TITLE V-GENERAL BRIDGE ACT

SHORT TITLE

SEC. 501. This title may be cited as the "General Bridge Act of 1946".

CONSENT OF CONGRESS

SEC. 502. (a) The consent of Congress is hereby granted for the construction, maintenance, and operation of bridges and approaches thereto over the navigable waters of the United States, in accordance with the provisions of this title.

(b) The location and plans for such bridges shall be approved by the Chief of Engineers and the Secretary of War before construction is commenced, and, in approving the location and plans of any bridge, they may impose any specific conditions relating to the maintenance and operation of the structure which they may deem necessary in the interest of public navigation, and the conditions so imposed shall have the force of law.

(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (a) and (b), it shall be unlawful to construct or commence the construction of any privately owned highway toll bridge until the location and plans thereof shall also have been submitted to and approved by the highway department or departments of the State or States in which the bridge and its approaches are situated; and where such bridge shall be between two or more States and the highway departments thereof shall be unable to agree upon the location and plans therefor, or if they, or either of them, shall fail or refuse to act upon the location and plans submitted, such location and plans then shall be submitted to the Public Roads Administration and, if approved by the Publie Roads Administration, approval by the highway departments shall not be required.

TOLLS

SEC. 503. If tolls shall be charged for the transit over any interstate bridge of engines, cars, street cars, wagons, carriages, vehicles, animals, foot passengers, or other passengers, such tolls shall be reasonable and just, and the Secretary of War may, at any time, and from time to time, prescribe the reasonable rates of toll for such transit over such bridge, and the rates so prescribed shall be the legal rates and shall be the rates demanded and received for such transit.

ACQUISITION BY PUBLIC AGENCIES

SEC. 504. After the completion of any interstate toll bridge constructed by an individual, firm, or corporation, as determined by the Secretary of War, either of the States in which the bridge is located, or any public agency or political subdivision of either of such States, within or adjoining which any part of such bridge is located, or any two or more of them jointly, may at any time acquire and take over all right, title, and interest in such bridge and its approaches, and any interest in real property for public purposes by condemnation or expropriation. If at any time after the expiration of five years after the completion of such bridge the same is acquired by condemnation or expropriation, the amount of damages or compensation to be allowed shall not include good will, going value, or prospective revenues or profits, but shall be limited to the sum of (1) the actual cost of constructing such bridge and its approaches, less a reasonable deduction for actual depreciation in value; (2) the actual costs of acquiring such interests in real property; (3) actual financing and promotion costs, not to exceed 10 per centum of the sum of the cost of constructing the bridge and its approaches and acquiring such interests in real property; and (4) actual expenditures for necessary improvements.

STATEMENTS OF COST

SEC. 505. Within ninety days after the completion of a privately owned interstate toll bridge, the owner shall file with the Secretary of War and with the highway departments of the States in which the bridge is located, a sworn itemized statement showing the actual original cost of constructing the bridge and its approaches, the actual cost of acquiring any interest in real property necessary therefor, and the actual financing and promotion costs. The Secretary of War may, and upon request of a highway department shall, at any time within three years after the completion of such bridge, investigate such costs and determine the accuracy and the reasonableness of the costs alleged in the statement of costs so filed, and shall make a finding of the actual and reasonable costs of constructing, financing, and promoting such bridge. For the purpose of such investigation the

said individual firm, or corporation, its successors and assigns, shall make available all of its records in connection with the construction, financing, and promotion thereof. The findings of the Secretary of War as to the reasonable costs of the construction, financing, and promotion of the bridge shall be conclusive for the purposes mentioned in section 504 of this title subject only to review in a court of equity for fraud or gross mistake.

