FUEL STUDY PROPOSALS

THURSDAY, JULY 13, 1950

UNITED STATES SENATE,

COMMITTEE ON INTERIOR AND INSULAR AFFAIRS,

Washington, D. C.

The committee met, pursuant to call, at 10 a. m., in room 224, Senate Office Building, Senator Joseph C. O'Mahoney (chairman) presiding. Present: Senators Joseph C. O'Mahoney (Wyoming), James E. Murray (Montana), Clinton P. Anderson (New Mexico), Herbert H. Lehman (New York), and George W. Malone (Nevada)."

The CHAIRMAN. The committee will come to order, please.

The hearing this morning has been called in order to afford an opportunity to the Secretary of the Interior and the senatorial sponsors of several measures which are before this committee, dealing with coal and other fuels. These measures, which have been introduced over a period of time, consist of the following:

First, Senate Resolution 239, introduced by Senator Francis J. Myers, of Pennsylvania, to authorize this committee to make a complete investigation of all available fuel reserves and to formulate a national policy to meet the needs of the United States in peace and

war.

The second was Senate Joint Resolution 157, introduced by Senator Hubert H. Humphrey, of Minnesota, in company with Senator Paul Douglas, of Illinois, Senator Wayne Morse, of Oregon, and Senator Herbert H. Lehman, of New York, to establish a bipartisan Coal Commission, which would be set up to investigate the economic problems and prospects of the American coal industry. This measure, unlike the one introduced by Senator Myers, would require joint action by both Houses of Congress and the signature of the President. The bill authorizes an appropriation to enable the proposed Commission to function.

The third is S. 3215, introduced by the chairman. It is the measure to which President Truman referred in his special message to Congress on March 3, 1950, and the text of which he transmitted to the Vice President, in a letter from the White House, dated March 7, 1950.

The fourth is the bill introduced by Senator Kilgore, of West Virginia. This was introduced on April 10, 1950, and was designed to establish a method of conserving and distributing coal in interstate commerce. It is a bill of very broad implications.

At the beginning of this session, Senator McCarran, of Nevada, introduced S. 6, to authorize the Reconstruction Finance Corporation to make loans for the construction of commercial synthetic liquid fuel plants.

1

(S. Res. 239, S. J. Res. 157, S. 3215, S. 3383, and S. 6, are as follows :)

[S. Res. 239, 81st Cong., 2d sess.]

RESOLUTION

Resolved, That the Senate Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, or any duly authorized subcommittee thereof, is authorized and directed (1) to make a full and complete investigation and study of the available fuel reserves of the United States and the present and probable future rates of consumption thereof; (2) to formulate a national fuel policy to meet the needs of the United States in times of peace and war, such policy to include the use of all fuels and energy resources except atomic energy; (3) to study and recommend methods of encouraging developments to assure the availability of fuels adequate for an expanding economy and the security of the United States; and (4) to report to the Senate at the earliest practicable date, not later than September 15, 1950, the results of its investigation and study together with its recommendations.

SEC. 2. For the purposes of this resolution, the committee, or any duly authorized subcommittee thereof, is authorized to employ upon a temporary basis such technical, clerical, and other assistants as it deems advisable, and is authorized, with the consent of the head of the department or agency concerned, to utilize the services, information, facilities, and personnel of any of the departments or agencies of the Government. The expenses of the committee under this resolution, which shall not exceed $100,000, shall be paid from the contingent fund of the Senate upon vouchers approved by the chairman of the committee.

[S. J. Res. 157, 81st Cong., 2d sess.]

JOINT RESOLUTION To establish a Special Bipartisan Coal Commission Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That there is hereby created a Special Bipartisan Coal Commission to study and investigate the economic problems and prospects of the American coal industry with a view to determining the prospects of the coal industry in relation to other industries producing products directly in competition with coal and the economic factors bearing upon this competition, and determining what policies and programs by Government, business, labor, and others would most effectively contribute toward meeting America's needs for coal and coal products, providing a rising standard of living for the employees in the coal industry, what new studies and investigations might be made to stimulate and promote the use of America's coal resources, adjusting to the problems raised by technological change and substitute fuels, and preventing or alleviating labor-management conflicts in the coal industry.

SEC. 2. The Commission shall consist of eighteen members. The President shall select six members, three of whom shall be the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Secretary of Labor and shall designate the Chairman of the Commission. The President of the Senate shall select six members; three of whom shall be Members of the Senate. The Speaker of the House of Representatives shall select six members, three of whom shall be Members of the House of Representatives.

SEC. 3. The Commission shall report in full to the President and the Congress within six months after its members have been appointed and shall cease to exist within ninety days of the submission of its full report to the President and the Congress.

