SALE OF FEDERAL BARGE LINES

Senator MAGNUSON. Madam Chairman, I have to go to another meeting. I know this story.

I had another meeting this morning and I missed Mr. Lee. I wonder if you could have him come up again. There are 2 or 3 questions I want to ask him on CAA. Is that all right?

Mr. MURRAY. Yes, sir.

Mr. ROTHSCHILD. You will recall, Madam Chairman, that during the past year, the Government sold the Federal Barge Lines to private enterprise, and got for them a price of $9 million after having taken out of the Corporation an amount of about $2,700,000 in liquid assets.

Under the terms of the sale, the purchaser is obliged to furnish a certain minimum amount of service which is detailed by routes and by rivers. It will be necessary, therefore, for some inspection of his operations to take place during the year, and for some part of the time of the personnel of the Department of Commerce to be made available for the purpose of checking the reports which are also required under the terms of sale.

We submit that the very lowest figure at which that can be done is $16,000 per year. Inasmuch as the Government, by that $16,000 will protect not only its investment, but its obligation to see that service is rendered to the residents, the many, many millions of people who live in the Mississippi-Missouri Valley, we think it is a necessary item and should like to have the $2,000 cut restored.

Senator SMITH. Does anyone have any further statement to make on this item? If not, we will go on to the next appropriation, which concerns the Weather Bureau.

WEATHER BUREAU

STATEMENTS OF ROBERT B. MURRAY, JR., UNDER SECRETARY OF COMMERCE FOR TRANSPORTATION; JAMES C. WORTHY, ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF COMMERCE (ADM); OSCAR H. NIELSON, DEPARTMENTAL BUDGET OFFICER; F. W. REICHELDERFER, CHIEF; D. M. LITTLE, ACTING ASSISTANT CHIEF (ADM); R. C. GRUBB, BUDGET OFFICER; AND G. L. BOWIE, ASSISTANT BUDGET OFFICER

ance.

SALARIES AND EXPENSES

Senator SMITH. The House allowed the budget estimate of $24,750,000. This sum is $2,250,000 below the current year's allowSince much of the reduction applies to general weather service activities, I wish you would give us some explanation of the reduction and what effect it may have on continuing current operations. The summary justification data filed in support of this item is submitted for the record at this time.

(The material referred to follows:)

Mr. MURRAY. I would like to lead off with a short statement here. In the course of this year, we have had a committee of outstanding meteorologists study the operation of the Weather Bureau with a view to making such suggestions as would be desirable to improve the weather service to the country. It is interesting to note that in their report they commented that the Weather Bureau was the one agency of the Government with which they had experience that had been frugal to a fault.

Dr. Reichelderfer, who has a statement to make, and who will get into this in greater detail, has, to my knowledge, over a period of the last 14 months, labored very hard to bring the cost of the Weather Bureau to the lowest possible figure without jeopardizing the services for which they have a statutory responsibility.

I know of no department that has done more in trying to get their figures down to the lowest possible point. That was certainly borne out by the comment of the George committee.

Dr. Reichelderfer will go into his budget in greater detail, but I thought it was important for this committee to know the extent to which, over a long period of years, the Weather Bureau has constantly decreased their expenses. We feel that they are at the bottom right now, if we are to maintain its essential services.

PREPARED STATEMENT

Senator SMITH. Dr. Reichelderfer, do you wish to read your statement or do you wish to summarize it?

Dr. REICHELDERFER. I think a summary would be sufficient if the statement may go into the record.

Senator SMITH. Without objection the statement will go into the record.

(The statement referred to follows:)

These estimates for the Weather Bureau for the year beginning July 1 show $24 million less than was appropriated for the current fiscal year. This is a very sizeable part of the cost of making weather reports, forecasts, and storm warnings available every day in the year to the people in every part of the country. We have planned this reduction with the view to maintaining only the bare essentials in national meteorological service and for the purpose of doing our share in reducing Government expenditures in order to balance the budget. Our staff has combed and recombed every activity of the Bureau in the last several months with a