Mr. THOMPSON. The only answer I can give you there, Mr. Chairman, is that of the total funds appropriated for printing and binding, some of those funds that were not required for other purposes were used here.

Mr. ROONEY. That is exactly what I suspected. You read the report of this committee last year, did you, Mr. Thompson?

Mr. THOMPSON. Yes, I have read it, Mr. Chairman. I was not the Chief of this Division until September 1950.

Mr. ROONEY. The report of this subcommittee was as follows:

The requested increase of $289,800 in printing costs for these various volumes is likewise denied.

That referred to the foreign relations volumes. After having had that report of this committee, you then used over $40,000 of moneys appropriated for other purposes under printing and reproduction?

Mr. THOMPSON. I cannot make an exact answer, Mr. Chairman. I do not know. I can investigate and find out what the story is. Mr. ROONEY. We are interested in knowing about this right now. Mr. THOMPSON. As I say, I became Chief of this Division in September and I have not the figures at my command.

Mr. ROONEY. What have you to say about this, Mr. Wilber?

Mr. WILBER. The only thing I can say is, if that has been done, it is a distinct violation of the mandate of Congress under which my office operates.

Mr. ROONEY. You are already taking a plea?

Mr. WILBER. If that is what has happened I will take the blame for it, sir, because my office is responsible for the approval of these allotments.

Mr. ROONEY. It did not do us much good to act on this matter unanimously as a committee and then have our judgment confirmed by the full committee, by the House, by the Senate subcommittee, by the Senate full committee, and by the Senate of the United States, if,. without the knowledge of the committee, without any notice to the committee whatever, without any subsequent request to the commit-. tee, you took $40,000 plus from another appropriation under "Printing and reproduction" and used it for the very purpose for which we said. you should not use it.

Mr. WILBER. I would like the record to show, however, that my office that is, the Budget Division under my direction-does not review requisitions for printing, and does not individually approve any of these transactions.

Mr. ROONEY. How much of this appropriation does Mr. Thompson's shop have in total for printing and reproduction?

Mr. THOMPSON. For what year, Mr. Chairman?

Mr. ROONEY. For the current fiscal year, 1951.

Mr. THOMPSON. We have an estimate of $604,000 for 1951.

Mr. WILBER. I would have to get that accurately to be sure that that represents the latest allotments that have been made for this purpose.

(The amount of $604,000 is correct.)

Mr. ROONEY. Who justified this last year?
Mr. WILBER. Mr. Reed Harris, I believe.
Mr. ROONEY. Where is he now?

Mr. WILBER. He is now deputy to Mr. Hulten in IE.
Mr. ROONEY. Are there any further questions on this item?

Mr. FLOOD. I would like the record to show that I would not want to see anything done that would jeopardize the continuation of the printing of these documents. It is just a question of how much we can afford, and at what time. I consider these documents very important, necessary, and essential to the State Department and the public at large. But it is just a question of how many dollars and for what project, in what year. That has nothing to do with this transfer of funds, which was obviously a flagrant violation of the wishes of the committee.

Mr. WILBER. Mr. Flood, it is my responsibility to police the desires of this committee and if I have fallen down on that I want to find out myself and I intend to.

(The following information was subsequently submitted to the committee:)

It was determined subsequently that the official allotment made by the Division of Budget for printing and binding chargeable to the appropriation "Salaries and expenses" was $604,000, as originally presented for 1951. The increase for foreign relations volumes from $28,000 to $70,650 was an internal adjustment by the Publications Division within the various items covered by the total allotment. Materials forwarded to the Government Printing Office as of February 28, 1951, would have created obligations of slightly over $37,000. Upon direction of the budget officer, materials have since been withdrawn so that the total obligations for 1951 will not exceed the original request of $28,000.

Mr. THOMPSON. During the past year, Mr. Chairman, a number of these scholarly organizations have passed resolutions in connection with the foreign relations volumes; for instance, the American Historical Society

Mr. ROONEY. We have had that testimony; you were present when we had that testimony the other day; were you not? Do you want to be repetitious?

Mr. THOMPSON. I thought we were talking about the testimony of the preceding year.

Mr. ROONEY. Did not Mr. Sargeant address himself to us on that yesterday?

Mr. WILBER. That is correct, Mr. Chairman.

