1961
Community Health Services and Facilities Act of 1961
H.R. 4998— Public Law 87-395, approved October 5, 1961
This measure expands and improves community health servicesand facilities for the health care of the aged and other persons by—
Increasing the availability, scope, and quality of community health services and facilities to assist in meeting the health needs of the chronically ill and aged;
Increasing and expanding research to more effectively develop and utilize hospitals and other medical care facilities;
Continuing grants to assist in the objectives of health research facilities.
To accomplish the above objectives, this act—
Increases from $30 million to $50 million, for each of the next 5 years, the appropriation authorization for matching grants-in-aid to States to assist them in expanding their public health services for the chronically ill and aged.
Authorizes through June 30, 1966, up to $10 million annually in special project grants to public and nonprofit organizations for studies, experiments, and demonstrations of new or improved methods of providing health services outside hospitals, primarily for chronically ill or aged persons.
Increases for 3 years the annual appropriation authorization, from $10 million to $20 million, for grants-in-aid to States to construct public and other nonprofit nursing homes under the Hill-Burton program.
Liberalizes the eligibility criteria of rehabilitation centers for construction assistance under the Hill-Burton program, by requiring that, rehabilitation centers, to qualify for Federal assistance, need to provide for medical services and either psychological, social, or vocational services. (Under existing law, all four are required.)
Amends the Hill-Burton Act to extend to June 30, 1964, the authorization for loans for construction of hospitals and other medical facilities.
Increases the annual appropriation ceiling for hospital research grants from $1,200,000 to $10 million, extends the program to medical facilities other than hospitals, and authorizes appropriations for grants for constructing and equipping experimental or demonstration hospitals and other medical facilities.
Amends the authority of the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service to make non-matching grants for constructing health research facilities by permitting it to expire June 30, 1962.
Extends for an additional 1 year, until June 30, 1963, the matching grant program for constructing health research facilities, and increases the authorization from $30 million to $50 million a year.
Practical Nurse Training
S. 278— Public Law 87-22, approved April 24, 1961
Recognizing the essential role of practical nursing in aiding the ill, Congress extended the 1956 act for another 3 years (making a total of 8) providing Federal assistance on a matching basis for vocational education training programs for practical nurses.
Up to 1956, there had been similar programs in the fields of agriculture, home economics, trades and industry, distributive occupations, and fishing which have proved highly successful through the years.
An innovation in the present bill is that Congress has agreed to include Guam as a participant under the act. At present all of the States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands have practical nurse programs in operation-increasing from 7,000 participants in 1957 to 40,000 in 1960.
The limit set for Federal grants in the nursing program is $5 million which must be matched by the participating State.
Water Pollution Control
H.R. 6441— Public Law 87-88, approved July 20, 1961
Congress, as a part of the President's natural resources program, enacted the Federal Water Pollution Control Amendments of 1961 which would—
Increase the existing $50 million in annual authorization for Federal grants to assist communities in constructing sewage treatment plants to $80 million for fiscal 1962, $90 million for fiscal 1963 and $100 million for each of the fiscal years 1964-67, retaining the requirement that 50 percent of the grants be used for communities with populations of 125,000 or less.
Limit individual construction grants to 30 percent of the estimated cost of building the sewage treatment plant, or to $600,000, whichever is smaller.
Authorize construction of joint sewage treatment projects serving more than one municipality, with $2.4 million set as the maximum Federal grant for the multiproject.
Bar the approval of any construction grant exceeding $250,000 in any State until all applications filed prior to 1 year following the effective date of the act had been either approved or rejected.
Authorize the reallocation of construction grant funds not obligated within 18 months after allocation and permit the Secretary to use the uncommitted allocation to increase aid to a project within the State where pollution occurred because of Federal activities.
Increase annual Federal matching grants to States for the administration of water pollution control programs from $3 million to $5 million, extended the program for 7 years through June 30, 1968, and directs the States by July 1, 1962, to list the criteria used in determining the priority of projects.
Extend Federal pollution abatement authority to all interstate and navigable waters in or adjacent to any State or States whether the matter causing or contributing to the pollution is discharged directly into such waters or reaches such waters after discharge into a tributary of such waters.
