Labor is directed to cooperate with State and local governments to develop op portunities for employing qualified young people on local public service or public work projects. These projects would furnish training experience with State and local public agencies or facilities, such as schools and hospitals, as well as in local conservation and similar work.

The third approach used in the bill is that of a Youth Conservation Corps. This would be a camp-oriented program in which the trainees would perform conservation and related work pursuant to agreements between the Secretary of Labor and Federal and State conservation agencies under the immediate supervision of those agencies. The trainee would receive a base compensation of $70 a month, as well as subsistence and necessary equipment, transportation, and similar expenses.

The Youth Conservation Corps would be available to young men between the ages of 17 to 22; the other programs to both young men and women 16 to 22. The bill contemplates that maximum use will be made of existing public and private agencies and groups for operating these programs. The Secretary of Labor is authorized, however, where appropriate and under certain conditions, to finance the cost of the on-the-job and related training programs and to pay training allowances. Similarly, he may pay as much as 50 percent of the cost of training in the public-service, public-work projects, up to a maximum of $20 a week per trainee, and contribute to other necessary expenses.

We hope by these programs to develop ways for channeling our young people into jobs, as well as to encourage all elements in the community, public and private, to play a far greater role in developing employment opportunities and training for young people. When we encourage communities to become active in this vital area, we encourage the development of a lasting cure for economic ills. Respectfully,

ARTHUR J. GOLDBERG,
Secretary of Labor.

STATEMENT IN EXPLANATION OF A BILL ENTITLED "YOUTH EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES ACT OF 1961"

The purpose of this bill is to improve employment prospects for young people in our country-one of the most compelling needs with which we are faced and one which future progress requires that we meet with constructive programs. It would authorize pilot programs utilizing three different approaches for providing training and useful work experience for the youth of our Nation. These experimental programs will permit development of effective ways of helping untrained and inexperienced youths to obtain employment, and will enable us to foster the most effective development and utilization of their potentials in our labor market. Furthermore, the projects authorized will contribute to the performance of useful local public service projects and of essential work to conserve and preserve our natural resources, the results of which will inure substantially to the public good.

A spectacular increase is taking place in the number of young people entering our labor force. Even though they will stay in school longer, workers under 25 years of age will account for nearly half of the labor force growth during the 1960's. By 1965 we will have 40 percent more persons under 20 years of age in our labor force than we now have. The crest of the tide of youths seeking employment will come in 1966, when an additional 800,000 young people are expected to be looking for jobs. Of the 26 million new young workers expected to enter the labor force this decade, over 18 million will be high school graduates, but 7.5 million will not have completed high school and 2.5 million of these will not have completed even a grade school education. It is toward these latter groups that the programs in this bill are primarily directed.

Many of the young workers entering the labor force will not be equipped with the vocational and professional skills needed to find useful work and compete successfully. School dropouts, in particular, will be in need of further training and job preparation before their work potentials can be utilized effectively. Unless their skills can be upgraded, they are ilkely to face intermittent and unskilled work throughout their working lives, because more and more jobs in our economy, with automation and technological changes, require increasingly higher standards of skill. In accord with the national commitment in section 2 of the Employment Act of 1946 to achieve maximum levels of employment, pro

duction, and purchasing power, additional public action is needed to develop ways to train and to channel these young workers into useful and productive jobs.

It is essential in the next few years-before the labor market is swamped by the influx of young people-to experiment with different approaches to provide work experience and training opportunities to out-of-school youth, geared to the type of education and training which is needed for them to secure employment. Today we do not have effective techniques of tested and proven training and work experience for school dropouts and other youths.

The Youth Employment Opportunities Act will provide training and work experience for a limited number of youths through the use of pilot programs authorizing projects for (1) on-the-job and other appropriate training, (2) local public service employment, and (3) camps to conserve and develop our forests and other natural resources. Since the results we intend to accomplish with this experimental program will seek the keys to the future success of our youths, the three programs will vary considerably in their details. This bill is designed to appeal to and to assist young people of widely different qualifications and aims to enable them to orient themselves realistically to the working world of the future.

