JOINT COMMITTEE ON INTERNAL REVENUE TAXATION

The Joint Committee on Internal Revenue Taxation was established in 1926 under section 1203 of the Revenue Act of 1926. This section is codified in chapters 47 and 48 of the Internal Revenue Code.

The duties imposed upon the committee by statute are as follows:

(1) To investigate the operation and effects of the Federal system of internalrevenue taxes.

(2) To investigate the administration of such taxes by the Bureau of Internal Revenue or any executive department, establishment, or agency charged with their administration.

(3) To make such other investigations in respect of such system of taxes as the Joint Committee may deem necessary.

(4) To investigate measures and methods for the simplification of such taxes, particularly the income tax.

(5) To publish from time to time for public examination and analysis proposed measures and methods for the simplification of such taxes; and

(6) To report from time to time to the Committee on Finance and the Committee on Ways and Means and, in its discretion, to the Senate or the House of Representatives, or both, the results of its investigations, together with such recommendations as it may deem advisable.

To the above, section 710 of the Revenue Act of 1928 added the duty of examining refunds in excess of $75,000 of income, war-profits, excess-profits, estate, and gift taxes and of making annual reports thereof to the Congress. A similar provision had theretofore been enacted in the first deficiency act, fiscal year 1927, approved February 28, 1927 (44 Stat. 1254). Section 3777 of the Internal Revenue Code, derived from section 710 of the Revenue Act of 1928, reads as follows: "SEC. 3777. Reports of refunds and credits in excess of $75,000.

"(a) By Commissioner to Joint Committee.-No refund or credit of any income, war-profits, excess-profits, estate, or gift tax in excess of $75,000 shall be made until after the expiration of 30 days from the date upon which a report giving the name of the person to whom the refund or credit is to be made, the amount of such refund or credit, and a summary of the facts and the decision of the Commissioner is submitted to the Joint Committee on Internal Revenue Taxation.

"(b) By Joint Committee to Congress.-A report to Congress shall be made annually by such committee of such refunds and credits, including the names of all persons and corporations to whom amounts are credited or payments are made, together with the amounts credited or paid to each."

The statute confers upon the Joint Committee certain powers necessary for the performance of its duties; and by development and direction of the Committees on Ways and Means and Finance the staff acts as a fact-finding and advisory agency for these committees.

The committee is composed of 10 members, of whom 5 are members of the Committee on Finance and 5 of the Committee on Ways and Means. The Committee on Finance and the Committee on Ways and Means each elects its membership on the Joint Committee, 3 from the majority and 2 from the minority party. It has been the custom to elect ranking members.

The committee was organized in 1926 and functions with the aid of a permanent staff, with a chief of staff as administrative head. It is the custom of the Joint Committee to elect a chairman and vice chairman annually, alternating these offices between the chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means and the chairman of the Committee on Finance.

JOINT COMMITTEE ON PRINTING

The Joint Committee on Printing, consisting of three Members of the Senate and three Members of the House of Representatives, was created by the act of August 3, 1846, and its principal duties are set forth in the Printing Act approved January 12, 1895. That act gave the committee authority "to remedy any neglect or delay in the public printing and binding." This authority was extended by section 11 of the Legislative Appropriation Act for 1920, empowering the committee "to adopt and employ such measure as, in its discretion, may be deemed necessary to remedy any neglect, delay, duplication, or waste in the public printing and binding and the distribution of Government publications."

The act of 1895 provides that the committee "shall have control of the arrangement and style of the Congressional Record, and, while providing that it shall be substantially a verbatim report of proceedings, shall take all needed action for the

reduction of unnecessary bulk." The committee is also authorized to provide for the publication of semimonthly and session indexes to the Record and has general authority over the forms and style of congressional printing and binding. The CONGRESSIONAL DIRECTORY, memorial addresses on deceased Senators and Members, statute proceedings, and similar publications are compiled and prepared under the direction of the committee. The Superintendent of Documents publishes the index of public documents upon a plan approved by the committee and indexes such single volumes as it shall direct.