Authorize the Secretary of HEW, in cases of intrastate pollution, to conduct investigations and make recommendations on abatement only at the request of the State Governor.
Authorize the Secretary, in cases of intrastate pollution, to request the Attorney General to bring suit on behalf of the United States to secure abatement where his previous instructions had not been carried out, but he must obtain the consent of the Governor of the State involved in cases of intrastate pollution.
Authorize $5 million annually with a total limitation of $25 million, to develop new methods of sewage treatment.
Authorize the establishment of water pollution demonstration and research facilities and require that at least one laboratory be located in each of the following areas: Northeast, Middle Atlantic, Southeast, Midwest, Southwest, Pacific Northwest and Alaska.
Remove the $100,000 annual limitation on research fellowships granted by HEW, but require an annual report by the Secretary to the appropriate committee of Congress on the operation of the program.
1962
Air Pollution Control Study
S. 455— Public Law 87-761, approved October 9, 1962
Extends to June 30, 1966, and authorizes up to $5 million a year in appropriations for a continuation of the present study being conducted by the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service and the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, in conjunction with various State agencies into the causes, effects, and ways to abate air pollution.
American Hospitals of Paris
H.R. 11996— Public Law 87-673, approved September 19, 1962
Grants perpetual succession to the American Hospital of Paris.
The American Hospital of Paris was incorporated by an act of Congress in 1913. The purpose of the corporation was to establish, maintain, and conduct in the city of Paris a hospital to furnish medical and surgical aid and care to the citizens of the United States of America. For some 50 years the hospital has administered to the American community in France and to Americans traveling in Europe. Since World War II it has provided medical services to the U.S. Army in Europe.
The hospital is a nonprofit institution. It receives no subsidy from any government. Its income is derived from charges to patients, donations, and the return on its endowment.
The charter which Congress granted in 1913 was for a period of 50 years, expiring January 30, 1963. This legislation amends the charter of the American Hospital of Paris to give it perpetual succession.
Drug Industry Act of 1962
S. 1552— Public Law 87-781, approved October 10, 1962
As enacted into public law this bill would—
Extend the period the Food and Drug Administration has for acting on a manufacturer's application to market a new drug; broaden FDA's powers to inspect drug factories and require every plant to be registered.
Authorize FDA to seize products from any drug plant where unsanitary conditions are found or where current good manufacturing practice was not followed.
Require prescription drug advertising and labels to carry the generic name of the drug in type at least half as large as the brand name.
Require FDA to pass not only on the safety of drugs but also on claims for their effectiveness.
Empower the Secretary of HEW to decide on official names of drugs when the industry is unable to agree.
Require manufacturers to keep records on their experience with new drugs.
Extend present Federal certification controls on certain antibiotic drugs to cover all antibiotics.
Provide for cooperation between the Patent office and HEW on questions relating to drug patents.
Provide that regulations may include provisions for adequate tests in animals before a new drug may be distributed by manufacturer for testing and evaluation of its effects on humans.
Require regulations to have due regard for interests of the patients as well as the professional ethics of the medical profession.
In signing the bill, President Kennedy said:
I am pleased to approve this bill, which is designed to provide safer and more effective drugs to the American consumer. Enactment of this legislation will help give the American consumer the protection from unsafe and ineffective drugs. It will also insure that our pharmaceutical industry will be even better equipped to provide us with the best possible drugs to be found anywhere.
The Congress is to be congratulated in moving so quickly. Fortunately, prior to the revelation of the dangers posed by drugs like thalidomide the foundation for legislative action on drugs had been laid down in exhaustive hearings conducted by Senator Kefauver and others who introduced the present bill in its first version and in legislative proposal on drugs and factor inspection introduced in the House by Congressman Harris.
I believe that enactment of this legislation is a major step forward toward giving necessary protection to the American consumer.
National Institutes of Health
H.R. 11099— Public Law 87-838, approved September 16, 1962
Authorized an Institute of Child Health and Human Development to be established and elevated to Institute status the existing Division of General Medical Sciences.
