speaking live among themselves. The larger the proportion of Spanish speaking in the community the worse their situation appears to be. 3. Employment.-From an analysis of available statistics it appears that on the average the Spanish speaking have lower incomes of the total population and just above or below the nonwhite levels. They also have larger proportions in low status occupations and higher percentages of unemployment than either the nonwhites or Anglos. 4. Justice. People of low social and economic status without purse, power, and pull are disadvantaged before the law. The Spanish speaking fall into this category and for them must be added the dimension of ethnicity. 5. Health. Data in this field is rather meager because many of the Spanish speaking still follow the old customs of health and maintain that the problems of health are a family affair. There is, however, some suggestion of high morbidity rates of tuberculosis and upper respiratory diseases for the population under consideration and infant mortality rates also appear to be higher. All of these conditions appear to be related to the low social and economic status of the Spanish speaking as well as to their housing situation. 6. Cheap labor.-The effects of the domestic and foreign agricultural labor system, the commuter worker system in border cities, and the illegal entrance for purposes of employment are among the most serious and depressing. These effects consist of (1) unfair competition for domestic laborers; (2) depression of wages; (3) exploitation of labor; (4) deprivation of civil rights of children; (5) categorical retardation in education; (6) perpetuation of a vicious social system which is detrimental to society. This problem calls for an immediate solution. With all the interest presently focused on Latin America and the problems of Latin America it would seem that the United States would make some concentrated effort to see to it that the bulk of the Spanish-speaking population in the United States does not continue being termed "second-class citizens" and "disadvantaged citizens." The National Service Corps could well serve as the catalyst which would develop and bring about programs, find solutions, and administer remedies to a situation which has for too long been almost totally neglected. The National Council for the Spanish Speaking strongly urges the passage of the National Service Corps and at the same time pleads that should the national service program become a reality, it will not neglect the many and complex problems of the Spanish speaking. PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR MENTAL HEALTH, INC., PRESENTED BY PHILIP E. RYAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, JUNE 20, 1963 Hon. HARRISON A. WILLIAMS, JR., Chairman, Subcommittee on the National Service Corps, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. DEAR SENATOR WILLIAMS: In response to your letter of June 18, we are very pleased to submit the following statement expressing the views of the national association on the proposed National Service Corps: The National Association for Mental Health has long called attention to the shortage of competent manpower as a major bottleneck to better care of the mentally ill. It encourages young people to explore careers in mental health. It also continues to recruit and train volunteers to meet tthe needs of the mentally ill both in hospitals and communities. The proposed National Service Corps could be an effective device for supplying needed supporting manpower, for giving competent young people an opportunity to explore the mental health field as a possible area for life work, and for providing organizational personnel to increase substantially the number of traditional volunteers engaged in hospital and community service. I hope this information will be helpful to you in the hearings on the National Service Corps bill, S. 1321. PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE COUNCIL OF THE GOLDEN RING CLUBS OF SENIOR CITIZENS, NEW YORK, N.Y. This statement is submitted for the record by the Council of Golden Ring Clubs, Mr. Adolph Held, chairman; Mr. Zalmen J. Lichtenstein, executive director; George Orth and John Columbro, board members; in support of proposed National Service Corps (bill S. 1321). The Golden Ring Council of Senior Citizens enthusiastically supports the grand idea of establishing a National Service Corps (bill S. 1321). The Golden Ring Council is a national organization consisting of clubs and organizations of elderly people of all walks of life. It is a nonpartisan, nonprofit, voluntary movement. Affiliated with the council are retirees of day centers, trade unions, community centers, church groups, etc. Our organizations function on the basis of "do-it-yourself" and "pay-as-you-go" by the senior citizens themselves. Starting with everyday local gathering in the neighborhoods and ending with huge undertakings such as senior citizens rallies at Madison Square Garden, all these functions are planned, organized, and carried through by the leadership and membership of the senior citizens. All the activities of our clubs and the huge affairs are financed by the elderly people themselves. They take pride in the fact that it is their own brain, their own heart, and their own (however meager) pocketbook, that keeps this movement in orbit. The 17 million senior citizens all over the country can best realize how much more has to be done for the underprivileged. These people have experienced