MISCELLANEOUS BILLS

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 1950

UNITED STATES SENATE, COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES, Washington, D. C.

The committee met, pursuant to call, at 10:30 a. m., in room 212, Senate Office Building, Washington, D. C., Senator Harry Flood Byrd presiding.

Present: Senators Byrd (presiding), Chapman, Johnson of Texas, Kefauver, Hunt, Bridges, Gurney, Saltonstall, Knowland, and Cain.

Also present: Justice M. Chambers, Mark H. Galusha, and Verne D. Mudge, of the committee staff; Maj. Gen. Lewis B. Hershey, Director, Selective Service System.

NOMINATIONS (AS PER REFERENCE Nos. 388, 392, 403, 404, 409, 410)

Senator BYRD. The committee will come to order, please.

The first order to business will be the nominations. A number of the nominations have not been here for the required 7 days. This may be, as I understand it, the last meeting of the committee before we adjourn.

Senator SALTONSTALL. What was the last remark?

Senator BYRD. It might be the last meeting of the committee. We cannot tell.

These nominations include a major in the Air Force, 5 captains, 30 first lieutenants, 96 second lieutenants. William E. Riley to be major general; William S. Fellers to be a brigadier general.

It includes a temporary appointment of Vice Adm. Robert B. Carney, United States Navy, to have grade, rank, pay, and allowances of an admiral while serving as commander in chief, United States Naval Forces, Eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean; Admiral Richard L. Conolly, United States Navy, to have grade, rank, pay, and allowances of a vice admiral while serving as president, Naval War College; Rear Adm. Matthias B. Gardner, United States Navy, to have grade, rank, pay, and allowances of a vice admiral while serving as commander, Second Fleet.

What is the pleasure of the committee?

Senator GURNEY. Mr. Chairman, I would move to report the nominations, but I do want to call your attention to Vice Admiral Carney's appointment. He has been a four-star admiral with duty, I believe, with the Atlantic Fleet or overseas some place. As soon as he has completed that job, he comes back to Washington and reverts to his three-star rank, and, although he is over retirement age, as I understand it, he will, when he retires, retire at the three-star rank.

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I just call attention to that because it does come into an issue I hope the committee will consider this morning of the proposed five-star rank for General Bradley.

I move to report the nominations.

Senator BYRD. The motion has been made to report the nominations. Senator BRIDGES. Before we report them, I want to make an inquiry here. What are we going to do on the Marine Corps? Are we going to get representation on the Joint Chiefs of Staff for the Marine Corps? I mean, frankly, the Marine Corps is doing a terrific job in Korea today, and the Marine Corps have the confidence of this country.

However, I say this: That when you consider the fact that the appointment of General Bradley to be a five-star general-and I am for it

Senator BYRD. That is not in there.

Senator BRIDGES. What is this committee going to do? Are we going to see that the Marine Corps is consulted on some of these things, or are they going to be the tail end of the dog, as they have been for a long time?

Senator BYRD. Suppose we report the nominations, and this comes up as another bill.

Senator BRIDGES. All right.

Senator BYRD. Is there any objection to reporting the nominations? All in favor say "aye."

(There was a chorus of ayes.)

Senator BYRD. Those opposed "no."

(No response.)

S. 4118

Senator BYRD. The next is a report by Senator Johnson's subcommittee.

(S. 4118 is as follows:)

[S. 4118, 81st Cong., 2d sess.]

A BILL To increase the appropriation authorization for the Air Engineering Development Center

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That so much of section 204 of title II of the Act of October 27, 1949 (63 Stat. 937; 50 U. S. C. 524), relating to the appropriation authorization for the establishment and for initial construction, installation, and equipment of the Air Engineering Development Center in the sum of $100,000,000, is hereby amended by striking out "$100,000,000" and inserting in lieu thereof "$157,500,000."

Senator JOHNSON. I have a few matters to mention. The first thing I have is an urgent request from the Air Force, supported by the Secretary of Defense and the Bureau of the Budget, on the Air Engineering Development Center. I have talked to, I think, every member of the committee about it.

The Senate last year passed a bill authorizing $150,000,000 for the Air Engineering Development Center. The House passed a bill authorizing $100,000,000. In conference we agreed to take the House figure and have them come back later if they found they could not get along with it.

They have come back and urged authorizing legislation for $157,500,000. I have talked to most of the members of the committee and started to file a report yesterday, but in view of the meeting today, I wanted to bring it up again and present it to the full committee.

Senator GURNEY. That is to add $57,000,000 to the existing hundred? Senator JOHNSON. That is right. I move it be adopted.

Senator BYRD. You have heard the motion made by Senator Johnson.

