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It will thus be seen that if such payments were effected by means of transfer and counterwarrants there would be less paper work for the departments involved, the disbursing officer would not come into the picture, there would be no checks drawn and therefore no deposits, no covering warrants would be prepared, and the transaction would be audited prior to payment rather than after payment has been made. Considerable economy would thus be effected, and the transactions would be handled in an efficient manner according to sound accounting principles.

Similar improvements and economies could be effected in connection with advance payments.

The last sentence of the quotation, supra, provides that such payments shall not be subject to audit in advance of payment. It is the duty of the accounting office of the Government to see that the funds appropriated by the Congress are expended in the manner and for the purposes authorized. Restrictions such as the above, and others of a nature which make the findings of administrative officers binding upon the accounting officers, have a tendency not only to adversely affect the effectiveness of the work of the accounting officers but also to encourage looseness in the obligating and spending of public funds, and should therefore be eliminated from legislation. It is therefore suggested that the amended section 7 of the act of May 21, 1920 (47 Stat. 417; U. S. C., title 31, sec. 686), be further amended to read as follows (deleted material in black brackets; new material in italic):

(a) Any executive department or independent establishment of the Government, or any bureau or office thereof, if funds are available therefor, and if it is determined by the head of such executive department, establishment, bureau, or office to be in the interest of the Government so to do, may place orders with any other such department, establishment, bureau, or office for materials, supplies, equipment, work, or services, of any kind that such requisitioned Federal agency the authorized functions of which place it in a position to supply or [may be in a position to supply or equipped to] render promptly, and shall pay [promptly by check] to such Federal agency as may be requisitioned, upon its written request, either in advance or upon the furnishing or performance thereof, in such manner as may be prescribed by the Comptroller General of the United States, all or part of the estimated or actual cost thereof as determined by such department, establishment, bureau, or office as may be requisitioned; but proper adjustments on the basis of the actual cost of the materials, supplies, or equipment furnished, or work or services performed, paid for in advance, shall be made as may be agreed upon by the departments, establishments, bureaus, or offices concerned: Provided, however, That if such work or services can be as conveniently or more cheaply performed by private agencies such work shall be let by competitive bids to such private agencies. [Bills rendered, or requests for advance payments made, pursuant to any such order, shall not be subject to audit or certification in advance of payment.]

(b) Amounts paid as provided in subsection (a) shall be credited, 【(1) in the case of advance payments, to special working funds, or (2)] in the case of payments other than advance payments, to the appropriations or funds against which charges have been made pursuant to any such order, except as hereinafter provided. [The Secretary of the Treasury shall establish such special working funds as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this subsection. Such amounts paid shall be available for expenditure in furnishing the materials, supplies, or equipment, or in performing the work or services, or for the objects specified in such appropriations or funds.] Where materials, supplies, or equipment are furnished from stocks on hand, the amounts received in payment therefor shall be credited to appropriations or funds, as may be authorized by other law, or, if not so authorized, so as to be available to replace the materials, supplies, or equipment, except that where the head of any such department, establishment, bureau, or office determines that such replacement is not necessary the amounts paid shall be covered into the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts.

(c) Orders placed as provided in subsection (a) shall be considered as obligations upon appropriations in the same manner as orders or contracts placed with private contractors, but, advance payments [credited to a special working fund] shall not remain available beyond the period the appropriation otherwise would be available under existing law.

BARRING OF CLAIMS AGAINST THE UNITED STATES

The authority of the General Accounting Office to settle claims. against the United States is contained in section 305 of the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921 (42 Stat. 24), which provides thatSection 236 of the Revised Statutes is amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 236. All claims and demands whatever by the Government of the United States or against it, and all accounts whatever in which the Government of the United States is concerned, either as debtor or creditor, shall be settled and adjusted in the General Accounting Office."

The act of April 10, 1928 (45 Stat. 413), provides:

That when there is filed in the General Accounting Office a claim or demand against the United States that may not lawfully be adjusted by the use of an appropriation theretofore made, but which claim or demand in the judgment of the Comptroller General of the United States contains such elements of legal liability or equity as to be deserving of the consideration of the Congress, he shall submit the same to the Congress by a special report containing the material facts and his recommendation thereon.

The authority of the General Accounting Office to allow claims against the United States is limited to those claims which are clearly and completely supported by record evidence from authoritative sources. It cannot allow a claim on the mere statement of the claimant not verified or corroborated by Government records or documentary evidence. Consequently it is necessary for the General Accounting Office to preserve for all time all accounts received by it, a procedure which if continued, due to the enormous volume of accounts now being received under the emergency program, will cost the Government large sums annually for the rental of storage space. Claims are submitted to the General Accounting Office years after such claims first accrued, and not infrequently from 10 to 25 years after the rights of the claimants arose. Except in several instances where the Congress has recognized the necessity for a statutory limitation on the assertion of claims against the United States, there is no clear statutory inhibition against the consideration of claims irrespective of the time in which submissions are made. Needless to say the effort to develop old claims requires a vast amount of time both in the General Accounting Office and the administrative offices involved and the resultant cost, from which the United States obtains no benefit, is so great as to make it prejudicial to the interests of the United States.

