HOUSE ALLOWANCE AND RESTORATION REQUEST Senator MCCLELLAN. All right, Mr. Shakespeare, you may proceed with your statement. I believe you have a prepared statement. Mr. SHAKESPEARE. Yes, sir, I do. Senator MCCLELLAN. Do you want to read it or briefly highlight it? Mr. SHAKEAPEARE. I can briefly highlight it, if you wish, whichever you prefer. Senator MCCLELLAN. You may proceed to read it. It will probably take less time to read it than to highlight it. Mr. SHAKESPEARE. Mr. Chairman and members, I appreciate this opportunity to appear before this committee in connection with the 1971 budget estimates of the U.S. Information Agency. The House has allowed a total of $182,865,000 for Agency programs, a reduction of $5,023,000 from the President's amended budget request. I am asking the Senate to restore $4,193,000 of this cut. The request for restoration is in three accounts: $2,867,000 in "salaries and expenses," the entire amount cut by the House; $1,126,000 of the $1,956,000 cut from "Special international exhibitions;" and $200,000 cut from the "Radio construction" account. PRIORITIES In terms of priorities, the most essential request is for $966,000 of the $1,126,000 for "Special international exhibitions." This represents the portion of the House cut that is for fairs and exhibitions in the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, and West Berlin. The total request also covers labor missions and the trade missions program of the Department of Commerce. Our request to the House for the "Special international exhibitions" appropriation was for $5,456,000, but this total can be reduced by $830,000 not required for obligation until fiscal year 1972. The House has allowed $3.5 million of the remaining $4,626,000 required, a cut of $1,126,000. UNITED STATES-SOVIET UNION CULTURAL EXCHANGE PROGRAM In February of this year, the United States and the Soviet Union signed another agreement providing for continuation of cultural exchanges between the two countries. Included is provision for a new, major exhibition which this Agency will construct and tour in six cities of the U.S.S.R., with work to begin this calendar year. This project alone will require $1,481,000 in 1971, plus an additional $830,000 in 1972 funds. Because of the agreement and despite the House cut, we feel we must proceed with this exhibit. TRADE FAIRS Our budget request also includes $1.3 million for exhibitions at annual trade fairs in East Europe; at Zagreb, Bucharest, Plovdiv, Budapest, Poznan, Belgrade, and West Berlin. The fair in Bucharest, which takes place this fall, is a new event. The Rumanian Government's invitation for official U.S. representation was accepted some 46-370 0-702 months ago. Thus we feel that we must proceed with this exhibition, which will require $210,000 of the 1971 appropriation. Under the House bill, however, this is the only commitment which could be funded as we now see it, and participation in all the other trade fair events, beginning this fall and continuing through the fall of 1971, would have to be canceled. At most of these locations, there are permanent pavilions, constructed for the U.S. exhibition, making even more evident the absence of U.S. participation. EXHIBIT IN POLAND AND RUMANIA After some 3 years of discussion, agreement has been reached with officials of the Government of Poland for four showings of the architecture exhibit originally shown in the Soviet Union. There are also firm arrangements for its use at three locations in Rumania. Under the House bill, it would be impossible to fund both opportunities, and the Rumanian tour would have to be canceled. As you yourself said last year, Mr. Chairman, these exhibitions are powerful representations of America. I truly believe this. There are unique opportunities for direct dialog with people at all levels in these very important countries, and in most of them exhibitions represent virtually the only opportunity we have for direct personal contact with the people. I think it would be a serious mistake for our country to fail to seize these opportunities, for lack of funds, at a time when these nations increasingly are expressing interest in more significant cultural links with the United States. The absence of the United States, it seems to me, would best serve the interests of those within these countries who are opposed to closer ties with the United States. SALARIES AND EXPENSES Our budget request for the "Salaries and expenses" appropriation is for $168.3 million. It represents a net increase of $667,000 over the 1970 amount, including the pending second supplemental for last July's pay increase. The House bill reduces this amount by $2,867,000, which I am asking the Senate to restore. Our request provides for continuation of remaining program and staff levels which have already been substantially reduced during the current year. We have projected increases totaling about $857,000 in television programing, representation funds, and certain of our activities in East Europe, but these increases are to be funded almost entirely by $708,000 in further program reductions in West Europe, press, motion picture, and broadcasting operations. The House bill would require susbtantial cutbacks in both our media operations and our overseas activities. I believe that a period of relative stability is now needed, following the overall reductions that have had to be applied during the last 3 years-reductions that have brought our staff to the lowest number since the Agency was set up. ACQUISITION AND CONSTRUCTION OF RADIO FACILITIES The final item which I am appealing is the $200,000 cut by the House from our request for funds for VOA engineering research and for maintenance of the VOA facilities system worldwide. The Congress has, over the years, approved funds for modern plants at a number of points in the system. But there are still a number of components which are both obsolete and difficult to maintain in service. There are also occasional emergency situations of component failures, storm damage, or fire. With balances from previous appropriations, we have met essential research and maintenance needs averaging about $1.2 million for the last several years. However, there have been no new funds appropriated since 1968, and only $400,000 will still be available for such needs in 1971. We have, therefore, requested an additional appropriation of $800,000. The House bill reduces this request by $200,000, and we ask that this cut be restored. Mr. Chairman, I have studied the activities of this Agency very intensively over the past 18 months. I continue to be impressed by the value and magnitude of what we must do to serve our country's interest. I believe our budget requests are justified and appropriate, even in the context of this time of stringency in the Federal budget. I hope that your committee will approve the requests now before you. Senator MCCLELLAN. Thank you very much. I do not doubt that all of this money except possibly salary increases could be expended very wisely and I am not criticizing salary increases except that I have made some