Clarified existing project grant language to specifically include research training projects as well as research projects, and clarified the Surgeon General's authority to appoint advisory committees for reviewing applications for grants for research or research training projects.
This measure also extends for 3 years the present program for construction facilities to be used in research in the sciences relating to health.
The newly authorized Institute for Child Health and Human Development is to coordinate programs of the present disease category Institutes in the fields of child health and the various stages of human development and to stimulate new interest and effort in these research areas.
Vaccination Assistance Act of 1962
H.R. 10541— Public Law 87-868, approved October 23, 1962
Authorized a 3 year program of special project grants to States and, with State approval, to local communities to pay part of the cost of intensive vaccination programs against four contagious diseases--polio, diphtheria, whooping cough, and tetanus.
Grants totaling $36 million over the 3 year period will be used to hire extra State and local health personnel and to buy vaccine for children under 5 years of age.
1963
Clean Air Act
H.R. 6518— Public Law 88-206, approved December 17, 1963
Replaces the existing Air Pollution Control Act to provide a greatly expanded national effort to control air pollution through research, establishment of pollution and control agencies and legal action to halt existing causes of pollution brought about by urbanization, industrial development, and the increasing use of motor vehicles. Encourages cooperative activities by State and local governments and authorizes Federal participation.
Authorizes compilation and publication of criteria reflecting accurately the latest scientific knowledge indicating the type and extent of effects which may be expected from the presence of air pollutants.
Authorizes grants to air pollution control agencies to develop, and specifies that grants to air pollution agencies cannot exceed 20 percent of total funds authorized.
Authorizes grants up to two-thirds of the cost of developing, establishing, and improving air pollution control programs to air pollution control agencies, and up to three-fourths of such costs to inter-municipal or interstate air pollution control agencies.
Directs the Secretary of HEW to encourage continued efforts on the part of the automotive and fuel industries to prevent pollutants from being discharged from the exhaust of vehicles.
Authorizes the establishment of a technical committee to evaluate progress in the development of automotive pollution control devices and fuels, and to develop and recommend research programs for this purpose.
Authorizes $95 million for fiscal years 1964 through 1967 to carry out the purposes of the act.
In signing this Act, President Johnson said:
I am glad to approved this legislation which is to be known as the Clean Air Act. It will make possible a national effort to control air pollution, a serious and growing threat to both our health and our safety. Ninety percent of the population of our cities, over 100 million people, already suffer from a degree of air pollution that demands immediate action.
There are over 6,000 communities which need assistance. This act will permit expanded research, foster cooperative efforts among the States, provide better State and Federal control over pollution. The Federal Government will encourage industry to seek effective solutions to problems of pollution and organize cooperative projects with local, State, and Federal participation.
Now, under this legislation, we can halt the trend toward greater contamination of our atmosphere. We can seek to control industrial waste discharged into the air. We can find the ways to eliminate dangerous haze and smog. All of us are very grateful to Congressman Roberts, to Senator Ribicoff, Senator Muskie, to the chairmen of the Senate and House committees, Senator McNamara and Congressman Harris, and to all of their colleagues in both the House and the Senate who developed and guided this important bill through the Congress. They truly can be proud of the efforts they made and the achievements that resulted.
If we keep getting bills down here like the education and the pollution bill, I am going to have to take new bids on pens to see if we cannot increase the budget by getting cheaper pens.
Health Benefit Plans
H.R. 1819— Public Law 88-59, approved July 8, 1963
Amends the Federal Employees Health Benefits Act to provide additional choice of health plans for Government employees.
Maternal-Child Health and Mental Retardation
H.R. 7544— Public Law 88-156, approved October 24, 1963
Amends the Social Security Act to assist States and communities in preventing and combating mental retardation through expansion and improvement of maternal and child health and crippled children's programs, through provision of prenatal, maternity, and infant care for individuals with conditions associated with childbearing which may lead to mental retardation, and through planning for comprehensive action to combat mental retardation.
