March 31, 1969 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD- HOUSE 8099

HOUSE OF REPRE ~ SENTATIVE ~ S-Monday, March 31, 1969 The House met at 12 o'clock noon. Mexico from April 2 through April 8, To the Congress of the United States: The Chaplain, Rev. Edward G. Latch, 1969, in lieu of Mr. BAYH and Mr. MUR­ It is my sad duty to inform you offici­ D.D., offered the following prayer: PHY, excused. ally of the death of Dwight David Eisen­ Yea, though I walk through the valley hower, the thirty-fourth President of the ot the shadow of death, I will tear no evil: TRANSFER OF SPECIAL ORDER United States. tor Thou art with me.-Psalm 23: 4. We have lost a great leader, a great Almighty and Eternal God, the com­ Mr. ALBERT. Mr. Speaker, I ask unan­ friend and a great man. I know there are forter of Thy children and the strength imous consent thS~t the special order many members of the Congress who had of those who put their trust in Thee, we granted to me for Wednesday may be the privilege of serving under his military assemble this day with sorrow in our transferred to tomorrow. leadership, and who later, during his hearts at the passing of General of the The SPEAKER. Is there objection to eight years as President, shared with Army Dwight David , our be­ the request of the gentleman from him in the building of a better America. loved 34th President. Even in the sad­ Oklahoma? He had a profound respect for the tradi­ ness of farewell we think fondly of him There was no objection. tions, the institutions and the instru­ who walked so worthily in our midst and ments of our Nation. He leaves to the who served so well as the leader of our POSTPONEMENT OF SPECIAL Congress and to all Americans the spirit country. ORDERS of patriotism and statesmanship beyond party which marked his entire career. As We mourn his passing because he re­ Mr. ALBERT. Mr. Speaker, I ask unan­ fiected in his own personality the tradi­ we grieve at his death, we all will recall imous consent that the special orders that spirit, which can guide and sustain tion of a free people and revealed in his scheduled for today be postponed until life the shrine of our Nation's faith and us in our tasks ahead. He has been an in­ hope. tomorrow. spiration to us all, and ours is a better The SPEAKER. Is there objection to government because he walked among We thank Thee for him, for his cour­ the request of the gentleman from age of mind and heart, for his strength us. Oklahoma? . of character, for his desire to do what he There was no objection. firmly believed to be right and for his TI;IE , March 28, 1969. devotion to his family and to his country. Certainly our United States is a better GENERAL LEAVE TO EXTEND-AND GENERAL LEAVE TO EXTEND ON TRmUTE TO THE LATE HONORABLE nS~tion-stronger and freer-because he DWIGHT lived and led us in war and in peace. THE LIFE AND CHARACTER OF So we honor the memory of this great FORMER PRESIDENT DWIGHT The SPEAKER. The gentleman from and good man, "who more than self his DAVID EISENHOWER (Mr. MoRGAN) will assume country loved," and in so doing we dedi­ Mr. ALBERT. Mr. Speaker, I ask unan­ the chair. cate ourselves anew to Thee and to our The SPEAKER pro tempore

tlal records of fatal mine accidents have been viving a lifetime in coal (and there is one time authority to enter and inspect mines kept (the early figures are incomplete) more chance in 12 that he will not) can expect and write reports coll!taining noncompul­ than 120,000 men have died violently in three or four lost-time injuries, not count­ sory safety recommendations, but no powers ooa1 mines, an average of 100 every month ing one chance in 5 or 10 of serious and even­ of enforcement. The states would take care for a century. The total does not include tually fatal lung disease. of that. those who died of what passes for "natural Mining, like prostitution, 1s one of the Since 1910, when the Bureau of Mines causes" in work that is as notoriously haz­ oldest occupations in the world and 1s prob­ was established, its engineers have been ardous to health as it 1s to ll!e and limb. ably as impossible to stop. From the begin­ testing and recommending to the industry Today, among men aged 60 to 64, the "nat­ ning, coal has been a curse on the land from as approved or disapproved--as "permissible" ural" death rate of miners 1s eight times that whence it came, blighting the landscape with or "nonpermissible" (words tha.t convey more of workers in any other industrial strip mines and culm banks and polluted authorlty than the bureau had then or occupation. streams, extracting for absentee owners vast has today to require their use) -a whole Chronic lung disease may, in fact, turn out fortunes from Appalachian states that are range of mining equipment, including ex­ to be a far worse klller of miners than acci­ today synonymous with poverty, and plung­ plosives and electric wiring, lights, drills, dents. The U.S. Public Health Service, in un­ ing generations into despair. cutting machines and haulage devices. Such finished research that is 25 years behind But the scandal of gratuitous death and safety-designed machinery is obviously the completed medical findings in British mines, injury in the mines--almost an of it recog­ key to disaster prevention in mines full of has recently documented that coal dust-­ nized, as the Interior Department report put a mixture of inflammable methane gas and not the rock dust associated for decades with it recently, as the result of the operators' explosive coal dust. miners' silicosis-has become perhaps the "tendency to cut safety corners when profits Yet, nearly half the explosions--835 min­ pre-eminent threat to survival in the mines. are low and ignore good safety practices ers dead-between May, 1941, when the bu­ A prevalence study completed in 1965 when profits are high"-has finally reached reau got its authority to inspect and rec­ found that, conservatively, 100,000 active and the point at which a Republican Administra­ ommend, and July, 1952, when Congress