Evening star., 1950-08-20
Budget Decision Near
In Congress With Total
Due 10 Hit ST Billion
Continued From First Page.)

United States to spend billions
more for defense.
Two Reasons for Expense.
The estimate that this session
Of Congress will appropriate about
s57 billion before it quits, probably
sometime in September. is based
oh these two assumptions:
l. That the omnibus bill, still
In a House Senate Conference
Committee. will carry close to $40
billion for the regular expenses
of Government, including the $5.6
billion of interest on the public
debt, when final agreement is
reached by the conferees Wednes-
day or Thursday.
2. That the emergency supple
mental appropriation bill, due to
be reported to the House this week,
will carry about SIT billion, nearly
all of which is for expanded ma
tional defense, asked for since the
fighting started in Korea.
The conferees on the omnibus
bill have not yet settled one OF
their main differences, namely,
how to apply the general economy
cuts. approved by both houses, but
in widely different forms. The
House adopted the Taber- Thomas
amendment calling for an overall
cut of 5000 million in appropria-
tions and contract authorizations,
along with the Jensen amendment
to prevent the filling of more than
10 per cent of the vacancies that
occur in Government jobs. The
Senate struck out these provisions
and adopted instead the Byrd
Bridges amendment, which is not
aimed specifically at personnel,
but would call for a 10 per cent
cut in the funds of most non-
militray and non-security agen-
cies.
So Billion in Savings Seen.
The Byrd-BridgeS amendment,
it is believed, would save $500 mil
lion, in addition to about SITS
billion which had already been cut
from the Presidents budget at
specific points in the bill.
Thus, the omnibus bill as it
went to conference held the possi-
bility OF. overall savings of 50 bill
lion or more. But the Senate made
more than 500 specific changes in
the bill, besides the Byrd-Bridges
amendment. and until the bill
emerges from conference the ac-
tual amount cut from the Presi-.
dents budget will not be known.
Home leaders plan to bring out
the emergency supplemental bill
as soon as the omnibus bill con-
ference agreement is ratified by
the House, probably Wednesday or
Thursday. About SIG billion, or
nearly all of the supplemental
bill is for defense and foreign
military aid and is expected to
have easy sailing through both
houses.
- One congressional expert on
Government finances estimated
roughly yesterday that Govern
fient income for the year ending
next June is not likely to exceed
s45 TO $45 billion, allowing for
partial year under the interim tax
bill and for increased collections
resulting from heavy defense
spending.
Deficit Is Variable.
II Congress appropriates $57
billion and the Government col
lects from $43 to $45 billion, how
ever. it does not follow that there
would be a 1851 deficit equal to
the difference. The size of the
deficit will depend on the rate
Of spending, which seldom corre-
spends to the appropriation total.
Some of the money appropriated
each year is spent in the follow
ing fiscal year.
One member of the House Ap-
preparations Committee estimated
that If the two big appropriations
bills carry $57 billion, there may
be as much as $40 to $12 billion
OF that total that could not be
spent within the fiscal year. OF
course, the full amount would be
an obligation to be met eventually,
but Congress would have time to
nnnSiHay nNaNfhnta faxr IHtl1 f,a ~ -
January session. The rate of
spending in this fiscal year will
depend to some extent on how
rapidly the armed forces are ex-
panded.
One Appropriations Committee
member pointed out that the cost
Of military manpower is reflected
In the spending column more
rapidly than defense construction
projects.
Army Engineers Act.
The Army Engineer Corps,
which supervises fiood-control
river and harbor projects, has
taken two positive steps since
President Truman sent out his
letter of July 81, calling on
agencies to review their pro-
grams. A spokesman for the En-
gineer Corps said that:
l. An order has gone out to
It's 40 district and IL division
offices not to award new con-
tracts without clearing them
through Washington.
2. A directive also has gone out
to restudy all projects.
The President addressed his
letter to agencies whose work in
wolves substantial use of materials
and resources needed for the de-
fense effort. 1t read, in part, as
follows:
please re-examine your pro-
grams. giving particular atten-
tion to the exten practicable tc
the following:
"Q) All civil public works
both direct Federal programs ano
grant-in-aid programs, should be
screened with the objective, as fal
as practical, of deferring. curtail-