And I am grateful to you, Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, in behalf of the American Legion, and I desire to express to you my sincere thanks and appreciation for the privilege of appearing before you. I also wish you well in your efforts to solve this serious problem which confronts you and the other Members of Congress in connection with this controversial provision of the proposed legislation. Senator CLARK. Mr. Chairman, may I make a statement? Senator YARBOROUGH. Yes. Senator CLARK. First, I do not think any useful purpose would be served by attempting to question the witness or to get into an argument on this matter, because the lines are pretty well drawn, either for or against it. My own view is well known. I supported the President of the United States when he was a Member of the Senate in his early efforts to repeal the disclaimer affidavit. I know he feels the same way now as he did then. I do not think anybody is questioning his loyalty. I assume nobody is questioning mine. The witness has given very succinctly and quite ably the arguments in support of maintaining the affidavit. I, like Voltaire, disagree with everything he has had to say, but will defend to the death his right to say it. Mr. KENNEDY. Thank you, Senator Clark. Senator YARBOROUGH. Any questions, Senator Case? Senator CASE. No questions. Senator YARBOROUGH. Thank you. Is there any other witness present this morning whose name is on the list? (There was no response.) Senator YARBOROUGH. The hearing is recessed until 2 o'clock this afternoon. (Whereupon, at 12:10 p.m., the subcommittee recessed, to reconvene at 2 p.m. on the same day.) AFTERNOON SESSION Present: Senators Morse (presiding), Yarborough, and Randolph. Senator MORSE. The hearing will come to order. The chairman will insert in the record at this point a letter received by the chairman from Senator Hubert Humphrey, in which he asks permission to file a statement in support of his bill S. 1271, which would insert sections in the National Defense Act of 1958. The statement of Senator Humphrey will be inserted at this point in the record. (The letter and statement of Senator Humphrey follow:) U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS, May 12, 1961. The Honorable WAYNE MORSE, DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Enclosed is a statement I have prepared on my bill, S. 1271, to amend certain sections of the National Defense Education Act of 1958. It would be appreciated if this statement would be made a part of the printed record of the hearings being held this week by your subcommittee on various proposals to amend the National Defense Education Act. Sincerely, HUBERT H. HUMPHREY. PREPARED STATEMENT BY SENATOR HUBERT H. HUMPHREY Mr. Chairman, I appreciate being afforded this opportunity to testify in support of amendments I have offered, S. 1271, to the National Defense Education Act of 1958 which is being considered by this subcommittee. The purpose of my suggested amendments is to make the inducements and benefits which are presently available under the act to those who teach or plan to teach in public schools also available to those who teach or plan to teach in our private schools. Title II of the act provides Federal loans for students at institutions of higher education. Section 205 (b)3 provides that up to one-half of any such loan will be canceled at the rate of 10 percent a year if the loan recipient becomes a fulltime teacher in a public elementary or secondary school. There is no loan forgiveness for teaching in a private school. In title V the act authorizes payment of $75 a week plus $15 a week for each dependent to men and women who are engaged in public secondary school guidance and counseling or who are preparing guidance and counseling work in public schools. People engaged in guidance or counseling at private schools may attend these guidance and counseling institutes, but they are not eligible to receive the weekly stipends available to public school teachers. The National Defense Education Act, in title VI, authorizes similar payments to foreign-language teachers from public schools who are attending foreignlanguage institutes. Foreign-language teachers at private schools face the same discrimination at these institutes that face their colleagues in the guidance and counseling field. They are eligible to attend the institutes, but they are not eligible to receive stipends. In fact, they are urged to participate, but no monetary allowance is made for their participation. Mr. Chairman, these discriminations against private school teachers are unfair, and Congress should amend the National Defense Education Act to give teachers in private, nonprofit schools the same benefits that are available to teachers in public schools. The purpose of the National Defense Education Act in these areas which are mentioned is to improve the quality of teachers and also to improve the techniques of teaching. The loan-forgiveness provision was included in this act to encourage college students to enter the teaching profession. It is only fair and reasonable that the loan-cancellation privilege should be extended to those who teach in private schools as well as to those who teach in public schools. In the same spirit, we should make available to private school teachers the same weekly stipend payments which are now available to public school teachers attending guidance and counseling institutes or foreign-language institutes. Private schools and private school teachers are performing a vitally important public service, and they are relieving our public education system of a