retired American coal miners suffered from tion in Washington is talking about limiting next amended the mine-safety law, were the progressive, gasping breathlessness as­ coal production to save lives. caused by electric arcs from nonpermissible sociated with prolonged inhalation of fine In testimony this month supporting the mine machinery. Most of the rest involved coal dust, a condition known (from autopsy sudden rush of mine-safety bills in Congress nonpermissible-but still not 11legal-use of observation) as "black lung" or pneumoco­ following the explosion at Farmington, this explosives. niosis. The U.M.W. estimates that in the 20 radical notion was put forth by none other Unbelievably, when the misnamed Federal years that electric mining machines have than Secretary of the Interior Walter J. Coal Mine Safety Act of 1952 finally emerged been churning up greater and greater clouds Hickel. "It is clear that our society can no from the coal lobby's permissible cutting of dust at least one million men have been longer tolerate the cost in human life and machine, it contained a "grandfather clause" exposed to an occupational disease whose human misery that is exacted in the mining which allowed the indefinitely continued use ravages do not stop with removal to a dust­ of this essential fuel," Hickel said. "Unless we of knowingly dangerous nonpermissible elec­ free environment. find ways to eliminate that intolerable cost, trical machinery "if, before the effective date The black-lung hazard-as the coal in­ we must inevitably 11mlt our mining of coal, of this section. . . the opera tor of such mine dustry and physicians in its employ con­ which has an almost ineXhaustible potential owned such equipment ... or had ordered stantly point out--is as yet a qualitatively for industrial, economic and social good." such equipment." The law also set up two and quantitatively uncertain threat to life. Republican coal barons must have rolled classes of mines--gassy and nongassy-and It is real enough, however, to have caused in their graves. Even from Democratic Ad­ it stretched the loophole for nonpermissible more than 30,000 West Virginia miners, nor­ ministrations, this most destructive o{ in­ equipment even further for the 85 per cent mally among the last in the industry to en­ dustries had never received such a radical of mine owners lucky enough to meet the gage in wildcat strikes, to walk off their jobs warning. In fact, Democrats in Congress have nongassy standard. for three weeks in February of this year to been the protectors of the industry's eco­ In effect, Congress told the mine operators demand that the State Legislature include nomic interests over the survival interests that "if you were creating an avoidable ex­ black lung in the list of injuries and diseases of its workers. plosion hazard before we passed this law, it's for which disabled miners are eligible to In 1941, at the end of three decades during all right to go on doing so until the danger­ collect workmen's compensation benefits. which miners died at an average rate of ous machinery wears out." Today, this means Until then, only three coal-producing states-­ better than 2,000 a year, a series of terrible that spark-hazard machines-some of them Alabama, Virginia and Pennsylvania--auth­ disasters which had killed 276 men during rebuilt twice and three times over under the orized workmen's compensation payments the closing months of 1940 finally forced same serial numbers--are still in use in some (generally financed by the industry) to passage of the so-called Coal Mine Inspection mines 17 years after the law was passed. A black-lung victims, and only Pennsylvania and Investigation Act. It was conceded, as count by the Bureau of Mines in 1967, when has paid any claims. (In Pennsylvania, the the Bureau of Mines timidly put it then, the law had been on the books 15 years, benefits are paid for by the taxpayers, not the th31t "speed of operation and demand for showed 1,117 pieces of nonpermissible elec­ industry, which may explain how the legis­ maximum tonnage at a minimum cost re­ trical equipment in use in 159 mines. lation survived there. Coal has a history of sulted in a neglect of ordinary safety meas­ The 1952 mine-safety act may have been very aggressive lobbying to protect its eco­ ures." one of the great legislative mirages of all nomic interest.) In 1941, when technology in the United time. It specifically exempted small mines, In West Virginia's Statehouse last month, States had advanced to the threshold of those with fewer than 15 employes. Although a doctor testifying in support of the in­ the atomic era, the gross and oalcul31ted the small mines were depicted in the indus­ dustry's proposal of further medical studies neglect of ordinary prudence in the powder­ try's testimony as to inefficient and limited in of black lung before changing the compen­ house atmosphere of coal mines was evi­ capital resources to bear the cost of retooling sation law "in haste," charged that Drs. I. E. denced by the fact that barely half the for the most basic disaster prevention, their Buff, Donald L. Rasmussen and Hawey Wells, underground coal miners had been equipped number immediately doubled after the law the three crusading physicians in that state with battery-powered electric cap lamps, ap­ was passed. Large mines were simply sepa­ who had galvanized the miners to strike for proved by the Bureau of Mines for the ab­ rated into smaller units to evade the law. health reform, had done more damage as sence of spark hazards. Incredibly, the rest (In 1966, the small mines were finally brought in-with all "grandfather clauses" "alarmists" than the disease itself. There still wore carbide lamps, which gave the·ir was nothing more pathetic, the lachrymose light by generating acetylene gas and emit­ still intact.) industry witness testified, than a coal miner ting an open, two-inch jet of flame. Moreover, the law was deliberately written told to quit the only work he knows just In 1941, half the mines