Senator SALTONSTALL. The reason for that is, is it not, Senator Johnson, that if they do not have the additional amount of authorization

Senator JOHNSON. They will issue contracts for an inadequate tunnel and other things. We were right originally and the House ordered them to move to a hundred million and now the House goes along.

Senator SALTONSTALL. The original purpose of the bill would not be accomplished unless we have this?

Senator BYRD. I think it is very important.

Senator HUNT. As I understand it, they cannot test anything except a miniature or pilot-plane engine with the money provided, but with the additional money they can put an actual-size engine in the wind tunnel and test it.

Senator JOHNSON. I think it is fair to say if they are restricted to the House figure instead of the original Senate figure, they can test only models. The industry, the Air Force, Defense, the Budget, the Air Development Board, all of them feel that they should have the 16-foot tunnel instead of the 8 to test the engines themselves.

Senator BYRD. Any objection?

Senator HUNT. I move the bill be reported.

Senator BYRD. All in favor of reporting S. 4118 please say "aye." (There was a chorus of ayes.)

Senator BYRD. Opposed, "no."

(No response.)

FIRST REPORT OF THE PREPAREDNESS SUBCOMMITTEE

Senator JOHNSON. Mr. Chairman, on yesterday the Preparedness Subcommittee met and again went over its first interim report to the full committee. The subcommittee at this time wants to report our findings and our first 30-day study to the full committee. Each member has a copy of the report and the summary and conclusions of that report, all of which is documented in detail, can be found on page 21. Most of the members of the subcommittee are here this morning.

The action yesterday was unanimous, by all those present. Senator Morse, who was away, read the report before he left and said he enthusiastically approved of it. Senator Saltonstall, who was detained, is here this morning.

We had the counsel present. If the committee would care to go over those conclusions, since it is likely to be the last meeting of the committee, I would like to have them do so, and, if they have any questions, Mr. Cook, our counsel, would be glad to answer them. If not, I would like to file the report and ask for the committee to consider it.

Senator BRIDGES. I would like to say, Mr. Chairman, as the ranking minority member of that subcommittee, that I think Senator Johnson and his associates and the staff have done a wonderful job in the report and are to be commended for it.

I think that all of the members of the committee, insofar as I know, on both sides of the aisle, have a fine feeling on the matter and are glad and pleased with the subcommittee's first report.

Senator SALTONSTALL. Mr. Chairman, I reiterate what Senator Bridges just said. I think it is a moderate understatement, a report of understatement rather than overstatement, and certainly should be helpful.

Senator GURNEY. Mr. Chairman, I will just say I have only part of the conclusions of the report. I hope that the committee will soon put the staff to work and do some investigating on the wool supply. It is my information that there is no chance of domestic wool being able to furnish the necessary raw material to make the uniforms the military presently need. I understand the Russians are paying whatever is necessary to get Australian wool. They bought millions of pounds down in Australia, so that we have got to wait until the fall crop, which is now coming on, in order to get the amount of wool we need; and I think the committee should take immediate steps to see just what steps are being taken by the Quartermaster Corps and the Munitions Board, handling the stockpiling, to see that we are adequately supplied with wool.

Senator JOHNSON. We have a problem of overlapping there. I am on the Stockpiling Subcommittee and that is ably headed by Senator Hunt. We have talked to Senator Hunt and the staff of our subcommittee and the staff of his subcommittee, and we felt that since he was handling it and making some progress on it, that anything he wanted us to do he could bring to our attention. Otherwise, we would just ask the Stockpiling Committee to see it through.

If there is any assistance we can render with our staff, they are available to you. However, I did not want to get into that field. This report was primarily instigated by Senator Bridges calling attention to the matter of the Government buying stuff with one hand and selling with another. We found it was true. We stopped surplus sales, stopped some of the sales of plants, and reactivated them.

On the wool picture, we have not gone into it other than Senator Hunt, when Secretary Johnson appeared before us and others, he asked questions. I think if this is agreeable, we will let Senator Hunt's subcommittee continue with it.

Senator HUNT. That is agreeable.

Senator GURNEY. I was thinking this: that the Stockpiling Committee, of which Senator Hunt has been chairman, has done a lot of work getting information on wool. I believe they are pretty well informed.

But, nevertheless, the Stockpiling Subcommittee is just a subcommittee of this full committee, has no staff. I think Senator Hunt and I know I would, as one member of that subcommittee, feel a lot better about it if the regular subcommittee, the Preparedness Subcommittee, would take over with their staff because they would be here and available to follow through on it while the Stockpiling Subcommittee will not be.

Senator JOHNSON. We will be glad to talk to Senator Hunt about it; he is a member of both committees, and whatever he decides will be done.