The Waterbury Democrat., 1939-02-18
Congressman From
 Waterbury Lauded
 As Sponsor Of Bill
Speeches on Floor of Congress Point Out Excellent Features of Measure to Prepare Industrial Plants
 for National War Emergency; To Spend Millions

less than the present standing Regular Army and National Guard, augmented to some degree by the Regular Army Enlisted Re- serve. It would amount to a total of some 100000 men, when we have in the Enlisted Rerserve the total number which we expect, over the period of the next 3 or years. At the present time 1t would not reach 100000 men, but we hope to get it up to that figure. i. It is the peacetine standing Army and National Guard of the couil- try. Today we are very deficient in weapons and in ammunition merely for that force. We do not have modern rifles; we do not have sufficient ammunition even for wartime rifles and artillery for that force itself.
 In this program, although not included in this bill, because the present authorizations will allow its manufacture If we furnish the funds this year, but in this years extraordinary national-d e efense program we provide $110,000,000 to bring up to a better condition the. ammunition and weapon of that initial protective force of our Regular Army and the National Guard. As the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Clason) said, think that is about the most important, although not the most spectacular, part of this program. That will not furnish those 100000 men the necessary equipment and
 ammunition to carry them over until we can start bringing in am- munition in quantity, if they are engaged in war, under present set-up. It would take about 430,000,000 to properly equip that force of 100000 men. With $l10,- 100000 we can furnish some of the most important items, however, such as the semiautomatic rifles, modernizat ton of the artillery, and completion of most of our anti aircraft regiments.
 Essential Tools
 There is another program which we entered into last year, for which we carry $32,500,000 addi- tional authorization in this bill which will go a long way toward making 1t possible for us to pro- duce, if We should be in war or national emergency, the anmuni- ton and equipment to furnish this Initial protective force and the troops which follow 1t with ammunition and equipment. as I have said. That is the educational orders program. It takes long while to manufacture those items of military equipment. Most of them are not manufactured n peacetime on any commercial basis. Even those which were turned out in great quantities dur ing the World War cannot be made now, because in most cases the tools have been destroyed In some cases the plants have gone out of business, and in all cases the men who made them have largely gone out of the industry today. So that 1t takes anywhere from { to IS months, on the average to tool a plant to start to get into production of these war muni- tions. Even with regard to the smaller munitions, such as or dinary steel shells, ittakes long time to get the plants fooled and actually Into production.
 (Herc the gavel fell0
 MT. May. Mir. Chairman, I yield the gentleman s additional min- utes.
 MT. Smith of Connecticut. Last year we entered into program to place small orders with commer- cial plants to allow them to .ool up to turn out munitions in peace- time. We did not do that to tur- nish any physical reserve of those munitions. The peacetime pro. duction of munitions is still in our