traffic at the legal border crossing points to be backed up for several hours.

On June 30, 1993, GAO issued a report entitled "Customs Service and INS: Dual Management Structure for Border Inspections Should Be Ended" (GAO/GGD-93-111). GAO noted in the report that operational difficulties resulting from the cross-designation between INS and Customs have been the subject of studies and proposals since 1930. GAO focused its report on three locations: Laredo and El Paso, TX, and San Diego, CA. Consequently, the report is attuned to conditions along the Southwestern border. GAO found that "[t]he operational problems along the southwestern border are real, have persisted for many years, and are deeply rooted in the culture of the two agencies."

GAO concluded that the "[c]urrent coordination of border inspections functions is not effective" and that "the dual management structure for border inspections is not viable and should end." GAO recommended that the OMB Director, in conjunction with the Treasury Secretary and the Attorney General, develop and present to Congress a proposal for ending the dual management of border inspections.

During the months since the issuance of the GAO report, INS and Customs have made a concerted effort to improve coordination and communication between themselves. A major purpose of the subcommittee investigation, which is ongoing, is to investigate the level of improvement and to evaluate the continuing validity of the GAO recommendation.

Another aspect of the investigation includes evaluating the effectiveness and management of the Border Patrol. Established in 1924, the Border Patrol is the enforcement arm of INS. It is responsible for protecting more than 8,000 miles of international land and water boundaries. The primary mission of the Border Patrol is to prevent illegal immigration. With the increase of drug smuggling operations, however, the Border Patrol has been designated the primary law enforcement agency responsible for narcotics interdiction between all the U.S. POES.

In mid-September, the Border Patrol initiated a human blockade of the border area around El Paso, TX. More than 400 agents banded together to virtually seal a 20-mile stretch of the border against people entering the United States illegally. According to press accounts, the blockade dissuaded individuals from even attempting to cross illegally. As a result, Border Patrol agents reduced their arrests from as many as 1,000 a day to an average of 135.

Also according to the press, the blockade was initially financed by $300,000 from INS headquarters to pay overtime to the 400-plus ager's involved. When the money ran out, the blockade continued with agents imported from other States. While the blockade has reduced drastically the level of crime in El Paso, there is some indication that it has also led to a decline in commerce. The subcommittee is exploring the overall benefits and drawbacks of the blockade, as well as the advisability of attempting similar measures elsewhere along the border.

b. Benefits. Improved border management will allow INS and Customs to do the best possible job with available resources. Oversight from the subcommittee is providing the agencies with an ad

ditional, strong incentive to devote their best efforts to improving cooperation and coordination. If the investigation suggests that a new agency is warranted, as recommended by GAO, then the subcommittee will make that conclusion public. Either way, the investigation is expected to contribute to a decrease in the flow of illegal immigrants into the United States, which, in turn, will decrease the costs associated with a large undocumented immigrant population.

c. Hearings.-A hearing was held on December 10, 1993, entitled "Controlling the Flow of Illegal Immigration at U.S. Land Borders." 10. Undocumented Alien Cost Reimbursement.

a. Summary. As part of the subcommittee's ongoing review of issues related to immigration, a review was conducted of the costs incurred by the States of providing services to undocumented aliens. The intended purpose was find a solution that would raise, maintain, and distribute funds to States and local governments to help defray the financial burden imposed on those governments as a result of the influx of documented and undocumented aliens and refugees. One idea that was explored in depth was imposition of a fee on persons entering the United States. Funds collected would be distributed to the States as reimbursement for the cost of providing services and benefits to undocumented aliens and refugees. This would include the costs incurred in providing traumatic health care and public education to immigrants, as well as the costs of imprisoning immigrant criminals.

b. Benefits.-Funds collected would reimburse the States for costs incurred in fulfillment of Federal Government responsibilities. c. Hearings.-None.

EMPLOYMENT, HOUSING, AND AVIATION SUBCOMMITTEE

1. Failure of Title II-A of the Job Training Partnership Act.

a. Summary. The goal of title II-A of the Job Training Partnership Act [JTPA] is to help economically disadvantaged individuals facing barriers to employment (for example, school dropouts, individuals with disabilities, persons with limited reading or math skills, and welfare recipients) become job ready and to decrease their dependence on welfare. In the program year ending June 30, 1992, some 411,000 adults and 380,000 youths participated in title II-A job training programs, at a cost of nearly $2 billion funded through the U.S. Department of Labor.

