ference. Any judge summoned shall attend, and, unless excused by the Chief Justice, shall remain throughout the conference and advise as to the needs of such court and as to any matters in respect of which the administration of justice in the courts of the United States may be improved."

(e) The second paragraph of section 605 of title 28, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:

"Such estimates shall be approved, before presentation to the Bureau of the Budget, by the Judicial Conference of the United States, except that estimates with respect to the Court of Customs and Patent Appeals and the Customs Court shall be approved by such courts, respectively."

Approved July 9, 1956.

(70 Stat. 497.)

PUBLIC LAW 673-84TH CONGRESS

CHAPTER 531-2D SESSION

H. R. 7763

AN ACT

To amend the Japanese-American Evacuation Claims Act of 1948, as amended, to expedite the final determination of the claims, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Act of July 2, 1948 (62 Stat. 1231), as amended, is further amended as follows:

That section 1 of the Act, as amended, is amended to read as follows:

"SECTION 1. (a) The Attorney General shall have jurisdiction to compromise and settle and make an award in an amount not to exceed $100,000 as hereinafter provided on any claim by a person of Japanese ancestry against the United States arising on or after December 7, 1941, when such claim is not compensated for by insurance or otherwise, for damage to or loss of real or personal property (including without limitation as to amount damage to or loss of personal property bailed to or in the custody of the Government or any agent thereof), that is (except as is otherwise provided by subsections 1 (b) (2) and (1) (b) (3)) a reasonable and natural consequence of the evacuation or exclusion of such person by the appropriate military commander from a military area in Arizona, California, Oregon, or Washington; or from the Territory of Alaska, or the Territory of Hawaii, under authority of Executive Order Numbered 9066, dated February 19, 1942 (3 C. F. R. Cum. Supp. 1092), section 67 of the Act of April 30, 1900 (48 U. S. C. 532), or Executive Order Numbered 9489, dated October 18, 1944 (3 C. F. R. 1944 Supp. 45).

"(b) As used herein

"(1) 'Evacuation' shall include voluntary departure from a military area prior to but in anticipation of an order of exclusion therefrom.

"(2) 'Claims by a person of Japanese ancestry' shall include claims that were filed by any profit or nonprofit or

ganization, corporate or otherwise, the majority of whose stock was owned by, or the majority of whose stockholders or members were, on December 7, 1941, and on the date of the filing of the claim, persons of Japanese ancestry actually residing within the continental limits of the United States or its Territories: Provided, however, That the losses sustained by the particular organization were the result (1) of the evacuation and exclusion of its stockholders or members, or (2) of the evacuation and exclusion of persons of Japanese ancestry upon whom the organization depended for its business or support. Such claims shall not be barred by awards or disallowances heretofore made."

"(3) Claim by a person of Japanese ancestry' shall also include claims which have been timely filed for such damage or loss as heretofore defined incurred by persons of Japanese ancestry detained, interned, or paroled, and subsequently released, pursuant to Revised Statutes, sections 4067-70, as amended (relating to alien enemies). Such claims shall also include losses due to the exclusion of the families and relatives of such persons during their detention or internment. Any such person shall be deemed to have been excluded from such military areas and territories as of the date he would have been evacuated had he not been detained or interned. The claim of or on behalf of such person shall not be barred by any award or disallowance heretofore made."

That section 2 (a) of the Act, as amended, is amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 2. (a) The Attorney General shall receive claims for a period of eighteen months from the date of the original enactment of this Act. All claims not presented within that time shall be forever barred: Provided, however, That any claim received by the Attorney General bearing a postmark prior to midnight, January 3, 1950, shall be considered to be timely filed within the said eighteen months. Any claim, timely filed, may be amended at any time prior to its final determination in order to include then compensable items of claim which, by the provisions of this Act as they existed when the claim was filed, the Attorney General was not authorized to determine or consider."

That section 2 (b) (2) of the Act, as amended, is amended to read as follows:

"(2) Except as provided in section 1 (b) (3), for damage or loss arising out of action taken by any Federal agency pursuant to sections 4067, 4068, 4069, and 4070 (relating to alien enemies) of the Revised Statutes, as amended (50 U. S. C. 21-24), or pursuant to the Trading With the Enemy Act, as amended (50 U. S. C., App., and Supp., 1-31, 616)." That section 4 (a) of the Act, as amended, is amended to read as follows:

"(a) The Attorney General is authorized to compromise and settle and make an award in an amount not to exceed $100,000 on any claim timely filed under this Act, as amended, on the basis of affidavits, available Government records, and other information satisfactory to him."

That section 4 (b) of the Act, as amended, is amended to read as follows:

"(b) The Court of Claims shall have jurisdiction to determine any claim timely filed under this Act. A petition for the determination of a claim by the Court of Claims shall be filed with the clerk of the said court and a copy of the petition shall be served upon the Attorney General by registered mail. Such a petition may be filed at any time after enactment of this subsection except that it must be filed within ninety days after the date of a notice by the Attorney General served on the claimant by registered mail that no further consideration will be given to the compromise of the claim. Upon the timely filing and serving of such petition, the Court of Claims shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine said claim in the same manner and under the same rules as any other cause properly before it and applying rules of equity and justice. Upon being served with a copy of such petition the Attorney General shall forthwith certify and transmit to the clerk of the Court of Claims the original statement of the claim and any requested amendments thereto for filing with the said clerk as a preliminary record in the Such petition shall, to the fullest practicable extent, be treated for docketing, hearing, and determination as if the petition had been filed with the Court of Claims on the date the original claim was received by the Attorney Gen

case.

eral: Provided, however, That no such petition shall have precedence by reason hereof over petitions involving interestbearing obligations of the United States."

That section 4 (c) of the Act, as amended, is amended to read as follows:

"(c) On the first day of each regular session of Congress the Attorney General shall transmit to Congress a full and complete statement of all compromise settlements effected by the Attorney General under this Act, as amended, during the previous year, stating the name and address of each claimant, the amount claimed, and the amount awarded. All awards shall be paid in like manner as are final judgments of the Court of Claims."

That section 4 (d) of the Act, as amended, is amended to read as follows:

"(d) Except as herein provided, the payment of an award shall be final and conclusive for all purposes, notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, and shall be a full discharge of the United States and all of its officers, agents, servants, and employees with respect to all claims arising out of the same subject matter."

That section 7 of the Act is amended to read as follows: "SEC. 7. There are hereby authorized to be appropriated for the purposes of this Act such sums as Congress may from time to time determine to be necessary."

That subsection 3 (a) of the Act is amended by striking out "to be heard and".

That subsection 3 (b) of the Act is amended by striking out "hearing or".

That subsection 3 (c) of the Act is amended by striking out "written" and "hearings and".

Approved July 9, 1956.

(70 Stat. 513.)