Specifically the bill would—
Increase appropriation authorization for grants to the States for maternal and child health services to $30 million for fiscal 1964, $35 million for fiscal 1965, $40 million each for fiscal 1966 and 1967, $45 million each for fiscal 1968 and 1969, and $50 million for each succeeding fiscal year. (Under existing law the authorized appropriation was $25 million for each fiscal year.)
Increase appropriation authorizations for grants to the States for crippled children's services to $30 million for fiscal 1964, $35 million for fiscal 1965, $40 million each for fiscal 1966 and 1967, $45 million each for fiscal 1968 and 1969, and $50 million for each succeeding fiscal year. (Under existing law the authorized appropriation was $25 million for each fiscal year.)
Establish a 5 year program of project grants to assist in reducing the incidence of mental retardation caused by complications associated with childbearing.
Authorizes appropriations of $5 million for fiscal 1964, $15 million for fiscal 1965, and $30 million for fiscal 1966, 1967, and 1968 for grants to assist in meeting project costs.
Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to a State health agency or to the health agency of any political subdivision of the State to pay up to 75 percent of the cost of projects for necessary health care to prospective mothers who qualify for such services.
Authorize appropriations, up to $8 million a year, for grants to or jointly financed cooperative arrangements with public or other nonprofit institutions of higher learning, and public or other nonprofit agencies and organizations engaged in research or in programs in the field of maternal and child health or crippled children, and for contracts with nonprofit public or private agencies and organizations engaged in research or such programs for research projects relating to maternal and child health services and crippled children's services which show promise of substantial contribution.
Authorize an appropriation of $2.2 million to assist States to plant for an take other steps leading to comprehensive State and community action to combat mental retardation.
On signing H.R. 7544, President Kennedy stated:
It gives me great pleasure to approve this bill, the Mills-Ribicoff bill, which strengthens our maternal and child health and crippled children services. It will initiate a new program of comprehensive maternity and infant care, aimed directly at preventing mental retardation. It will help arouse local communities to a major attack on the problems of mental retardation.
An estimated 15 to 20 million people in our country live in families where there is a mentally retarded person who must accept support of some kind throughout his entire life. This condition affects more of our children and more of our people than blindness, cerebral palsy, and rheumatic heart disease combined.
Studies indicate that much of this suffering is preventable that we can prevent what cannot afterwards be cured. Infants born prematurely are 10 times more likely to be mentally retarded. Mothers who have not received adequate prenatal care are two to three times more likely to give birth to premature babies. Yet, in 132 large cities, studies have shown that an estimated 455,000 mothers are unable to pay for health care during pregnancy and after birth. This bill will help insure that no child need be born retarded for such reasons, which are wholly in our control.
I am encouraged by the speed with which the State governments are acting to take advantage of the opportunity provided by this law to establish comprehensive plans for community action against mental retardation. About half of the States are already in a position to implement the planning grants made possible by the law, and I am confident that the other half will soon be in a similar position.
Enactment of this legislation is, therefore, an important landmark in our drive to eliminate one of the major health hazards affecting mankind. We can say with some assurance that, although children may be the victims of fate, they will not be victims of our neglect.
Medical Care for Fishing Boat Owners
S. 978— Passed Senate May 28; pending in House Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee
Restores to self-employed U.S. fishermen eligibility for medical care in hospitals, outpatient clinics, and other medical facilities of the Public Health Service in the event of illness or injury incurred while engaged in their hazardous and essential occupation. Such eligibility existed from 1798 to 1954.
An administrative ruling in 1954 differentiated between wage-earning fishermen and their coworkers who held ownership or part ownership in the craft from which they fished. Under this ruling medical benefits were retained for the former but denied to the self-employed, although both risk the same disabling misfortunes and perils at sea.
Medical School Bill
H.R. 12— Public Law 88-129, approved September 24, 1963
Authorizes a 3 year (fiscal 196466) $175 million program of matching grants for construction of teaching facilities to train physicians, dentists, nurses, and professional public health personnel as well as pharmacists, optometrists, and podiatrists. In addition, the bill authorizes loans for students of medicine, dentistry, and osteopathy enrolled within a 3year period, which will extend into 6 years at a total estimated cost of $61.4 million.
