Short title. December 18, 1941 [H. R. 6233) [Public Law 354] Act, 1941. one year, or both: Provided further, That the above penalty clause SEO. 503. This Act may be cited as the "Third Supplemental [CHAPTER 593] AN ACT To expedite the prosecution of the war effort. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, First War Powers TITLE I-COORDINATION OF EXECUTIVE BUREAUS IN THE INTEREST OF THE MORE EFFICIENT CONCENTRATION OF THE GOVERNMENT Redistribution of functions among executive agencies. Regulations orders. 49 Stat. 501. 44 U. S. C. § 305. Provisos. SECTION 1. That for the national security and defense, for the successful prosecution of the war, for the support and maintenance of the Army and Navy, for the better utilization of resources and industries, and for the more effective exercise and more efficient administration by the President of his powers as Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy, the President is hereby authorized to make such redistribution of functions among executive agencies as he may deem necessary, including any functions, duties, and powers hitherto by law conferred upon any executive department, commission, bureau, agency, governmental corporation, office, or officer, in such manner as in his judgment shall seem best fitted to carry out the purposes and of this title, and to this end is authorized to make such regulations and to issue such orders as he may deem necessary, which regulations and orders shall be in writing and shall be published in accordance with the Federal Register Act of 1935: Provided, That the termination of this title shall not affect any act done or any right or obligation accruing or accrued pursuant to this title and during the time that this title is in force: Provided further, That the authority by this title granted shall be exercised only in matters relating to the conduct of the present war: Provided further, That no redistribution of functions shall provide for the transfer, consolidation, or abolition of the whole or any part of the General Accounting Office or of all or any part of its functions. Exercise of author ity. General Accounting Office. Coordination, etc., of existing agencies. Expenditure of moneys. SEC. 2. That in carrying out the purposes of this title the President is authorized to utilize, coordinate, or consolidate any executive or administrative commissions, bureaus, agencies, governmental corporations, offices, or officers now existing by law, to transfer any duties or powers from one existing department, commission, bureau, agency, governmental corporation, office, or officer to another, to transfer the personnel thereof or any part of it either by detail or assignment, together with the whole or any part of the records and public property belonging thereto. SEC. 3. That for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this title, any moneys heretofore and hereafter appropriated for the use of any executive department, commission, bureau, agency, governmental corporation, office, or officer shall be expended only for the purposes for which it was appropriated under the direction of such other agency as may be directed by the President hereunder to perform and execute said functions, except to the extent hereafter authorized by the Congress in appropriation Acts or otherwise. SEO. 4. That should the President, in redistributing the functions among the executive agencies as provided in this title, conclude that any bureau should be abolished and it or their duties and functions conferred upon some other department or bureau or eliminated entirely, he shall report his conclusions to Congress with such recommendations as he may deem proper. Abolishment of bureaus Suspension of con SEC. 5. That all laws or parts of laws conflicting with the provisions of this title are to the extent of such conflict suspended while this ficting laws. title is in force. Restoration of func mination of title. Upon the termination of this title all executive or administrative agencies, governmental corporations, departments, commissions, tions, etc., upon terbureaus, offices, or officers shall exercise the same functions, duties, and powers as heretofore or as hereafter by law may be provided, any authorization of the President under this title to the contrary notwithstanding. TITLE II-CONTRACTS Contracts without regard to designated SEC. 201. The President may authorize any department or agency of the Government exercising functions in connection with the prose- provisions of law. cution of the war effort, in accordance with regulations prescribed by the President for the protection of the interests of the Government, to enter into contracts and into amendments or modifications of contracts heretofore or hereafter made and to make advance, progress and other payments thereon, without regard to the provisions of law relating to the making, performance, amendment, or modification of contracts whenever he deems such action would facilitate the prosecution of the war: Provided, That nothing herein shall be construed to authorize the use of the cost-plus-a-percentage-of-cost system of contracting: Provided further, That nothing herein shall be construed to authorize any contracts in violation of existing law relating to limitation of profits: Provided further, That all acts under the authority of this section shall be made a matter of public record under regulations prescribed by the President and when deemed by him not to be incompatible with the public interest. TITLE III—TRADING WITH THE ENEMY SEC. 301. The first sentence of subdivision (b) of section 5 of the Trading With the Enemy Act of October 6, 1917 (40 Stat. 411), as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows: Pronisos. 40 Stat. 415. Regulatory powers during national "(1) During the time of war or during any other period of national emergency declared by the President, the President may, through any emergency. agency that he may designate, or otherwise, and under such rules and regulations as he may prescribe, by means of instructions, licenses, or otherwise "(A) investigate, regulate, or prohibit, any transactions in foreign exchange, transfers of credit or payments between, by, through, or to any banking institution, and the importing, exporting, hoarding, melting, or earmarking of gold or silver coin or bullion, currency or securities, and Foreign exchange, coin exports, etc. Transactions "(B) investigate, regulate, direct and compel, nullify, void, ing foreign property. prevent or prohibit, any acquisition holding, withholding, use, transfer, withdrawal, transportation, importation or exportation of, or dealing in, or exercising any right, power, or privilege with respect to, or transactions involving, any property in which any foreign country or a national thereof has any interest, property in agencies. of U. S. etc. by any person, or with respect to any property, subject to the jurisVesting foreign diction of the United States; and any property or interest of any foreign country or national thereof shall vest, when, as, and upon the terms, directed by the President, in such agency or person as Use, etc., in interest may be designated from time to time by the President, and upon such terms and conditions as the President may prescribe such interest or property shall be held, used, administered, liquidated, sold, or otherwise dealt with in the interest of and for the benefit of the United States, and such