PROPOSING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A DEPARTMENT 1 SEVENTY-SECOND CONGRESS FIRST SESSION 103928 UNITED STATES WASHINGTON: 1932 шш 248 263 266 III DEPARTMENT OF NATIONAL DEFENSE THURSDAY, JANUARY 21, 1932 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Washington, D. C. The committee met at 10.30 o'clock a. m., Hon. Allard H. Gasque presiding. Mr. GASQUE. Gentlemen, the committee will come to order, in the absence of Mr. Cochran, who asked me to preside until he came in. The purpose of this meeting is to hear Congressman Byrns, the author of the bill (H. R. 7012) to create a department of national defense, which reads as follows: H. R. 7012, Seventy-second Congress, first session A BILL To establish a department of national defense, to consolidate therein the Department of War and the Department of the Navy, and for other purposes Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this act may be cited as the "National defense reorganization act." ESTABLISHMENT OF DEPARTMENT OF NATIONAL DEFENSE SEC. 2. (a) There is hereby established at the seat of government an executive department to be known as the department of national defense, at the head of which shall be a secretary of national defense, who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and who shall receive the same compensation as other heads of executive departments. (b) There shall be in the department of national defense three assistant secretaries, to be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, who shall perform such duties as may be required by law or prescribed by the secretary of national defense. The assistant secretaries shall receive compensation at the rate of $10,000 per annum. The assistant secretaries shall be known, respectively, as the assistant secretary for the Army, the assistant secretary for the Navy, and the assistant secretary for aviation. TRANSFER OF WAR AND NAVY DEPARTMENTS, AND COORDINATION OF ACTIVITIES SEC. 3. (a) The Department of War and the Department of the Navy and all that pertains thereto are transferred to the department of national defense, and the Department of War and the Department of the Navy shall cease to exist as separate executive departments. (b) The offices of Secretary of War, Secretary of the Navy, Assistant Secretaries of War, and Assistant Secretaries of the Navy are abolished, and the functions, powers, and duties vested in and imposed upon such officers are hereby vested in and imposed upon the secretary of national defense. SEC. 4. The secretary of national defense is authorized, for the purpose of perfecting the organization and coordinating the activities of the department of national defense (1) to consolidate, eliminate, or redistribute the functions of offices, bureasu, agencies, branches, and organizations, to create new ones and fix the powers, duties, and functions of their executive heads, (2) to take such other action, not inconsistent with the provisions of this act, as he may deem |