Specific provisions are:
Construction grants for facilities.Authorizes a total of $175 million for the 3 year matching grant program to be allocated as follows:
One hundred and five million dollars for the 3 fiscal years to construct new teaching facilities for physicians, osteopaths, pharmacists, optometrists, podiatrists, nurses, or professional public health personnel. Of this amount not more than $15 million will be available for fiscal 1964 and not more than $35 million for fiscal 1965.
Thirty-five million dollars for the 3 year period to construct new teaching facilities to train dentists; however, not more than $5 million will be available for fiscal 1964 and $20 million for fiscal 1965.
Thirty-five million dollars for the 3year period for replacement or rehabilitation of existing medical and dental teaching facilities; however, fiscal 1964 is limited to $5 million and fiscal 1965 to $20 million.
Authorizes transfer of funds among the above categories for fiscal 1964 subject to the overall ceilings for the 3year period.
Requires that applications for construction grants be submitted to the Surgeon General before July 1, 1965.
Specifies that an applicant must be a public or other nonprofit school which is accredited by a recognized body approved by the Commissioner of Education and that an applicant may be a hospital affiliated with a medical school or school of osteopathy. Limits assistance to hospitals to teaching facilities, an increased training capacity, or to prevent curtailment of enrollment or deterioration in the quality of instruction. Requires the Surgeon General to determine the facility will be used for not less than 10 years for the purposes for which constructed, that sufficient funds will be available to pay the non-federal share of the cost of construction and for operation after construction. Also requires the applicant to furnish reasonable assurance that for each of the first 10 years after expansion of an existing school enrollment will exceed the highest first-year enrollment at the school during any of the 5 years preceding the application by at least 5 percent or by five students, whichever is greater.
Requires that grants for new medical and dental school facilities be made only to expand a school's training capacity and grants for replacement or rehabilitation to prevent a substantial curtailment of enrollment or quality of training.
Requires the construction to meet minimum standards and that prevailing wages be paid laborers or mechanics employed on the job.
Provides that a grant may not be approved for construction of a hospital, diagnostic or treatment center unless an application has been made under the Hill-Burton program and denied for lack of priority or lack of funds from the State's allotments under that program.
Requires the Surgeon General to consider geographical distribution, population, and the availability of facilities and health personnel.
Limits Federal grants to one-half of construction costs but allows payment up to two-thirds for a project which would provide a major expansion of training capacity and up to three-quarters for public health facilities.
Permits recapture of payments if within 10 years after completion the facility ceases to be used for teaching purposes or if the facility is used for sectarian instruction or as a place for religious worship.
Establishes an 18 member National Advisory Council on Education for Health Professions to advise the Surgeon General on policy matters and in the review of applications under this program.
Prohibits any Federal direction, supervision, or control over, personnel, curriculum, methods of instruction, or administration of any institutions. Authorizes the Surgeon General to prescribe general regulations and to provide technical assistance and consulting services to State or interstate planning agencies.
Student loans.— Authorizes a 3 year (fiscal 196466) loan program to students of medicine, dentistry, and osteopathy to be administered by individual schools required to put up 10 percent of the funds loaned. Loans repayable within 10 years beginning 3 years after graduation. Rate of interest will be 3 percent a year or the "going Federal rate" on the basis of market prices of long-term Federal obligations, whichever is higher. Limited loans to $2,000 per student a year. Authorized $30,700,000 for the loans: $5,100,000 for fiscal 1964; $10,200,000 for fiscal 1965, and $15,400,000 for fiscal 1966. Authorized appropriations for fiscal year ending June 30, 1967, and for the next 2 fiscal years in the amounts necessary to provide funds for loans to students who have received loans for any academic year ending before July 1, 1966, in order to permit these students to continue or complete their education. Estimated cost for the 6year period is $61.4 million.
President Kennedy, in signing the bill, stated:
It gives me great satisfaction to approve the Health Professions Educational Assistance Act of 1963, the culmination of 14 years of effort by many devoted and dedicated citizens. The construction of urgently needed facilities for training physicians, dentists, nurses, and other professional health personnel can now begin. More talented but needy students will now be able to undertake the long and expensive training for careers in medicine, dentistry, and osteopathy.
