disposal agency for merchant vessels or vessels capable of conversion to merchant use, and that such vessels shall be disposed of in accordance with the provisions of the Merchant Marine Act, 1936, as amended, and other laws authorizing the sale of such vessels.

(b) When any surplus property is reported to it under subsection (b) of section 7, the disposal agency shall have responsibility and authority for the disposition of such property, and for the care and handling of such property pending its disposition. Where any disposal agency is not prepared, at the time of its designation under this Act, to undertake the care and handling of such surplus property, the Administrator may postpone the responsibility of the agency to assume its duty for care and handling for such period as he deems necessary to permit its preparation therefor, but the owning agency shall be reimbursed, pursuant to subsection (b) of section 17, for its expenses for the care and handling of such surplus property during such period.

(c) The Administrator, by regulations, shall prescribe policies, standards, methods, and procedures to govern the exercise by any disposal agency of its authority under subsection (b) of this section.

TRANSFERS BETWEEN AGENCIES

SEC. 10 (a) The Administrator shall establish procedures to facilitate the transfer to each Government agency, for the performance of its functions, of surplus property of other Government agencies. Each Government agency shall make the fullest practicable use of surplus property in order to avoid unnecessary commercial purchases.

(b) The disposal agency responsible for any such property shall transfer it to the agency acquiring it at the fair value of the property as fixed by the disposal agency, under regulations of the Administrator, unless transfer without reimbursement or transfer of funds is otherwise authorized by law.

METHODS OF DISPOSITION

SEC. 11 (a) Wherever any Government agency is authorized to dispose of property under this Act, then, notwithstanding the provisions of any other law but subject to the provisions of this Act, the agency may dispose of such property by sale, exchange, lease, transfer, or other disposition, for cash, credit, other property, or otherwise, with or without warranty, and upon such other terms and conditions as the agency deems proper.

(b) Whenever the Government agency authorized to dispose of any property finds that it has no commercial value or that the cost of its handling and sale would exceed the estimated proceeds, the agency may donate such property to any agency or institution supported by the Federal Government or any State or local government, or to any nonprofit educational or charitable organization, or, if that is not feasible, shall destroy or otherwise dispose of such property.

(c) The Administrator, by regulations, shall prescribe such policies governing prices and other terms and conditions of dispositions under the authority of subsections (a) and (b) of this section, as he deems necessary to effectuate the objectives and policies of this Act.

(d) A deed, a bill of sale, lease, or other instrument executed by or on behalf of any Government agency purporting to transfer title or any other interest in property under this Act shall be conclusive evidence of compliance with the provisions of this Act insofar as title or other interest of any bona fide purchasers for value is concerned.

POLICIES GOVERNING DISPOSITION

SEC. 12. In formulating regulations to govern the care and handling and disposition of surplus property under this Act, the Administrator shall be guided by the objectives stated in section 1 of this Act, and shall give effect to the following policies to the extent feasible, and in the public interest:

(a) To facilitate transfers of surplus property of one Government agency to other Government agencies for their use.

(b) To afford public, governmental, educational, charitable, and eleemosynary institutions and cooperative organizations an opportunity to fulfill their legitimate needs.

(c) To afford returning veterans an opportunity to establish themselves as proprietors of agricultural and business enterprises.

(d) To afford smaller business concerns and agricultural enterprises generally an opportunity to acquire surplus property on equal terms with larger competitors;

to prescribe regulations and issue directives necessary to provide as far as practicable for uniform and wide public notice concerning surplus property available for sale and for adequate time intervals between notice and sale so that all interested purchasers shall have a fair opportunity to buy; to utilize commercial channels of distribution to the extent consistent with efficient and economic distribution, and to discourage sales to speculators; to collaborate with Smaller War Plants Corporation and to employ other appropriate means to give effect to this section.

(e) To afford former owners of surplus real property acquired by the Government by the exercise of its war powers an opportunity to reacquire such property. (f) To encourage mutually beneficial trade relations with foreign nations and to develop foreign markets.