SEC. 4. The Commission shall have the authority to hire employees without regard to the civil-service laws or the Classification Act of 1923, as amended, and to borrow personnel, with or without reimbursement, from the executive agencies of the Federal Government or from the committees of the Congress. The private members of the Commission may be compensated at the rate of $40 for each day spent in meetings of the Commission or upon work for the Commission. There is hereby authorized to be appropriated to the Commission the sum of $250,000.

[S. 3215, 81st Cong., 2d sess.]

A BILL To establish the Commission on the Coal Industry

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That (a) there is hereby established a commission to be known as the Commission on the Coal Industry (hereinafter referred to as the "Commission").

(b) It shall be the duty of the Commission to study and investigate the conditions and problems of the coal industry, taking into account the relationship between coal and other sources of energy, including but not limited to the following:

(1) The size and character of the coal industry necessary to the national security, health, and welfare;

(2) The size, location, and character of coal reserves and their relationship to the future of the coal industry;

(3) The existing and prospective technological means and costs of mining, distributing, and using coal, and their sociological implications;

(4) The existing and prospective employment conditions of coal miners, including wages, hours, safety factors, welfare and retirement provisions, and opportunities for steady employment;

(5) The existing and prospective characteristics of competition among companies in the coal industry; and

(6) The existing and prospective markets for coal.

(c) Based upon its study and investigation, the Commission shall make a report to the President and the Congress which shall include its findings and recommendations for such action by Government, business, and labor as the Commission deems necessary or desirable in order to achieve and maintain a healthy and progressive coal industry, which will produce the coal needed in the national interest, yield a fair return to those whose efforts and whose assets are employed in the industry, and contribute its full share to a prosperous and expanding national economy.

SEC. 2. The Commission shall consist of nine members to be appointed as follows: Two to be appointed by the President of the Senate from Members of the Senate; two to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives from Members of the House of Representatives; and five to be appointed by the PresiIdent of the United States, of whom one shall be an officer or employee of the United States. Any vacancy in the Commission shall be filled in the same manner in which the original appointment was made.

SEC. 3. The members of the Commission appointed from private life shall each receive $50 per diem when engaged in the performance of duties vested in the Commission, plus reimbursement for travel, subsistence, and other necessary expenses incurred by them in the performance of such duties. The other members of the Commission shall serve without compensation in addition to that received for their services as Members of Congress or as an officer or employee of the United States; but they shall be reimbursed for travel, subsistence, and other necessary expenses incurred by them in the performance of the duties vested in the Commission.

SEC. 4. The President shall designate a Chairman of the Commission from among its members appointed from private life. Five members of the Commission shall constitute a quorum.

SEC. 5. The Commission shall have power to appoint and fix the compensation of a staff director and such other experts and personnel as it deems necessary without regard to the civil-service laws and the Classification Act of 1949. The Commission may obtain and use the services of employees of any Federal agency or congressional committee, on a reimbursable basis or otherwise, with the approval of the head of the agency or committee concerned.

SEC. 6. (a) The Commission or any member or members thereof designated by the Commission may, for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this Act, hold such hearings and sit and act at such times and places and take such testimony as the Commission or such member or members may deem advisable. Any member of the Commission may administer oaths or affirmations to witnesses appearing before the Commission or before such member.

(b) The Commission is authorized to secure directly from any Federal agency information, suggestions, and statistics for the purposes of this Act. Each Federal agency is authorized to furnish such information, suggestions, and statistics directly to the Commission upon request made by the Chairman, upon transfer of necessary funds to cover the costs thereof where necessary. Any

Federal agency may appear on its own initiative at hearings held by the Commission.

SEC. 7. (a) The report of the Commission shall be submitted to the President and the Congress not later than one year after the appointment of the full Commission.

(b) Ninety days after the submission of its report, the Commission shall cease to exist.

SEC. 8. There are hereby authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act.

[S. 3383, 81st Cong., 2d sess.]

A BILL To promote interstate commerce in coal, to provide for the conservation of the coal resources of the Nation, to assure an adequate supply of coal, and for other

purposes

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may be cited as the "National Bituminous Coal Act of 1950".

DECLARATION OF PURPOSE

SEC. 2. In enacting this Act, it is the purpose of the Congress to promote interstate commerce in coal, to provide for the conservation of the coal resources of the United States, and to assure to the Nation an adequate supply of coal by providing for the study of the mining, preparation, marketing of and uses for coal, and for the regulation of coal prices and of methods of competition in commerce in coal to avoid waste of the coal resources of the United States through the employment of uneconomic practices and methods in the mining, distribution, and marketing of coal which heretofore have disorganized, burdened, and obstructed interstate commerce in coal and which threaten to be continued in the future unless effective remedial measures are adopted.