The on-the-job and other appropriate training programs will develop ways to furnish a stimulus to employment and training for both young men and women between the ages of 16 and 22 to improve their employability and to enhance their chances of advancement after their entry into the labor market as adult workers. Training under these programs could include classroom instruction through arrangements with the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.

The public service employment and training programs will develop measures to afford young workers between 16 and 22 with training and employment, both individually and in groups, in public jobs with adequate safeguards that it will not interfere with jobs for regular employees and that the rates of pay and other conditions of employment are reasonably consistent with comparable work in the locality.

The Youth Conservation Corps program will take young men between the ages of 17 and 22 and develop ways to provide them with work training in a healthful outdoor environment, furnishing also the experience of camp community living and educational opportunities. It is envisioned that a variety of combinations of work and training will be afforded, depending on such factors as the projects approved by the cooperating conservation agencies for the trainees to perform. This program will also have the important effect of contributing to essential public effort to accomplish needed conservation work.

In keeping with their experimental purpose, the programs would be authorized for 3 years. It is estimated that appropriations of $75 million would be required in the first year and $100 million in each of the next 2 years, with the funds divided in approximately equal proportions among the three types of programs. In the first year, it is estimated that this would support projects for over 50,000 youths, and for somewhat larger numbers in the second and third years, depending on the kinds of projects undertaken and the cost of the conservation camp facilities. After the second year of operation, the Secretary would be required to report to the President and to the Congress on the activities and programs authorized by this act, inlcuding an evaluation of their comparative effectiveness and recommendations regarding youth employment and training.

PRINCIPAL GENERAL PROVISIONS

The Secretary of Labor is authorized to administer the proposed act and to make rules and regulations necessary for the operation of the programs it authorizes. He is also given authority to delegate functions to other agencies and to utilize the services of Federal and State agencies.

In making regulations for the selection of trainees, the Secretary is directed as far as practicable to provide for a fair distribution of trainees among the geographic areas of the country; for consideration of the employment prospects in various occupations and industries; uniform criteria for the selection of trainees; and for a consideration of the benefits to the youths applying.

It is anticipated that the Secretary's functions in counseling youths and developing job opportunities will be of major importance to the success of the objectives of this bill. Our proposal, therefore, expressly directs the Secretary to perform these services for trainees who seek assistance under the bill. Such

counseling will take into account the fact that some applicants should be advised to continue their education or embark on a career not included under this bill.

A Youth Employment Advisory Committee of 12 members, broadly representative of the public would be established by the Secretary. He would also seek the advice and assistance of the heads of the Departments of Agriculture, Interior, and Health, Education, and Welfare and the Attorney General.

The bill provides that, generally, trainees would not be considered Federal employees.

ON-THE-JOB AND OTHER APPROPRIATE TRAINING PROGRAMS

The Secretary is directed to develop and promote the adoption of on-the-job and other appropriate training programs for youth, including supplementary classroom instruction through appropriate arrangements with the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. To these ends, he is directed to make maximum use of appropriate private and public agencies, employers, trade associations, labor and industry groups, educational agencies, and other community groups in developing and carrying out the programs. He may enter into agreements for the conduct of such programs by such groups, individuals, or organizations as he finds qualified, and may select and refer trainees to the programs. The Secretary is authorized to finance the costs of these programs and to pay training allowances for the trainees, up to $20 a week, provided the programs comply with standards which he determines. The bill specifies that the standards shall include the requirement that the program is adequate and suitable; that the training period is reasonable; that the wages paid are comparable to learners performing similar work in the community; and that adequate and safe facilities, personnel, and records are provided.

PUBLIC SERVICE EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING

The Secretary is directed to cooperate with State and local governments to develop opportunities for employing qualified trainees on local public service programs. The programs authorized would be such as would not displace regular workers. The rates of pay would be measured by those for comparable work in the locality.

Public service programs subject to approval would be those furnishing training experience with State and local public agencies or publicly owned facilities, such as schools and hospitals, and on programs for the improvement or expansion of conservation, recreational, or other community facilities.

