AUTHORIZING THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TO PROCLAIM OCTOBER 11, 1949, GENERAL PULASKI'S MEMORIAL DAY FOR THE OBSERVANCE AND COMMEMORATION OF THE DEATH OF BRIG. GEN. CASIMIR PULASKI MAY 24, 1949.-Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed Mr. BOGGS of Delaware, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. J. Res. 241) The Committee on the Judiciary to whom was referred the joint resolution (H. J. Res. 241) authorizing the President of the United States of America to proclaim October 11, 1949, General Pulaski's Memorial Day for the observance and commemoration of the death of Brig. Gen. Casimir Pulaski, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with amendments and recommend that the joint resolution do pass. The amendments are as follows: Page 1, line 6, strike out "of each year," and insert in lieu thereof ", 1949,". Change title to read: A bill authorizing the President of the United States of America to proclaim October 11, 1949, General Pulaski's Memorial Day for the observance and commemoration of the death of Brigadier General Casimir Pulaski. STATEMENT In 15 of the last 20 years the Congress has adopted joint resolutions calling upon the President to proclaim October 11 of those respective years as "General Pulaski's Memorial Day." These proclamations have properly caused the people of this Nation to remember and revere, on the anniversary of his death, the valor and bravery of Casimir Pulaski, who gave his life in our fight for freedom. Born in Poland on March 4, 1746, Pulaski grew to manhood during one of the darkest periods of Poland's tragic history. When Pulaski and his freedom-loving compatriots were crushed by a cruel conspiracy against the fundamental rights of man, he managed to escape from his subjugated homeland and made his way to France. It was there that he met Benjamin Franklin, who, impressed by this young count and his deep love of freedom, enabled him in 1777 to come to the United States of America, which was then a Nation only 1 year old and struggling for survival. Gen. George Washington recommended to the Congress that Pulaski be commissioned in the American Army. Impatient, however, and without waiting for confirmation of his commission, Pulaski served in the American Army as an ordinary volunteer. A few months later he was commissioned a brigadier general and placed in command of our Cavalry forces. Later, however, with the permission of General Washington he formed and commanded the renowned Polish Legion. Äfter more than 2 years of inspiring leadership and fearless fighting for American freedom, General Pulaski was mortally wounded at Savannah and died on October 11, 1779. No words could state the deep purpose which General Pulaski had in his heart as well as his own words in his last letter to Congress only 2 months before his tragic death. General Pulaski wrote at that time, "I could not submit to stoop before the sovereigns of Europe, so I came here to hazard all for the freedom of America." Since that day in October 1779, there has continued to be a very close bond between the people of the United States and the freedomloving people of Poland. During the 170 years which have intervened, thousands of Americans of Polish extraction have shown that they, too, were willing "to hazard all for the freedom of America." We find a sorrowful comparison between the Poland from which Pulaski escaped to fight for America and the Poland of today. History has recorded that in the eighteenth century under the guise of a friend, a neighboring country imposed kings upon Poland, maintained them there and spread intrigue throughout the country. And now we find, almost two centuries later, that a foreign power has subjugated the Polish people. But no nation can permanently subjugate the spirit of the freedom-loving people of Poland. That spirit can be kept alive by the observance of General Pulaski Memorial Day. AMENDING THE ACT OF JANUARY 16, 1883, TO REGULATE AND IMPROVE THE CIVIL SERVICE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 24, 1949.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. CROOK, from the Committee on Post Office and Civil Service, submitted the following REPORT To accompany H. R. 3826) The Committee on Post Office and Civil Service, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 3826) to amend the act of January 16, 1883, an act to regulate and improve the civil service of the United States, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with amendments and recommend that the bill as amended do pass. The amendments are as follows: (a) On page 2, line 11, strike out the language following the period down to and including the period in line 15. (b) On page 2, line 20, after the word "hundred", insert the word "and". PURPOSE OF AMENDMENTS Amendment (a) strikes out language in the bill which is unnecessary to accomplish the objective of the legislation. Amendment (b) is a perfecting amendment. STATEMENT The purpose of the bill is to simplify and to codify certain statutory provisions relating to the laws governing the residence requirements applicable to persons seeking civil-service positions in the departmental service of the Federal Government. An act approved May 15, 1937, provides that no person may be appointed in the departmental service unless such person has been a legal resident of a particular county in a State for a period of 1 year preceding the date of his application. The bill eliminates the requirement that an applicant furnish proof of residence in any particular county of a State, but that proof of residence in a State for 1 year preceding the date of application shall be sufficient. Also, by codifying language under section 2 of the Civil Service Act of January 16, 1883, the Civil Service Commission may, as the conditions of good administration will warrant, waive such 1-year-residence requirement so that qualified persons who do not meet the 1-year-residence requirement may be appointed when qualified persons who do meet such residence requirements are not available. Hearings were conducted with respect to this legislation, at which time a representative of the Civil Service Commission stated that the bill was necessary in order to permit a maximum utilization of the Commission's departmental registers, which in turn would result in a more economical administration of the civil-service system. The committee believes that the county-residence restriction in the present law should be removed and that the establishment of a residence in a State for 1 year preceding the time of application should be sufficient. Testimony at the hearings established the fact that at the present time there are approximately 87,000 apportioned civil-service positions in the Federal service to