CONTENTS Oral statement by- Alsup, Charles, city attorney for the town of Clayton, N. Mex. Hunter, John M., Chief, Airport Division, General Counsel's Office, Lee, Fred B., Administrator, C. A. A. Martiny, John H., legislative attorney, Office of the Comptroller Rothschild, Louis S., Under Secretary of Commerce for Transporta- Reports from: Civil Aeronautics Board, dated March 22, 1955- Memorandum brief re Clayton Municipal Airpark project. Grant agreement, Department of Commerce.. III AIRPARK PROJECT SETTLEMENT FOR CLAYTON, N. MEX. WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 1955 UNITED STATES SENATE, COMMITTEE ON INTERSTATE AND FOREIGN COMMERCE, SUBCOMMITTEE ON AVIATION, Washington, D. C. The committee met at 10:30 a. m., in room G-16, United States Capitol, Senator A. S. Mike Monroney (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Present: Senator Monroney and Senator Bible. Also present: Senator Chavez. Professional staff member assigned to this hearing: Edward C. Sweeney, aviation counsel. Senator MONRONEY. The Subcommittee on Aviation will come to order. Senator Chavez, would you care to come up and sit with us, sir? Senator CHAVEZ. Thank you. Senator MONRONEY. We are considering a bill introduced by Senator Chavez, S. 218. This bill would authorize and direct the Administrator of Civil Aeronautics to pay to the town of Clayton, N. Mex., out of funds appropriated under the Federal Airport Act an amount equal to the prescribed United States percentage share of the total project costs incurred by the town for airport development under grant agreement C4ca-5800 less any amounts heretofore paid by the Administrator to the town under such contract, specifically relieving the town of any liability to the United States to refund any portion of such prior payments. We are honored today to have the distinguished chairman of the Public Works Committee here, and chairman of the Military Appropriations Subcommittee, who is the author of the bill. I would like to make the bill a part of the record. (The bill is as follows:) [S. 218, 84th Cong., 1st sess.] A BILL For the relief of the town of Clayton, New Mexico Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States America in Congress assembed, That in the administration of the Federal Airport Act, costs incurred by the town of Clayton, New Mexico, for construction an administration building (including that part of such building constituting anditorium or pilots' clubroom) and a fire reservoir which was designed and structed to be usable as a swimming pool, pursuant to a grant agreement for port development entered into on June 29, 1949, between such town and the Administrator of Civil Aeronautics (contract numbered C4ca-5800), shall be ed and considered allowable project costs within the meaning of such Act, and htown is hereby relieved of all liability to the United States to refund any Konts based upon such costs heretofore received by it under such agreement. SEC. 2. The Administrator of Civil Aeronautics is authorized and directed to pay, out of any funds available for the making of payments to public agencies for airport development under the Federal Airport Act, to the town of Clayton, New Mexico, an amount equal to 56.90 per centum of the total project costs incurred by such town for airport development under contract numbered C4ca-5800, less any amounts heretofore paid by the Administrator to such town under such contract. Senator MONRONEY. Before calling the first witness, I will submit for the record, if there is no objection, reports received from two departments: the Department of Justice and the Civil Aeronautics Board. These reports express no comments on the bill. I will also submit for the record when Mr. Rothschild testifies a report received from the Secretary of Commerce, dated March 22, 1955. When Mr. John H. Martiny, legislative attorney for the Comptroller General testifies, I will submit the report for the Comptroller General, dated February 8, 1955. (The documents referred to above are as follows:) Hon. WARREN G. MAGNUSON, DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, OFFICE OF THE DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL, Chairman, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, United States Senate, Washington, D. C. DEAR SENATOR: This is in response to your request for the views of the Department of Justice concerning the bill (S. 218) for the relief of the town of Clayton, N. Mex. The bill has been examined but since the subject matter thereof is not related to any of the activities of the Department of Justice, we would prefer not to offer any comment concerning it. Sincerely, WILLIAM P. ROGERS, Deputy Attorney General. CIVIL AERONAUTICS BOARD, Hon. WARREN G. MAGNUSON, Chairman, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, United States Senate, Washington, D. C. DEAR SENATOR MAGNUSON: This is in reply to the request in your letter of January 14, 1955, for a report on S. 218, a bill for the relief of the town of Clayton, N. Mex. The bill relates solely to certain project costs for airport development under the Federal Airport Act pursuant to a grant agreement between the town of Clayton, N. Mex., and the Administrator of Civil Aeronautics. Inasmuch as such matters come within the province of the Secretary of Commerce in the administration of the Federal Airport Act, and do not directly pertain to the activities of the Board, we have no comment to offer on the proposed legislation. The Bureau of the Budget has advised that it has no objection to the submission of this report. Sincerely yours, Ross RIZLEY, Chairman. Senator CHAVEZ. Mr. Chairman, this is a simple matter as far as the town of Clayton is concerned. We have our city manager with us this morning and two other citizens. The difficulty arose as the result of an application made by the city of Clayton to construct, under CAA rules and regulations and authority, an airport. They made the application and the application was accepted and the airport was constructed according to the plan and specifications and ideas of CAA. Clayton told them what they wanted and their plans were mad |