tremendous burden. We certainly should not discriminate against those who teach in our private, nonprofit, elementary and secondary schools. We should be encouraging outstanding young people in college to enter the teaching profession in even greater numbers than are now doing so. No matter how many classrooms we have no matter how well equipped our libraries and laboratories our educational system simply cannot get along without able, dedicated, well-paid teachers in our elementary and secondary schools. I respectfully urge this subcommittee in its consideration of amendments to the National Defense Education Act to remove the discriminatory features of the present act which I have discussed here today. The amendments I have suggested would contribute to our country's efforts in the crucial area of education and they would eliminate a patent injustice in the present act. Senator MORSE. The Chair asks that there be inserted in the record at this point an article in the Evening Star for Thursday, May 11, entitled "Teller Links Future to Best Scientists," remarks of Dr. Edward Teller, pointing out the need for more training of scientists in this country. (The article referred to follows:) TELLER LINKS FUTURE TO BEST SCIENTISTS Dr. Edward Teller, the atomic scientist, told the Nation's broadcasters yesterday that, unless the American people are better educated in scientific matters, the democratic way of life may not survive. "The future will belong to the country with the best technicians and scientists," Dr. Teller said. "Our people are not being prepared well enough." He spoke at the closing luncheon session of the 15th Annual Broadcasting Engineering Conference which is being held simultaneously with the National Association of Broadcasters' 39th annual convention at the Shoreham and Sheraton-Park Hotels. Dr. Teller said he spoke not as a scientist but as a customer, and he asked the broadcasting industry if it was doing its share in educating the public. "Your whole industry is based on technical accomplishments, but what does it give back to technical education? You know the answer as well as I-very little," he said. HITS EDUCATION VACUUM He decried the fact that the industry was not trying to produce more programs of an educational-especially scientific-nature. All that is necessary, he said, is a person, a blackboard, an experiment-and you can transmit simply to a mass audience. But you are not doing it, he said. "We live in a technological age," Dr. Teller said, "where decade by decade our way of life, our safety and comfort is closely connected with technological change." He told the broadcasters he thought they could make an enormous contribution to the future of the country by devoting more air time to the magnificent, interesting subject of science. Dr. Teller said people would not like science programs at first, but after constant exposure, within 3 years, everyone would watch. Jean Felker, assistant chief engineer of the American Telephone & Telegraph Co., said that one of the big advances in the 1960's would be the use of space satellites for handling global television. Mr. Felker said eventually a worldwide television broadcasting system would be created in which 30 to 50 satellites would be placed in orbit around the equator. By placing them in this position at a height of 22,000 miles, they would circle the glode at the same relative speed as the earth's rotation, and provide an illusion of hanging motionless. A string of such satellites could encompass the earth's surface. From this could develop a complete system of intercontinental television, he said. Mr. MORSE. Mr. Paul H. Robbins, executive director, National Society of Professional Engineers. Mr. Robbins, we are delighted to have you with us. Will you come to the witness chair, and proceed in your own way, within the time limitation? STATEMENT OF PAUL H. ROBBINS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NATIONAL SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS Mr. ROBBINS. Mr. Chairman, gentlemen, my name is Paul H. Robbins. I am executive director of the National Society of Professional Engineers, a nonprofit, membership organization composed of professional engineers in virtually every specialized branch of engineering practice and type of employment. All of the society's 56,000 members are registered under applicable State engineering registration laws, and are affiliated through 53 State societies and approximately 400 local community chapters. The National Society of Professional Engineers was organized in 1934 and is dedicated to the advancement of the public welfare and the promotion of the profession of engineering as a social and economic influence vital to the affairs of men and of the United States. In furtherance of this objective, the national society is naturally interested in continued improvements in our systems of higher education, particularly the education of qualified and capable engineers, both for our national defense effort and for the continued expansion and improvement of our domestic economy. We therefore appreciate your invitation to present a few brief comments on several aspects of the proposal before this subcommittee to amend the National Defense Education Act as they affect or are related to engineering education, both at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Before discussing a number of specific items in S. 1726 with which the national society is particularly concerned, I would like to say for the record that we endorse and support the overall and general purpose of the pending bill to extend and expand the National