Mr. FULBRIGHT, from the Committee on Foreign Relations, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany S. 1973] The Committee on Foreign Relations, having had under consideration S. 1973, a bill to extend the validity of the passport to 3 years, reports that bill favorably and recommends that it do pass. BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE S. 1973 was introduced by Senator Javits on May 19, 1959, and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations. On July 13 of this year the committee held public hearings on a number of passport bills, including S. 1973. On August 11, 1959, the committee gave further consideration to S. 1973 in executive session and ordered it favorably reported. S. 1973 would increase from 2 to 3 years the period of time for which a new passport is valid. Existing law permits renewal of passports for periods up to 2 additional years, and S. 1973 would also increase from 4 to 5 years the maximum period of validity, including such renewal period. DEPARTMENT OF STATE'S VIEWS The Department of State, in a letter of July 6, 1959, to the chairman, stated that it favored the measure. During the hearing on July 13, the Deputy Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Robert Murphy, reaffirmed the Department's position and, in advising enactment of S. 1973 into law, said: This proposal is in general accord with the recommendations of the Randall report to the President on international travel. This extension of the life of the passport would be of considerable benefit to the traveling public and, of course, would cut down on the workload of the passport office. Moreover, the 3-year period of original validity and the COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION The committee has received no indications of any opposition to the bill. It does have the support of private organizations interested in the promotion of travel abroad. The committee believes that passage of S. 1973 will facilitate travel abroad by American citizens and that it will result in a lighter burden for the Passport Office of the Department of State. For the above reasons, the committee recommends that S. 1973 receive the Senate's approval. CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW In compliance with subsection (4) of rule XXIX of the Standing Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new matter is printed in italic, existing law in which no change is proposed is shown in roman): AN ACT OF JULY 3, 1926, To REGULATE THE ISSUE AND VALIDITY OF PASSPORTS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES, AS AMENDED Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SEC. 2. The validity of a passport or passport visé shall be limited to a period [of two years] of three years: Provided, That a passport may be renewed under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of State for a period, not to exceed two years, upon payment of a fee of $5 for such renewal, but the final date of expiration shall not be more than [four years] five years from the original date of issue: Provided further, That the Secretary of State may limit the validity of a passport, passport visé, or the period of renewal of a passport to less than two years: Provided further, That the charge for the issue of an original passport shall be $9. O Mr. FULBRIGHT, from the Committee on Foreign Relations, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany S. 2065] The Committee on Foreign Relations, having had under consideration S. 2065, a bill to amend Public Law 85-880, and for other purposes, and having considered the same, report S. 2065, with amendments, and recommend that it do pass. 1. MAIN PURPOSE S. 2065, with the committee amendments, will make the following changes in the present law: (1) the name of the fair is changed from "World Science-Pan Pacific Exposition" to "Century 21 Exposition"; (2) the authority to incur expenses is clarified; (3) the authority to hire consultants at not to exceed $50 per diem is granted; (4) such sums as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of the act are authorized to be appropriated; and (5) 6% acres or more of land will be conveyed to the United States in fee simple and, in the design and construction of a building or buildings to be erected on this land to house the U.S. exhibit, consideration will be given to their utility for governmental purposes and needs after the close of the exposition. 2. BACKGROUND Public Law 85-880, approved September 2, 1958, to provide for participation of the United States in the World Science-Pan Pacific Exposition to be held at Seattle, Wash., in 1961, and for other purposes, authorized the President, through an executive department or independent agency designated by him, to cooperate with the Washington State World Fair Commission and to recommend the extent to which the United States should be a participant and an exhibitor at the World Science-Pan Pacific Exposition. The President was also authorized to invite the several States of the Union and foreign countries to take part in the exposition, provided that no Communist de facto government holding any people of the Pacific rim in subjugation be invited to attend. Finally, the President was directed to report to Congress in 1959 with respect to (1) the most effective manner of representation of the United States at the exposition, taking into account the avoidance of undue competition among governments, and (2) the amount of appropriations which would be necessary to accomplish such representation. This report was submitted to the Congress by the President on May 21, 1959, and on May 28 a letter was received from the Under Secretary of Commerce, transmitting a draft of proposed legislation. The report and letter are printed in the appendix of this report. 8. COMMITTEE ACTION Senator Magnuson (for himself and Senator Jackson) introduced S. 2065 on May 28, 1959. At a public hearing on June 16, 1959, the committee heard the following witnesses in support of the bill: Senator Jackson, Senator Magnuson, the Honorable Frederick H. Mueller, then Under Secretary of Commerce, and Francis D. Miller, Deputy Commissioner, Century 21 Exposition. Further consideration was postponed until an executive session on July 21, 1959, at which time the committee decided to obtain testimony from the General Services Administration with respect to Federal control over the design and future disposition of any buildings to be erected with Federal funds. Such testimony was given in public session on July 28, 1959, by the Honorable Franklin Floete, Administrator, General Services Administration. On August 11, 1959, the committee by a vote of 11 to 2 agreed to report the bill favorably to the Senate with amendments. A similar bill, H.R. 8374, was reported to the House on August 3, 1959. 4. COST In the report submitted by the President, the costs to the Federal Government are estimated as follows: The committee gave serious consideration to amending the bill so as to provide for the appropriation of not to exceed $12,500,000 instead of "such sums as may be necessary." In the end it decided against such action in view of the amendment proposed in section 2 to section 3, clause (3) of the existing law, which is discussed below. 5. CONVEYANCE OF LAND AND ERECTION OF BUILDINGS The committee devoted considerable attention to the question of ownership of the land and the design and future use of any buildings to be erected on this land. Public Law 85-880 provided authority to erect such buildings and other structures as may be necessary The amendment recommended by the committee to this section would substitute authority to erect such buildings and other structures as may be appro- The land concerned, according to testimony received by the committee, lies close to downtown Seattle and has considerable value. The committee believes that conveyance of this land to the Federal Government in consideration for participation in the exposition is a realistic proposal. The committee also gave careful attention to the design and utility of the building or buildings to be erected by the Federal Government on the land. The administration's tentative-and very preliminary— proposal was for a permanent exhibition hall to be built at a cost of about $5 million. However, the Administrator of the General Services Administration, Mr. Floete, testified to the great need for additional Federal office buildings in Seattle. The committee, therefore, recommends that the following language be included in the new clause (3) of section 3: In the design and construction of such buildings andother struc- It was the view of the committee that an attempt should be made to design a structure or structures to serve two purposes: to house a Federal exhibit at the Century 21 Exposition and to provide for additional Federal office facilities. It was further the view of the committee that, should it not be feasible to design a building or buildings to serve these two purposes, consideration should be given to the erection of a temporary exhibition hall, at much less than the estimated cost of a permanent structure. |