the hardships of life for the last 50 to 75 years. They are the generation of the sweatshops and cold-water flats. The senior citizens have a deep understanding and great devotion to the social values of community service and for helping their fellow citizens. There could not be a more imaginative idea for harnessing the potential productive energies of the millions of our senior citizens for helping themeselves and their communities than through this concerted endeavor to be implemented by a National Service Corps. The senior citizens can also be helpful in trying to solve the problems and needs of the younger generation. We dare to state that the communication between the grandparents and grandchildren is a good one, full of affection, love, and understanding. In the devastating problem of juvenile delinquency, the experience and warmth of the elderly people can be used in the battle to eliminate this social malady. Millions of retirees possess valuable educational and technical skills that can be extremely useful in the all-important retraining program to be undertaken by the Government. There are now millions of retired people in our country and they still expect a long period of living in the autumn of their lives. For many of them, these years are empty ones, devoid of meaning and purpose. This proposed National Service Corps, with its vital community program, could fill those long retirement years with useful activities for themselves and for their fellow citizens. The Golden Ring Council of Senior Citizens therefore urges Congress to establish the National Service Corps without delay. We say to our Representatives and Senators-give us, the millions of senior citizens—the opportunity for human endeavor, purposeful living in our later years and we will through the National Service Corps make an outstanding contribution to the health and welfare of American society. PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. ALBERT D. ROSELLINI, GOVERNOR, STATE OF WASHINGTON, AND CHAIRMAN, CONFERENCE OF GOVERNORS Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, I am pleased to submit this statement in support of H.R. 5625 (S. 1321), the National Service Corps bill. I consider this bill a call to service-in the most outstanding tradition of our Nation. It is not a charity effort. It does not propose to give money to people in need. It is not simply an attempt to meet these needs by extending the efforts of several professions. It is a broad citizen effort, and as such, it embodies America's great tradition of volunteer citizen service. It is a bill to highlight such service and dignify it further-offering national attention and support. The National Service Corps is a program to provide a new opportunity for Americans who have the ability and motivation to work with their less fortunate fellows-those who remain outside the mainstream of American life. This program would constitute a vivid reaffirmation of national purpose. In recent years the great expression of these ideals has been the Peace Corps. The National Service Corps would be another step toward the reassertion of principles so basic to our heritage. Is there a need for such a program in a nation standard of living? Some say there is no need. known for its unprecedented Others say that only a very few of our people need the help this program could offer. Still others, while admitting that relatively large numbers among us are denied the basic essentials of a decent life, suggest that the States and existing Federal agencies can meet these needs. The fact is that a shocking number of Americans are living in conditions which should shame us all. Despite the efforts of public and private agencies, local, State, and National, too many Americans are relegated to lives of misery and despair and do not participate in the great American experiment of freedom, equality, and opportunity. In this land of abundance, 1 out of 6 of our citizens lives on a submarginal income. Inadequate education, poor health, and abandoned aspirations are the lot of these forgotten Americans. How can we forget them? Our lives are complex. We plan for tomorrow. We lose sight of those who are not moving with us. And the unfortunate among us-the poor-are becoming invisible. But one has only to look into our institutions for the mentally ill and mentally retarded, our reformatories and training schools, our institutions for the aged, at migratory labor camps and city slums, at our depressed rural areas and Indian reservations. The conditions are shocking. By their very dimensions these are not just local or State problems. They are national problems. No single agency or group, no single level of government can alone alleviate or correct these conditions. No group of technicians and no amount of money will find the magic formula to make the American dream a reality for the deprived. In this battle many resources are needed, and they must come from untapped segments of the American community. Repeatedly, we have demonstrated our Nation's ability to uphold its heritage in time of war. And we are right now engaged in a great national effort to achieve peace throughout the world. Certainly, we should not fear an exemplary national effort addressed to helping our own-to help those among us in greatest need to help themselves. To develop a great new movement on behalf of those who, through no fault of their own, cannot help themselves. I believe that the National Service Corps would be such an exemplary undertaking, and