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this arena would be available for sports on a continuing basis. The United States has leased the area to the State of California, which will operate it as a State park consistently with the policy of Federal-State use of public land for recreational purposes.

This legislation, relating as it does to only special kinds of support, is intended to be in addition to, and independent of, any provision of existing permanent law respecting the training, attendance, or participation of athletes in the Olympic games, or other international competition generally.

COST AND BUDGET DATA

Enactment of this proposed legislation will result in an aggregate increased cost to the Department of Defense of not in excess of $4 million during fiscal year 1958 through fiscal year 1960. It is anticipated that $3.5 million of this amount will be necessary for the construction of the sports area authorized by section 2, and that the $3.5 million probably will be a supplemental request for fiscal year 1958. The remaining one-half million dollars will be necessary for the support functions authorized by section 1 of the proposed legislation and probably will be requested for fiscal year 1960.

Sincerely yours,

(Signed) DONALD A. QUARLES, Deputy.

Chairman RUSSELL. The first witness on the bill is Hon. William H. Francis, Jr., Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower Personnel and Reserves. Mr. Francis, we will be glad to have you make such statement as you see fit at this time.

Mr. Robert L. King, executive director and general secretary of the Organizing Committee VIII Olympic Winter Games is present and available to answer any questions relating to the activities of the

committee.

STATEMENTS OF HON. WILLIAM H. FRANCIS, JR., ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF DEFENSE FOR MANPOWER PERSONNEL AND RESERVES; AND ROBERT L. KING, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND GENERAL SECRETARY ORGANIZING COMMITTEE VIII OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES

Before the Assistant Secretary begins, Senator Bible, did you want to make a statement first?

Senator BIBLE. Thank you Mr. Chairman and members of the committee. I do have a short statement to make in support of this bill after Secretary Francis has completed.

Chairman RUSSELL. Very well. Would you proceed, Mr. Secretary? Mr. FRANCIS. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, I am very happy to be here this morning to speak on behalf of S. 3262, a bill to authorize certain activities by the armed forces in support of the VIII Olympic Winter Games, and for other purposes. The Department of Defense, representing the executive branch of the Government, strongly endorses this bill.

Section 1 of S. 3262 would authorize the Department of Defense to assist in the conduct of the VIII Olympic Winter Games by providing personnel, equipment and supplies for the preparation of courses, fields, and rinks; avalanche control; certain communications and transportation assistance; and snow compaction. It would also authorize the loan of communications equipment and housekeeping supplies.

In this connection I should point out that the Department of Defense would not engage in the actual construction of facilities. How

ever, it would provide technical advice and assistance such as high altitude course patrols. As you know, the military departments have had unique experience with respect to these areas and it should prove very beneficial in carrying out the Olympic games program.

To provide this support, it will be necessary to move military personnel and equipment to Squaw Valley and establish an Arctic tent camp for quartering, feeding, and administering this group separate from their parent installations. It is estimated that approximately 160 Army personnel and a smaller number of Navy personnel will be required.

Section 2 of the bill, as you know, authorizes the construction of a suitable sports arena on Government land in Squaw Valley for use in connection with the VIII Olympic Winter Games and it requires the Secretary of Defense to provide funds therefor out of moneys appropriated by the Congress for this specific purpose.

It is estimated that 1,000 athletes and some 200 foreign newspapermen from some 37 nations will be our guests. Speaking for the executive branch of the Government, we believe that, since the United States will be the host nation, this opportunity of having in our country so many young athletes and newspaper people from other nations will return large dividends through the opportunity it will afford to have them see and learn, at first hand, democracy in action. As you know, the President has taken special recognition of this matter by including a specific request in his 1959 budget message.

I am sure you will agree that our welcome must be the best that this country can provide. The executive branch of the Government has also been impressed by the fact that the State of California is bearing the major cost. Favorable consideration of this bill, together with the support being given by the State of California will, we believe, not only provide the proper facilities but help to create the good will and atmosphere of good sportsmanship that is so necessary to maintaining the spirit of the Olympic games.

