Total..

1 Buildings and facilities, Federal Prison System, no year appropriation.

JUSTIFICATION FOR INCREASED COSTS OVER 1955

Mr. ANDRETTA. I just want to make clear, Senator, that the greater part of this increase that we are talking about now-people are wondering why the Department is getting so much more money for 1956— is not actually for additional personnel over what we have now. A good part of that money is for things over which we have no control, like premium pay that the Attorney General mentioned, and these other items of expense.

The great lack in our legal activities besides personnel has been our general litigation expenses, which have gone up in the courts and in the United States attorneys' offices. In other words, it is costing us more money for witnesses and for stenographic job reporting, for the communications and the travel expense of the United States attorneys and their assistants and our lawyers-all of the incidental expenses that are required to try lawsuits.

INCREASED PRINTING COSTS

Senator KILGORE. Even the printing bills have gone up when you have to take an appeal from a judgment of the district court to the circuit court of appeals; is that right?

Mr. ANDRETTA. Yes, sir. There are many factors as a basis for having to have more money to run the Department of Justice. One of them is that business is increasing all over the country-that is, the litigation business is; and besides that, we are trying to cut into the backlog. So you have that combination, which makes heavy demands on the offices. Then with world conditions as they are, they put an additional burden on the Department of Justice.

There has been a tendency probably to lose sight of the fact that the country and the Government as a whole have grown tremendously, especially since the end of the war, and there has also been an increase in the enforcement and investigative activities of the Government, all of which affects the work of the Department of Justice.

Then there has been new legislation which has added to our troubles, and the general cost of doing business has gone up. All your commodities and everything, all the equipment, everything you buy or use, are very much up in cost. Then we have had new judges added to the Federal courts who make demands and expect to be served by the Department.

UNCONTROLLABLE COSTS

I would also like to bring to the attention of the committee that for years we have had imposed on the Department certain uncontrollable costs by legislation and otherwise for which no appropriations have ever been made and which have been required to absorb. To absorb these costs means you cannot fill positions. We have some money in this appropriation request for 1956 to be able to fill positions. We may use the technical term "reduction in lapses." We have had these jobs but we have never been able to fill them because we have had to divert the money to these other things.

PENALTY MAIL AND WITHIN-GRADE PROMOTIONS

For example, currently, penalty mail costs us about $750,000 a year. Terminal leave just in the United States attorneys' and marshals' offices alone took a half-million dollars last year, money that we could not use for salaries. Then, from year to year, you have within-grade automatic promotions. There is no money appropriated for that purpose.

Senator KILGORE. Did you put an estimate for that last item?
Mr. ANDRETTA. Automatic raises?

Senator KILGORE. Yes.

Mr. ANDRETTA. No, sir.

Senator KILGORE. How about penalty mail; is that in?
Mr. ANDRETTA. No.

Senator KILGORE. One thing that sort of burns me up on the question of penalty mail is this: It is true it does help balance the postal budget, but again it throws all the other budgets out of balance, and the mail has to go out.

Mr. ANDRETTA. Yes, sir.

Senator KILGORE. Go ahead.

GROUP LIFE AND SOCIAL SECURITY PAYMENTS

Mr. ANDRETTA. We have another cost here of group life insurance, which costs the Department about $350,000 a year. That is another one. We have to make social security payments for which no money has ever been appropriated. I just thought I would point out some of these things. It makes it awfully hard on persons trying to administer the Department's affairs and trying to meet the workload when we have to divert money to other things and cannot use it for personal services.

Senator KILGORE. In other words, if we create a new job and no appropriation money, that means that the work in a formerly created job has to be cut down to meet the demand of the new one; is that right?

Mr. ANDRETTA. Yes, sir.

SALARIES AND EXPENSES, GENERAL ADMINISTRATION

Coming down to the individual appropriations, under "General administration," the estimate was $2,615,000. The House allowed $2,525,000, which was an increase of $52,500 over the amount presently available, but $90,000 under the estimate. We ask that that $90,000 be restored as follows: $18,860 to the Deputy Attorney General's Office.

AMENDMENT AND JUSTIFICATION

Senator KILGORE. The amendment requested and the justification data will be placed in the record at this point.

(The information referred to follows:)

SALARIES AND EXPENSES, GENERAL ADMINISTRATION

The Department requests the following amendment:

Page 18, line 11, strike out "$2,525,000" and insert "$2,615,000", the estimate, or an increase of $90,000.

EXTRACT FROM HOUSE REPORT (P. 8)

"The committee recommends $2,525,000 for this item, an increase of $52,500 over the current year's appropriation and a decrease of $90,000 in the amount of the budget estimate. This appropriation provides funds for the Office of the Attorney General, Deputy Attorney General, Pardon Attorney, Board of Parole, Board of Immigration Appeals, and the Administrative Division."

JUSTIFICATION

The $52,500 increase allowed by the House for this item has been allocated on a prorated basis resulting in a reduction in the budget estimates as follows:

It is essential to good management of the Department that the Deputy Attorney General is provided with a competent and adequate staff. The schedule of personal services (p. 20 of the justifications) provides for an average employment of 48. The House allowance provides for an average employment of 45, a reduction of 3 which will directly affect the operations of 2 very important areas-namely, the handling of legislative matters and the work of the Executive Office for United States Attorneys.