Правительство Соединенных Штатов — страница 6

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and consumers, works to improve and maintain farm income, and helps to develop and expand markets abroad for agricultural products. The department attempts to curb pov­erty, hunger and malnutrition by issuing food stamps to the poor; sponsoring educational programs on nutrition; and ad­ministering other food assistance programs, primarily for children, expectant mothers and the elderly. It maintains pro­duction capacity by helping landowners protect the soil, water, forests and other natural resources. USDA administers rural development, credit and conservation programs that are designed to implement national growth policies, and con­ducts scientific and technological research in all areas of agri­culture. Through its inspection and grading services, USDA ensures standards

of quality in food offered for sale. The de­partment also promotes agricultural research by maintaining the National Agricultural Library, the second largest govern­ment library in the world. (The U.S. Library of Congress is first.) The USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) serves as an export promotion and service agency for U.S. agriculture, employing specialists abroad who make surveys of foreign ag­riculture for U.S. farm and business interests. The U.S. Forest Service, also part of the department, administers an extensive network of national forests and wilderness areas. DEPARTAMENT OF COMMERCE The Department of Commerce serves to promote the nation's international trade, economic growth and technological ad­vancement. It offers assistance and information to increase

America's competitiveness in the world economy; administers programs to prevent unfair foreign trade competition; and provides social and economic statistics and analyses for busi­ness and government planners. The department comprises a diverse array of agencies. The National Bureau of Standards, for example, conducts scientific and technical research, and maintains physical measurement systems for industry and government. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis­tration (NOAA), which includes the National Weather Service, works to improve understanding of the physical environment and oceanic resources. The Patent and Trademark Office grants patents and registers trademarks. The department also conducts research and develops policy on telecommunica­tions; promotes domestic

economic development and foreign travel to the United States; and assists in the growth of busi­nesses owned and operated by minorities. DEPARTAMENT OF DEFENCE Headquartered in the Pentagon, the "world's largest office building," the Department of Defense (DOD) is responsible for all matters relating to the nation's military security. It pro­vides the military forces of the United States, which consist of about two million men and women on active duty. They are backed, in case of emergency, by 2.5 million members of state reserve components, known as the National Guard. In addi­tion, about one million civilian employees serve in the Defense Department in such areas as research, intelligence communi­cations, mapping and international security affairs. The Na­tional

Security Agency (NSA) also comes under the direction of the secretary of defense. The department directs the sepa­rately organized military departments of the Army, Navy, Ma­rine Corps and Air Force, as well as each service academy and the National War College, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and several specialized combat commands. DOD maintains forces over­seas to meet treaty commitments, to protect the nation's out­lying territories and commerce, and to provide air combat and support forces. Nonmilitary responsibilities include flood con­trol, development of oceanographic resources and manage­ment of oil reserves. DEPARTAMENT OF EDUCATION The Department of Education absorbed most of the education programs previously conducted by the Department of Health, Education and Welfare,

as well as programs that had been handled by six other agencies. The department establishes policy for and administers more than 150 federal aid-to-edu­cation programs, including student loan programs, programs for migrant workers, vocational programs, and special pro­grams for the handicapped. The Department of Education also partially supports the American Printing House for the Blind; Gallaudet University, established to provide a liberal higher education for deaf persons; the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, part of the Rochester (New York) Institute of Technology, designed to educate deaf students within a col­lege campus, but planned primarily for hearing students; and Howard University in Washington, D.C., a comprehensive university which accepts students of