With the accelerated national effort initiated by this act, better use will be made of the wealth of new medical knowledge now being gathered in research laboratories throughout the land to maintain and improve the health of our growing population. We will be able to provide to those most frequently in need of medical care--the aged, the chronically ill, the mentally ill, and the mentally retarded--more of the kind of attention that modern medicine makes possible.
The measures authorized by this Act cannot accomplish all the goals we have envisioned. But it is a good beginning, a firm foundation on which to build in the future. The legislative history of the Act makes it clear that the intent was to inaugurate a program of action which can be reevaluated after a suitable period of time. This will enable the Congress to consider further measures after some experience with the program has accumulated.
I would like to sign this act because it is one of the most significant health measures passed by the Congress in recent years.
Medical Student Loans
S. 2220— Passed Senate December 9; pending in House Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee
Amends the Public Health Service Act to permit cancellation of up to 10 percent of student loans to physicians and dentists if they practice in a shortage area so designated by the appropriate State health authority for periods up to 5 years. In addition to the maximum 10 percent figure, accrued interest may also be canceled.
Mental Health Program
S. 1576— Public Law 88164, approved October 31, 1963
Authorized a 4year, $329 million mental health program of grants to States and private and public institutions for construction of centers connected with universities and affiliated hospitals for research into the causes of mental retardation and facilities for treatment of such cases; for construction of community centers for care and treatment of mental patients; and for training of teachers of mentally retarded, mentally ill, and handicapped children.
Major provisions are:
Construction of Research Centers and Facilities for the Mentally Retarded
Authorizes $26 million over the 4year period beginning July 1, 1963, for project grants to pay for a maximum of 75 percent of the costs of constructing research centers that would develop new knowledge for preventing and combating mental retardation.
Authorized $32.5 million over the 4year period beginning July 1, 1963, for project grants to pay for a maximum of 75 percent of the costs of constructing college or university associated facilities for the mentally retarded.
Authorizes $67.5 million over the 4year period beginning July 1, 1964, for formula grants to be allocated among the States to pay 45 to 75 percent of the costs of constructing public and other nonprofit facilities for the care of the mentally retarded.
Construction of Mental Health Centers
Authorizes $150 million during the 3year period beginning July 1, 1964, for formula grants to be allocated among the States to pay 33 1/3 to 66 2/3 percent of the costs of constructing public and other nonprofit community mental health centers.
Training of Teachers of Mentally Retarded and Other Handicapped Children
Authorizes $47 million over the 3 years beginning July 1, 1963, to extend and strengthen the existing programs for training teachers of mentally retarded children and deaf children and to expand these programs to include the training of teachers of other handicapped children such as the visually handicapped, the speech impaired, and the emotionally disturbed. This expanded program will be pointed toward providing more classroom teachers for all handicapped children.
Authorizes $6 million over the 3 years beginning July 1, 1963, to finance grants for research or demonstration projects relating to the education of the handicapped.
On signing the bill into law, President Kennedy stated:
I am delighted to approve this bill. It will make possible the major attack on the problems of mental retardation and mental health.
Last week I approved the bill to extend the programs of maternal and child health to enable us to overcome a major cause of retardation, lack of adequate care before birth and during infancy.
This bill will expand our knowledge, provide research facilities to determine the cause of retardation, establish university related diagnostic treatment clinics and permit the construction of community centers for the care of the retarded. For the first time, parents and children will have available comprehensive facilities to diagnose and either cure or treat mental retardation. For the first time there will be research centers capable of putting together teams of experts working in many different fields. For the first time, State and Federal Governments and voluntary organizations will be able to coordinate their manpower and facilities in a single effort to cure and treat this condition.
Today, we cannot even identify the cause of retardation in 75 percent of the cases. Under this legislation, research in the life sciences will be encouraged and, in a few years, we can look confidently forward to knowing enough about mental retardation to prevent it in most cases.
