on Aging gave major attention to the need for adequate opportunities as well as services for the aged. The officers and members of the league and joint legislative committee most seriously urge the passage of Senate bill 1321. Its passage would be the humanitarian thing to do, and it will go a long way in protecting our most precious resource. The enactment of that measure would not only go a long way in helping to preserve our society, but it would mean that freedom and a better life might flourish for all in our society. If we reject this bill, we reject the aged citizens of America and we allow precious human lives to be tragically and needlessly wasted. This bill, regardless of expenditure, will not be a liability to our society, it will be an investment for the best interest of our old people and the Nation. Very truly yours, RUBIN M. HANAN, STATEMENT OF HON. IVAN ALLEN, MAYOR OF ATLANTA, GA. Although most of the needs to which National Service Corps men might address themselves in the Atlanta area are the responsibility of the Fulton County administration, I have been greatly impressed by the philosophy underlying this proposed program and its great potential. I can think of no more effective and challenging way to call the attention of this Nation to some of our most pressing pieces of unfinished business. That many Americans are willing to give a full year of their lives to unremunerated service to their less fortunate countrymen will not only dramatize our remaining pockets of human need but will demonstrate that we as a people have the determination and the ability to eliminate those needs. I am particularly interested in the challenge and opportunity which such a program would provide for our retired citizens whose skills and vitality must not go unused. I strongly urge prompt enactment into law of S. 1321 which would authorize a National Service Corps. STATEMENT OF DR. ETHEL PERCY ANDRUS, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL RETIRED TEACHERS ASSOCIATION AND AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF RETIRED PERSONS It is my privilege as president of the National Retired Teachers Association and the American Association of Retired Persons to submit to your committee, for inclusion in the printed hearings, the position of our two organizations in behalf of S. 1321, the National Service Corps Act. The National Retired Teachers Association consists entirely of persons who have retired from teaching. Total membership for the present year numbers approximately 250,000. Membership in the American Association of Retired Persons is open to any retired person, age 55 or over, and total membership numbers approximately 450,000. National, State, and local or chapter officers of the two organizations number between 500 and 600 persons. In December 1962, in cooperation with a number of other membership organizations, we made a limited but representative survey of our member interest in the Service Corps concept under development at that time. The character and significance of the responses to our questionnaire may be best understood if we report here that a substantial proportion of our members are retired from many years of service in one profession or occupation. Many are retired teachers, principals, and school superintendents. Many are retired from a lifetime of service in municipal, county, State, or Federal employment. Others have devoted their employed years to professional practice in the fields of police work, social service, law, medicine, the Red Cross, safety or fire protection. Persons who have chosen and followed one of the above-named occupations tend, we suspect, to be endowed with a rather sensitive social conscience. If such is the case the results of our survey may not be representative of the total population of older persons. Furthermore, before I report the findings of the survey, I must point out that our questionnaire was submitted to our local, chapter, State, and national officers chosen or elected by their fellow members. The results therefore show the interests and preferences of group leaders and not necessarily the concerns of the total aged population. After this explanation I will restate the findings which we communicated to the President's Study Group on February 4 of this year. We received approximately 800 replies. Seventy-nine percent of our responses endorsed the Service Corps concept. Forty-eight percent indicated an interest in participating in a voluntary Service Corps. Women outnumbered men 2 to 1 in both the total number who indicated a belief in the Service Corps concept and in the percentage who indicated a willingness to serve. The interest of our organizations, the National Retired Teachers Association and the American Association of Retired Persons, is not limited to the current proposal. In recent years we have been approached on more than one occasion by penal and other institutions seeking lists or sources of persons who might be available for voluntary community assistance. During the months intervening between our 1961 and 1962 national conventions the philosophy in support of some voluntary service program was gradually taking practical form. On June 21, 1962, the NRTA-AARP Annual Convention assembled in Denver adopted the following resolution : "We shall initiate and develop the idea of a senior Service Corps for volunteer services through our associations and by our members. Volunteer service is the gift we can bring to veterans hospitals, local hospitals and nursing home programs, Red Cross activities, church activities, and community activities." We believe that clear-cut congressional policy should be written into the Service Corps Act to describe and delimit its scope. Such a statement should specifically declare that it is the intent of Congress to preserve and respect the independence and autonomy of existing voluntary religious, charitable, and similar organizations. It should also expressly state that the proposed Service Corps administration shall be conducted along lines of service to the communities which shall not be in conflict with, or in competition with, existing voluntary agencies and organizations. The Service Corps Act should include a clear and specific statement of intent that the period of service available to a community shall be of a temporary and not permanent duration. In further conformity with the concept of a shortterm service the stated purpose should include