However, recent evaluations of title II-A by the Labor Department's Office of Inspector General [IG], the General Accounting Office [GAO], and Abt Associates (under contract with the Labor Department's Employment Training Administration), suggest that participation in a JTPA employment training program does not improve either a jobseeker's level of earnings or future employability. The subcommittee sought to determine why the existing program was not benefiting participants, and how it could be revised to more effectively improve the quality of services provided to jobseekers and also meet the needs of local employers.

At the subcommittee's April 29, 1993, hearing, the Labor Department's acting inspector general testified about the IG's March 31,

1993, report on JTPA title II-A which suggested that participation has minimal, if any, beneficial effects for participants. The GAO presented the results of its recent studies which also found that title II-A programs make little difference to any group of participants: those who are most job ready get the some job search assistance to boost them into the job market, while the least job ready get assistance in looking for low-skill jobs. Consequently, both the most job ready and the least job ready would likely have ended up in the same place without the title II-A program. At the hearing, GAO also pointed out the need for a national job training strategy. The Abt study examined the earnings and employment status of title II-A participants 18 months after leaving the program. It found that adult women receive a slight benefit from program participation, but adult men did not benefit at all. Participation in a title II-A program appeared to have an adverse effect on youth: Youth who did not participate found better jobs on their own than did participants receiving title II-A program assistance.

Amendments to the JTPA enacted in 1992 directed job training providers to take steps to provide more intensive services to the hardest to serve and to more directly track the apportionment of costs among training, support services, and administration. Even before the amendments were enacted, some local job training programs had already been revised to provide more intensive services to participants. Testimony from representatives of local agencies which run job training programs in the State of Maryland, Philadelphia, and Montgomery County, MD, established a number of criteria for effective programs, including: (1) Providing an indepth assessment of each individual's basic skills, (2) involving employers in the design and instruction of curriculum; (3) providing training only for jobs that employers have identified as actually existing and which pay over $6 per hour plus benefits; and (4) using highly effective apprenticeship programs for training. Because of the intensive services, these localities spend far more per participant than the national average-and are far more effective in job placement and skills enhancement.

b. Benefits. This hearing highlighted the significant waste of Federal funds in ineffective job training programs and the need for a complete overhaul of the job training strategy for the economically disadvantaged, as well as for workers dislocated by plant closings, plant relocations to other countries and defense industry and other corporate downsizing. It also made it quite clear that effective job training requires a significantly larger per-participant investment than is currently being made. Any future proposed program must be judged against the criteria identified for success in critiques of the current programs.

c. Hearings.-A hearing was held on April 29, 1993, in Washington, DC, entitled "Job Training Partnership Act: Job Cost, Job Outcome."

2. Failure of the Federal Aviation Administration to Implement Safety Recommendations Made by the National Transportation Safety Board.

a. Summary. This investigation and hearing focused on the failure of the Federal Aviation Administration [FAA] to implement

safety recommendations made by the National Transportation Safety Board [NTSB] regarding a propeller hub failure which caused the crash of a private plane 1991. In 1993, a similar failure caused a plane crash in which the Governor of South Dakota and seven other people were killed.

On September 27, 1991, a Mitsubishi MU-2B-60 sustained substantial damage when a propeller blade separated from the aircraft in flight near Utica, NY. The pilot was able to land despite severe difficulty in controlling the aircraft. Separation of the blade had caused a rip in the fuselage of the aircraft, extensive damage to the wing, and a partial separation of the engine from its mounts.

The NTSB's investigation determined that the failure of the propeller hub was the cause of the accident. Cracking of the hub had resulted in separation of the propeller blade and the additional damage to the aircraft. This was the first known failure of this type of steel hub, which is manufactured by Hartzell Propeller Inc. Further testing indicated the failure was the result of fatigue initiated in the internal bore of the hub arm.