LANGUAGE CHANGES

Mr. ROONEY. Gentlemen, we have now concluded the justifications on the item "Salaries and expenses, Department of State," and shall consider the proposed language changes which appear beginning at page 8 of the committee print.

What is the reason for the deletion of the $1,000 limitation, for payment of tort claims?

TORT CLAIM LIMITATION

Mr. WILBER. Public Law 830, dated September 23, 1950, repealed the various provisions of law requiring specific authorization of expenditures for this purpose in the appropriation act providing the funds. Therefore it is recommended that these provisions be deleted as being superfluous.

MOTOR VEHICLES

Mr. ROONEY. Why have you added the new language, "purchase (not to exceed four) and" in connection with passenger motor vehicles, on page 8?

Mr. WILBER. At the present time the Department is located in 25 separate buildings, and with the recent expansion of employment, additional space will be required. The present plans call for the assignment of the Longfellow Building and other buildings and in addition more space will be required in the Potomac Park area, where the Department has already some space.

Mr. ROONEY. These are all for use in the District of Columbia? Mr. WILBER. Yes, sir.

Mr. ROONEY. In how many buildings is the State Department located in the District at the present time?

Mr. WILBER. I believe the figure 25 is correct, sir. Incidentally I would like to point out that the provision of funds for these busses is provided under the equipment request, $15,200.

Mr. ROONEY. Did you have any busses during World War II? Mr. WILBER. Yes, sir.

Mr. ROONEY. How many?

Mr. WILBER. I do not have that figure with me, but I think it was three or four; I am not sure. We have attempted to use some of our passenger-carrying cars for shuttle purposes, but they are entirely inadequate and are actually inefficient for that purpose.

Mr. ROONEY. Explain the elimination of language at the bottom of page 10 of the committee print, "and $1,400 in the case of all other such vehicles except station wagons," and so forth.

Mr. WILBER. Mr. Chairman, that is included in the general provisions of the Omnibus Act and, therefore, it is not necessary to have it in the individual bills. It may be that if you go back to the individual bills, you may wish to retain it.

PURCHASE OF PASSENGER CARS AT $2,200 EACH

Mr. ROONEY. Turning to page 82 of the committee print what is your justification for the proposed section 107, for the purchase of motor vehicles? What harm would it do to retain the old language?

Mr. WILBER. It does not do any harm to leave the other one in, sir. I would be glad to explain the $2,200 paragraph, which we do need.

Mr. ROONEY. We shall give you the opportunity to explain that. Mr. WILBER. In our attempt to use to the maximum foreign credits, many times we can purchase vehicles overseas at a cost which would exceed the $1,400 figure by $700 or $800. This provides that we can go up as high as $2,200 and takes into consideration the transportation cost of an American-made car.

Mr. STEFAN. Using foreign credits?
Mr. WILBER. Using foreign credits.
Mr. STEFAN. Blocked currencies?
Mr. WILBER. That is correct, sir.

PREPARATION OF TERRITORIAL PAPERS

Mr. ROONEY. Why do you recommend eliminating the provisionProvided further, That of the amount appropriated herein, not to exceed $30,000 shall be expended for carrying out the provisions of the Act of July 1, 1945.

Mr. WILBER. This provision covers the preparation of territorial papers, which function was transferred by Executive order from the Department of State to the GSA during the current fiscal year. Therefore, this language is no longer required in the Department, as a result of Reorganization Plan No. 20.

Mr. ROONEY. If there are no other questions, thank you, gentlemen.

MONDAY, MARCH 5, 1951.

INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY AND WATER COMMISSION, UNITED STATES AND MEXICO

WITNESSES

FRANK B. CLAYTON, COUNSEL

C. M. AINSWORTH, PRINCIPAL ENGINEER

COLLINS CLAYTON, ACCOUNTANT

HAROLD C. HERRICK, JR., BUREAU OF INTER-AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDWARD B. WILBER, BUDGET OFFICER, DEPARTMENT OF STATE

Mr. ROONEY. The first item we have for the committee consideration this morning is the requested appropriation for the International Boundary and Water Commission, United States and Mexico, which appears, beginning at page 32 of the committee print and page 392 of the justifications, entitled "Summary of requirements, fiscal year 1952," which we shall insert in the record at this point, together with the table appearing on page 396 of the justifications.

(The statements referred to follow:)

Summary of requirements, fiscal year 1952