and most important bureaus of the Government; or to perform professional or scientific work of equal importance, difficulty, and responsibility. "The annual rates of compensation for positions in this grade shall be $12,000, $13,500, and $15,000, unless a higher rate is specifically authorized by law. "CLERICAL, ADMINISTRATIVE, AND FISCAL SERVICE "Grade 13 in this service which may be referred to as the chief administrative grade, shall include all classes of positions the duties of which are to act as assistant head of a major administrative organization; or to act as administrative head of a major subdivision of such an organization; or to supervise the design and installation of office systems, methods, and procedures; or to perform work of similar importance, difficulty, and responsibility. "The annual rates of compensation for positions in this grade shall be $5,600, $5,800, $6,000, and $6,200, and $6,400, unless a higher rate is specifically authorized by law. "Grade 14 in this service, which may be referred to as the executive grade, shall include all classes of positions the duties of which are to perform, under administrative direction, and with wide latitude for the exercise of independent judgment, work of exceptional difficulty, importance, and responsibility along specialized or administrative lines requiring extended training and experience which has demonstrated leadership and marked attainments in specialized or administrative work; or in case professional or scientific training is not required, to serve as assistant head of a major bureau or commensurate organization; or to serve as consulting specialist and to furnish for final executive action expert critical advice on specialized, administrative, or fiscal problems or policies, or exceptional importance. "The annual rates of compensation for positions in this grade shall be $6,500, $7,000, and $7,500, unless a higher rate is specifically authorized by law. "Grade 15 in this service, which may be referred to as the senior executive grade, shall include all classes of positions the duties of which are to perform, under general administrative direction, and with exceptionally wide latitude for the exercise of independent judgment, work of outstanding difficulty, importance, and responsibility along specialized or administrative lines, requiring extended training and experience which has demonstrated leadership and exceptional attainments in specialized or administrative work; or, in case professional or scientific training is not required, to serve as the head of a bureau or commensurate organization which, considering its size, the kind, scope, variety, and the degree of importance of the work with which it is charged and the scope and complexity of its problems of direction and administration, is one of the major bureaus of the Government; or to serve as assistant head of one of the largest and most important bureaus or commensurate organizations; or to serve as consultant to a department head or a commission or board and to furnish for final executive action expert critical advice on specialized, administrative, or fiscal matters of outstanding difficulty and importance. "The annual rates of compensation for positions in this grade shall be $8,000, $9,000, and $10,000, unless a higher rate is specifically authorized by law. "Grade 16 in this service, which may be referred to as the special executive grade, shall include all classes of positions the duties of which are to serve, in case professional or scientific training is not required, as the head of a bureau or commensurate organization which, considering its size, the kind, scope, variety, and degree of importance of the work with which it is charged, and the scope and complexity of its problems of direction and administration, is one of the largest and most important bureaus of the Government; or to serve as the highest ranking career executive officer of a department (including any managerial agency of the Government; or to perform work of special difficulty, importance and responsibility. "The annual rates of compensation for positions in this grade shall be $12,000, $13,500, and $15,000, unless a higher rate is specifically authorized by law." SEC. 222. (a) The compensation of the officers designated below shall be as follows: Heads of Executive departments $20,000 per annum; Undersecretaries of Executive departments, $15,000 per annum; For the purposes of this Act, the Solicitor General shall be deemed to be the Undersecretary of the Department of Justice, and the First Assistant Post master General, the Undersecretary of the Post Office Department. The Assistant to the Attorney General, the Assistant Atorneys General, the Assistant Solicitor General, and the Second, Third, and Fourth Assistant Postmasters General shall be deemed to be Assistant Secretaries of their respective departments. (b) The salaries of the heads of independent agencies shall be fixed by the President at a rate not higher than the maximum rate of the grade to which their respective positions are allocated by the Administrator. PART 7. