Evening star., 1948-04-11
|ForrestaI 10 Testify
Tomorrow as House
Opens Draft Hearing
By J: A. O'Leory

Is slated to be the first witness
when the House Armed Services
Committee starts hearings at 10
am. tomorrow on revival of the
draft and expansion of the Ma
tion's air defenses.
At the same time the Senate
Armed Service Committee will re-
sumo closed sessions tomorrow with
Army officials. This committee is
seeking last-minute information on
the needs Of each branch of the
armed forces acting on both the
temporary resumption of the draft
and long-range universal military
training program.
Swift action on legislation to
strengthen military manpower was
promised yesterday by the House
leadership.
Martin Urges Action.
THE military needs of our coun-
try must come first" Speaker Mar
tin told newsmen. That's our
prime job"
He said that once the House COM
mittee gets its bill ready, it will
receive almost immediate consid-
Grafton on the House floor.
Mr.. Martin indicated he preferred
not to have draft legislation and
universal military training proposals
wrapped into one measure. That's
the way President Truman would
like to have it.
II the Senate puts both into one
bill, Speaker Martin said, the House
probably will 60 its own way and
may act first.
AS a step toward getting man
power legislation handled promptly,
Mr.. Martin has called a meeting of
the House Republican Steering
Committee tomorrow to clear the
track for floor action.
UNIT Bill Sidetracked.
The House Armed Services Com
mittee approved a separate UNIT
bill at the last session, but it has
been sidetracked ever since in the
Rules Committee. The Senate COM
mittee has not voted yet on either
UNIT or the draft.
Capitol Hill observers believe this
session of Congress is likely to con-
fine the defense program to restoring
the draft and providing funds to
start building up the Air Force from
IS to 70-group strength.
With this end in view, the House
Appropriations Committee hopes to
have ready by Wednesday a S725,-
100000 fund to expedite air force
expansion.
Mr.. Forrestal and others are also
scheduled to testify tomorrow at a
closed session of the Senate Armed
Services group, along with Gen.
Bradley, Army Chief of Staff.
Mr.. Forrestal's testimony on the
House side is expected to deal largely
with a proposed two-year draft bill
sponsored by Chairman Andrews of
the House Armed Services Commit
tee. Instead of an immediate draft,
however, Mr.. Andrews measure
would leave it up to President Tru-
man to decide when a draft is neces-
sary.
hductions to Be Delayed.
Actual inductions would be held
up until Mr.. Truman determined
whether the armed services could
get enough men sby voluntary en-
listments.
However, Mr.. Andrews said he be-
lieved that early draft calls would
be heavy, that the services wouldn't
get enough volunteers.
Mr.. Andrews bill calls for:
l. Peak armed manpower of ,944,-
900 by July l, 1850. e,,4.
2. Registration for all men from
l8 to 81. The 19-to-26 age group
would be liable for two years service
Exemptions for veterans would in
clude men with more than one
years service in World War II and
men with 90 days to one years serv-
ice II they are in a National Guard
or organized reserve unit.
Mr., Andrews bill would authorize
an armed force of about 100000
more than the administration bill.
The increase is accounted for
largely by proposed Air Force ex-
pansion and allowance for 10000
mare Marines. In back of this regu-
lar force of 1,944,000 men, there
would be a second line of defense
of 825, 900 in the National Guard
and various organized reserves.