still used unstable to apply to, and to give Federal mine inspec­ because he is a little breathless. It was a black powder for blasting rather than the tors jurisdiction over, only certain kinds of Dickensian performance. safer "permissible" explosives recommended "major disasters"-defined by Congress as those killing five or more miners in one The coal operators, or some of them, have for 30 years by the bureau. The oarbid~ taken the position that pneumoconiosis does lamps were handy for lighting fuses. Some stroke. More than 90 per cent of mine deaths not exist. But sudden violence in the mines mines had advanced to the employment of then occurred in lonely ones, twos and threes. has been documented monotonously since "shot firers," solitary men whose job was Far more than half were caused by rock falls Black Heath. Last year, alone, 309 miners to shoot down the drilled coal after everyone from the mine roof, largely at the working died in accidents-"needlessly," according to else had left the mine. It was a concession face. The 1952 law established roof-control O'Leary, the new and aggressively safety­ to modernity. If the mine blew up, only one stand&rds, but only for established tunnels conscious director of the Bureau of Mines­ man was lost. used as haulageways where such accidents and miners' death and injury rates, already Everyone knew that disasters could be were least common. the highest of any industry, are on the rise stopped. "In view of the present knowledge Having extended Federal safety jurisdiction this year. of preventing explosions, disasters are in­ to the kinds of "major disasters" that made The injury severity rate in mines, also the excusable and discredit the mining indus­ the news wires and brought discrediting highest, is two and a half times that of lum­ try," the Bureau of Mines said in 1940. Every­ publicity, Congress emphasized that the new bering, nearly four times that of trucking. one knew that more improvements in the law was not to protect the miners from "the Since records of nonfatal accidents began to feeble state mining laws were being blocked lack of, or inadequacy of, guards or protective be archived in 1930, the number of men tem­ than passed. But Congress heeded the in­ devices." It was totally silent on hazards to porarlly or permanently disabled digging coal dustry's states' rights argument. The 1941 health. has risen to 1.5 million. Today, a miner sur- act gave the Bureau of Mines for the flrs,t In signing the act into law, former Prest- 8126 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD- HOUSE March 31, 1969 dent Truman obviously did not overstate the disaster-prevention standards which are still asked him· several months ago whether the facts in observing that "I consider it my duty . not observed. U.M.W. had considered negotiating with the to point out its defects so that the public While lobbying privily against safety, the companies a requirement that they pay regu­ will not be misled into believing that this is industry has publicly promoted the idea lar wages to men who left a shift while a broad-gauge accident-prevention meas­ that the death and mutilation of its workers demonstrable code violations were corrected, ure . . . I am advised that loopholes in the was a cost of doing business. It got a deple­ the U.M.W.'s Boyle, a slight, normally com­ law were provided to avoid any economic im­ tion allowance on its taxes. Its workers got bative Irishman from Montana, told me that pact on the coal-mining industry." none for their depletion. The industry reac­ would be impossible because even among Congress has considered mine-safety legis­ tion to disaster was in the brave tradition miners there were "lazy men"; there would lation only three times in the last three of "what can you expect in an inherently be abuses to get pay for no work. Later, in decades. But in the years between enact­ risky business"--and with some of the most a safety proposal prepared by the U.M.W., ments, there was activity. In 1962, after ex­ effective lobbying in legislative history to the union finally supported the idea that plosions in the Robena and Compass mines perpetuate the trade-off of cheap life for miners should be paid for time off the job if had killed 59 men, President Kennedy com­ cheap coal. And it has not been alone. a Federal inspector closed a mine. missioned a task force to review the situation. Even on the left in this medieval atmos­ But more than any other witnesses on this Its report concluded that the industry's con­ phere, the miners' union, the United Mine year's crop of catch-up mine-safety bills, tinuing disregard of the most basic hazards Workers of America, has been so concerned Boyle has agreed with the industry's posi­ to life and limb deserved Congressional at­ with helping the industry survive its post-war tion. On the proposed revision that Secretary tention. For one thing, the task force pro­ slump and with preserving coal's low-cost Hickel and O'Leary have called the reform posed to put a deadline-one year after enact­ competitive advantage over other basic fu­ of "paramount importance," Boyle's stand ment of an implementing amendment by els--oil, natural gas and nuclear energy-that is significantly less reformist than the in­ Congress--on the nonpermissible machinery it long ago sacrlflced what could have been dustry's. In view of the miserable record of "grandfather clause." It also noted that the leadership of a mine-safety crusade for Congressional inaction and protection of the Britain, producing only a fraction of the high wages, mechanized high production, industry, the Administration this year is ask­ coal output of the United States, was spend­ and the highest accident rate of any industry. ing Congress to give the Secretary of the In­ ing more than twice as much on mine health Some of the accidents were no accident. terior the fl.exibiUty of administrative rule­ research. In 1947, the U.M.W. in Dlinois was found making authority. After hearings, he would But then