I am informed that the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development has already taken preliminary steps to implement the program. Dr. Aldrich, Director of the Institute, will shortly call together some 50 distinguished scientists from the United States and other nations to plant the direction which research relating to premature birth should take. Premature birth has been identified as a factor closely connected with many cases of mental retardation, but no one yet knows what factors induce labor. With the help of the best minds of the world, and under the authority of this legislation, we are optimistic about the possibility of finding out the causes of premature birth.
Other parts of the bill are equally significant. Under this legislation, custodial mental institutions will be replaced by therapeutic centers. It should be possible, within a decade or two, to reduce the number of patients in mental institutions by 50 percent or more. The new law provides the tools with which we can accomplish this.
But no law providing facilities can be effective so long as there is a persistent and nationwide shortage of qualified personnel to instruct the handicapped. Title III of the bill helps cure that deficiency. There are today about 5 million handicapped children in need of special education. Two hundred thousand teachers are needed, but there are only about 60,000 available. Under this legislation, steps will be taken to educate more teachers for the handicapped.
I am glad to announce at this time that we are establishing a new division in the U.S. Office of Education to administer the teaching and research program under the act. This will be called the Division of Handicapped Children and Youth, and will be headed by Dr. Samuel Kirk, who is now professor of education and psychology and director of the Institute of Research on Exceptional Children at the University of Illinois. He will bring the kind of leadership, experience, and wisdom we need to meet the challenges the many problems present.
The Nation owes a debt of gratitude to all who have made this legislation possible. It was said, in an earlier age, that the mind of a man is a far country which can neither be approached nor explored. But, today, under present conditions of scientific achievement, it will be possible for a nation as rich in human and material resources as ours to make the remote reaches of the mind accessible. The mentally ill and the mentally retarded need no longer be alien to our affections or beyond the help of our communities.
Physically Handicapped— Employment
Senate Joint Resolution 103— Passed Senate November 20; pending in House Education and Labor Committee
Increases the authorization for appropriations for the President's Committee on Employment of the Handicapped from $300,000 a year to $400,000 in order to finance the expanding work of the Committee in behalf of job opportunities for the mentally restored, the mentally retarded, and the increasing numbers of physically handicapped being rehabilitated for employment.
Water Pollution Control
S. 649— Passed Senate October 16; pending in House Public Works Committee
Passage of bill vesting authority to establish purity standards for interstate water and authorizing $80 million in new grants to help States and localities develop new methods of separating combined stormwater and sewage-carrying sewer systems.
Specifically the bill—
Establishes a Federal Water Pollution Control Administration within the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare and provides for an Assistant Secretary to supervise and direct the administration of the program.
Expresses as the act's purpose to enhance the quality and value of our water resources and to establish a national policy to prevent, control, and abate water pollution.
Authorizes research and development grants in the amount of 50 percent of the estimated reasonable cost of projects which will demonstrate new or improved methods of controlling discharge of untreated or inadequately treated sewage or other wastes from sewers into any waters. Increases appropriations from $100 to $120 million for fiscal year 1964 and for each of the next 3 succeeding fiscal years and earmarked to new funds for demonstration grants. Limits a grant for any single project to 5 percent of the total amount authorized for any 1 fiscal year.
Increases the dollar ceiling limitations on individual grants for construction of waste treatment works from $600,000 to $1 million for a single project and from $2,400,000 to $4 million for a joint project involving two or more communities.
Authorizes an additional 10 percent in the amount of a grant for construction of waste treatment works for a project certified as conforming with a comprehensive plan developed or in process of development for a metropolitan area.
Authorizes application of enforcement measures to abate pollution when a person is prevented from marketing shellfish or shellfish products in interstate commerce as a result of such pollution and action of Federal, State, or local authorities.
Authorizes the Secretary to prepare and to encourage development of regulations establishing standards of water quality to be applicable to interstate waters.
Provides that discharges of matter into waters of the United States from Federal installations will be controlled under permits administered by the Secretary.
Establishes a procedure to evaluate progress in developing decomposable detergents so they will not cause or contribute to pollution of surface or underground waters; to develop standards of decomposability for such detergents; and to authorize promulgation of standards at such time as detergents conforming to the proposed standards of decomposability are generally available to the manufacturers of detergents.
Provides for accountability of financial assistance furnished under the act.