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS SEC. 223. All laws in force on the effective date of section 202 of this title referring to the United States Civil Service Commission, the three offices of Civil Service Commissioner, or any other offices of such Commission, are amended in accordance with the provisions of this Act. SEC. 224. The President is authorized to promulgate such rules, and the Administrator and the Board to prescribe such regulations, as may be necessary to enable them to exercise their respective functions under the provisions of this Act. TITLE III AUDITING AND ACCOUNTING AGENCIES PART 1. DECLARATION OF POLICY SECTION 301. The necessity for providing an effective means of auditing and accounting more in keeping with the needs of the Congress and the Executive in the discharge of their respective obligations under the Constitution (a) to appropriate monies from the Treasury; and (b) to take care that the laws relating to the expenditure of and the accounting for public monies are faithfully executed, is hereby recognized. Accordingly, it is hereby declared to be the policy of the Congress to establish (1) a joint committee of the Congress to consider reports of an auditing agency and report thereon to the Congress; (2) an auditing agency responsible to the Congress through which the Congress will be currently informed of all settlements and expenditures deemed by the auditing agency to have been improperly or improvidently made; and (3) an accounting agency responsible to the Executive through which the Executive can exercise a more effective control over appropriations and assume full responsibility for the final determination of the availability and the faithful expenditure of appropriations, and the final determination of amounts due to and from the Government, and the collection and settlement thereof. PART 2. THE JOINT COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC ACCOUNTS SEC. 302. (a) There is established a joint congressional committee to be known as the Joint Committee on Public Accounts (referred to in this Title as the "Joint Committee"), to be composed of 24 members as follows: For members, two from the majority party and two from the minority party of, and chosen by, each of the following committees: In the Senate, the Committee on Expenditures in the Executive Departments, the Committee on Appropriations, and the Committee on Finance; in the House of Representatives, the Committee on Expenditures in the Executive Departments, the Committee on Appropriations, and the Committee on Ways and Means. (b) No person shall continue to serve as a member of the joint committee after he has ceased to be a member of the Committee by which he was chosen. (c) A vacancy in the Joint Committee shall not affect the power of the remaining members to execute the functions of the joint committee, and shall be filled in the same manner as the original selection, except that in case of a vacancy during an adjournment or recess of the Congress for a period of more than two weeks, the members of the joint committee who are members of the Committee entitled to fill such vacancy may designate a member of such Committee to serve until his successor is chosen by such Committee. SEC. 303. The Joint Committee shall elect a Chairman and a Vice Chairman from among the members of the joint committee, and shall have the power to appoint and fix the compensation of a clerk and such experts and clerical, stenographic, and other assistance, as it deems advisable. SEC. 304. (a) The members of the joint committee shall serve without compensation in addition to that received for their services as Members of the Congress; but they shall be reimbursed for travel, subsistence, and other necessary expenses incurred by them in the exercise of the functions vested in and imposed upon the joint committee, other than expenses in connection with meetings of the joint committee held in the District of Columbia during such times as the Congress is in session. (b) The expenses of the joint committee shall be paid one-half from the contingent funds of the Senate and one-half from the contingent funds of the House of Representatives, upon vouchers signed by the chairman or vice chair man. SEC. 305. (a) The reports of the Auditor General shall be referred by the Congress to the joint committee, and the joint committee shall examine and study such reports, and the reports of the Auditor General submitted to the joint committee when the Congress is not in session, as provided by section 308, and shall make and submit findings with respect to such reports to the Congress as promptly as possible. (b) To aid the joint committee in its examination and study of the reports of the Auditor General, the joint committee, or any subcommittee thereof, is authorized (1) to hold public hearings and to sit and act in executive session at any place or time; (2) to request any officer or employee of any agency of the Government to attend any such hearings or sessions and to produce any books, papers, or documents relative to any settlement or expenditure deemed by the General Auditing Office, and reported by the Auditor General, as provided in section 308, to have been improperly or improvidently made, and to testify with respect thereto; (3) to require by subpena issued under the signature of the chairman or vice chairman, the attendance of any other witnesses and the production of any other books, papers, or documents; (4) to request and authorize the Auditor General to sit with the joint committee in an advisory capacity at public hearings or in executive sessions; (5) to administer oaths; (6) to take testimony; (7) to have printing and binding done; and (8) to make expenditures: Provided, That the cost of stenographic services in reporting such hearings as the joint committee may hold shall not be in excess of 25 cents per hundred words. PART 3. THE GENERAL AUDITING OFFICE SEC. 306. The title of the General