could provide a new, vitally needed service. It could become the link between people in need and resources which are not now reaching them. Too many people who could benefit from help, who could become self-sustaining, do not know what services are available. Many more, because of certain handicaps, cannot take adavntage of available services. For instance, we cannot give job retraining to people who cannot read and write. But a National Service Corps could help teach basic literacy skills so that more people could take advantage of the Manpower Retraining Act. Corps men, living and working with the people in need, could help them better use the resources of all levels of government, thus increasing the effectiveness of existing programs. This important service is one reason the National Conference of Governors is interested in this program. In January, the executive committee of the conference met with the Attorney General. Our committee on public health and welfare has proposed to the conference a resolution endorsing a National Service Corps, and in July, the resolution will be considered by the conference. As a Governor and as chairman of the conference of Governors, I call for a new cooperative effort. By working together, we can extend the impact of all our work. No matter how capable and well-intentioned the men and women in the National Service Corps are, they will not perform miracles. Their work must be supported by the efforts of others. Corpsmen efforts should be reinforced by human and material resources of public and private agencies and groups throughout the United States. In turn, the National Service Corps should participate in projects reinforcing and extending the best policies and practices of local and State programs. I think it highly desirable that interested State agencies consult with the National Service Corps in the consideration of project proposals which affect their work. I endorse the provisions of section 2 which provide for such cooperation and consultation. The National Service Corps will want the assistance of State agencies if it to assess accurately potentials for service and if it is to avoid pitfalls. State agencies could help to evaluate projects and their relationship to existing or projected programs. And, of fundamental importance, the concerned State agencies could examine their own ability to support proposed projects. Since eventually, corps men will be phased out, the assistance and support of State agencies will be a valuable ingredient in building up resources to assist their withdrawal. There is still another reason for the National Service Corps to consult appropriate State agencies. With a limited number of corpsmen and projects, the National Service Corps must select projects which will be demonstrations, stimulating many other efforts beyond those in which it can participate directly. Its work must be an example and a challenge. States have a basic interest in, and commitment to the extension of such efforts. The National Service Corps will find State agencies valuable friends who will help to extend the work of corps men far beyond projects in which they are directly involved. The State of Washington participated in the initial work of the study group by submitting a project model, covering a number of State services, one of which was mental health. Experience in operating 10-week study programs for undergraduate students has convinced our State division of mental health that "volunteer work units are valuable to both the patients and the institution, as well as the individuals involved." We have requested corpsmen for two types of projects in mental institutions— those to supplement and expand existing services, and those to demonstrate new services. To supplement and expand existing services, corpsmen would be assigned to several clinical departments such as nursing, social service, psychology, occupational, recreational, and industrial therapy. To demonstrate new services, corpsmen could help develop halfway houses, employment and recreation outlets, and adult education programs. What makes the National Service Corps so significant is its person-to-person quality. As such, it will not be a consultant program nor a technical assistance program. In the model developed by the State of Washington, men and women of the Corps would live in the same communities as the persons with whom they would work. And they would not be giving service to these people; they would be working with them on a day-to-day basis. This is the vital link which can be provided by a National Service Corps. Only by a program such as this one can our most destitute and demoralized people be afforded the kind of assistance and example which will enable and motivate them to help themselves. And by so doing the men and women in the Corps can succeed in challenging others to give of themselves in such work. The illiterate does not know how to learn. Someone whom he trusts must show him. In this country, we still have over 8 million functional illiterates. Many of our Indians live in shacks, shanties, or tents entire families in one room. Someone whom the Indian trusts and respects must help and teach them how to build a house. The mentally retarded child and the mentally ill need to know that someone cares. Individuals working with them, gaining their trust and friendship, can help to bring them out of their isolation. Certainly, the opportunities for the National Service Corps are great. And the human ingredient to