meet the traffic forecasts of the 1980's and beyond will amount to $80 million in 1976.

The proposed legislation will also provide for a redistribution of user taxes to match more equitably the shares contributed by the commercial and noncommercial civil users to their respective use of the air traffic control system. Additionally, the legislation proposes that the airport and airway trust fund finance the direct maintenance cost of airway facilities amounting to $430 million. Under the legislation, users will finance between 55% and 60% of system costs, a level which can be sustained from anticipated receipts.

In other FAA activities, the $1.54 billion for the operating budget will provide the necessary funds, controllers, and maintenance personnel to meet the increased air-traffic workload projected for 1976. Productivity gains derived from automated traffic-control equipment now becoming operational, along with the lower projected rate of increase in aviation activity, will result in a smaller overall increase in newly established traffic control and maintenance positions compared to last year. The two Washington area airports will be operated at about their current levels, but with an increase in the capital improvements program, particularly at Dulles. The total 1976 program for operation and construction is just under $30 million.

FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION

Federal Highway Administration programs, for the most part, are conducted under contract authority already provided in the FederalAid Highway Act of 1973 and the Federal-Aid Amendments of 1974. The proposed program level for 1976 is $5.4 billion, an increase of $600 million over 1975, exclusive of the February 11 announcement that I previously mentioned. Most of the increase is intended for the Interstate System. The budget includes $3 billion for this systemthe full level authorized for 1976. The budget also includes $905 million for rural and small urban highways, $685 million for highways in the urban areas, $300 million for construction safety programs and $250 million for smaller categories.

For the highway beautification program, we propose $56 million. As in the past, emphasis will be given to billboard control. The rural highway public transportation demonstration program begun last year will continue, but at a $20 million level, twice that of last year.

NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION

The programs of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration concentrate on the driver and vehicle sides of the highway safety equation, and for 1976, NHTSA's total program level of $166 million is an increase of $9 million over last year.

We are gratified at the reduction of fatalities in 1974-down 9,400 from 1973's 54,800 deaths. This is still too large. I would also like to point out that apparently when you reduce speed on the highways there is a side benefit. When people drive through the urban communities and cities they drive at a slightly slower speed, so that there is also a reduction of deaths in the cities.

We feel sure that the 55-mile-per-hour speed limit contributed to the reductions. In efforts to add momentum to this success and to antici

pate changes in the driving environment, NHTSA safety grants to the States amount to $93 million including, for the 2d year, $13 million in incentive grants to those States which do best in reducing fatalities. Additionally, we will seek a total of $73 million for NHTSA's basic regulatory and R. & D. programs. This is about the same as the 1975 program level, but it includes a variety of new work offset by project completions. Within this total, continued attention is being given to the highway safety problems posed by alcohol and other drugs, with about $12 million to be devoted to these purposes.

URBAN MASS TRANSPORTATION ADMINISTRATION

The Urban Mass Transportation Administration program level increases by $279 million to a new high of $1.72 billion. This increase in 1976 reaffirms this administration's commitment to urban transportation as a vital instrument in combating the Nation's energy problems, reducing pollution and congestion in the cities, and meeting the transportation needs of urban citizens. It also reflects the fact that urban poor need such programs and it should make accessibility to employment and governmental services easier for them. The major portion of the increase is for formula grants authorized under the National Mass Transportation Assistance Act of 1974. These grants grow from $300 million in 1975 to $500 million in 1976, with an aggregate amount of $3.975 billion authorized through 1980.

The formula grants earmark funds for localities and may be used at their discretion for operating assistance or capital improvements. As you know, the recently enacted National Mass Transportation Assistance Act of 1974 provides multi-year financing for the mass transit program amounting to an additional $8.8 billion, bringing the total available up to $11.8 billion.

UMTA's research, development, and demonstration program will amount to $67 million. Most of the $21 million increase over 1975 is for new systems development and the bicentennial program for the Nation's Capital. The new systems work will concentrate on personal rapid transit to provide urban transit planners with additional options for meeting urban transportation needs. The bicentennial program for the Nation's Capital encompasses a demonstration of public transportation from fringe parking lots to the downtown area, alleviating the traffic congestion in the center city during the Bicentennial year. In 1976 other R.D. & D. programs such as bus, rail, service and methods demonstrations, and management techniques will be

continued.

FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION

For the Federal Railroad Administration, excluding grants to Amtrak, we are requesting budget authority of $138 million. This includes $45 million for grants to States and other transportation bodies as provided for in section 402 of the Regional Rail Reorganization Act of 1973. The purpose of the grants is for continuing service on low density routes that would not otherwise be included in the Conrail system. As you know, it is under this act that the reorganization of bankrupt railroads in the northeast and midwest is occurring. For FRA's railroad research and development, we are seeking $67 million. The principal focus of this program is on near-term solutions

to problems confronting the railroad industry and includes freight service improvements, critical safety problems, propulsion and tunneling technology and Northeast Corridor improvements. In cooperation with the railroads, we plan to initiate a special intermodal demonstration involving piggy-back service.

I am aware of this committee's continuing interest in railroad safety. We plan to strengthen our inspection and enforcement activities through the use of special instrumented cars designed to measure and evaluate track safety and through additional staffing. To finance the railroad safety program in 1976, we propose a 33-percent increase in funds for a total of $16 million.

AMTRAK

For Amtrak, the request is $460 million, an increase of $182 million over 1975-1975 amount includes a $77.9 million proposed supplemental currently before the Congress. Of this increase, $72 million is for the larger projected operating deficit and $110 million is for capital improvements. I would like to point out that for the first time, commencing in fiscal year 1976, Amtrak's capital improvements will be funded from grants rather than loan guarantees as has been the practice in the past. This will avoid adding to Amtrak's capital debt and interest charges at a time of increasing operating deficits.

ST. LAWRENCE SEAWAY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION

On the Great Lakes, St. Lawrence Seaway traffic is expected to provide corporate revenues from tolls of $7.1 million to finance fully its operations and to redeem $1 million in outstanding Treasury bonds

ahead of schedule.

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

For the Office of the Secretary, we are requesting $71 million-an increase of $6 million over 1975. Except for annualization costs nearly all of this increase is to improve the safety of transporting hazardous materials, to strengthen pipeline safety, to perform work related to the processing of deepwater port applications, to continue research on transportation energy conservation-particularly automotive energy, and to develop a better information base for making transportation policy decisions.

TRANSITION PERIOD BUDGET

I should also point out that the President's Budget contains our separate request for funds to finance operations during the transition period of July through September 1976, before the new fiscal year timing is establshed for fiscal year 1977. Our transition budget program level is $2.71 billion, a quarterly amount essentially based on a continuation of ongoing programs. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, we will be glad to answer any questions.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Mr. McFALL. Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary, for a very fine statement.

Mr. Secretary, we will insert your biographical sketch at this point in the record.

[The information follows:]

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION

William T. Coleman, Jr., became the Nation's fourth Secretary of Transportation on March 7, 1975, when he was administered the oath of office by President Gerald R. Ford in a ceremony at the White House. President Ford nominated Secretary Coleman to the cabinet position on January 14, 1975. The Senate confirmed his nomination on March 3, 1975.

Secretary Coleman entered office following a distinguished career in law, business and public service that included advisory or consultant positions to four former Presidents.

At the time of his nomination, he was the senior partner in the law firm of Dilworth, Paxson, Kalish, Levy & Coleman of Philadelphia and special counsel to the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority. Additionally, he was a director of Pan American World Airways, Inc.; Penn Mutual Life Insurance Co.; First Pennsylvania Corp.; Philadelphia Electric Co.; and Western Saving Fund Society. He was also a member of the board of governors of the American Stock Exchange and a trustee of both the Rand Corp. and the Brookings Institution.

Born in the Germantown section of Philadelphia, Secretary Coleman attended local public schools and was graduated summa cum laude in 1941 from the University of Pennsylvania. He is a 1946 magna cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School, where he was a member of the board of editors of the Harvard Law Review and recipient of the Joseph E. Beale prize.

Secretary Coleman began his law career in 1947 as law secretary to Judge Herbert F. Goodrich of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. The next year he became a U.S. Supreme Court law clerk, serving on the staff of the late Justice Felix Frankfurter.