The committee is directed by law to establish rules and regulations for the printing of documents and reports in two or more editions. Orders for subsequent editions after 2 years from date of original order must receive its approval. The committee directs whether extra copies of documents and reports shall be bound in paper or cloth, and prescribes the arrangement and binding of documents for depository libraries.

The cost of printing any document or report which cannot be properly charged to any other appropriation may, upon order of the committee, be charged to the congressional appropriation.

The committee may order additional copies printed of any Government publication within a limit of $200 in cost in any one instance.

The act of 1895 also provides that the committee shall exercise the following functions in regard to the purchase of paper for the public printing and binding: Fix upon standards of quality, receive proposals and award contracts therefor, appoint a member of the board of paper inspection, determine differences of opinion as to quality, act upon defaults, and authorize open-market purchases. The Legislative Appropriation Act for 1925 authorizes the Public Printer to procure under the direction of the Joint Committee on Printing in accordance with the act approved January 12, 1895, and furnish on requisition paper and envelopes (not including envelopes printed in the course of manufacture) in common use by two or more departments, establishments, or services of the Government in the District of Columbia.

The Public Printer is required by law to advertise for bids for material, other than paper, under the direction of the committee, and to make a return to it on all such contracts awarded by him. The committee may authorize the Public Printer to make certain open-market purchases of material, and, by resolution, it has required him to obtain its approval on all purchases of machinery and equipment in excess of $1,000 in any one instance.

Maps and illustration plates for Government publications are purchased under the direction of the committee whenever the probable cost exceeds $1,200; or, whenever the exigencies of the public service do not justify advertisement, the committee may authorize immediate contracts for lithographing and engraving. Printing for the Patent Office is required by law to be done under such regulations and conditions as the committee may prescribe.

Section 11 of the Legislative Appropriation Act for 1920 requires all printing, binding, and blank-book work for the Government to be done at the Government Printing Office, except such classes of work as shall be deemed by the Joint Committee on Printing to be urgent or necessary to have done elsewhere than in the District of Columbia for the exclusive use of any field service outside of said District.

JOINT COMMITTEE ON THE LIBRARY

The Joint Committee on the Library was established by law; in 1809 the two Houses by concurrent action supplemented the law, and in 1843 recognized it by joint rule. The joint rules having ceased to exist in 1876, the rules of the House recognized the committee in 1880. In 1902 a law increased the membership of the committee to five in each House. Public Law 601 (79th Congress) provided that the Joint Committee of Congress on the Library shall, on and after January 3, 1947, consist of the Chairman and four members of the Committee on Rules and Administration of the Senate and the Chairman and four members of the Committee on House Administration of the House of Representatives.

The statutes confer on the joint committee certain executive functions, such as the acceptance of works of art for the Capitol, the assignment of the same to such place in the Capitol as they may deem suitable, and control of the Botanic Garden, and provide that its powers shall reside in the Senate portion in the recess after the expiration of a Congress.

GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE

The Comptroller General of the United States is charged by law with the settlement and adjustment, independently of the executive departments, of all

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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, and is vested with all powers and duties previously conferred or imposed by law upon the former Comptroller of the Treasury and the six Auditors of the Treasury Department; also with the duty of keeping the personal ledger accounts of disbursing and collecting officers; and of certifying balances, which are final and conclusive upon the executive branch of the Government. He may provide for payment of accounts or claims adjusted and settled in the General Accounting Office through disbursing officers of the several departments and establishments instead of by warrant. He prescribes the forms, systems, and procedure for administrative appropriation and fund accounting in the several departments and establishments, and for the administrative examination of fiscal officers' accounts and claims, reporting to Congress upon the adequacy and effectiveness of such administrative examination. He appoints and removes attorneys and other employees in the General Accounting Office, they performing such duties as may be assigned to them by him, all official acts performed by them, when specially designated therefor by the Comptroller General, having the same force and effect as though performed by the Comptroller General in person. He makes such rules and regulations as may be necessary for carrying on the work of the General Accounting Office, including those for the admission of attorneys to practice before it, and furnishes, under the seal of said Office, copies of records from books and proceedings thereof, for use as evidence in accordance with sections 882 and 886 of the Revised Statutes.