Accounting Office is changed to the "General Auditing Office", and the titles of the Comptroller General of the United States and the Assistant Comptroller General of the United States are changed to "Auditor General of the United States" (referred to in this title as "Auditor General") and "Assistant Auditor General of the United States", respectively. SEC. 307. The General Auditing Office shall make a postaudit of all public accounts, which audit shall be conducted as nearly as practicable in the vicinity of disbursing offices of the United States located in the District of Columbia and elsewhere. The representatives of the General Auditing Office in the District of Columbia and elsewhere shall furnish daily to the accountable officer concerned, the Secretary of the Treasury and the Auditor General, notice of any exceptions taken to items in the accountable officers' accounts, which accounts such officers are required by section 314 (a) to furnish to the General Auditing Office, together with statements of the reasons therefor. SEC. 308. (a) The General Auditing Office shall examine all copies of the certificates of settlement which the Secretary of the Treasury is required by section 314 (b) to furnish to it, and the Auditor General shall promptly notify the Secretary of the Treasury of, and report to the Congress or to the joint committee when the Congress is not in session, all public accounts deemed by the General Auditing Office to have been improperly settled by the Secretary of the Treasury: Provided, That no report shall be made to the Congress or to the joint committee with respect to any such disagreement between the General Auditing Office and the Secretary of the Treasury until thirty days after the Secretary of the Treasury has been notified of such disagreement: Provided further, That no report of such disagreement shall be made to the Congress or to the joint committee if the Secretary of the Treasury revises his decision to accord with views of the General Auditing Office. (b) The Auditor General shall report to the Director of the Bureau of the Budget and to the Congress, or to the joint committee when the Congress is not in session, any expenditure of public moneys deemed by the General Auditing Office to have been an unwise expenditure or to have been improvidently made, which has come to the attention of the General Auditing Office in the ordinary course of the exercise of its post-auditing functions. (c) The Auditor General shall make such investigations and reports as shall be requested by either House of Congress, or by the joint committee, or by any other committee of either House, having jurisdiction over expenditures, appropriations, or revenue; and the Auditor General shall at the request of any such committee, direct assistants from his office to furnish the committee such aid and information as it may request. SEC. 309. The Auditor General, or any of his assistants or employees when duly authorized by him, shall, to the extent necessary to perform the functions vested in and imposed upon the Auditor General and the General Auditing Office, have access to and the right to examine any books, documents, papers, or records of the Secretary of the Treasury or of any agency of the Government. The authority contained in this section shall not be applicable to expenditures made under the provisions of section 291 of the Revised Statutes (U. S. C., 1934 ed., title 31, sec. 107), or any other provisions of law prohibiting or limiting review by the accounting officers of the Government of expenditures made by the President, the heads of agencies, or other officers of the Government. SEC. 310. (a) The Auditor General is authorized, subject to the civil-service laws, to appoint such officers and employees as he deems necessary to enable the Auditor General and the General Auditing Office to exercise the functions vested in and imposed upon them by law; and the compensation of all such officers and employees shall be fixed in accordance with the Classification Act of 1923, as amended. (b) The Auditor General is authorized to delegate to any officer or employee of the General Auditing Office any functions vested in and imposed upon the Auditor General or the General Auditing Office by law. (c) The Auditor General is authorized to adopt an official seal for the General Auditing Office, and judicial notice shall be taken of such seal. (d) The Auditor General is authorized to prescribe such regulations as may be necessary to enable him to exercise his functions and those of the General Auditing Office under the provisions of this Act. SEC. 311. The General Auditing Office and the Auditor General shall exercise no functions other than those vested in and imposed upon them by this Act, and nothing contained in this Act shall be construed as authorizing the General Auditing Office or the Auditor General to revise the settlements of public accounts made by the Secretary of the Treasury, or to direct the manner in which the Secretary of the Treasury or the Director of the Bureau of the Budget, shall exercise the functions vested in and imposed upon them by this Act. PART 4. THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY SEC. 312. There is established in the Treasury Department a bureau to be known as the Bureau of Fiscal Affairs, at the head of which shall be a Director of Fiscal Affairs. Such Director shall be appointed by the Secretary of the Treasury in accordance with the civil-service laws and the compensation of his office shall be fixed in