in a series of private conferences to have volUillta.rily signed a labor contract establish the safety standards. There would with Bureau of Mines and Interior Depart­ with coa.l opere.tors in that state whose be the right of appeal. It is the system in ment officials, the Bituminous Coal Operators terms forbade the union from seeking im­ use since 1938 in nearly every other area of Association, the union-negotiating arm of the provements in Tillnois' mine-safety law, upon Federal regulatory activity, and the coal in­ coal industry, persuaded them to recommend which the industry placed such store in op­ dustry now says it will go along with it if to Congress a "grandfather clause" deadline posing greater Federal control. The Federal the Secretary's authority is suitably circum­ of five years. Since Congress took no action law of 1941, then in effect, was no threat to scribed to prevent "arbitrary" decisions. on it, the B.C.O.A. had another opportunity the cheapest production economies; the 1941 Boyle, however, has said he "would rather last year to persuade the Bureau of Mines to act had been so considerate of the industry's take our chances with Congress." propose an even further extension to ten faith in state regulation that Federal mine Those chances this year are very good in­ years. The capitulation was so flagrant that inspectors were denied enforcement powers. deed, partly because Boyle himself has un­ the White House, overseeing the draftsman­ Since 1946, moreover, the U.M.W. had be­ derlined the unequal forces working for mine ship of the 1968 mine-safety blll, demanded come locked in an embrace with the oper­ safety in the private sector. The U.M.W. is its exclusion from the bill, which went up to ators nationally. Through the 1946 coo.llabor clearly embarrassed by the reformist zeal of Congress in September. It died without contr.act, which set up the U.M.W. Welfare what it calls "Johnny-come-lately experts" hearings. and Retirement Fund and financed it by an since Farmington, like Udall, Ralph Nader Other capitulations to the industry have industry royalty-now 40 cents a ton for all and Representative Ken Hechler of West perpetuated the Bureau of Mine's reputation coal taken out of union mines-the U.M.W. Virginia. For suggesting that the union bears as the submissive captive of the industry it also acquired an immense interest in pro­ some responsibility and that it has compro­ is supposed to police. As recently as a year duction. The Welfare and Retirement Fund mised and "snuggled up to" management on ago, a long-proposed revision of the 1952 collects income from operating mines, not safety issues, the U.M.W. Journal recently law specifically requiring diversion of a from those harried by mine inspectors o.r labeled Nader and Hechler as "finks" in a minimum flow of dust-and gas-diluting closed down for safety violations. front-page editorial. And the union maga­ forced air ventilation to the working face of The U.M.W.'s obvious conflicts of interest are a legacy of John L. Lewis, the 89-year-old zine has engaged in such a Mao Tse-tung coal mines-a point beyond the last moving glorification of Boyle and his record as a air current in the established workings-was former president. Lewis's postwar decision to help the coal industry survive by sacrificing safety crusader-it refers to him as a "union dropped by the bureau upon the B.C.O.A.'s chieftain"-that the U.M.W. has become an complaint that it would be too costly. 400,000 miners' jobs to mechanization in re­ turn for the company royalties was regarded embarrassment to its friends in Congress. It has been known for years that progres­ then as a modernizing act of industrial While fulminating at the charges of collabo­ sive contamination of mine ventilation air­ statesmanship. But it established alliances ration with the industry. The Journal has a pickup of dangerous amounts of methane that obviously are not in the best interests-­ not reported that weeks before the Consol or coal dust, or both-results from coursing on mine safety, if nothing else--of the rank­ disaster, the U.M.W. was convicted along with air from one working section of a mine to and-file membership. For example, under the Consolidation Coal Company in a Federal another before routing it to the surface. Lewis the U.M.W. bought control of the Na• court in Lexington, Ky., of conspiring to cre­ The practice is known to have caused ex­ tlonal Bank of Washington, a profitable side­ ate a monopoly in the soft coal industry. plosions and deaths. Yet a year ago the line that has furthered the appearance, if With the conviction, which is being appealed, B.C.O.A. was stlll dickering privately with not the fact, of shared interests by making went a $7,300,000 damage award, to be paid the bureau, demanding language in the loans to coal companies. half by the union and half by the company bureau's proposals for tougher mine ventila­ Since Congress was no help, in 1946 the that Boyle has praised for "cooperation." The tion standards which would say that if it Interior Department, which was then oper­ case involved Consol's alleged withdrawal of cost too much tu provide a separate "split" ating the mines under President Truman's coal marketing services from South-East Coal of air to each active working plaoe it would strike-induced Federal seizure order, nego­ Company after the company went non­ not be required until after "a reasonable tiated with the unions (as a condition in union. time"-not, of course, defined. the contract) safety standards unobtainable Moreover the coal industry can hardly It is not that any of these proposals were by other means. Compliance with the con­ cry poor this year. Because of its secure grip new. The industry could claim no element tract's so-called Mine Safety Code, which on a growing share-now more than half­ of surprise--except at the idea of being com­ htoorporates many of the reforms talked of the fuel market in the surging electric pelled to adopt them after so long a history about since the early