On August 13, 1992, the NTSB formally made three safety_recommendations, identified as class II, priority action, to the FAA. The first called for the FAA to work with the manufacturer to develop a nondestructive inspection technique and issue an airworthiness directive requiring that hub inspections occur at the next opportunity on aircraft with more than 3,000 hours on the hubs. The second was to determine, based on the initial inspections, whether regular inspections should be required. The NTSB also recommended that an inspection of other similar hub designs should be conducted.

Evidence presented at the subcommittee's hearing indicated that, while the FAA was generally responsive to NTSB recommendations, its response to these recommendations was classified by the NTSB as "Open-Unacceptable Response." A letter from the NTSB to the FAA dated January 6, 1993, reiterated the need to conduct an inspection of aircraft using the Hartzell hub. However, the subcommittee's investigation found no evidence of subsequent efforts by the FAA to implement the three safety recommendations or propose a constructive alternative until an April 19, 1993, crash in lowa of a similar aircraft. Governor George Mickelson of South Dakota and seven other people were killed. A subsequent NTSB investigation indicated the cause of the Mickelson plane crash was also a Hartzell hub fault.

Immediately following the second crash, the FAA issued an airworthiness directive requiring inspections of all Mitsubishi aircraft using the Hartzell hub. The inspection of these hubs is continuing. One other cracked hub has been discovered to date.

The subcommittee will continue to monitor the relationship between NTSB and the FAA as a recent crash in Hibbing, MN, involved a similar fact pattern. In that incident, the FAA failed to order correction of a deicing defect after receiving a recommendation to do so from the NTSB.

b. Benefits. The hearing highlighted the potentially devastating consequences when FAA does not respond in an adequate fashion to recommendations made by the NTSB. The hearing also exposed how dependent the FAA is on manufacturers for information re

garding aircraft components and the failure of the FAA to work constructively with manufacturers to develop appropriate alternate responses to NTSB recommendations.

Following the hearing, Chairman Peterson, Representative Tim Johnson (D-SD), and Senator Tom Daschle (D-SD) wrote to the FAA requesting that it publish NTSB recommendations and the FAA response in its "Monthly General Aviation Airworthiness Alert." It was also suggested that the FAA examine the use of the DUATS system to disseminate airworthiness information. In addition, the chairman wrote the editors of more than 30 aviation publications requesting the voluntary publication of NTSB safety recommendations which have not been implemented in a satisfactory fashion by the FAA. Five publications have responded favorably to the request, and additional responses are anticipated. The FAA, however, has failed to respond.

c. Hearings. A hearing was held on May 19, 1993, in Washington, DC, entitled "The Death of South Dakota's Governor: Tragic Accident or FAA Bungle?"

3. The NAFTA Labor Side Agreement.

a. Summary. After many months of negotiations, the administration announced a labor side agreement which was intended to implement President Clinton's promise to improve the pending North American Free Trade Agreement [NAFTA]. The agreement requires the three countries to enforce their own laws covering three subjects: health and safety, minimum wage, and child labor. It establishes a complicated dispute resolution system which makes it doubtful that sanctions will ever be imposed. Even more problematic, it does not cover the primary, internationally recognized right of workers to organize and bargain collectively.

In previous hearings, the subcommittee had heard graphic testimony from Mexican workers about their treatment when they attempted collective action for better wages or working conditions. The official, government-sponsored unions participated in harsh repression and even violence against activists.

The subcommittee held two hearings on the side agreement. At the first, Lynn Williams, president of the United Steelworkers of America, testified about the inadequacy of the labor side agreement because of the incompatibility of our high wage economy with Mexico's low wage structure and the lack of "teeth" to enforce the agreement. He expressed serious concerns about the impact of NAFTA and the labor agreement on American jobs and on the working conditions of Mexican workers. Dennis Skelton, vice president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, testified about the weak provisions of the side agreement in view of Mexico's failure to enforce its existing labor laws. He also expressed concern about the potential loss of American jobs and the threat to safety standards when Mexican trucks and drivers have full access to driving in the United States. He discussed lower Mexican standards for licensing drivers and vehicles, including age, hours of service, truck weight, antipollution controls, and other truck limitations.

A witness from the Economic Policy Institute objected that the labor side agreement would abandon the generalized system of