a requirement of training local talent to assume and carry on the needed community services after a limited number of years or months. With the foregoing suggestions, we assure you, Mr. Chairman, of our wholehearted approval of the concept of voluntary service organized and made available as proposed in your bill. We assure you our full support and cooperation. We shall exert every reasonable effort toward assisting in the enactment of the National Service Corps Act of 1963. Furthermore we shall be prepared to cooperate in implementing the legislation if and when it is passed by the Congress. Re National Service Corps bill (S. 1321). Hon. HARRISON WILLIAMS, Chairman, Subcommittee on the National Service Corps, JUNE 27, 1963. Committee on Labor and Public Welfare, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. DEAR SENATOR WILLIAMS: In the course of the hearings on the National Service Corps bill, a number of questions have been raised concerning the personnel and administration of the National Service Corps. Senator Javits has emphasized that, in his judgment, this must be an elite corps of top personnel (transcript of hearings, May 29, 1963, pp. 87, 94). As part of its review of the feasibility and desirability of a national service program the Study Group has given major attention to these questions. Our conclusion, as I stated in testimony before the subcommittee, is that the National Service Corps, if it is to achieve its objective, must enlist the service of highly competent, mature, and dedicated personnel. There must also be provision for the same level of top-caliber personnel to administer the Corps. The "Information" booklet prepared for the Congress by the Study Group presents in chapter X a more detailed statement of our findings with respect to the administration of the Corps. You will note at page X-2 a chart indicating the proposed administrative organization. In the judgment of the Study Group the Corps will require 17 supergrade positions in addition to the Director and Deputy Director provided for in section 4 of the bill, in order to assure the top-caliber personnel necessary to provide this leadership and administration. The 17 supergrades would be divided as follows: GS-18_. 2 GS-17--- 5 GS-16____ 10 Consistent with the congressional policy stated in the act of October 4, 1961 (75 Stat. 785), the bill does not contain an allotment of these needed top positions. As indicated in the "Information" booklet, upon establishment of the Corps by the Congress, authorization for the necessary supergrade positions will be requested of the Civil Service Commission from the reserve made available by the Congress to meet the needs of newly created agencies. The Chairman of the Civil Service Commission, a member of the President's Study Group, has indicated that he is prepared to provide for the justified supergrade needs of the Corps, upon its establishment by the Congress, from this reserve. Sincerely yours, WILLIAM R. ANDERSON, Staff Director of the President's Study Group on a National Service Program and Presidential Consultant. Director: Statutory. Deputy Director: Statutory. NATIONAL COUNCIL OF SENIOR CITIZENS, INC., Washington, D.C., June 26, 1963. Senator HARRISON A. WILLIAMS, Chairman, Subcommittee on Migratory Labor, DEAR SENATOR WILLIAMS: I am enclosing a copy of a resolution on the National Service Corps which was adopted unanimously by the more than 1,500 delegates attending our second annual convention on June 13-14, 1963. Sincerely, AIME J. FORAND, President. RESOLUTION ON NATIONAL SERVICE CORPS Whereas over 8 million Americans have less than 5 years of schooling, a third of our youth become school dropouts, about 51⁄2 million suffer mental retardation; and Whereas the job to be done in our urban slums in combating poverty and deprivation is monumental; and Whereas the American Indians on the reservations, cut off from the mainstream of national life, suffer from malnutrition, inadequate sanitation, and lack of educational opportunity; and Whereas about a quarter million children of migrant workers need both social work and eductaional aid—and their parents also need such help; and Whereas about 2,000 job opportunities for senior citizens would be created thus permitting them to serve in an advisory capacity in the never-ending role of helping one's fellow man and serving one's country; and Whereas said job opportunities will in no way conflict with or take away employment from union members: therefore be it Hereby resolved, That the National Council of Senior Citizens support bills S. 1321 and H.R. 5625 introduced by Senator Harrison Williams and Congressman Frank Thompson, of New Jersey, which bills would initially authorize the appropriation of $5 million to set up a National Service Corps-better known as the Domestic Peace Corps-which would address itself to work with the sick, the poor, the uneducated, the physically handicapped, the mentally retarded, the elderly and the disadvantaged. UNITED STATES CONFERENCE OF MAYORS, Hon. HARRISON A. WILLIAMS, Jr., Chairman, Subcommittee on National Service Corps, Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: I regret very much that the convening of the 30th Annual Conference of Mayors prevented the personal appearance of a mayor representing the United States Conference of Mayors before your subcommittee to endorse the pending proposals to create a National Service Corps. As the newly elected president of the United States Conference of Mayors, it is indeed my pleasure to assure you and your colleagues that the United States Conference of Mayors enthusiastically endorses this legislation. The executive committee of the conference had an opportunity to study this legislation in some detail early this year. And at our recently concluded annual conference, mayors from throughout the country had an opportunity to discuss the proposal. I understand the staff of the conference has alread forwarded the resolution adopted for inclusion in the hearings, but I did want to add this personal note of endorsement for the conference and in my own capacity as mayor of the city of Fresno. Very truly yours, ARTHUR L. SELLAND, President. EDUCATIONAL TESTING SERVICE, COOPERATIVE TEST DIVISION, Senator HARRISON A. WILLIAMS, Washington, D.C. DEAR SENATOR: I understand that you are currently investigating the need for a National Service Corps patterned after the Peace Corps. I would like to endorse the idea and