accordance with the Classification Act of 1923, as amended. All the functions vested in and imposed upon the Secretary of the Treasury by this title shall be exercised by him through the Director of Fiscal Affairs or such other officers or employees of the Bureau of Fiscal Affairs as the Secretary of the Treasury may designate. SEC. 313. (a) Except the function of countersigning all warrants issued by the Secretary of the Treasury, which function is conferred and imposed upon the Director of the Bureau of the Budget, and except as otherwise provided in this Act, all functions now vested in and imposed upon the General Accounting Office or the Comptroller General or any other officer or employee in the General Accounting Office, whether referred to specifically by title or generally as the accounting officers of the Government or otherwise, are conferred and imposed upon the Secretary of the Treasury. (b) Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to supervise administrative appropriation and fund accounting in the agencies of the Government, and to provide by regulations for administrative examination of fiscal officers' accounts in the District of Columbia and elsewhere. SEC. 314. (a) The accountable officers of the Government shall promptly transmit their accounts, together with all supporting documents, to the appropriate representatives of the General Auditing Office in the District of Columbia or elsewhere. (b) The Secretary of the Treasury shall promptly furnish to the General Auditing Office copies of all certificates issued by him in settlement of public accounts. SEC. 315. The functions vested in and imposed upon the Secretary of the Treasury by this title, of settling all public accounts shall include the power to determine the availability of appropriations, but such functions of the Secretary of the Treasury shall not include the power to revise the action of other officers of the Government under statutes vesting in and imposing upon them power to make findings of fact or decisions in matters arising in their agencies. PART 5. THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES SEC. 316. In addition to all other functions vested in and imposed upon him by law, the Attorney General of the United States shall render opinions as to the jurisdiction and authority of the Secretary of the Treasury in connection with the settlement of any public account, upon the request of the Secretary of the Treasury or the head of the executive department or independent agency concerned, and such opinions of the Attorney General shall be final and conclusive as to the question of such jurisdiction and authority upon the Secretary of the Treasury and all other officers and agencies of the Government. PART 6. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS SEC. 317. When used in this title, the term "public accounts" shall include all claims and demands whatever by or against the United States and all accounts whatever in which the United States is concerned either as debtor or creditor. SEC. 318. All laws in force on the effective date of this title referring to the General Accounting Office, or the Comptroller General, or any other officer or employee of the General Accounting Office, whether referring to them specifically by title or generally as the accounting officers of the Government or otherwise, are amended in accordance with the provisions of this Act. TITLE IV NEW EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND OTHER REORGANIZATIONS PART 1. THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL WELFARE SECTION 401. There shall be at the seat of Government an executive department to be known as the Department of Social Welfare, and a Secretary of Social Welfare, who shall be the head thereof, and shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and have a tenure of office like that of the heads of the other executive departments. Section 158 of the Revised Statutes, as amended (U. S. C., 1934 ed., title 5, sec. 1), is amended to include such department and the provisions of Title IV of the Revised Statutes, including all Acts amendatory and supplementary thereto, shall be applicable to such department. SEC. 402. There shall be in the Department of Social Welfare an Undersecretary of Social Welfare who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and two Assistant Secretaries of Social Welfare, and a Solicitor, who shall be appointed by the Secretary of Welfare, and all of whom shall exercise such functions as may be prescribed by the Secretary of Social Welfare or required by law. SEC. 403. The Secretary of Social Welfare shall promote the public health, safety and sanitation; the protection of the consumer, the cause of education; the relief of unemployment and of the hardship and suffering caused thereby; the relief of the needy and distressed; the assistance of the aged and the relief and vocational rehabilitation of the physically disabled; and in general shall coordinate and promote public health, education, and welfare activities. SEC. 404. The Secretary of Social Welfare shall cause a seal of office to be made for his department, of such device as the President shall approve, and judicial notice shall be taken of such seal. SEO. 405. The Secretary of Social Welfare shall annually at the close of each fiscal year make a report in writing to the Congress, giving an account of all money received and expended by him and his department and describing the work done by the department. He shall also from time to time make such |