(g) To dispose of surplus property as promptly as feasible without fostering monopoly or restraint of trade, or unduly disturbing the economy, or encouraging hoarding of such property; and to facilitate prompt redistribution of such property to consumers.

(h) To realize the highest obtainable return for the Government from such surplus property, consistent with the policies and objectives set forth in this Act.

DISPOSITION OF PLANTS

SEC. 13. Nothing in this Act shall impair, amend, or modify the antitrust laws or limit or prevent their application to persons who buy or otherwise acquire property under the provisions of this Act. Upon the request of the Attorney General the Administrator or any other Government agency shall furnish or cause to be furnished to the Attorney General such information as the Administrator or any such agency may possess which the Attorney General determines to be pertinent to the application of the antitrust laws to the disposition of surplus property under the provisions of this Act. As used in this section, the term "antitrust laws" includes the Act of July 2, 1890 (ch. 26, Stat. 209), as amended; the Act of October 15, 1914 (ch. 323, 38 Stat. 730), as amended; the Federal Trade Commission Act; and the Act of August 27, 1894 (ch. 349, sec. 73, 74, 28 Stat. 570), as amended.

SEC. 14. (a) No Government agency shall dispose of any surplus Governmentowned plant for the production of synthetic rubber, or aluminum, which originally cost the Government $5,000,000 or more, except in accordance with this section or pursuant to an option therefor.

(b) The Administrator may authorize any disposal agency to lease any such surplus plant for a term of not more than five years.

(c) The Administrator shall prepare and submit to Congress a report as to each class of such property

(1) describing the number, cost, and location of such surplus plants and setting forth other descriptive information relative to the use and potential use thereof;

(2) outlining the economic problems that may be created by the disposition thereof;

(3) setting forth a plan or program for the care and handling, disposition, and use thereof constent with the policies and objectives of this Act; and

(4), describing any steps already taken with respect to the care and handling, disposition, and use of the property, including any contracts relating thereto.

The Administrator shall request Government agencies to submit information and suggestions for use in the prepartion of such reports and shall encourage States, political subdivisions thereof, and private persons to submit such information and suggestions, and he shall submit to the Congress, together with each such report, copies or summaries of such information and suggestions. After six months from the submission of a report hereunder, unless the Congress provides otherwise by law, the Administrator may authorize the appropriate disposal agencies to dispose of such property in accordance with the plan or program proposed in the report to Congress.

(d) The Administrator may authorize any disposal agency to dispose of any materials or equipment related to any surplus plant covered by subsection (a) of this section, if such materials and equipment are not necessary for the operation of the plant in the manner for which it is designed.

(3) This section shall not apply to any Government-owned equipment, structure, or other property operated as an integral part of a privately owned plant and not capable of economic operation as a separate and independent unit.

REGULATIONS

SEC. 15. The Administrator shall prescribe regulations to effectuate the provisions of this Act. Each Government agency shall carry out such regulations of the Administrator expeditiously, and shall issue such regulations with respect to its operations and procedures as may be necessary for that purpose. Any Government agency may issue such further regulations not inconsistent with the regulations of the Administrator as it deems necessary and desirable to carry out the provisions of this Act. The regulations prescribed under this Act shall be published in the Federal Register.

GENERAL PROVISIONS

SEC. 16. (a) Each Government agency shall submit to the Administrator (1) such information and reports with respect to surplus property in its control, in such form and at such times as the Administrator may direct; and (2) information and reports with respect to other property in its control, to such extent, and in such form as the agency deems consistent with national security.

(b) Any Government agency may execute such documents for the transfer of title or other interest in property or take such other action as it deems necessary or proper to transfer or dispose of surplus property or otherwise to carry out the provisions of this Act, and shall do so to the extent required by the regulations of the Administrator.