nineteen-hundreds is utmty business, even the National Coal As­ of lethal laissez-jaire. Mine technology has monitored by Federal mine inspectors. But sociation is calling the future "glittering." been equal to all of these proposed measures its enforcement depends on the union, It turns out that local boosters who, through for at least all of this century-for 101,000 through its contractual right to withdraw depression upon depression, have been call­ mine deaths. men from mines in violation of the code. ing the state of West VIrginia "The Billion The inclusive almanac of mine disasters Compliance, according to Bureau of Mines Dollar Coal Field" were not far from wrong. published by the Bureau of Mines in 1960 (it Director O'Leary, "leaves much to be de­ As Senator Harrison A. Williams Jr. of is now out of print) says that the violently sired." The compliance average in 20 of the New Jersey noted in starting mine-safety explosive and unpredictable characteristics largest mines is 65 per cent, O'Leary has hearings, coal has become so profitable that of suspended coal dust in mines were known told Congressional committees, but ln some since 1966 the three largest coal producers as long ago as 1886. A team of mining states (depending on coal operator attitudes have been taken over by other giant min­ engineers which visited all the major coal­ and union militance) it is as low as 30 per eral corporations-Peabody Coal Company fields in 1908, a year after the worst mine cent and in one state as low as 7 per cent. by Kennecott Copper, Consolidation by explosion in American history had killed 362 The U.M.W.'s "safety division" at its head­ Continental Oil Company, and Island Creek men at Monongah, W. Va., published a de­ quarters in Washington consists of one man. Coal Company by Occidental 011. Accord­ tailed report identifying every source of all The Welfare and Retirement Fund is not ing to the National Coal Association, the the subsequent mine disasters (72,501 deaths the only loser when the men walk out of an list of on corporations that have acquired from 1909 through 1968) and recommending unsafe mine. The miners lose wages. When I coal-mining companies now includes at least March 31, 1969 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD- HOUSE 8127 20 of the major petroleum producers--Gulf, is fiat, so we have not publicly endorsed the to the ever-mounting casualties in Shell, Humble, Standard of Ohio, Atlantic­ use of globes." Southeast Asia and should reevaluate its Richfield, Sun, Ashland and Kerr-McGee no cease-ftre decision whlle the diplo­ among them. It was a relief to know, Sen­ in ator Williams noted, that the safety hear­ TRffiUTE TO SERVICE OF APPA­ matic talks proceed Paris. ings would not be "complicated" by the LACHIAN COCHAmMAN At the same time, I am somewhat dis­ usual coal claims of imminent bankruptcy. tressed by the discussion in the Congress To the oil owners of coal, Williams pointedly Mr. JONES of Alabama. Mr. Speaker, about the imminent release of some $30 observed that the spectacle of on-well pol­ the man who has served as the Federal billion now being spent in Southeast lution of the Pacific Ocean of! Santa Bar­ Cochairman of the Appalachian Regional Asia. As a member of the House Com­ bara, Calif., and new evidence of "lung pol­ Commission for the past 2 years, the mittee on Appropriations, I know what lution" in the mines "may be trying to tell Honorable Joe w. Fleming n, recently could be done to meet the challenges at us something," "In both cases," he said, "we resigned, and I want to take this oppor­ home if $30 billion were suddenly made find at the top of the ownership structure tunity to commend his dedicated and big oll companies." available for our domestic priorities. I Whether or not by corporate edict from exceptional service to the people of the also know that such talk misleads the these powerful new coal owners, the fact is 13-State Appalachian region. American people. Former Secretary of that the National Coal Association, the He was appointed to the Federal co­ State in a recent statement largest industry group, is taking a remark­ chairmanship by President Johnson in pointed out that if we decided to with­ ably calm and even welcoming view of the February 1967, before his 30th birthday. draw all our troops from Vietnam strenuous safety legislation before Congress Prior to the appointment, he had served tomorrow, it would take about 2 years this year. By enacting the Nixon Administra­ as a special assistant to the Commission tion blll, which is among the strongest of to evacuate. In addition, billions of dol­ the lot, Congress could close all the old and had worked on Capitol Hill. lars worth of heaVY equipment would loopholes at once and take-for coal-a dar­ Mr. Fleming, who is more generally remain in South Vietnam-not to men­ ing new step into industrial human ecol­ called "Pat" by his many friends, has ex­ tion economic aid to that Nation. ogy. The Nixon bill would require mine op­ hibited unique insights into the needs There are enough reasons to press for erators to attack the black-lung epidemic and problems of the Appalachian area. settlement of this war and to end the among miners by reducing coal dust con­ He used imagination in seeking solutions tragic death tolls, without holding out tamination in mine air to 4.5 mllligrams of to problems and meeting needs. He dis­ the unrealistic promise that $30 billion respirable dust per cubic meter of air, as a played unusual skills and diplomacy in starter. The standard is a compromise of the will suddenly be available for domestic U.S. Public Health Service's 1968 recommen­ exercising his function as the Federal programs. dation-s milUgrams. It would become ef­ Cochairman of the Commission. Those who mislead the American peo­ fective six months after passage of the law As chairman of the ad hoc Committee ple on that score are simply creating a and could be lowered later by decision of on Appalachia for the Public Works new credibility gap-a