be offered by the men and women of the Corps is currently in great shortage. As proposed, the Corps would be limited to 5,000 men and women. Of course, these great problems will not all be solved by this handful of people. Many more men and women and material resources are needed. But even 50,000 corpsmen would not solve our problems. The basic promise of the Corps is, by doing its job, to stimulate and challenge others to commit themselves to expand the attack on these problems. Consequently, what really matters is the quality of the Corps-its vision and its ability to participate and enhance other programs addressing these pressing domestic problems. In seeking the cooperation and counsel of the States, the Corps will enrich our efforts by pointing the way. It will provide a vehicle for our citizens to participate in State and local programs. There is no danger of competition. The need is too great. I urge your support of this most important and inspiring measure. THE DIRECTOR OF SELECTIVE SERVICE, Washington, D.C., June 24, 1963. Hon. HARRISON A. WILLIAMS, Jr., Chairman, Subcommittee on National Service Corps, U.S. Senate. DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: The objectives of the National Service Corps qualify its members as performing work in the national interest. Registrants engaged in activities that are in the national health, safety, and interest are eligible for consideration for deferment in the Selective Service System. Should the National Service Corps be authorized, as projected, the Selective Service System would administer registrants who participate in it similar to the procedures used for the past 22 years in dealing with registrants who participated in the Peace Corps. Specifically, this means that participants in the National Service Corps would be eligible for deferment but would not be eligible for exemption. Sincerely, LEWIS B. HERSHEY, Lieutenant General, U.S. Army. ALABAMA LEAGUE OF AGING CITIZENS, INC., Senator HARRISON A. WILLIAMS, Jr., Chairman, Subcommittee on National Service Corps, DEAR SENATOR WILLIAMS: My organization is the Alabama League of Aging Citizens, Inc., cosponsor of the joint legislative committee for 10 pension and senior citizens organizations in our State. These aged citizens reside in all 67 counties of Alabama. Some live on farms, or in small towns, others live in large cities such as Birmingham, Mobile, or Montgomery. About 2 percent of the aged citizens of Alabama are reasonably well to do. However, 98 percent are quite poor. Poverty, disease, and low morale exists among the great majority of these old people. It would be impossible, in a few words, to describe their suffering, misery, and helplessness. The greatest problem that confronts us in seeking an answer to the problems of the aged is that their needs are not always the same. For example, some of our fine old folks need employment to make an extra dollar to supplement their meager income and something to do to occupy their minds and souls. Some may need only understanding which may be provided by some type of guidance counseling service. Others need only a friend. By establishing the National Service Corps, the Federal Government can pry open the door to a more useful life for millions of men and women who are now doomed to idle loneliness and utter dependence on charity. What is done or is not done in the next few years will have far-reaching effects on every one of us, regardless of age. Wise action now can help make the later years of all Americans meaningful and truly the harvest years of their lives. We spend millions of our tax dollars each year to help foreign countries, so why not help our own taxpayers with their problems. The role of the Federal Government is not adequate and there is a great need to make it possible for older people, who are able to work to continue their productive lives. This can be accomplished through the National Service Corps. There is a great need to remove the fear of destruction in the later years of our aged citizens and to stimulate the construction of better opportunities in life for them. It has been the position of the Alabama League of Aging Citizens that all people over the age 55 should as a matter of right receive equal consideration and opportunity for employment. It is an obligation of a democratic government to make certain that the spector of fear which hovers over the housetops of our Nation's aged citizens be removed. Thousands on relief rolls could be self-supporting and it will take a practical ingenuity on the part of the Federal and State governments to stop some of the handouts and start rooting out some of the real freeloaders. We believe in the concept that adequate public assistance should be available to all who have a genuine need for it. We believe emphasis should be put on rehabilitation so that our more unfortunate citizens may become self-supporting. Approximately 106,000 old people in Alabama are depending entirely on welfare checks every month through no fault of their own. There are some on relief who could be self-supporting if they got the opportunity and the right kind of help and stimulation from Federal and State agencies. However, these cases must be handled individually with patience and ingenuity. The Federal Government cannot deal with these problems by simply adopting a harsh and inflexible set of rules. That kind of shotgun approach will hurt innocent people and may miss the real freeloaders altogether. The 1961 White House Conference |