In this connection it would appear that the obligations and liabilities of the United States for the payment of any claim, demand, or account not presented in due course should not be greater than the obligations and liabilities of the several States and citizens under local statutes of limitations. Accordingly, the following legislation is suggested:

That every claim or demand against the United States cognizable by the General Accounting Office under section 305 of the Budget and Accounting Act of June 10, 1921 (42 Stat. 24), and the act of April 10, 1928 (45 Stat. 413), shall be forever barred unless such claim, bearing the signature and address of the claimant or of an authorized attorney, shall be received in said office within six full 25974-37-5

years after the date such claim first accrued: Provided, That when a claim of any person serving in the military or naval forces of the United States accrues in time of war, or when war intervenes within three years after its accrual, such claim may be presented within three years after peace is established.

SEC. 2. A copy of this act shall be mailed to each claimant who presents a claim barred by section 1, which claim shall be returned, and such action shall be a complete response without further communication.

The enactment of the above legislation will save the Government the amounts now paid out on such claims, will greatly reduce the cost of settling claims in the General Accounting Office, and will tend to a prompter settlement of the Government's accounts with private individuals and firms.

SUGGESTIONS AND COMMENTS

MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS OF LAW EXEMPTING CERTAIN AGENCIES OF THE GOVERNMENT FROM COMPLIANCE WITH THE REQUIREMENTS OF GENERAL STATUTES

From time to time the Congress, deeming it advisable in emergencies or under special circumstances, has granted to agencies of the Government special latitude in the expenditure of public moneys and the accounting therefor. Provisions of law granting such latitude have usually been so worded as to exempt certain agencies of the Government from compliance, with the requirements of general statutes, affording greater freedom in the use of public moneys than is contemplated by the general law or enjoyed by the departments and establishments of the Government generally and have thus lessened, in varying degrees, the accountability of the agencies concerned and the control of the Congress over the uses of the public moneys involved and the manner in which they are obligated.

Naturally the Congress has not been quick to enact such provisions in the past and has done so only where circumstances, advanced by administrative agencies, were unusually impelling and appeared at the time to justify the latitude sought. However, greater freedom in spending and relief in whole or in part from accountability in a few agencies seem to have created the desire therefor in others and recently there has been a notable increase in the number of such provisions sought by administrative agencies and either enacted or written into bills, a number of which are before the Seventy-fifth Congress.

For the information of the Congress the following typical provisions of law and of bills pending before the Seventy-fifth Congress are cited:

PROVISIONS OF LAWS

National Forest Reservation Commission

Act of March 1, 1911, section 14 (36 Stat. 963):

"That a sum sufficient to pay the necessary expenses of the commission and its members, not to exceed an annual expenditure of twenty-five thousand dollars, is hereby appropriated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated. Said appropriation shall be immediately available, and shall be paid out on the audit and order of the president of the said commission, which audit and order shall be conclusive and binding upon all departments as to the correctness of the accounts of said commission." (Emphasis supplied.)

World War Veterans' Act, 1924, section 5 (Act of June 7, 1924, 43 Stat. 608), as amended:

"The Administrator of Veterans' Affairs, subject to the general direction of the President, shall administer, execute, and enforce the provisions of this Act, and for that purpose shall have full power and authority to make rules and regulations, not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, which are necessary or appropriate to carry out its purposes, and shall decide all questions arising under this Act; and all decisions of questions of fact and law affecting any claimant to the benefits of Titles II, III, or IV of this Act shall be conclusive except as otherwise provided herein. * **" (Emphasis

supplied.)

World War Adjusted Compensation Act, May 19, 1924 (43 Stat. 121), as amended: "The decisions of the Secretary of War, the Secretary of the Navy, and the Administrator, on all matters within their respective jurisdictions under the provisions of this Act (except the duties vested in them by Title VII) shall be final and conclusive.' (Emphasis supplied.)

Agricultural Adjustment-Rental or benefit payments—
Act of May 12, 1933, section 10 (e) (48 Stat. 37):

"The action of any officer, employee, or agent in determining the amount of and in making any rental or benefit payment shall not be subject to review by any officer of the Government other than the Secretary of Agriculture or Secretary of the Treasury." (Emphasis supplied.)

Home Owners' Loan Corporation—

Act of June 13, 1933, section 4 (j) (48 Stat. 131, 132):

* * The Corporation * * * shall determine its necessary expenditures under this Act and the manner in which they shall be incurred, allowed, and paid, without regard to the provisions of any other law governing the expenditure of public funds. (Emphasis supplied.)