Upon the application of disbursing officers, the head of any executive department or other independent establishment not under any of the executive departments, or certifying officers, the Comptroller General is required to render his advance decision upon any question involving a payment to be made by them or under them, or pursuant to their certification, which decision when rendered governs in passing upon the account involving the payment inquired about. He reviews, on his own motion, any settled account when in the interest of the United States to do so. He superintends the recovery of all debts finally certified by audited settlements to be due the United States, and the preservation of all accounts, with their vouchers, etc., which have been finally adjusted, and countersigns all warrants authorized by law to be signed by the Secretary of the Treasury. The Comptroller General is required to audit the financial transactions of all Government corporations in accordance with commercial corporate practices and under such rules and regulations as he may prescribe. A report of each such audit for each fiscal year ending on June 30 must be made by him to the Congress not later than the following January 15.

It is also the duty of the Comptroller General to investigate at the seat of government or elsewhere all matters relating to the receipt, disbursement, and application of public funds and to make recommendations to the President, when requested by him, and to Congress concerning legislation necessary to facilitate the prompt and accurate rendition and settlement of accounts, and concerning such other matters as he may deem advisable in regard to the receipt, disbursement, and application of public funds and economy or efficiency in public expenditures. He makes investigations for Congress as to revenue, appropriations, and expenditures, furnishing assistants from his office to Congress for that purpose, and specially reports to Congress every expenditure or contract made by any department or establishment in any year in violation of law. He also reports to Congress upon the adequacy and effectiveness of departmental inspection of the offices and accounts of fiscal officers, and, in accordance with law, has access to and examines any books, documents, papers, or records, except those pertaining to certain funds for purposes of intercourse or treaty with foreign nations, of all departments and establishments, for the purpose of securing from time to time information regarding the powers, duties, activities, organization, financial transactions, and methods of business of their respective offices. It is also his duty to furnish to the Bureau of the Budget such information relating to expenditures and accounting as it may request from time to time.

Also, it is the duty of the Comptroller General to conduct an expenditure analysis of each agency of the executive branch of the Government, including Government corporations which, in the opinion of the Comptroller General, will enable Congress to determine whether public funds have been economically and efficiently administered and expended, and to submit reports in connection therewith to the Committees on Expenditures in the Executive Departments, to the Appropriations Committees, and to the legislative committees having jurisdiction over leg- * islation relating to the operations of the respective agencies of the two Houses.

EXECUTIVE BRANCH

EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

Under authority of the Reorganization Act of 1939 and in accordance with the President's Reorganization Plans No. I and No. II, various agencies were transferred to the Executive Office of the President. The Office comprises the following major divisions: The White House Office, Bureau of the Budget, Liaison Office for Personnel Management, the Office for Emergency Management, and the Council of Economic Advisers. Executive Order No. 8248 of September 8, 1939, established the divisions and defined their functions, with the exception of the Council of Economic Advisers which was established by Public Law 304 of the Seventyninth Congress.

THE WHITE HOUSE OFFICE

The functions and duties of the White House Office, as defined in Executive Order No. 8248 of September 8, 1939, are as follows:

In general, to serve the President in an intimate capacity in the performance of the many detailed activities incident to his immediate office. To that end, the White House Office shall be composed of the following principal subdivisions, with particular functions and duties as indicated.

(a) The Secretaries to the President.-To facilitate and maintain quick and easy communication with the Congress, the individual Members of the Congress, the heads of executive departments and agencies, the press, the radio, and the general public.

(b) The executive clerk.-To provide for the orderly handling of documents and correspondence within the White House Office, and to organize and supervise all clerical services and procedure relating thereto.

(c) The administrative assistants to the President.-To assist the President in such matters as he may direct, and, at the specific request of the President, to get information and to condense and summarize it for his use. These administrative assistants shall be personal aides to the President and shall have no authority over anyone in any department or agency, including the Executive Office of the President, other than the personnel assigned to their immediate offices. In no event shall the administrative assistants be interposed between the President and the head of any department or agency, or between the President and any one of the divisions in the Executive Office of the President.