(c) Where any property is disposed of in accordance with this Act and any regulations prescribed under this Act, no officer or employee of the Government shall (1) be liable with respect to such disposition except for his own fraud or (2) be accountable for the collection of any purchase price which is determined to be uncollectible by the agency responsible therefor.

(d) Any interested Government agency may take such action for the care and handling of property subject to disposition under this Act, and for completion of any semifabricated property, as it deems necessary or desirable to effectuate the objectives and policies of this Act.

(e) Each disposal agency shall maintain in each of its disposal offices such records of its inventories of surplus property and of each disposal transaction negotiated by that office as the Administrator may prescribe. The information in such records shall be available at all reasonable times for public inspection.

(f) Nothing in this Act shall be deemed to impair or modify any contract or any term or provision of any contract without the consent of the contractor, if the contract or the term or provision thereof is otherwise valid.

DISPOSITION OF PROCEEDS

SEC. 17. (a) All proceeds from any transfer or disposition of property under this Act shall be deposited and covered into the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts, except as provided in subsections (b), (c), (d), and (e) of this section.

(b) From the proceeds of such transfers or dispositions, the agency may deduct all expenses incurred for the care and handling, completion, and transfers or dispositions of such property under this Act, and may reimburse the fund or appropriation bearing such expenses, or the corresponding fund or appropriation currently available at the time of reimbursement.

(c) Where the property transferred or disposed of was acquired by the use of funds either not appropriated from the general fund of the Treasury or appropriated from the general fund of the Treasury but by law reimbursable from assessment, tax, or other revenue or receipts, then upon the request of the interested agency the proceeds of the disposition or transfer remaining after any deductions under subsection (b) of this section shall be credited to the reimbursable fund or appropriation or paid to the owning agency.

(d) To the extent authorized by the Administrator, any Government agency disposing of property under this Act (1) may deposit, in a special account with the Treasurer of the United States, such amount of the proceeds of such dispositions as it deems necessary to permit appropriate refunds to purchasers when any disposition is rescinded or does not become final, or payments for breach of any warranty, and (2) may withdraw therefrom amounts so to be refunded or paid, without regard to the origin of the funds withdrawn.

(e) Where a contract or subcontract authorizes the proceeds of any sale of property in the custody of the contractor or subcontractor to be credited to the price or cost of the work covered by such contract or subcontract, the proceeds of any such sale shall be credited in accordance with the contract or subcontract and shall not be subject to subsection (a) of this section.

USE OF APPROPRIATED FUNDS

SEC. 18. (a) Any Government agency is authorized to use for the disposition of property under this Act and for its completion, care, and handling, pending such disposition, any funds heretofore or hereafter appropriated, allocated, or available to it for such purposes or for the purpose of production or procurement of such property.

(b) Any Government agency is authorized to use in payment for the transfer to it of any surplus property under this Act any funds heretofore or hereafter appropriated, allocated, or available to it for the acquisition of property of the same kind.

(c) There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary or appropriate for administering the provisions of this Act.

DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY

SEC. 19. (a) The Administrator may delegate any authority and discretion conferred upon him by this Act to any Deputy Administrator, and may delegate such authority and discretion, upon such terms and conditions as he may prescribe, to the head of any Government agency to the extent necessary to the handling and solution of problems peculiar to that agency.

(b) The head of any Government agency may delegate, and authorize successive redelegations of, any authority and discretion conferred upon him or his agency by or pursuant to this Act to any officer, agent, or employee of such agency or, with the approval of the Administrator, to any other Government agency.

(c) Any two or more Government agencies may exericse jointly any authority and discretion conferred upon each of them individually by or pursuant to this Act.

APPLICABILITY

SEC. 20. All policies and procedures relating to surplus property prescribed by the Surplus War Property Administration, created by Executive Order Numbered 9425, dated February 19, 1944, or any other Government agency, in effect upon the effective date of this Act, and not inconsistent with this Act, shall remain in full force and effect unless and until superseded by regulations of the Administrator or of the agency in accordance with this Act.