observations that indicate to me that a lot of our people could work harder than they do. They could get along with fewer personnel. I have no doubt that substantially all this money could be wisely expended, but we are still under the burden of trying to hold down expenditures. We all recognize that. The House cut, percentagewise, is only about 2.5 percent of the budget. I believe that is it, is it not? Mr. SHAKESPEARE. I believe that is correct. APPLICATION OF $2.5 MILLION RESTORATION Senator MCCLELLAN. In round figures it is about 2.5 percent, which after all is a pretty small cut. All I want you to do is tell me, suppose we restore the whole amount-I don't know that can be done-and we try to reach some accommodation with the House, which would have to be done you know how our system operates in all candor just what would you do if we just simply undertook to give you $2.5 million, half of what the House cut, give it back to you? How would you spend it? I want you to submit a table showing how you would spend it. Mr. SHAKESPEARE. I will submit that specifically, Mr. Chairman, but I would like to comment on how we would spend the substantial amount of it. Senator MCCLELLAN. We can't arrive at each little item, but maybe we can give you $2 million, $2.5 million. How would you spend it? You say in terms of priority it is most essential to restore the $1,126,000 for special international exhibitions. I support these exhibitions. Again I point out that no doubt all of them could be very wisely provided for, but over all can we wisely and prudently expend so much more than we are going to take in, in the next fiscal year? We come back to that. Cuts have to be made somewhere and everyone has to take his share of it. So I would like to have you file with the committee what you would do if we restored $2.5 million of this reduction. Mr. SHAKESPEARE. I will do that, sir. (The material was subsequently furnished for the committee file.) SPECIAL INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITIONS Senator MCCLELLAN. You may make any comment you wish at this time for the record. Mr. SHAKESPEARE. For the record I would like to speak briefly to the matter of the special international exhibitions to which you referred. I share your view that these are of value to the country. During the past year in order to put my own judgment, Mr. Chairman, on the soundest footing, I went to the Soviet Union and saw the exhibit which is presently running there, in Leningrad. I further went to Yugoslavia to see the exhibit there. I went to Rumania to see the exhibit there. I went to Hungary to see the exhibit there. I did this because I did not want to be just a creature of briefing on how these exhibits work. I wanted to see the people come through there, I wanted to see the exhibits and see what they said. I have come away, Mr. Chairman, with the firm conviction that these exhibits in Communist countries are very valuable. That is the point that I want to make for the record. Senator MCCLELLAN. You want to get as much money as you can for those? Mr. SHAKESPEARE. Yes. STAFF ATTRITION Senator MCCLELLAN. Now on the salary increases, can you not make that up by attrition? Mr. SHAKESPEARE. We have had, sir, a substantial amount of attrition. As I pointed out in my statement, the number of employees in the U.S. Information Agency is today, as a result of cuts in the last few years, the lowest in the history of the Agency. We are not one of those agencies which has expanded constantly and become larger through the years. We are smaller now than at any time in our history. Senator MCCLELLAN. Are you also more efficient? Mr. SHAKESPEARE. Well, that is a subjective judgment, Mr. Chairman. I think we are more efficient to this extent Senator MCCLELLAN. I think it would not be fair for you to comment on that. How long has it been since this Agency was established? EFFECTIVE UTILIZATION OF PERSONNEL Senator MCCLELLAN. You have had 17 years. I can appreciate in a new agency building up there are a lot of misjoined or disjointed aspects of its structure. In the course of all these years the administration of the agency should have become more efficient. You are handicapped in that you have to take employees from the civil service register, whether they are the best or not. I think you ought to get out of your employees the work that they are capable of giving and I am not sure you are always getting that. This is not criticism of you, your administration, or your employees. But I think the time has come, with the tremendous number of Government employees we have and the great burden, the cost of operation of our Government, the tremendous obligations that our Government has assumed and has to meet, when we ought to insist on more efficiency and sometimes more industry on the part of our Government employees. I direct that to myself, too. I think I am going to have to do a little appraising of some of my operations. I want to get more work for the money. I think it can be done without actually imposing on you. (Discussion off the record.) Mr. SHAKESPEARE. May I make one comment, Mr. Chairman, on the question of efficiency? I subscribe fully to your views about the increased emphasis on getting the maximum of work from people. It is true also that when people are fully employed, actually their esprit the corps is better, they are better people. CZECH FILM I would like to suggest that in an analysis of the USIA there is an additional factor. So much of what we do necessarily falls in the creative sphere. I have tried to hold us to high standards on the creative merit of what we produce. For example, and I grant you that this is not a typical example and I mention it obviously because I am proud of it. We put out a short film this fiscal year, 15 minutes, on the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. We put it out in connection with the first anniversary of the Soviet invasion. That was in August of last year. Senator MCCLELLAN. Where is that film shown? Mr. SHAKESPEARE. That film has been shown throughout the world on television and as a short in connection with major motion pictures where you put in a 90-minute feature film, and this is a short that goes with it. We have had extraordinary reception of this film throughout the world. It won the Academy Award for the best short documentary made in the world last year. At some point I would be very happy to have you and your committee members see that documentary. In my judgment it is quite powerful. Senator ELLENDER. Is it critical of the Soviet Union? Mr. SHAKESPEARE. It is very factual. What it consists of largely is films taken by the citizens of Prague, who at that time were permitted to have cameras because they still had the opening up of the Czechoslovakian society, of what was actually occurring, the way the citizens reacted, the way the Soviet soldiers reacted. In the end, the bottom line of the film obviously shows that the spirit of a free people was crushed by tanks. But it is not said in dialog. It is said in actual pictures. I think that is why it is so effective. |