Defense Education Act. Since 1958, the act has provided a valuable incentive for progress in our educational efforts and we are confident that an extension and expansion of its many-faceted programs will contribute in even greater measure to continued benefits in this vital area. Now, for those items of special relevance to engineering education: (1) The national society strongly endorses the proposal to extend the loan provisions of title II of the NDEA and place this program on a permanent basis. It has been our consistent position that Federal assistance to college and university students through a program of repayable loans is superior to undergraduate scholarships as originally proposed for the National Defense Education Act and as currently proposed in several pending items of legislation. We believe that a loan program, and the responsibility and obligation it will engender in students, is considerably more conducive to developing individual responsibility and self-reliance than is a program of outright scholarships. Furthermore, the existing loan program, with its foregiveness feature for students who become teachers, exerts a powerful stimulus in an area where the supply is critically short, but the demand seemingly unlimited. In this regard, we should add that the national society is very strongly in favor of extending the forgiveness provision to include students who become teachers in colleges and universities as well as in elementary or secondary schools. The subcommittee of course, recognizes the validity of the statement by Secretary Ribicoff that any educational institution is only as strong as the quality of its instruction. In engineering education today, one of the most pressing problems is the ability of existing institutions to attract and retain top-quality faculties. The quality of the engineering education available to our students is directly related and dependent upon the quality of the individuals who become instructors in engineering and related preparatory subjects. A continuation of the loan program, together with an extension of the forgiveness feature to persons who become college and university teachers, is essential for continued expansion and growth in this important area. 69660-61-12 In this connection, we also support an increase in annual Federal contributions to a single institutional student loan fund from $250,000 to $500,000. (2) We would like to emphasize the need for science and mathematics instruction in our elementary and secondary schools, not only for the preparation of students who will enter a college educational program where such training is essential to their progress, but also for others who should understand and appreciate science and mathematics in order to be more successful and productive. Science and mathematics are an integral part of our present-day culture, and anyone who is not acquainted with this aspect of our society and civilization is not well grounded in the fundamentals essential to his cultural growth and his economic well-being. Accordingly, the national society endorses a continuation of title III of the act to provide financial assistance for strengthening science, mathematics, and modern foreign-language instruction in our elementary and secondary schools. (3) In any discussion of engineering education, we have consistently maintained that direct Federal financial assistance to college and university students should stress quality rather than quantity, and that this can best be accomplished by a fellowships program rather than through undergraduate scholarships. In other words, it is our opinion that the greatest need lies in the field of postgraduate education and fellowships. For this reason, the national society strongly and enthusiastically endorses a permanent extension and substantial enlargement of the existing program of graduate fellowships. This is especially important in engineering education, for our many contacts with government, industrial, and other groups indicate, almost without exception, that the most pressing need and the greatest demand is for people with master's and doctor's degrees. These are the individuals who have productive abilities based on a considerable fund of knowledge which is attainable only through postgraduate education; these are the individuals who are most likely to produce breakthrough ideas which can change the whole course of progress or blunt the weapons of aggression. We believe sincerely that it is in the area of graduate education that direct Federal stipends for individual students will be most productive. It is in this area that we must direct our resources in order to adequately meet the needs of our changing times. We view with particular favor the proposal to allocate graduate fellowships for study under existing programs at any institution of higher education in addition to new or expanded graduate programs as authorized by the present language of title IV. Certainly, this proposed amendment will effectively stimulate graduate study, especially at those institutions where increased numbers of graduate students can be accommodated under existing programs. All too often, some of our major universities have openings for graduate students which have gone unfilled. The proposal as contained in S. 1726 to amend title IV should go a long way to eliminate this condition. (4) While the national society is naturally interested in Federal assistance to improve the posture of engineering education in this country, especially graduate education, we are concerned with the constantly growing educational needs at the other end of the spectrum |