SINKING FUND

SEC. 506. If tolls are charged for the use of an interstate bridge constructed or taken over or acquired by a State or States or by any municipality or other political subdivision or public agency thereof, under the provisions of this title, the rates of toll shall be so adjusted as to provide a fund sufficient to pay for the reasonable cost of maintaining, repairing, and operating the bridge and its approaches under economical management, and to provide a sinking fund sufficient to amortize the amount paid therefor, including reasonable interest and financing cost, as soon as possible under reasonable charges, but within a period of not to exceed twenty years from the date of constructing or acquiring the same. After a sinking fund sufficient for such amortization shall have been so provided, such bridge shall thereafter be maintained and operated free of tolls. An accurate record of the amount paid for acquiring the bridge and its approaches, the actual expenditures for maintaining, repairing, and operating the same, and of the daily tolls collected, shall be kept and shall be available for the information of all persons interested.

APPLICABILITY OF TITLE

SEC. 507. The provisions of this title shall apply only to bridges over navigable waters of the United States, the construction of which is hereafter approved under the provisions of this title; and the provisions of the first proviso of section 9 of the Act of March 3, 1899 (30 Stat. 1151; U. S. C., title 33, sec. 401), and the provisions of the Act entitled "An Act to regulate the construction of bridges over navigable waters", approved March 23, 1906, shall not apply to such bridges.

INTERNATIONAL BRIDGES

SEC. 508. This title shall not be construed to authorize the construction of any bridge which will connect the United States, or any Territory or possession of the United States, with any foreign country.

EMINENT DOMAIN

SEC. 509. There are hereby conferred upon any individual, his heirs, legal representatives, or assigns, any firm or corporation, its successors or assigns, or any State, political subdivision, or municipality authorized in accordance with the provisions of this title to build a bridge between two or more States, all such rights and powers to enter upon lands and acquire, condemn, occupy, possess, and use real estate and other property in the respective States needed for the location, construction, operation, and maintenance of such bridge and its approaches, as are possessed by railroad corporations for railroad purposes or by bridge corporations for bridge purposes in the State in which such real estate or other property is situated, upon making just compensation therefor to be ascertained and paid according to the laws of such State, and the proceedings therefor shall be the same as in the condemnation or expropriation of property for public purposes in such State.

PENALTIES

SEC. 510. Any person who fails or refuses to comply with any lawful order of the Secretary of War or the Chief of Engineers issued under the provisions of this title, or who fails to comply with any specific condition imposed by the Chief of Engineers and the Secretary of War relating to the maintenance and operation of bridges, or who refuses to produce books, papers, or documents in obedience to a subpena or other lawful requirement under this title, or who otherwise violates any provisions of this title, shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine of not to exceed $5,000 or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

RIGHTS RESERVED

SEC. 511. The right to alter, amend, or repeal this title is hereby expressly reserved as to any and all bridges which may be built under authority hereof.

TITLE VI-COMPENSATION AND RETIREMENT PAY OF MEMBERS OF CONGRESS

COMPENSATION OF MEMBERS OF CONGRESS

SEC. 601. (a) Effective on the day on which the Eightieth Congress convenes, the compensation of Senators, Representatives in Congress, Delegates from the Territories, and the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico shall be at the rate of $12,500 per annum each; and the compensation of the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Vice President of the United States shall be at the rate of $20,000 per annum each.

(b) Effective on the day on which the Eightieth Congress convenes there shall be paid to each Senator, Representative in Congress, Delegate from the Territories, Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico, an expense allowance of $2,500 per annum to assist in defraying expenses relating to, or resulting from the discharge of his official duties, for which no tax liability shall incur, or accounting be made; such sum to be paid in equal monthly installments.

(c) The sentence contained in the Legislative Branch Appropriation Act, 1946, which reads as follows: "There shall be paid to each Representative and Delegate, and to the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico, after January 2, 1945, an expense allowance of $2,500 per annum to assist in defraying expenses related to or resulting from the discharge of his official duties, to be paid in equal monthly installments.", is hereby repealed, effective on the day on which the Eightieth Congress convenes.