When the Secretary determines that a program meets the prescribed standards, he may enter into an agreement with the appropriate governmental body to pay as much as 50 percent of the cost of wages or trainees on the program, up to a maximum of $20 a week for the Federal share. The Secretary, in his discretion where necessary, may also furnish such tools, clothing, transportation or similar items for trainees as he finds appropriate.

YOUTH CONSERVATION CORPS

The Secretary is authorized to organize a pilot Youth Conservation Corps. The trainees would perform conservation and related work, pursuant to agreements between the Secretary and Federal and State conservation agencies, under the immediate supervision of such agencies. The supervisory Federal agencies, under agreement with the Secretary, would provide for quarters, subsistence, transportation, and equipment for trainees and other services or facilities as agreed upon, subject to payment therefor by the Secretary. Medical, hospital, and educational services would be provided through the cooperation of the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. Arrangements for facilities for trainees used by the States would be provided under agreements with the States. The States would be required to defray up to one-half of the costs incurred for trainees used by the States, as determined by the Secretary.

Trainees would receive a base compensatiton of $70 a month, with up to an additional $20 a month payable on the basis of assigned leadership responsibilities or special skills. They would also receive quarters, subsistence, equipment, clothing, and transportation, the right to make allotments for dependents or savings funds, protection under the old-age and survivors insurance program of the Social Security Act and under the Federal Employees' Compensation Act. For

the purpose of social security contributions and Federal Employees' Compensation Act benefits the wages of trainees are deemed to be $200 a month in order to add to the cash wage a factor representing the value of perquisites furnished the trainees.

Senator CLARK. I also ask that we put in the record at the outset a speech by Professor Conant, former president of Harvard University, on problems arising from unemployed youth, particularly in our major cities. The speech was delivered at a major conference sponsored by the National Committee for Children and Youth in Washington on May 29.

(The speech referred to follows:)

SOCIAL DYNAMITE IN OUR LARGE CITIES

(By James B. Conant)

I appreciate the opportunity of serving as keynote speaker and chairman of this workshop Conference on Unemployed, Out-of-School Youth in Urban Areas sponsored by the National Committee for Children and Youth. It is a sobering responsibility. I make this statement principally because I am convinced that the problem you ladies and gentlemen are here to discuss poses a serious threat to our free society. I submit that the existence in the slums of our large cities of thousands of youth ages 16-21 who are both out of school and out of work is an explosive situation. It is social dynamite.

In preparation for this conference, a few special studies were conducted in slum areas of large cities to find out what the facts really were. In a slum section composed almost entirely of Negroes in one of our largest cities the following situation was found: A total of 59 percent of the male youth between the ages of 16 and 21 were out of school and unemployed. They were roaming the streets. Of the boys who graduated from high school, 48 percent were unemployed in contrast to 63 percent of the boys who had dropped out of school. In short, two-thirds of the male dropouts did not have jobs and about half of the high school graduates did not have jobs. In such a situation, a pupil may well ask why bother to stay in school when graduation for half the boys opens onto a dead-end street?

An even worse state of affairs was found in another special study in a different city. In a slum area of 125,000 people, mostly Negro, a sampling of the youth population shows that, roughly, 70 percent of the boys and girls ages 16-21 are out of school and unemployed. When one stops to consider that the total population in this district is equal to that of a good-sized independent city, the magnitude of the problem is appalling and the challenge to our society is clear.

I do not have to remind this audience of the fact that the fate of freedom in the world hangs very much in balance. Our success against the spread of communism in no small measure depends upon the successful operation of our own free society. To my mind, there is no question that a healthy body politic necessitates a sound economy and high employment. The history of communism shows that it feeds upon discontented, frustrated, unemployed people. The present unemployment rate, nationwide, is roughly 7 percent for all age brackets, but unemployment among youth under 20 years of age is 20 percent, or four times greater than the nationwide rate for all workers. These young people are my chief concern, especially when they are pocketed together in large numbers within the confines of the big-city slums. What can words like "freedom," "liberty," and "equality of opportunity" mean to these young people? With what kind of zeal and dedication can we expect them to withstand the relentless pressures of communism? How well prepared are they to face the struggle that shows no signs of abating?