Secretary Coleman has held several national-level public service positions. In 1969 he was a member of the U.S. delegation to the 24th session of the United Nations General Assembly; in 1971-1972, a member of the National Commission on Productivity; from 1963 to 1975, consultant to the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency; in 1964 senior consultant and assistant counsel to the President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy; and from 1959 through 1961, a member of President Eisenhower's Committee on Government Employment Policy.

An ardent defender of civil rights, Secretary Coelman was one of the authors of the legal brief that persuaded the Supreme Court in 1954 to outlaw segregation in public schools. In 1965, he was retained by former Governor Scranton of Pennsylvania to assist in removing racial restrictions at Girard College in Philadelphia. He has served as a member of the national legal committee, director, member of the executive committee and president of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. He has also served as a board member and president of the Earl Warren legal training program.

Among the professional organizations with which Secretary Coleman is or has been associated are the American College of Trial Lawyers, the Council on Foreign Relations, the American Law Institute, the American Bar Association and the American Arbitration Association.

In 1945, Secretary Coleman married the former Lovida Hardin, then of New Orleans, La. Mr. and Mrs. Coleman have three children-William T. Coleman, III, Lovida Hardin Coleman, Jr., and Hardin L. Coleman.

FUNCTIONS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Mr. McFALL. Mr. Secretary, the Department of Transportation is completing its eighth year of operation this month. When the Department was established, most of us felt that it was going to be the focal point for planning and developing a truly integrated national transportation system.

As I view the Department, at the present time, you have two important operating elements, the Coast Guard and the Federal Avia

tion Administration, and you have general responsibilities with respect to transportation research and transportation safety in all modes. Aside from those activities, the Department appears to me to be serving chiefly as a funnel through which Federal money flows back to States, local governments, and certain private corporations which cannot operate profitably. Your budget highlights indicate that more than $1 billion of your $1.357 billion increase in your fiscal year 1976 program levels is for these kinds of grants. Is this generally the way you view the operations and role of the Department of Transportation or do you feel the Department should play a greater role in our national transportation picture?

Secretary COLEMAN. Mr. Chairman, as I indicated to you in my opening remarks, I was fortunate, when I came on board, to have a very able Deputy Secretary and a very able supporting staff and I think in the last 2 weeks they have done a great deal to educate me and for that reason I would like to take a crack at some of these questions. However, I certainly would like to reserve the right to amend my answers by a written statement or by corrections to the record. Mr. McFALL. You certainly can correct anything you say.

FUNCTIONS ASSIGNED BY DOT ACT

Secretary COLEMAN. I really feel that the Department serves a much more important role than merely providing a funnel for distributing Federal transportation grant funds. Total integrated transportation planning and management is essential to the mission of the Department. The act which set the Department up in 1966 states that:

The establishment of a Department of Transportation is necessary in the public interest and to assure the coordinated, effective administration of the transportation programs of the Federal Government; to facilitate the development and improvement of coordinated transportation service; *** to encourage cooperation of Federal, State and local governments, carriers, labor, and other interested parties toward the achievement of national transportation objectives; * * * to provide general leadership in the identification and solution of transportation problems; and to develop and recommend to the President and the Congress for approval national transportation policies and programs to accomplish these objectives with full and appropriate consideration of the needs of the public, users, carriers, industry, labor, and the national defense.

I can't imagine that a system of transportation with, for example, the railroads, which were started in about 1832 and probably fully developed by 1898, as the system which today will meet the needs of modern America. There will have to be great changes in that system. I think the Department is very active. We filed a program. We have announced a preliminary program. There will be hearings and it will go before the Congress. We think, if the American people and the Congress will come to grips with those recommendations, that will be a first step toward rationalizing a railroad system that makes sense to serve the needs of modern America. I think the same is true as far as the airlines are concerned. They perhaps grew like topsy. There now has to be a rationalization of that system. I think one of my jobs is to try to make recommendations with respect to that. I think that the administration and the Congress have begun to develop a program for urban mass transportation. I think that has to go forward.

I also think that there has to be consideration, as is now true in the Department, of the intermodal aspects of a transportation system.