(d) The sentence contained in the Legislative Branch Appropriation Act, 1947, which reads as follows: "There shall be paid to each Senator after January 1, 1946, an expense allowance of $2,500 per annum to assist in defraying expenses related to or resulting from the discharge of his official duties, to be paid in equal monthly installments.", is hereby repealed, effective on the day on which the Eightieth Congress convenes.

RETIREMENT PAY OF MEMBERS OF CONGRESS

SEC. 602. (a) Section 3 (a) of the Civil Service Retirement Act of May 29, 1930, as amended, is amended by inserting after the words "elective officers" the words "in the executive branch of the Government".

(b) Such Act, as amended, is further amended by adding after section 3 the following new section:

"SEC. 3A. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act—

"(1) This Act shall not apply to any Member of Congress until he gives notice in writing, while serving as a Member of Congress, to the disbursing officer by whom his salary is paid of his desire to come within the purview of this Act. Such notice may be given by a Member of Congress within six months after the date of enactment of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 or within six months after any date on which he takes an oath of office as a Member of Congress. "(2) In the case of any Member of Congress who gives notice of his desire to come within the purview of this Act, the amount required to be deposited for the purposes of section 9 with respect to services rendered after the date of enactment of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946, shall be a sum equal to 6 per centum of his basic salary, pay, or compensation for such services, together with interest computed at the rate of 4 per centum per annum compounded on December 31 of each year; and the amount to be deducted and withheld from the basic salary, pay, or compensation of each such Member of Congress for the purposes of section 10 shall be a sum equal to 6 per centum of such basic salary, pay, or compensation.

"(3) No person shall be entitled to receive an annuity as provided in this section until he shall have become separated from the service after having had at least six years of service as a Member of Congress and have attained the age of sixty-two years, except that any such Member who shall have had at least five years of service as a Member of Congress, may, subject to the provisions of section 6 and of paragraph (4) of this section, be retired for disability, irrespective of age, and be paid an annuity computed in accordance with paragraph (5) of this section.

"(4) No Member of Congress shall be entitled to receive an annuity under this Act unless there shall have been deducted and withheld from his basic salary, pay, or compensation for the last five years of his service as a Member of Congress, or there shall have been deposited under section 9 with respect to such last five years of service, the amounts specified in paragraph (2) of this section with respect to

so much of such five years of service as was performed after the date of enactment of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 and the amounts specified in section 9 with respect to so much of such five years of service as was performed prior to such date.

"(5) Subject to the provisions of section 9 and of subsections (c) and (d) of section 4, the annuity of a Member of Congress shall be an amount equal to 21⁄2 per centum of his average annual basic salary, pay, or compensation as a Member of Congress multiplied by his years of service as a Member of Congress, but no such annuity shall exceed an amount equal to three-fourths of the salary, pay, or compensation that he is receiving at the time he becomes separated from the service.

"(6) In the case of a Member of Congress who becomes separated from the service before he completes an aggregate of six years of service as a Member of Congress, and who is not retired for disability, the total amount deducted from his basic salary, pay, or compensation as a Member of Congress, together with interest at 4 per centum compounded as of December 31 of each year shall be returned to such Member of Congress. No such Member of Congress shall thereafter become eligible to receive an annuity as provided in this section unless the amounts so returned are redeposited with interest at 4 per centum compounded on December 31 of each year, but interest shall not be required covering any period of separation from the service.

"(7) If any person takes office as a Member of Congress while receiving an annuity as provided in this section, the payment of such annuity shall be suspended during the period for which he holds such office; but, if he gives notice as provided in paragraph (2) of this section, his service as a Member of Congress during such period shall be credited in determining the amount of his subsequent annuity.

"(8) Nothing contained in this Act shall be construed to prevent any person eligible therefor from simultaneously receiving an annuity computed in accordance with this section and an annuity computed in accordance with section 4, but in computing the annuity under section 4 in the case of any person who (A) has had at least six years' service as a Member of Congress, and (B) has served as a Member of Congress at any time after the date of enactment of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946, service as a Member of Congress shall not be credited. "(9) No provision of this or any other Act relating to automatic separation from the service shall be applicable to any Member of Congress.