practice they the Secretary of the Interior. The dust-con­ Committee, I have just concluded hear­ have condemned in the past. trol problem is publicly pictured as a cost ings on extension and revision of the Ap­ nightmare by the industry. The Bureau of palachian Regional Development Act. It Mines estimates that the cost will be only would have been encouraging to every pennies per ton. ENROLLED JOINT RESOLUTION The economics of mine safety are the one Member of the House to have heard the SIGNED testimony of the Governors, our fellow great unknown in this year's reform spree. Mr. FRIEDEL, from the Committee on No one knows what the cost of a century Members, and private citizens concern­ of neglect has been. Lee White, the chair­ ing the advances which are being made in House Administration, reported that that man of the Federal Power Commission, which Appalachia, and equally important, the committee had examined and found regulates wholesale electric power rates, unusual praise for the operation and truly enrolled a joint resolution of the opened the door a crack during Secretary function of the Commission. This was House of the following title, which was Udall's post-Farmington mea culpa last De­ particularly refreshing at a time when thereupon signed by the Speaker: cember by observing that, as a nation, we critics seem plentiful for many Federal H.J. Res. 584. Joint resolution making a have lost money as well as life in the mines, supplemental appropriation for the fiscal "and we must pay." The F.P.C. is anxious activities. The testimony indicates a total State endorsement of the concepts and year ending June 80, 1969, and for other to pass on to consumers "all savings in costs purposes. that are properly made," White said. But lf implementation of the regional devel­ it takes an increase in the cost of electricity opment approach which is proving so to indemnify the miners who dig the coal beneficial to the people of Appalachia. THE LATE HONORABLE DWIGHT for steam-electric power, "I believe the The Federal Cochairman, as the repre­ DAVID EISENHOWER American people are willing and should be sentative of the Federal interest in the willing to pay that extra case . . . . For all program, is due a large measure of credit Mr. ALBERT. Mr. Speaker, I offer a I know, we are not talking about increased resolution. rates but only a smaller decrease in rates." for the success and excellent relation­ Some but not all of coal's new 20-year ship evident with the various States. The Clerk read the resolution as fol­ and 30-year contracts to supply the huge In his relations with the Congress, Pat lows: fuel demands of electric power contain es­ Fleming was always responsive to re­ H. RES. 351 calator clauses, which would permit certain quests for information and assistance Resolved, That the House of Representa­ price increases to pay for safety. But a share­ important in preparing legislation for the tives has learned with profound regret and the-cost program may not be as easy to work sorrow of the death of General of the Army out as White made it seem; one reason that program. His cooperative attitude and Dwight David Eisenhower, beloved former the coal industry is so mercilessly cost-con­ constructive approach to problems made President of the United States of America. scious has been the strong downward pres­ my work as chairman of the ad hoc com­ Resolved, That in recognition of the many sure on prices exerted by the electric utllities, mittee less burdensome. virtues, public and private, of the illustrious including the Government's own Tennessee Pat Fleming is intelligent, knowledge­ soldier and statesman, and as a mark of re­ Valley Authority, the biggest of all coal con­ able, capable, and industrious. He has spect to one who has held such eminent sumers. The average value per ton of coal amply shown this in the discharge of his public stations, the Speaker shall appoint a at the mine has dropped from $4.99 in 1948 responsibilities as Federal Cochairman of committee of the House to join with such to $4.62 last year. Members of the Senate as may be designated, It may be significant that John Corcoran, the Appalachian Regional Development to attend the funeral services of the former the president of Consol-a moderate man to Commission. I commend him for his President. start with, by coal industry standards, and service. He has a bright future, and I Resolved, That the House tenders its deep one who has been deeply affected by the wish him every success in the years sympathy to the members of the family of Farmington disaster-also is chairman of ahead. the former President in their sad bereave­ the National Coal Association and a director ment. of the American Mining Association and the Resolved, That the Sergeant at Arms of Bituminous Coal Association. The industry A NEW CREDffiiLITY GAP the House be authorized and directed to does seem to be speaking with a new voice. take such steps as may be necessary for But the coal industry is still a very loose Mr. ADDABBO. Mr. Speaker, as the carrying out the provisions of these resolu­ coallt1on of new humanists and old bucca­ new administration faces its first hard tions, and that the necessary expenses in neers. And as one of its publicists put it decisions concerning our involvement in connection therewith be paid out of the recently, "We are like any association-we Vietnam, and recalls its magic plan contingent fund of the House. reflect the lowest common denominator. We mentioned during the presidential cam­ Resolved, That the Clerk communicate have a few members who think the world paign, the administration should awaken these resolutions to the Senate and trans- 8128 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD- HOUSE March 31, 1969 mit a copy of the same to the family of the sons to receive dlsa.billty insurance benefits ployed by the United States who are killed deceased. thereunder; to the Committee on Ways and or totally disabled in the line of duty; to the Means. Committee on the Judiciary. The