Hearings, Reports and Prints of the Senate Committee on Armed Services

Present: Senators Russell (presiding), Symington, Cannon, Young of Ohio, Byrd, Jr., of Virginia, Smith, Thurmond, Miller, Tower, Pearson, and Dominick.

Also present: William H. Darden, chief of staff; T. Edward Braswell, Jr., professional staff member; Charles B. Kirbow, chief clerk; and Herbert S. Atkinson, assistant clerk.

Chairman RUSSELL. The first bill on the committee's agenda this morning is H.R. 15004, which is a bill to extend for a period of 4 years three civil defense authorities that would otherwise expire on June 30, 1968. These authorities are: (1) the program to provide financial matching to States for civil defense personnel and administrative expenses; (2) the program to procure radiological equipment, to donate this equipment to States and to maintain it after the donation; and (3) the program to make matching payments for travel and per diem. expenses of trainees at civil defense schools.

(H.R. 15004 follows:)

[H.R. 15004, 90th Cong., second sess.]

AN ACT To further amend the Federal Civil Defense Act of 1950, as amended, to extend the expiration date of certain authorities thereunder, and for other purposes

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Federal Civil Defense Act of 1950, as amended (50 U.S.C. App. 2251 et seq.), is further amended by striking the date June 30, 1968, where such appears in the second proviso of subsection 201(e), the fourth proviso of subsection 201(h), and subsection 205(h) and substituting in lieu thereof the date June 30, 1972.

Passed the House of Representatives March 18, 1968.

Attest:

W. PAT JENNINGS, Clerk.

Chairman RUSSELL. Many mayors and governors have informed the committee about their concern of the possible expiration of this authority. Without an extension of this authority appropriations for these purposes may not be included in the independent offices appropriation bill.

The bill does not grant any new authority, and it does not increase the ceiling of $25 million that applies to the amounts that may be appropriated in any 1 year for assistance to States for local civil defense personnel and administrative expenses.

Some members of the committee may recall that in 1958 this committee converted these authorities from proposed permanent ones to temporary ones.

The first witness on this bill is Mr. Joseph Romm, Acting Director of Civil Defense, Department of the Army.

Mr. Romm, you may proceed.

STATEMENT OF JOSEPH ROMM, ACTING DIRECTOR OF CIVIL DEFENSE, DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY, ACCOMPANIED BY HUBERT A. SCHON, DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF CIVIL DEFENSE; MRS. JANE F. HANNA, DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF CIVIL DEFENSE; CHARLES M. MANNING, GENERAL COUNSEL; JOHN W. McCONNELL, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR PLANS AND OPERATIONS; TROY V. McKINNEY, COMPTROLLER; EDWARD S. JOHNSON, DEPUTY COMPTROLLER; FREDERIC E. STEVENSON, STAFF DIRECTOR, PROGRAM DIVISION

Mr. ROмм. Mr. Chairman, it is a pleasure to be able to support this bill. I have two statements, one from the Secretary of the Army, Mr. Resor, and my own. If I may be allowed to proceed, I will read Mr. Resor's statement and then portions of mine.

STATEMENT OF HON. STANLEY R. RESOR, SECRETARY OF THE ARMY

Secretary RESOR. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I am pleased to support H.R. 15004, a bill to extent for an additional 4 years, the authority in the Federal Civil Defense Act to provide several forms of financial assistance for civil defense purposes to the States and localities. These authorities are due to expire on June 30, 1968. They were last extended in 1964.

This request for an extension is part of the fiscal year 1969 legislative program for the Department of Defense. We are not requesting any new authority, nor are we asking for any modification of existing authority. These authorities would continue to be subject to spending limitations in the Federal Civil Defense Act.

While this committee is familiar with the rationale for our civil defense program, a brief word about the need for, and basis of, the fallout shelter oriented program seems appropriate. Department of Defense studies validate fallout shelters as an important element of the total strategic defense program. These analyses show that under a wide range of hypothetical nuclear attacks against the United States, fallout shelters would be directly responsible for saving tens of millions of lives. These studies also show that in large-scale nuclear attacks, a fallout shelter system has a greater lifesaving potential for the investment involved than any other element of strategic defense. It complements the damage-limiting effectiveness of other strategic defense elements.

The civil defense program for fiscal year 1969 contemplates no important changes in its basic objective. Attaining comprehensive fallout shelter system and its requisite support to protect the population from radioactive fallout in the event of nuclear attack remains the basic objective. This system is based on the use of protection afforded by and inherent in existing buildings. These, as you know,

have been and are being surveyed, marked and stocked. We continue to survey large and smaller structures, and we are also surveying the protection afforded by homes with basements. OCD actively seeks to influence design of new construction to produce the most fallout protection possible consistent with building function, esthetics and cost limitations. Our program includes support of the necessary planning, organization and training by local governments for the emergency use of these fallout protected areas of existing buildings.

In this program, the States and localities must plan for emergency operations, that is, using all resources available to them to cope with conditions which will result from an enemy attack. The Federal Government places a heavy responsibility on the States and local governments for civil defense. The Federal Government must continue to assist the States and localities in the most effective and economical ways possible in this national defense effort.

The most important form of financial assistance afforded to State and local civil defense is that by which the Office of Civil Defense contributes to the personnel and administrative expenditures of State and local civil defense organizations. This importance is measured not in terms of the total dollars expended but rather in its impact on the capability of State and local civil defense offices to perform their civil defense functions.

Civil defense is, by statute, a joint responsibility of the Federal Government and the States and their political subdivisions. The Federal role in civil defense primarily is to provide guidance and assistance. Actual operation, not only under emergency conditions, but also day-to-day operations, are carried out at the local level.

It is the local civil defense agency which must obtain shelter licenses, and stock these shelter areas. It is at the local level that people must be trained as shelter managers or radiological monitors. It is at the local level that a community shelter plan must be developed, telling people where to go and what to do in the event of an attack. The local government must develop a plan to use all of the physical and organizational resources of the community to cope with an emergency which might be caused by an enemy attack.

A local government must have a continuing civil defense capability to coordinate all facets of its civil defense program. It must have a professional civil defense staff commensurate with its civil defense needs.

Currently all of the States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands have State-level civil defense offices. In addition, over 1,800 jurisdictions with population amounting to 120 million people receive financial assistance for personnel and administrative expenses.

Most of the States and many local governments budget on a fiscal year basis. In order to maintain their civil defense operations, they must continue to receive this financial assistance. The basic statute requires that these personnel meet standards established under a merit system. Civil defense employees are thus career Government employees and can only be released from their positions in accordance with State and local civil service regulations. This means usually that if employees must be released, they must be given at least 30 days' notice. We consider it an urgent requirement that the authority be extended no later than June 1, to avoid the dislocation

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