LIAISON OFFICE FOR PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT

The Liaison Office for Personnel Management assists the President in the execution of the duties imposed upon him by the Constitution and by legislation with respect to personnel management and in maintaining closer contact with all Federal departments and agencies in their relation to personnel-management policies.

BUREAU OF THE BUDGET

The Bureau of the Budget was created by the Budget and Accounting Act of June 10, 1921. Although established as a staff agency under the immediate direction of the President, the Bureau was physically located in the Treasury Department. In harmony with proposals made as early as 1924 by the Joint Congressional Committee on Reorganization, the Bureau was transferred to the Executive Office of the President under authority granted in the Reorganization Act of 1939. Simultaneously its functions in the fields of general management and executive coordination were strengthened.

The main functions of the Bureau are:

1. To assist the President in the preparation of the Budget and the formulation of the fiscal program of the Government.

2. To supervise and control the administration of the Budget.

3. To conduct research in the development of improved plans of adminis trative management and to advise the executive departments and agencies of the Government with respect to improved administrative organization and practice.

4. To aid the President to bring about more efficient and economical conduct of Government service.

5. To assist the President by clearing and coordinating departmental advice on proposed legislation and by making recommendations as to Presidential action on legislative enactments.

6. To assist in the consideration and clearance and, where necessary, in the preparation of proposed Executive orders and proclamations.

7. To plan and promote the improvement, development, and coordination of Federal and other statistical services.

8. To keep the President informed of the progress of activities by agencies of the Government with respect to work proposed, work actually initiated, and work completed, together with the relative timing of work between the several agencies of the Government.

In the exercise of its functions, the Bureau is governed not only by the Budget and Accounting Act but also by various statutory authorizations of a special character. These include the so-called Anti-Deficiency Act of 1905 (as amended in 1906) under which the Director of the Bureau determines apportionments of appropriations; the congressional resolution of May 11, 1922, which requires his approval for the printing of periodicals from appropriated funds; the Federal Reports Act of 1942, which directs him to supervise the use of Government report forms and questionnaires; the Federal Employees Pay Act of 1945, as amended by Public Law 390 (79th Cong., 2d sess.) which charges him with the duties of determining for each quarter the personnel requirements of Federal agencies, of ordering the release of excess personnel, and of establishing budgetary reserves where savings are possible; and the Government Corporation Control Act of 1945. which extended his budgetary functions to wholly owned Government corporations.

FEDERAL BOARD OF HOSPITALIZATION

The Federal Board of Hospitalization is an advisory agency to the Bureau of the Budget. It was organized on November 1, 1921. It is the duty of the Board to initiate studies of and analyze and review the hospital, convalescent, and domiciliary activities and programs developed and operated by all agencies of the Federal Government (except the District of Columbia and Territorial governments) for the purpose of:

1. Preventing the overlapping and duplication of services and overbuilding of facilities.

2. Insuring the most efficient and complete utilization of the total services and facilities of the Federal Government by each agency.

3. Determining the need for existing or additional facilities of each agency. 4. Determining the area or locality in which additional facilities should be provided.

5. Determining the extent to which non-Federal facilities may be utilized in the administration of the hospital activities or programs of any Federal agency. 6. Developing a complete over-all program for providing hospitalization for all veterans, including the veterans of World War II.

7. Furnishing recommendations with respect to such matters as the Director of the Bureau of the Budget may refer to the Board.

COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISERS

The Council of Economic Advisers, created under and responsible for the administration of certain main features of the Employment Act of 1946, assists the President in the preparation of an annual economic report to Congress; studies national economic developments and trends; appraises activities of the Federal Government bearing upon the Natior's economy and the advancement thereof; develops and recommends to the President national economic policies to maintain employment, production, and purchasing power; and furnishes the President with such other studies and reports relating to Federal economic policy and legislation as the President may request.

OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT REPORTS

The Office of Government Reports, established under provisions of Reorganization Plan I of 1939 and Public Law 107 of the 77th Congress and subsequently transferred to the Office of War Information, was reestablished in the Executive Office of the President by Executive Order 9809 of December 12, 1946. The order transferred to it the functions of the Government Information Service of the Bureau of the Budget and the functions of the Media Programming and the Motion