resolutions were agreed to. By Mr. BROOMFIELD: By Mr. MURPHY of New York: The SPEAKER. The Chair appoints H.R. 9676. A bill to amend title 18, United H.R. 9689. A bill to amend the Railroad the Speaker and the entire membership States Code, to prohibit the maillng of ob­ Retirement Act of 1937 to provide a full of the House to attend the funeral serv­ scene matter to minors, and for other pur­ annuity for any individual (without regard ices for former President Dwight D. poses; to the Committee on the Judiciary. to his age) who has completed 30 years of Eisenhower this afternoon at the Wash­ By Mr. CELLER: railroad service; to the Committee on Inter­ H.R. 9677. A bill to amend section 1866 of state and Foreign Commerce. ington National Cathedral. title 28, United States Code, prescribing the By Mr. PHILBIN: Members' wives have also been invited manner in which summonses for jury duty H.R. 9690. A bill to expand the definition of to attend these services. may be served; to the Committee on the deductible moving expenses incurred by an The Chair appoints as members of the Judiciary. employee; to the Committee on Ways and committee on the part of the House to By Mr. FARBSTEIN: Means. attend the funeral services in Abilene, H.R. 9678. A bill to amend the Internal By Mr. RIEGLE: Kans., the gentleman from Texas, Mr. Revenue Code of 1954 to provide that the first H.R. 9691. A bill to amend the Internal $5,000 received as civil service retirement an­ FISHER, and the gentleman from Kansas, Revenue Code of 1954 to increase certain nuity from the United States or any agency personal income tax exemptions of a tax­ Mr.MizE. thereof shall be excluded from gross income; payer (including spouses and dependents), Transportation will be furnished to the to the Committee on Ways and Means. to allow a credit against income tax to indi­ cathedral this afternoon for Members By Mr. FOREMAN: viduals for certain expenses incurred in pro­ and their wives and will also be available H.R. 9679. A bill to amend the InJternal viding and obtaining higher education, to ex­ for the return to the Capitol at the com­ Revenue Code of 1954 to allow teachers to pand the definition of deductible moving pletion of the services. deduct from gross income the expenses in­ expenses incurred by employees, to protect Buses will leave from New Jersey Ave­ curred in pursuing courses for aoademic funds invested in series E U.S. savings bonds, nue, between Independence Avenue and credit and degrees at institutions of higher to provide a credit for certain single persons, education and including certain travel; to to provide a deduction for transportation and C Streets, promptly at 3:15 p.m. for the the Committee on Ways and Means. personal exemption for disabled individuals, trip to the cathedral. By Mr. FRASER: to repeal manufacturer's excise tax on pas­ The Clerk will report the remaining H.R. 9680. A bill to amend the Internal senger automobiles and trucks, to revise and resolution. Reveune Code of 1954 to liberaliZe both the improve the income tax treatment of senior The Clerk read as follows: minimum standard deduction and the per­ Americans, to limit the maximum rate of Resolved, That as a further mark of re­ centage standard deduction, and to increase percentage depletion, to provide an incentive spect to the memory of the former President, from $600 to $1,000 the personal income for corporate investment in developing this House do now adjourn. tax exemption of the taxpayer; to the Com­ countries, to provide a tax credit for certain mittee on Ways and Means. local residential and property taxes, to modify The resolution was agreed to. By Mr. FRIEDEL (by request) : the capital gains treatment of property ac­ H.R. 9681. A bill to amend the Interstate quired from a decedent, and to repeal multi­ Commerce Act, with respect to recovery of a ple-surtax exemptions; to the Committee on ADJOURNMENT reasonable attorney's fee in case of success­ Ways and Means. ful maintenance of an action for recovery By Mr. SCHERLE: Accordingly (at 1 o'clock and 30 min­ of damages sustained in transportation of H.R. 9692. A bill to amend section 204(a) utes p.m.) the House adjourned until to­ property; to the Committee on Interstate of the Coinage Act of 1965 in order to author­ morrow, Tuesday, April 1, 1969, at 12 and Foreign Commerce. ize mining of all new quarter-dollar pieces o'clock noon. By Mrs. GREEN of Oregon: with a likeness of the late President Dwight H.R. 9682. A bill to amend the Internal David Eisenhower on one side; to the Com­ Revenue Code of 1954 to increase from $600 mittee on Banking and Currency. EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS, to $1,200 the personal income tax exemptions By Mr. SIKES: of a taxpayer (including the exemption for H.R. 9693. A bill to permit civllian em­ ETC. a spouse, the exemption for a. dependent, ployees of the United States employed out­ Under clause 2 of rule XXIV, executive and the additional exemptions for old age side of the United States to import certain communications were taken from the and blindness); to the Committee on Ways firearms and ammunition purchased abroad; Speaker's table and referred as follows: and Means. to the Committee on the Judiciary. By Mr. HAMMERSCHMIDT: By Mr. THOMSON of Wisconsin: 633. A communication from the Acting H.R. 9683. A bill to repeal chapter 44 of H.R. 9694. A bill to amend the Internal Director, Office of Economic Opportunity, title 18, United States Code (relating to Revenue Code of 1954 to allow an incentive Executive Office of the President, transmit­ firearms) , to reenact the Federal Firearms tax credit for a part of the cost of construct­ ting a report of an independent study and Act, and to restore chapter 53 of the Internal ing or otherwise providing facilities for the evaluation of the implementation of sections Revenue Code of 1954 as in effect before its control of water or air pollution, and to per­ 210 and 211 of the 1967 amendments to the amendment by the Gun Control Act of 1968; mit the