SEC. 21. (a) Nothing in this Act shall limit or affect the authority of commanders in active theaters of military operations to dispose of property in their control.

(b) The provisions of this Act shall be applicable to dispositions of property within the United States and elsewhere, but the Administrator may exempt from some or all of the provisions hereof, dispositions of property located outside of the continental United States or in Alaska, whenever he deems that such provisions would obstruct the efficient and economic disposition of such property in accordance with the objectives of this Act.

SEC. 22. (a) The authority conferred by this Act is in addition to any authority conferred by any other law and shall not be subject to the provisions of any law inconsistent herewith. This Act shall not impair or affect any authority for the disposition of property under any other law, except that the Administrator may prescribe regulations to govern any disposition of surplus property under any such authority to the same extent as if the disposition were made under this Act, whenever he deems such action necessary to effectuate the objectives and policies of this Act.

(b) Nothing in this Act shall impair or affect the provisions of the Emergency Price Control Act of 1942, as amended; or the Act of October 2, 1942 (ch. 578, 56 Stat. 765), as amended; or of section 301 of the Second War Powers Act, 1942; or of the Act of March 11, 1941 (55 Stat. 31), as amended; or Acts supplemental thereto, or of any law regulating the exportation of property from the United States.

EFFECTIVE DATE; EXPIRATION

SEC. 23. This Act shall become effective from the date of its enactment. Unless extended by law, this Act shall expire at the end of three years following the date of the cessation of hostilities in the present war, as proclaimed by the President or by concurrent resolution of the two Houses of Congress.

SEPARABILITY OF PROVISIÓNS

SEC. 24. If any provision of this Act, or the application of such provision to any person or circumstance, is held invalid, the remainder of this Act or the application of such provision to persons or circumstances other than those as to which it is held invalid, shall not be affected thereby.

SHORT TITLE

SEC. 25. This Act may be cited as the "Surplus Propertv Act of 1944."

The CHAIRMAN. We have invited to be present this morning the members of the subcommittee of the Special House Committee on Post-war Economic Policy and Planning, who have been making a study of this subject, to give us the benefit of the studies they have been making for the past few months.

(Discussion off the record.)

The CHAIRMAN. We will be glad at this time so have a statement from Mr. Colmer, the chairman of the House Special Committee on Post-war Economic Policy and Planning.

STATEMENT OF HON. WILLIAM M. COLMER, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, AND CHAIRMAN OF HOUSE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON POST-WAR ECONOMIC POLICY AND PLANNING

Mr. COLMER. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, in reference to the bill you have under consideration, H. R. 5125, as you know, this special committee was set up by the House to make studies of these various phases of the post-war economic policy and planning, but the committee, of course, has no legislative jurisdiction. The committee has, for the past 6 or 8 months, been conducting hearings on the general, over-all post-war problems.

On the question of the disposal of surplus Government property, the Post-war Planning Committee of the House and the Post-war Planning Committee of the Senate had some joint sessions at which Mr. Clayton appeared, and at which every department of the Government was represented. They all appeared before the joint committee of the Senate and the House and those hearings are printed. In addition to that, we had Mr. Clayton appear twice before our Post-war Planning Committee on this subject.

Also, Mr. Manasco, your distinguished chairman of this committee, the Committee on Expenditures in Executive Departments, as chairman of a subcommittee of the House Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds, of which the gentleman from Texas, Mr. Lanham, is chairman, made some extensive studies of this matter, and the hearings held by that subcommittee are all printed.

As a result of those hearings, particularly the hearings before the two post-war committees in joint session, this bill which you have before you this morning was drafted and introduced, and it is now before you for the consideration of your committee, to which it was referred.

In view of all that, and in view of the time element involved, we do not believe that there is any necessity for going into extensive hearings on this bill. Of course, we are your guests here and we are not attempting to run your committee or to tell you how to run it, but that is our thought, and is also the thought of the leadership.