Authority requested for additional obligations _ Total unobligated balance, Feb. 1, 1932. Estimated awards of projects approved by the President $17,877, 000 February, 1932 _ March April May. 19, 131, 976 11, 071, 976 Estimated balance June 1, 1932. Estimated awards, based upon experienced average, to complete construction program: June, 1932 July. August September $1, 750, 000 The actual expenditures under this program will not keep pace with the obligations which arise upon the awarding of contracts. Consequently the amounts required for appropriation are contained in the annual estimate for 1933 and this request is merely for authority to obligate in order that contracts under the construction program may be entered into expeditiously. In closing I wish to emphasize the urgent necessity for the immediate appropriation of the amounts requested for the adjusted service certificate fund and under the appropriation "Adjusted service and dependent pay." In connection with the first item the attention of the committee is invited to the fact that as of October 1, 1931, only $56,619,829.14 remains to the credit of this fund and this amount is insufficient to meet estimated disbursements to December 31, 1931. Under the second item, "Adjusted service and dependent pay," I may state for the consideration of the committee that the entire appropriation is now exhausted and that new awards have been suspended in accordance with the Comptroller General's ruling referred to previously. The quarterly payments on awards already begun are again due on January 1, 1932, and there are no funds available pending action on this supplemental appropriation. Mr. Chairman, this concludes my general statement. If there are any questions that the members of the committee desire to have answered, I will be only to glad to do so to the best of my ability; or if you care to submit them to me later, I will answer them promptly and accurately. The CHAIRMAN. Referring to the item for hospital and domiciliary facilities and services, you are not asking for any appropriation? General HINES. All we are asking for there, Mr. Chairman, is authority to enter into contracts, in order not to delay the construction work, meeting the payments on contracts through the money we will obtain in the regular appropriation bill. We have speeded our construction up rapidly to the point where it will enable us to complete the 5-year program at least one year in advance, at the rate we are now going, and we feel the desirability, from the employment standpoint, to keep up this same rate of construction. We can not do it unless we have your permission to enter into con tracts between now and June 30, when we will get an additional appropriation in the regular bill. The CHAIRMAN. What is the extent of the authorizations which you have? General HINES. The total authorizations, Mr. Chairman, on which we have unappropriated balances are the act of June 21, 1930, of $1,000,000; the act of June 3, 1930, $1,000,000; and the last act of March 4, 1931, of $15,877,000. The unappropriated balance under those authorizations is $17,877,000. The CHAIRMAN. Then do you want to be authorized to contract for that total amount of the authorization? General HINES. Yes, sir; we wish to have the total amount of our authorization, because we will ask for the balance of the appropriation in the annual bill. The CHAIRMAN. Have you selected all your sites? General HINES. We are pretty well along. We have about three left to select. But even with this authorization we will not be able to expend the money until probably the end of 1933. The CHAIRMAN. What are these hospitals costing? General HINES. It depends on the type. Do you mean the cost per bed? The CHAIRMAN. Yes. General HINES. The average cost of the normal new hospital, from the ground up, will run $4,000 a bed; where we make additions to existing hospitals, they run as low as $1,200 a bed. And our costs. are coming right down, every month. There is a table which we will put in the record, Mr. Chairman, that shows the projects that we contemplate will come in, for which we ask for authorization to enter into contracts. There are given here the dates when they are expected to come in, the date of the award, and so on. Statement showing by location, the estimated cost, actual or estimated date of award, ant estimated date of completion, of the projects approved to date under the so-called seventh and prior construction acts, which were not under contract on July 1, 1931, as of November 25, 1931 Statement showing by location, the estimated cost, actual or estimated date of award, and estimated date of completion, of the projects approved to date under the so-called seventh and prior construction acts, which were not under contract on July 1, 1931, as of November 25, 1931—Continued The CHAIRMAN. Do you expect, if this language is given you, to obligate all this money between now and June 30? General HINES. No, sir. I doubt if I doubt if we could obligate it all. That is, you mean to actually have all of the awards made? The CHAIRMAN. Yes. General HINES. We plan here to make awards, at the rate they are going, if they keep up, by the middle of June, to have it ready for obligation. Maybe I am not understanding you correctly. Do you mean, will we need the money The CHAIRMAN. I do not mean that you need the money, but you are asking the committee for authority to make contracts up to $17.000,000 and a little over. General HINES. Yes. The CHAIRMAN. Now, will you have made all those contracts by June 30, if given that authority? General HINES. Yes, sir. According to this schedule, the last contract will be awarded on May 15, 1932: that is the last contract under this amount that we wish to obligate. The CHAIRMAN. How many beds have you now, General? General HINES. We have 43.000, approximately. We have in Veterans' Bureau hospitals, 28.063: in Veterans Administration homes, 6,604; those that we use in Public Health, 1,042; Army, 2,127; Navy, 5,100; Interior Department (St. Elizabeths and Freedmens), 332; and under contract, 2,297. That makes a total of 45,565; taking off your contract hospitals, about 43,000. The CHAIRMAN. You have not completed, of course, any hospitals under this authorization? General HINES. No, sir; we have some under contract, though. The CHAIRMAN. I understand; but none have been completed? General HINES. No, sir. will have about 49,000? The CHAIRMAN. How many beds will that add? We are getting more beds than our The CHAIRMAN. Of course, when this authorization was made and the bill was passed, construction costs were greater than they are at the present time. Are you getting any more beds than you expected to get? General HINES. Yes; we are. Our last proposals that we opened showed a marked saving. We will be able to get more than 6,000 beds if the costs keep going as they are. We are making some savings on the last proposal. From our estimate at Leavenworth, the last one, we expected there, I think, a cost of about $1,500,000. There will be a substantial saving on that one project alone. This amount, as you will recall, was appropriated under a lump sum under the Federal board for authorization. Wherever we make those savings we are studying with a view to adding to existing plants, and we get a much cheaper bed cost by adding to a plant already constructed. It will be the policy of the board not to authorize very many more new hospitals. The policy is to add to existing plants. There are one or two States on which hearings are still to be held, where we feel that general hospitals will probably be justified, but most of our work in the future, as I see it, will be additions to existing plants. The CHAIRMAN. And, of course, that can be done much more cheaply? General HINES. Yes, sir; and we desire to take advantage of it. We have been able to get some beds very cheaply by remodeling existing plants, and I think you will find our constuction cost per bed compares very favorably with civilian costs. Mr. ARNOLD. General, why is it necessary to have this provision here to authorize the contract? Do you not have that under existing law? General HINES. No, sir. We can not obligate the Government, unless money has been appropriated, without specific authority of Congress. Mr. ARNOLD. And the initial act did not carry that authority? General HINES. The initial act only authorized the appropriation. It authorized an appropriation to be made for the purpose, and unless money is appropriated, or you are given specific authority to obligate, as we are asking here, it is a violation of the law to do it. The CHAIRMAN. General, these cover the items that are necessary to be passed at once? General HINES. Yes, sir. |