Central Bank for Cooperatives
Production Credit Corporations
Production Credit Associations

Banks for Cooperatives

* * *

Act of June 16, 1933, Title VI, section 61 (48 Stat. 267):

"At least once each year and at such other times as the governor [of the Farm Credit Administration] deems necessary, the Central Bank for Cooperatives, and each Production Credit Corporation, Production Credit Association, and Bank for Cooperatives, organized under this Act, shall be examined by examiners designated by the governor. The governor shall assess the cost of such examinations against the bank, association, or corporation examined, which shall pay such costs to the governor. The amounts so assessed and unpaid shall be a prior lien on all assets of the bank, association, or corporation examined except on assets pledged to secure loans." (Material in brackets supplied.)

Federal Farm Mortgage Corporation

Act of January 31, 1934, section 1 (48 Stat. 345):

(* * * The directors shall have power * * * to prescribe the manner in which the obligations of the corporation shall be incurred and its expenses allowed and paid * (Emphasis supplied.)

* * ""

Department of Labor-special statistical studies—

Act of April 13, 1934, section 2 (48 Stat. 582), as extended by act of April 11, 1935, until April 13, 1937 (49 Stat. 154):

"All moneys hereinafter received by the Department of Labor in payment of the cost of such work shall be deposited to the credit of the appropriation of that bureau, service, office, division, or other agency of the Department of Labor which supervised such work, and may be used, in the discretion of the Secretary of Labor, and notwithstanding any other provision of law, for the ordinary expenses of such agency and/or to secure the special services of persons who are neither officers nor employees of the United States." (Emphasis supplied.)

Federal Housing Administration—

Act of June 27, 1934, Title I, section 1 (48 Stat. 1246):

61* * * The Administrator * * * may make such expenditures * * * without regard to any other provisions of law governing the expenditure of public funds. * *" (Emphasis supplied.)

*

Agricultural Adjustment

Act of March 18, 1935, section 11 (49 Stat. 48):

"Subsection (a) of section 17 of the Agricultural Adjustment Act, as amended, is further amended by inserting after the second sentence the following: 'In the case of rice, a tax due under this title which has been paid by a tax-payment warrant shall be deemed for the purposes of this subsection to have been paid; and with respect to any refund authorized under this section, the amount scheduled by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue for refunding shall be paid, any provision of law notwithstanding.'" (Emphasis supplied.)

Department of Commerce-special statistical studies-
Act of May 27, 1935, section 2 (49 Stat. 293):

"All moneys hereafter received by the Department of Commerce in payment of the cost of such work shall be deposited in a special account to be administered under the direction of the Secretary of Commerce. These moneys may be used, in the discretion of the Secretary of Commerce, and notwithstanding any other provision of law, for the ordinary expenses incidental to the work and/or to secure in connection therewith the special services of persons who are neither officers nor employees of the United States." phasis supplied.)

Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation—

Act of May 28, 1935, section 22 (49 Stat. 298):

(Em

"Paragraph (5) of subsection (c) of section 402 of the National Housing Act is amended by adding the following sentence at the end thereof: 'The Corporation * * shall determine its necessary expenditures under this

*

Act and the manner in which the same shall be incurred, allowed, and paid, without regard to the provisions of any other law governing the expenditure of public funds.'' (Emphasis supplied.)

Agricultural Adjustment

Act of February 29, 1936, section 2 (49 Stat. 1151):

"Section 32 of the Act to amend the Agricultural Adjustment Act, and for other purposes, approved August 24, 1935, is amended by striking out clause (3) and inserting in lieu thereof, '(3) reestablish farmers' purchasing power by making payments in connection with the normal production of any agricultural commodity for domestic consumption. Determinations by the Secretary as to what constitutes diversion and what constitutes normal channels of trade and commerce and what constitutes normal production for domestic consumption shall be final.' and by striking out that part of the last sentence thereof which precedes the second proviso and inserting in lieu thereof: 'The sums appropriated under this section shall be expended for such one or more of the above-specified purposes, and at such times, in such manner, and in such amounts as the Secretary of Agriculture finds will effectuate substantial accomplishment of any one or more of the purposes of this section:'." (Emphasis supplied.)

Revenue Act of 1937, approved June 22, 1936 (49 Stat. 1753)—–

Section 909-Limitations on Review:

"In the absence of fraud or mistake in mathematical calculation, the findings of fact and conclusions of law of the Commissioner upon the merits of any claim presented under this title shall not be subject to review by any other administrative or accounting officer, employee, or agent of the Ünitel States." (Emphasis supplied.)

To eliminate unnecessary expense in the administration of estates of deceased and incompetent veterans, and for other purposesAct of June 26, 1936 (49 Stat. 1982):

66* * * All determinations by the Secretary of the Treasury under this paragraph shall be final and conclusive and neither any other official of the United States nor, except in the case of prior judicial determination, any State or Federal court, shall have jurisdiction to review any such determination * * * "" (Emphasis supplied.)

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