This coupled with the fact that our country has extended an official invitation to the participating nations, leads us to believe that this is a most worthy undertaking. The executive branch of the Government strongly recommends favorable consideration of this measure.

In connection with the Comptroller General's letter here, he made several points which we would want to comment on now, with the permission of the Chair.

Chairman RUSSELL. All right, sir, go ahead.

Mr. FRANCIS. I believe that the first point of the letter from the Comptroller General pointed out that the bill contained no dollar limitation and no time limitation.

It is contemplated that the total money to be appropriated would be approximately $4 million, and if it is the desire of this committee to put that maximum in this bill, that would be acceptable.

Of course, when we go to the Appropriations Committee to ask for money, it could be limited, but the request would be for approximately $4 million. I believe $3,481,000 is estimated for construction and $500,000 is estimated for the other activities, the support activities of the Army and Navy.

We do not feel that a time limitation is necessary. does provide that the purpose is for these games to be

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This bill, S. 3262, held in February

1960 and we believe that contributes a time limitation, but if the committee wanted to add a specific time limitation as to the cutoff date of the availability, of course, there would be no objection.

The second point that was made raises the question as to whether there were to be additional costs to the services for participation and if so whether they were to be paid for out of this authorization or out of the general authorization of Public Law 11, which authorizes general participation by the services, in the winter Olympics.

Any participation by members of the Armed Forces as athletic competitors, and the military doubtless will participate, will be paid not by this authorization or appropriation, but by the general authorization of the other law, i. e. Public Law 11 of the 84th Congress. We believe this bill, S. 3262, as written, actually does state the purpose. It authorizes a specific appropriation for these specific support activities, and this construction; and then, out of our general authorization, we would pay the cost of the participation of our athletes.

The third point that the Comptroller General made in his letter is that there was no provision for advance payments on the construction contract.

There is no desire to have advance payments. We would probably use the procedure of making partial payments during the process of the construction.

The fourth point made by the Comptroller General is that the bill is silent as to who shall have the title to the sports arena and as to its disposition after the games are over.

This is on Federal land which is under long-term lease to the State and I am sure that under the general law of ownership the title would remain in the United States Government subject to leasing to the State for 30 years.

The last comment of the Comptroller General was that the bill only provided an obligation on the Comptroller to audit to determine whether the committee's accounts reflected the expenditures and whether the funds were spent for the purpose of the act.

I believe that was informationally only, to get on the record what the obligation was. I believe that the audit would be adequate for the purpose, that they would audit to see whether the construction money was spent for the purposes of the act.

I believe those are the five points in the Comptroller General's letter.

Chairman RUSSELL. Do you happen to know whether or not the funds that have been made available by the State of California are turned over to this committee, or are they expended by the State? Mr. FRANCIS. Most of them are expended by the State and a large part of the State expenditure is on the road construction and they are spending that directly.

I am sure that some additional is turned over to this committee for budget purposes. Mr. King is here and he can go into that.

There is a State agency created for this event, called the State Olympic Commission, which would expend the State funds this organizing committee would not expend any of the State funds.

Mr. KING. State funds are expended on the recommendation of the organizing committee.

Chairman RUSSELL. What check does the Department of Defense have on this private corporation?

Mr. FRANCIS. It is a nonprofit organization.

Chairman RUSSELL. I understand that, but what checks do you have on the expenditure of these funds?

Mr. FRANCIS. I believe that the Department is planning to handle this just as the Army engineers would handle their civil construction, and we would enter into an agreement with this committee whereby they would contract the work and we would make partial payments on the work as it was completed on receipt of evidence that the money had been expended, with a holding back of some percentage, I don't know how much. Usually, I believe, it is about 25 percent that would be held up until final completion.

Chairman RUSSELL. Who is going to see that the work is done according to the specifications? Are the Army engineers going to do anything with that or are you going to depend on the Olympic committee?