which the 1-year State residence requirement is applicable. Thirty-five thousand of these positions are occupied by veterans who, under the provisions of the Veterans' Preference Act of 1944 and the civil-service rules are not required to furnish proof of residence prior to filing their applications. The committee contacted the Federal and postal employees organizations and found that such organizations had no objection to the enactment of this legislation. The committee believes that the objectives of the bill are desirable from the standpoint of achieving a better operation of the civil-service system. The executive communication to the Speaker of the House of Representatives from the Civil Service Commission, dated March 18, 1949, requesting the enactment of this legislation and the Civil Service Commission's report on H. R. 3826 dated April 11, 1949, are as follows: Hon. SAM KAYBURN, Speaker, House of Representatives. MARCH 18, 1949. DEAR MR. SPEAKER: The Civil Service Commission proposes that legislation be enacted in the form of an amendment to the Civil Service Act, as amended, for the purpose of simplifying certain statutory provisions relating to the residence of appointees in the departmental service in Washington, D. C. The purpose of the proposed legislation is twofold: The major objective would be to permit a maximum utilization of the commission's departmental registers which in turn would result in a more economical administration of the civi service system. At the present time the commission may not permit the certification and appointment in the departmental service in Washington, D. C.. of eligibles who have not proved residence in a State, Territory, or the District of Columbia for at least 1 year preceding the date of application It regularly occurs that a small but significant percentage of the eligibles cannot or do not comply with this requirement. There are a number of reasons for this. The principal ones are: (1) The marriage of a woman to a citizen of another State within 1 year of her application for appointment in the departmental service: by operation of law she takes upon marriage the residence of her husband and, accordingly, she can prove neither 1 vear's residence in her own State nor 1 year's residence in her husband's State: and (2) the movement of citizens from one State to another during the year preceding application. As the result of the failure of these groups of eligibles to prove residence the Commission may not permit their appointment in the departmental service. Where there is a shortage of qualified eligibles this has proved administratively inefficient in that vacancies may not be filled although there are available and qualified applicants. The Commission believes that the appointment of such persons should be permitted after a register of eligibles who fully meet the residence requirements has become exhausted. The second and minor objective of the proposed legislation is to permit the proof of residence within a State for the required period of 1 year. The present wording of the applicable law is that the applicant must show legal or voting residence in "said county" for the required period of not less than 1 year. these days of frequent movement of citizens of a State across county lines, the Commission has found the "county" requirement almost inoperable. In The proposed legislation would (1) amend the Civil Service Act and (2) revoke the residence proviso contained in the act of July 11, 1890, as amended by the act of May 15, 1937. Both acts have heretofore contained residence provisions currently applicable. It is felt desirable to combine the two in the form of an amendment to the Civil Service Act, making the necessary changes to carry out the objectives mentioned above. The proposed legislation in the form of a bill would be as follows: "A BILL To amend the Act of January 16, 1883, an act to regulate and improve the civil service of the United States "Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the third paragraph of the second clause of section 2 of the Act of January 16, 1883, an act to regulate and improve the civil service of the United States (22 Stat. 403; 5 U. S. C. 633) is hereby amended to read as follows: ""Third, appointments to the public service aforesaid in the departments at Washington shall be apportioned among the several States and Territories and the District of Columbia upon the basis of population as ascertained at the last preceding census. Hereafter every application for examination before the Civil Service Commission for appointment in the departmental service in the District of Columbia shall be accompanied by a certificate of an officer, with his official seal attached, of the county and State of which the applicant claims to be a citizen, that such applicant was, at the time of making such application, a legal or voting resident of said [county] State, and had been such resident for a period of not less than one year next preceding, but this provision shall not apply to persons who may be in the service with civil service status and seek promotion or appointment in other branches of the Government. The Civil Service Commission may authorize the appointment, without regard to the provisions of this paragraph of persons otherwise qualified when persons who meet the requirements of this paragraph are not available.' "SEC. 2. The proviso of the second paragraph under the caption 'Civil Service Commission' in the Act entitled 'An Act making appropriation for the legislative, executive, and judicial expenses of the Government for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth eighteen hundred ninety-one, and for other purposes,' approved July 11, 1890 (26 Stat. 235), and the Act of May 15, 1937 (50 Stat. 168), are hereby revoked." The Bureau of the Budget advised that there would be no objection to the presentation of the proposal for the consideration of the Congress. By direction of the Commission. Very respectfully, HARRY B. MITCHELL, President. UNITED STATES CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION, Hon. Toм MURRAY, House of Representatives. DEAR MR. MURRAY: Reference is made to your letter of March 31, 1949, enclosing a copy of H. R. 3826, a bill to amend the act of January 16, 1883, an act to regulate and improve the civil service of the United States, and requesting the comments of the Commission thereon. The proposed legislation was submitted to the Speaker of the House by this Commission. In transmitting the proposed legislation it was pointed out that its purpose is twofold. The major objective would be to permit a maximum ultilization of the Commission's departmental registers which in turn would result in a more economical administration of the civil-service system. At the present |