence that we presented before them. Mr. STEFAN. How many days were you before the Budget in December? Mr. KURTH. The hearings actually took place in the month of October. Their decision was not made until December. Mr. STEFAN. Their decision in December was made as a result of hearings held in October? Mr. KURTH. That is right. Mr. STEFAN. Were you present during the October hearings, Mr. Kurth? Mr. KURTH. I was. Mr. STEFAN. All of them? Mr. KURTH. Yes. Mr. STEFAN. And part of the December hearings? Mr. STEFAN. When did they make this cut? Mr. KURTH. After considering the estimates and listening to the witnesses, they met in executive session, just as this committee does. Mr. STEFAN. But they listened to your witnesses in September? Mr. KURTH. They listened to them in October. Mr. STEFAN. I mean October. Mr. KURTH. Their decision could not be made until after they had considered estimates of all of the other departments to determine the total over-all budget. Mr. STEFAN. When did they listen to you on the matter of the adjustments? Mr. KURTH. They did not listen to us when we made our adjustments. They indicated where they wished us to make the adjustments and we made them in accordance with their suggestions. Mr. STEFAN. You have not explained to the committee yet why they cut you $31,000,000. Was it a guess, or was it based on information that you gave them on the various items? Mr. KURTH. There was not any one major cut. Mr. STEFAN. $31,000,000 is a pretty large cut. Mr. KURTH. I meant that they did not strike out any single program, such as the intelligence program or the information program. Their reductions were made across-the-board, that is, all items were affected. The largest reduction they made was in the request for the Foreign Service. That was the largest single reduction. Mr. STEFAN. How much did that amount to? Mr. KURTH. Approximately $12,000,000 of the $31,000,000. Mr. STEFAN. Whatever was done by the Bureau of the Budget was done as a result of hearings that they held in September; that is correct, is it? Mr. KURTH. The latter part of September and the early part of October. Mr. STEFAN. And October. Mr. KURTH. Yes. Mr. STEFAN. Proceed with your statement, if you please, Mr. Kurth. Mr. KURTH. The 1948 estimates are comprised of $269,710,787, the amount contained in the printed budget, plus additional items which were submitted to Congress in House Document No. 158 as supplements to the budget, namely $6,168,000 for "Salaries and expenses, Department of State," $14,000 for "Collecting and editing official papers of territories of the United States," $1,450,000 for "Salaries and expenses, surplus property disposal" and $734,000 for the Foreign Service retirement fund, offset by decreases of $48,868 for "United States contributions to international commissions, congresses, and bureaus", and of $115,681 for "United States participation in the United Nations." CATEGORIES OF APPROPRIATIONS AND PROGRAMS Our appropriations are segregated into seven general categories on the one hand and into four programs of work on the other. The seven categories and the amounts requested for each in 1948 compared with 1947 appropriations are as follows: The same figures segregated into the four programs are as follows: Of the total increase of $99,722,821, a sum of $65,841,270 is necessary to implement legislation which has been enacted since the 1947 appropriations were submitted to Congress. Mr. STEFAN. What legislation do you refer to? Mr. KURTH. First of all there was the Foreign Service Act of 1946. Mr. STEFAN. How much did that cost? Mr. KURTH. $7,275,741. Mr. STEFAN. That is the cost of that act that was passed in the last few days of the Seventy-ninth Congress? Mr. KURTH. That is correct. That is the Foreign Service Act of 1946. Mr. STEFAN. Does that sum of $7,275,741 include the total cost of that act? Mr. KURTH. To that you would have to add another $330,000, which represents an increased contribution to the Foreign Service Retirement Fund authorized by the act. Mr. STEFAN. So the cost of that act is really $7,605,741 instead of $7,275,741? Mr. KURTH. That is correct. However, $330,000 of the increase for the Foreign Service Retirement Fund, although required by the new Foreign Service Act would likewise have been required by the previous act. Mr. STEFAN. Is there anything else to be added to the cost of that one act? Mr. KURTH. No. That is all for the cost of the Foreign Service Act of 1946. Mr. STEFAN. I should like to say to the members of the committee that that bill passed the House by suspension of the rules, in the closing hours of the Seventy-ninth Congress, and it represents a cost of $7,600,000. What other laws were passed by Congress which you are asking to be implemented with appropriations now? Mr. KURTH. The Foreign Service Buildings Act, Public Law 547, Seventy-ninth Congress. Mr. STEFAN. Give as to each one of them the cost. Mr. KURTH. $49,633,259 for the Foreign Service Buildings Act. Mr. KURTH. That was the act which authorized the Department of State as the foreign surplus disposal agency and to exchange foreign currency credits for embassies, legations, and consulates. Mr. STEFAN. That $50,000,000 will be reimbursed somehow, will it not? Mr. KURTH. It is treated in the budget as a net item. In other words, this increase is not actually an expenditure of additional United States dollars, because we acquire foreign currencies in exchange for foreign surplus property, and we use it to pay the dollars into the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts. None of our dollars actually go out under this appropriation. Mr. STEFAN. So that will go back to the Treasury. Mr. KURTH. That is right. Mr. STEFAN. What other acts are there? Mr. KURTH. The passage of the law authorizing United States participation in the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Orgalnization, or UNESCO, as it is called. Mr. STEFAN. And how much is that going to cost? Mr. KURTH. $2,078,000. Mr. STEFAN. What other acts are there? Mr. KURTH. Next, the act authorizing the United States participation in the International Civil Aviation Organization, which represents an increase of $350,000. And finally, the act authorizing relief and rehabilitation assistance to the Philippine Government, $6,174,000 or a total for those various acts of $65,841,270. Mr. STEFAN. So these are costing us $65,000,000? Mr. KURTH. On account of the passage of the acts to which I have referred. Mr. STEFAN. And that is the total? Mr. KURTH. Yes; total increases. Mr. STEFAN. Witnesses will appear before the committee on all of these, will they not? Mr. KURTH. Yes. You understand, those are only the increases over last year. ESTIMATES TO CARRY OUT NEW LEGISLATION Mr. STEFAN. Will you submit a statement showing not only the increases but the totals, so we will have a true picture of it? Mr. KURTH. Yes, sir. The requested statement is as follows: Total estimates included in 1948 budget for legislation enacted since submission to Congress of budget for 1947 Foreign Service Act of 1946___. Additional increase for Foreign Service retirement as required by law Foreign Service Buildings Act.. United Nations Educational and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Total__ $7, 275, 741 330, 000 52, 000, 000 2,078, 000 350, 000 54, 092, 000 116, 125, 741 Mr. STEFAN. And those are all the acts that you have a record of which we are now being asked to implement with appropriations? Mr. KURTH. That is correct. Mr. STEFAN. Proceed. Mr. KURTH. In addition, $5,649,805 is for an increased contribution to the United Nations. The General Assembly of the United Nations. met in New York in September and voted an increase in the United States' share of the total contribution from 24.6 percent to over 39 percent. That is the reason for that increase. Hence, these 2 amounts, totaling $71,491,075 of the increase, may be considered mandatory. The balance of $28,231,746 of the increase is to provide $8,779,259 for salaries, including provision for 3,093 additional employees TOTAL NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES Mr. STEFAN. How much would that make the total employment? Mr. KURTH. 25,766. Mr. STEFAN. I have already asked you, in connection with the statement you are to submit for the record of total appropriations for various past years, to include the number of employees for each of those years as well as the appropriations. Mr. KURTH. I shall do that; 384 of those employees are for the Department and 2,709 for the Foreign Service; $2,121,514 for allowances to personnel in the Foreign Service; $5,266,248 for travel and transportation of things in the Foreign Service; $378,450 for travel of departmental personnel; $6,168,000 for capital expansion and relocation of certain overseas radio relay facilities in order to improve the quality and strength of broadcasts Mr. STEFAN. That is already in, is it not? Mr. KURTH. Yes. Mr. STEFAN. That is in Munich now, is it not? Mr. KURTH. The broadcast facilities I am talking about here are in addition to the one at Munich. Mr. STEFAN. But they are already in now. Mr. KURTH. The one at Munich is already in and operating. Mr. STEFAN. Where did you get the money for that? Did you have existing funds for that? Mr. KURTH. We used existing funds for that purpose; yes, sir. |