add several specific illustrations of the types of services that such a program could render to cities large and small. As you can see from the enclosed clippings and reports, a group of Princeton residents recently established a study center and tutoring program for the young people of Princeton. Since February, 30 to 40 youngsters-grades 6 to 12— have been coming to the center to study each night and to get help with homework. They are assisted by adults who volunteer their services one or more evenings a week. This program has not been aimed exclusively at the so-called culturally deprived. There are many others in our community who have found the services of the center helpful. In a small way, I think we are doing something useful to keep youngsters from getting discouraged and possibly dropping out of school. A second phase of our project involves a tutoring program-one in which selected youngsters receive individual help from Princeton undergraduates and from adult volunteers drawn from the community at large. In both of these projects there is a need for part-time-perhaps even fulltime-assistance beyond that provided by volunteers. At the study center, for example, we need someone to recruit and supervise the volunteer staff and to provide continuity from one evening to the next. At the moment, the lack of such a person is perhaps the greatest weakness of the program. I imagine that a National Service Corps man would perform this function admirably. Similarly, the tutoring program needs someone to coordinate various aspects of the program and to maintain close liaison with tutors, pupils, teachers, and school officials. We managed to hire a seminary student to help with this phase of the program, but we would need additional people to operate an expanded program. Princeton, along with other communities, has a crying need for neighborhood recreation centers. Those of us close to the situation here in Princeton feel that the need is acute. Lack of funds, lack of space, lack of facilities are all problems, but even if the community could provide these, we would still have the need of trained leaders who would work effectively with the young people and help them find wholesome, socially approved outlets for their energies. I am excited about the Service Corps idea because I can see these people functioning as catalysts for community action. There are, in every commu nity, vast numbers of men and women with time, energy and educational qualifications, and good will, who are willing-even anxious-to work on projects such as those I have described. What is frequently lacking is the leadership and people with skills needed to harness and coordinate these human resources. Dedicated men and women, such as those serving in the Peace Corps, can help through direct service, but even more important, through indirectly helping to mobilize unused community resources for the benefit of our youth. I can think of no federally sponsored project with greater potential for doing good at such small expense to the taxpayer. Please let me know if I can be of further assistance. BENJAMIN SHIMBERG, Director of Educational Relations. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF THE UNITED STATES, Hon. HARRISON A. WILLIAMS, Jr., Chairman, Migratory Labor Subcommittee, Labor and Public Welfare Committee, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Attached are the views of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States with reference to Domestic Peace Corps legislation. I would appreciate it if you would make this statement a part of the record of your current hearings. Sincerely, THERON J. RICE. STATEMENT OF THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF THE UNITED STATES ON S. 1321, THE NATIONAL SERVICE CORPS ACT The Chamber of Commerce of the United States appreciates the privilege of commenting on the program envisioned in S. 1321, to provide for the establishment of a "National Service Corps to strengthen community service programs in the United States." As one of the organizations consulted by the Attorney General of the United States, whose study committee coordinated the developments leading to the present legislative proposal, the national chamber has followed all reports issued during the course of this development. It is apparent to us that the original concepts advanced for a Domestic Peace Corps have been greatly modified, with some characteristics completely eliminated. The President's message in February of this year on youth problems recommended among other things that the Corps be a "small, carefully selected group," but no suggestion appears in the legislation about criteria or methods of selection of either the corpsmen or corps projects except that they "will not displace regular workers or duplicate or replace an existing service." The earlier description of the proposed corps as an "elite, highly viable" group is nowhere implied in S. 1321. Nor is it any longer assumed, in provisions of the bill, that the program is designed to stimulate corpsmen to "further professional training and career preparation" for welfare work, as a statement in correspondence of the Attorney General's office once indicated. While the January report of the President's Study Group reported some 35 moded projetcs which agencies or individuals had suggested, nothing in the proposed legislation indicates how or whether priority would be given to such projects or how it could or would be determined that projects deemed so worthy by the agencies suggesting them could not be justified in their own State or community budgets and hence initiated without Presidential assistance. In general, the present bill increases the vagueness of the study group's original presentation to a point of complete uncertainty about the programs being proposed. It authorizes the President and his several administrative appointees, and presumably other employees he deems necessary, to make contracts or agreements for whatever projects they believe will do the most good with whatever governmental or nongovernmental agencies or individuals they may choose for whatever number of projects they deem expedient for as many years as the Congress will appropriate funds. In short, the bill authorizes the President to spend $5 million the first yearand unknown amounts in the future-to place Corps men as he defines them wherever he believes they can do the most good in assisting the agencies of his |