amortization of such cost within a Economic Opportunity Act, pursuant to the to the Committee on the Judiciary. period of from 1 to 5 years; to the Committee provisions of section 233(c) of that act; to By Mr. KARTH: on Ways and Means. the Committee on Education and Labor. H.R. 9684. A bill to amend the Internal By Mr. GRAY: 634. A communication from the Assistant Revenue Code of 1954 to increase from $600 H.J. Res. 611. A resolution authorizing the to the Commissioner of the District of Co­ to $1,200 the personal income tax exemp­ President to proclaim February of each year lumbia, transmitting a draft of proposed leg­ tions of a. taxpayer (including the exemption a.s "American History Month"; to the Com­ islation to amend title 5 of the United States for a spouse, the exemption for a. dependent, mittee on the Judiciary. Code with respect to pay received by public and the additional exemptions for old age By Mr. GRIFFIN: school tee.chers of the District of Columbia and blindness}; to the Committee on Ways H.J. Res. 612. A resolution proposing an for employment during the summer vacation and Means. amendment to the Constitution of the United period; to the Committee on Post Office and By Mr. McEWEN: States requiring the advice and consent of Civil Service. H.R. 9685. A bill to regulate imports of the House of Representatives in the making milk and dairy products, and for other pur­ of treaties; to the Committee on the Judi­ poses; to the Committee on Ways and ciary. PUBLIC BILLS AND RESOLUTIONS Means. H.J. Res. 613. A resolution proposing an My Mr. McMILLAN (by request) : Under clause 4 of rule XXII, public amendment of the Constitution of the H.R. 9686. A bill to provide public assist­ United States to prevent interference with, bills and resolutions were introduced and ance to mass transit bus companies in the and eliminate the limitations upon, the severally referred, as follows: District of Columbia, and for other purposes; power of the States to regulate health, mor­ By Mr. ANDERSON of California.: to the Committee on the District of als, education, domestic relations, all prop­ H.R. 9674. A bill to authorize the U.S. Com­ Columbia. erty rights, transportation wholly within missioner of Education to make grants to By Mr. MINSHALL: their borders, the election laws, with the elementary and secondary schools and other H.R. 9687. A bill to amend section 3006A of 11Initat1ons contained in this proposed educational institutions for the conduct of title 18, United States Code, relating to repre­ amendment, and good order therein; to the special educational programs and activities sentation of defendants who are financially Committee on the Judiciary. concerning the use of drugs and for other re­ unable to obtain an adequate defense in By Mr. LONG of : lated educational purposes; to the Committee criminal cases in the courts of the United H.J. Res. 614. A resolution authorizing the on Education and Labor. States; to the Committee on the Judiciary. President to proclaim the week of September H.R. 9675. A bill to amend title II of the H.R. 9688. A bill to extend benefits under 28, 1969, through October 4, 1969, as "Na­ Social Security Act so as to liberalize the con­ section 8191 of title 5, United States Code, to tional Adult-Youth Communications Week"; ditions governing eligibllity of blind per- law enforcement officers and firemen not em- to the Committee on the Judiciary. April 1, 1969 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD- HOUSE 8129 MEMORIAL By Mr. ADDABBO: By Mr. HANNA: H.R. 9695. A blll for the relief of C&rmelo H.R. 9700. A blll for the relief of Mrs. Jas­ Under clause 4 of rule XXII, memorials DiFiore; to the Committee on the Judiciary. mine T. Dillon; to the Committee on the Ju­ were presented and referred, as follows: By Mr. BIAGGI: diciary. 97. By the SPEAKER: Memorial of the H.R. 9696. A blll for the relief of Cirino Legislature of the State of North Dakota, Ca.rroccetto; to 'the Committee on the Judi­ relative to regulation of outdoor advertising; ciary. PETITIONS, ETC. to the Committee on Public Works. H.R. 9697. A bill for the relief of Rita Del Grosso; to the Committee on the Judiciary. Under clause 1 of Rule XXII, petitions By Mr. BURKE of Massachusetts: and papers were laid on the Clerk's desk H.R. 9698. A bill for the relief of Chrtstos and referred as follows: PRIVATE BILLS AND RESOLUTIONS G. Pappas; to the Committee on the Judi­ ciary. 84. The SPEAKER presented a petition of Under clause 1 of rule XXII, private By Mr. FLOWERS: Mrs. Kata.rzyna Zerucha, Oleszyce, Poland, bills and resolutions were introduced and H.R. 9699. A blll for the relief of Catherine relative to widow's social security benefits; severally referred, as follows: E. Spell; to the Committee on the Judiciary. to the Comm.Lttee on Ways and Means.

HOUSE O,F REPRESE.NTATIVE.S-Tuesday, April 1, 1969

The House met at 12 o'clock noon. Resolved, That the Secretary of the Sen­ I :find myself completely out of pa­ The Chaplain, Rev. Edward G. Latch, ate transmit these resolutions to the House tience with the Army proposal, and I D.D., offered the following prayer: of Representatives and transmit a copy have protested this action in strongest thereof to the family of the deceased. terms, both to the Army's Secretary and He that giveth, let him do it with sim­ Resolved, That as a. further mark of respect Chief of Staff and to Secretary Laird. plicity; he that ruleth with diligence,· he to the memory of the deceased the Senate do now adjourn. America is not ready to give up religious that showeth mercy with cheerjulness.­ teaching, either in or out of the Army. Romans 12: 8. 0 God, our Father, in whose love is SWEARING IN OF A MEMBER our life, in whose service is our strength, CONGRESS MUST ACT NOW TO IN­ and in whose will is our work, grant unto Mr. ALBERT. Mr. Speaker, I ask SURE HEALTH AND SAFETY IN us increasing power that we may labor unanimous consent that the gentleman THE MINES from Tennessee, Mr. EDWARD JONES, be unceasingly for the welfare of our coun­