Mr. FRANCIS. I believe it is the intention for us not to supervise the work, that we would rely on the certificate of completion of the architect, and rely on the committee for satisfactory completion, and, of course, the Comptroller would audit the account.

Chairman RUSSELL. Well, he does not give the same kind of audit that he does for Federal expenditures, according to his own letter. He says the only thing he determines is whether or not they have spent the money.

I am not reflecting on the gentlemen who compose this committee. I know that they are all men of the highest possible type but this is a little unusual. I want to check the Federal expenditures as far as

we can.

Mr. FRANCIS. Yes, sir; I think we certainly should and if it is desired to have a more complete audit by the Comptroller, certainly we would not object to it.

Chairman RUSSELL. Any questions, Senator Smith?

Senator SMITH. No questions.

Chairman RUSSELL. Senator Stennis?

Senator STENNIS. Well, Mr. Chairman; yes.

I do not understand just who owns this land now, Mr. Secretary. Is this national forest land?

Mr. FRANCIS. It is owned by the United States Government and administered by the United States Department of Agriculture under a long-term lease to the State of California.

Senator STENNIS. Under a long-term lease?

Mr. FRANCIS. That is right.

Senator STENNIS. This is national parks land?·
Mr. FRANCIS. This is forest land.

Senator STENNIS. Well, what was your construction that you were going to do, what type of building?

Mr. FRANCIS. Well, there is a large arena, there will be these inside activities and of course there would be some temporary buildings for housing, but the permanent building is the arena, and I take it that all of this money goes into the arena construction, this $3,400,000 is for the arena.

Senator STENNIS. Well, if it is under a 30-year lease to the State of California, they would control it, then, over the years. Do you

not think there ought to be some special arrangements made about it? If we are going to put up this construction there, we will virtually lose control over it during the life of the lease unless some arrangement is made.

Mr. FRANCIS. Yes, sir; and it would have to remain under the terms in the State, it is true, and we are putting a very valuable improvement there at the cost of the Federal Government.

Senator STENNIS. I am not adverse to the idea of having the Olympics in the United States and at this particular spot, if it happens to be a suitable spot-and of course I am no judge of that-but why should you call on the services to spend their money and prepare all of these fields and ski runs and so forth-why call upon the services to do that?

Mr. FRANCIS. With respect to the construction job, the $3,400,000, the Defense Department is actually going to be used as a conduit for dispensing the money so that there is no imposition on the personnel of the services in the construction.

Now, on some of the others, they are unique services; the controls and the communication that they can provide, it would be very difficult to get that anywhere else.

That would take about 160 Army personnel with a smaller number of Navy people.

I think that the Navy is going to do some snow compacting there which they were going to do anyway.

Senator STENNIS. Would this be a bona fide military maneuver or training by these men? If that is so, then that is material.

The point I am making is that we are considering these pay bills and everybody has been talking about keeping men in the services and obtaining the highest type of men. I do not see quite the purpose here, where you are coming in and taking men and using them for these purposes as outlined in this bill.

Mr. FRANCIS. Of course, these are special troops trained for mountain work. I believe at this time they are in Alaska and their normal activities are training for mountain work.

Senator STENNIS. Can you assure the committee that whatever personnel the armed services use would be used only in connection with matters that pertain directly to their specialized training?

Mr. FRANCIS. Yes, sir; that will be true. It will be people that are good skiers, and they will control and run the communications on this long ski run. The communications will be pretty difficult.

Senator STENNIS. Well, I just want a general guaranty by you that their activities will be limited.

Mr. FRANCIS. That is right. They will not be used in general service type of work that could be just as easily provided by civilians or State employees.

Senator STENNIS. Would they be used only in connection with their specific line of military training?

Mr. FRANCIS. That is right; their special training as mountain troops.

Senator STENNIS. Military training?

Mr. FRANCIS. Yes, sir.

Senator STENNIS. What was that you said a while ago about athletes competing from the services? I would want them to compete, of course, but I do not see where that comes into this bill.

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