DEFINITIONS

SEC. 3. As used in this Act, the term

(a) "Coal" means bituminous coal, except that as used in section 13 hereof, it shall also include semianthracite and anthracite coal;

(b) "Bituminous coal" includes all bituminous, semibituminous and subbituminous coal, but shall not include lignitic coal having (1) calorific value in British thermal units of less than seven thousand six hundred per pound and (2) a natural moisture content in place in the mine of 30 per centum or more; (c) "Mine" includes any plant at which coal is extracted from its natural repository, and any preparation plant or washery operated by any producer; (d) "Person" includes any individual, firm, association, corporation, or other legal entity, and any trustee or receiver of any such individual or entity;

(e) "Producer" includes any person engaged in the mining of coal within the United States;

(f) "Distributor" means any person actively and regularly engaged within the United States in the purchase of coal for resale and the resale of coal in not less than cargo or railroad carload lots;

(g) "Intrastate commerce" means commerce in coal which is conducted entirely within the State or territory of origin of such coal;

(h) "Interstate commerce" includes all commerce in coal which is not intrastate commerce;

(i) "Sale of coal in commerce" includes any sale of coal in interstate commerce, and any sale of coal in intrastate commerce which may directly affect in any manner the sale of coal in interstate commerce;

(j) "Sale" includes any sale or other disposition of coal involving transfer of title thereto, but shall not include the consumption of coal by the producer thereof;

(k) "Consumption" includes the consumption of coal by the producer thereof, but shall not include the consumption of coal by any firm, association, corporation, or other entity other than the one which was the producer thereof; and

(1) "United States" when used in a geographical sense means the several States, the Territories of Alaska and Hawaii, and the District of Columbia.

BITUMINOUS COAL COMMISSION

SEC. 4. (a) There is hereby established within the Department of the Interior a Bituminous Coal Commission (referred to hereinafter as the "Commission") which shall be composed of five Commissioners appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, who shall receive compensation at the rate of $15,000 per year. Of such members

(1) two shall be persons who have had previous experience as producers of coal who shall be representative of the producers of coal and who shall be appointed for terms of four years each, except that the terms of the two members first appointed under this paragraph shall be one and three years, respectively, as designated by the President;

(2) two shall be persons who have had previous experience as coal-mine workers who shall be representative of the employees in the coal industry, and who shall be appointed for terms of four years each except that the first two members appointed under this paragraph shall be appointed for terms of two and four years, respectively, as designated by the President; and (3) one shall be a representative of the public at large, who shall be appointed for a term of five years, who shall serve as Chairman of the Commission, and who shall designate one of the other members of the Commission to serve as acting chairman in the absence of the Chairman. Any person chosen to fill a vacancy in the Commission shall be appointed only for the unexpired term of the Commissioner whom he shall succeed. No Commissioner shall have any direct or indirect financial or other interest in the production, transportation, or sale of, or in the manufacture of equipment for the production of coal, lignite, anthracite, oil, gas, or wood, or in the generation, transmission, or sale of hydroelectric power, or in the manufacture of equipment for the use thereof, nor shall any Commissioner engage in any other business or employment. Any Commissioner may be removed by the President, upon notice and after opportunity for hearing, for neglect of duty or malfeasance in office, but for no other cause.

(b) The Commission shall have a seal which shall be judicially noticed, and shall convene at such times and places as the majority of the Commission may determine. A majority of the Commission shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, and a vacancy or vacancies in the Commission shall not impair the right of the remaining Commissioner or Commissioners to exercise all powers of the Commission. The Commission by order may assign or refer any matter within its jurisdiction under this Act to an individual Commissioner or to an examiner, designated by such order, for hearing and the recommendation of appropriate action in the premises.

(c) The principal office of the Commission shall be in the District of Columbia, but it may exercise any or all of its powers in any other place, and may establish and maintain such offices throughout the United States as it deems necessary for the effective performance of its duties under this Act.

(d) The Commission is authorized

(1) without regard to the civil-service laws or the Classification Act of 1949, to appoint and fix the compensation and duties of a secretary and not more than fifteen technical advisers, except that (A) the salary of the secretary shall not exceed $12,500 per year; and (B) no such technical adviser shall receive a salary in excess of $12,000 per year. No person appointed pursuant to this paragraph shall be related to any Commissioner by marriage or by blood within the third degree;

(2) subject to the civil-service laws and the Classification Act of 1949, to appoint and fix the compensation of such examiners and such professional, clerical, and other assistants as it shall determine to be necessary for the performance of the functions of the Commission.

The Commission may accept the voluntary and uncompensated services of any officer or employee of any State or any political subdivision thereof, or of any other person.

(e) Immediately upon the appointment and qualification of a majority of its membership, the Commission shall take such action as may be required to provide for the organization of the producers' district boards and the distributors' national board provided for hereinafter.

(f) Subject to the provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act, the Commission may from time to time make, amend, and rescind such rules and regu lations as may be necessary or appropriate to execute the provisions of this Act.