"(10) As used in this section, the term 'Member of Congress' means a Senator, Representative in Congress, Delegate from a Territory, or the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico; and the term 'service as a Member of Congress' shall include the period from the date of the beginning of the term for which a Member of Congress is elected or appointed to the date on which he takes office as such a Member."

Approved August 2, 1946.

STATEMENT OF HON. ROBERT A. TAFT, A UNITED STATES SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF OHIO

Senator TAFT. Mr. Chairman, I suppose I am invited here largely because I am chairman of the Republican Policy or Majority Policy Committee. That committee, however, has not specifically considered changes in the act. Some have been discussed from time to time, and I should like the privilege later of submitting any specific recommendations for changes approved by that committee. As regards what I may say here this morning, it is entirely my own opinion. I am not speaking for the Policy Committee, and I have no very extensive remarks to make anyway from the point of view of the act itself.

I feel that, in general, the act has worked very well. I think it has improved the character of the work done by committees, certainly the character of the experts employed by committees. I think the work of legislation is better done. I don't feel that it has particularly succeeded in relieving Senators of multifarious duties, because there are just so many subjects, and if you don't consider them in different committees, you consider them in subcommittees. I am afraid there

is no way in which Senators may be able to do less work, but certainly with the expert assistance which has been given, they have been able to do very much better work. I think that is the principal advantage of the bill.

There are some conflicts in the assignments of subjects to committees, which I suppose will come to your attention. I assume you will go over them, particularly the Senate end of the assignments to committees, and see if some of the conflicts can be resolved. We have a good deal of doubt, for instance, on the jurisdiction of the Finance Committee and the Labor Committee-I happen to be on both of them-on the subject of veterans.

You will notice that the Finance Committee has "veterans measures generally," whereas the Committee on Labor and Public Welfare has "vocational rehabilitation and education of veterans," also "veterans hospitals, medical care and treatment of veterans," also "soldiers and sailors civil relief," also "readjustment of servicemen to civil life." That seems to cover almost everything in the way of veterans except pensions and insurance. I think it ought to be considered whether they ought not all be in one committee and not divided; I don't particularly care which committee.

We have had, of course, as you know, a good deal of difficulty with the budget provisions of the act. It seems to be almost impractical for Congress to adopt an over-all budget figure without having been able to consider the detailed requests or know what they are going to do about the particular requests. As a matter of fact, if you bring that budget up before the 15th of February, every major item of expenditure will be a proper subject of consideration in making that over-all budget.

I think you should consider thoroughly how that provision should be changed, because I feel confident it ought to be changed, and I don't think it will do very much good merely to put the date off. There are various suggestions. I rather like the one which was made by Senator Bridges, the chairman of the Appropriations Committee, in the meeting of the Joint Budget Committee, that we have a legislative budget prepared by a smaller committee than this existing one, which is practically the whole Congress-almost 102 members-a committee that is more like the Joint Committee on Internal Revenue Taxation, which is made up perhaps of three or five members from each of the four committees involved, and then let them have a staff which follows the making of the executive budget as it goes along, and then helps formulate the committee's idea of what a legislative budget should be. I don't think Congress ought to have to act on it at all.

It seems to me you have before you the President's budget. You have before you the legislative budget prepared by a committee fully equipped to handle the thing, and then Congress itself decides what it is going to do about the different items. That seems to me the best suggestion I have heard, although there may be others that, after your study, you will consider more effective.

I do think there is a very valuable purpose in that provision, namely, that some responsible body in Congress take a look at the whole budget itself and prepare a sort of plan that will have some effect on the action of committees as they go through on taxation and expenditures. I think that idea is very valuable and should be retained, but I do not see how Congress itself at an early date can pass