In a slum area where over half the male youth are unemployed and out of school we are allowing a grave danger to the stability of our society to develop. A youth who has dropped out of school and never has had a full-time job is not likely to become a constructive citizen of his community. Quite the contrary. As a frustrated individual, he is likely to be antisocial and rebellious. Some of this group of youth will end as juvenile delinquents. No one would claim that providing full employment for youth in the large cities would automatically banish juvenile delinquency, for we all realize that the causes

of this problem are complex and there is no one solution. However, I suggest that full employment would have a highly salutary effect. Moreover, I offer the following hypothesis for professional social workers and sociologists to demolish; namely, that the correlation between desirable social attitudes (including attitudes of youth) and job opportunities are far higher than between the former and housing conditions, as measured by plumbing facilities, heating, and space per family.

Leaving juvenile delinquency aside, the existence of gangs of unemployed out-of-school youth in some neighborhoods of our large cities creates social problems acute enough by themselves. The adverse influence of the "street" is largely a consequence of the existence of these gangs. I doubt if anyone familiar with a slum district would deny that, if all the male youth by some miracle were to find employment, the social climate would change dramatically for the better. Some juvenile delinquents would remain; gangs might not wholly disappear, but the whole attitude of the neighborhood would alter in such a way as to make more effective the teacher in every classroom. Unemployment is bad anywhere. Adult unemployment is grievous because it usually involves the loss of support for an entire family. In rural areas, towns, and small cities, one might say that solving the unemployment of adults has the top priority; unemployment of youth may be pushed aside by some people as relatively unimportant. But in the slums of the largest cities, I would say, the drastic reduction of unemployment of male youth under age 21 is a greater need.

Consider for a moment the longrun consequence of persistent failure of underprivileged youth to find work. Leaving aside the human tragedies involved in each individual instance and looking at the matter solely in terms of the welfare of our free society, one sees the special position of the largecity slums. The boys brought up in slum neighborhoods, even if they came to the big city from the country as children, are conditioned to street life with all that this life implies. Out of work and out of school since they turned 16, these youth behave in ways that may have serious political consequences; similar behavior of youth in smaller cities would be far less serious. It is a matter of geography in the last analysis. Three factors are significant: First, the total size of the group of youth to whom I am referring-the larger the group, the more dangerous; second, the density of the population-the number of frustrated youth per block; third, the isolation of the inhabitants from other kinds of people and other sorts of streets and houses.

If one compares the slum areas in the largest cities with similar districts in small cities, the difference as regards those three factors is clearly evident. The youth in the big-city slums dwells in the midst of a mammoth social complex. The surrounding city extends for blocks and blocks. The business and industrial areas hem in the impoverished youth. In the case of the Negro, added to all the negative influences of a slum is the absence of any evidence that there is a pathway out. In spite of the high mobility of the family unit or perhaps because of it, a tone is set by constant talk and the prevailing attitude of the older people. And the tone is not one to encourage education or stimulate ambition. The unemployed floaters on the street are walking evidence to all the youth that nothing can be accomplished through education, that the door of the neighborhood schoolhouse indeed opens on a dead-end street. Let me emphasize that, in my opinion, there is no reason why this should be the case. I know there are those who maintain that, on the average, Negro children are inferior to white children in academic ability. I have seen no evidence to support any such contention. In considering the relative abilities of whites and Negroes, let us examine the situation in an all-white slum in a city of considerable size. A careful study of a group of children in grade 4 of one such school showed that their average achievement level was a full year below their grade placement—a typical situation in any slum area.

What the teachers in this school have to contend with is shown by a report from the principal. Perhaps the greatest handicap to good schoolwork is the high mobility of the white population in the area. In this school mobility is very high; it is not uncommon in similar schools to have a turnover of the entire enrollment in one school year.

The principal writes, "When a residential area composed of large, old homes formerly occupied by owners and single family groups changes, economically and socially, conditions of general deterioration begin. Absentee owners rent the property by single rooms or small so-called apartments of two or three rooms