designated agency or person may perform any and all acts incident to the accomplishment or furtherance of these purRecords, reports, poses; and the President shall, in the manner hereinabove provided, require any person to keep a full record of, and to furnish under oath, in the form of reports or otherwise, complete information relative to any act or transaction referred to in this subdivision either before, during, or after the completion thereof, or relative to any interest in foreign property, or relative to any property in which any foreign country or any national thereof has or has had any interest, or as may be otherwise necessary to enforce the provisions of this subdivision, and in any case in which a report could be required, the President may, Production or sei in the manner hereinabove provided, require the production, or if necessary to the national security or defense, the seizure, of any books of account, records, contracts, letters, memoranda, or other papers, in the custody or control of such person; and the President may, in the manner hereinabove provided, take other and further measures not inconsistent herewith for the enforcement of this subdivision. zure of papers. Payments, etc., to obligation. sons acting in pur suance hereof. "United States." "(2) Any payment, conveyance, transfer, assignment, or delivery be full discharge of of property or interest therein, made to or for the account of the United States, or as otherwise directed, pursuant to this subdivision or any rule, regulation, instruction, or direction issued hereunder shall to the extent thereof be a full acquittance and discharge for Nonliability of per- all purposes of the obligation of the person making the same; and no person shall be held liable in any court for or in respect to anything done or omitted in good faith in connection with the administration of, or in pursuance of and in reliance on, this subdivision, or any rule, regulation, instruction, or direction issued hereunder. "(3) As used in this subdivision the term 'United States' means the United States and any place subject to the jurisdiction thereof, including the Philippine Islands, and the several courts of first instance of the Commonwealth of the Philippine Islands shall have jurisdiction in all cases, civil or criminal, arising under this subdivision in the Philippine Islands and concurrent jurisdiction with the district courts of the United States of all cases, civil or criminal, arising upon the high seas: Provided, however, That the foregoing shall not be construed as a limitation upon the power of the President, which is hereby conferred, to prescribe from time to time, definitions, not inconsistent with the purposes of this subdivision, for any or all of the terms used in this subdivision." Proviso. Prior action proved and ratified. ap SEC. 302. All acts, actions, regulations, rules, orders, and proclamations heretofore taken, promulgated, made, or issued by, or pursuant to the direction of, the President or the Secretary of the Treasury 50 U. S. C., app. under the Trading With the Enemy Act of October 6, 1917 (40 Stat. §§ 1-31; 12 U.'s. 95a. Ante, p. 839. Censorship of communications between countries. 411), as amended, which would have been authorized if the provisions of this Act and the amendments made by it had been in effect, are hereby approved, ratified, and confirmed. SEC. 303. Whenever, during the present war, the President shall U. S. and foreign deem that the public safety demands it, he may cause to be censored under such rules and regulations as he may from time to time establish, communications by mail, cable, radio, or other means of transmission passing between the United States and any foreign country he may from time to time specify, or which may be carried by any vessel or other means of transportation touching at any port, place, or Territory of the United States and bound to or from any foreign country. Any person who willfully evades or attempts to evade the submission of any such communication to such censorship or willfully uses or attempts to use any code or other device for the purpose of concealing from such censorship the intended meaning of such communication shall, upon conviction, be fined not more than $10,000, or, if a natural person, imprisoned for not more than ten years, or both; and the officer, director, or agent of any corporation who knowingly participates in such violation shall be punished by a like fine, imprisonment, or both, and any property, funds, securities, papers, or other articles or documents, or any vessel, together with her tackle, apparel, furniture, and equipment, concerned in such violation shall be forfeited to the United States. TITLE IV-TIME LIMIT AND SHORT TITLE SEC. 401. Titles I and II of this Act shall remain in force during the continuance of the present war and for six months after the termination of the war, or until such earlier time as the Congress by concurrent resolution or the President may designate. SEC. 402. This Act may be cited as the "First War Powers Act, 1941". Approved, December 18, 1941. Penalty for evasions, using codes, etc. [CHAPTER 594] JOINT RESOLUTION Creating a commission to investigate ways and means for improving economic conditions in the anthracite coal producing regions of the United States. Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That there is hereby created a commission to be composed of two Members of the Senate, to be appointed by the President of the Senate; two Members of the House of Representatives, to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives; and three individuals to be appointed by the President, one of whom shall be an officer or employee of the Bureau of Mines, one of whom shall be an officer or employee of the National Resources Planning Board, and one of whom shall be an officer or employee of the Interstate Commerce Commission. Any vacancy in the commission shall be filled in the same manner in which the original appointment was made. No member of the commission shall receive compensation for his services as such member. SEC. 2. It shall be the duty of the commission to conduct an investigation for the purpose of determining the facts relating to, and ways and means for improving, economic conditions in the anthracite coal producing regions of the United States, and in the conduct of such investigation the commission shall take into consideration, among other relevant factors, (a) the availability in such regions, for national-defense activities, of skilled and unskilled workers, factories, and housing and other facilities, and (b) possible new and extended uses for anthracite coal and the byproducts thereof. SEC. 3. The commission shall report to the President and to the Congress the results of its investigation, together with its recommendations, at the earliest practicable date. The commission shall cease to exist upon the submission to the President and the Congress of its final report. December 19, 1941 [H. J. Res. 255] [Public Law 355] Anthracite coal commission. Investigation. Report. Utilization of Government agencies. SEC. 4. The commission is authorized, in carrying out its functions under this joint resolution, to utilize the services, information, facilities, and personnel of the departments and agencies of the Government. Approved, December 19, 1941. [CHAPTER 595] AN ACT To facilitate and simplify the administration of the Federal reclamation laws and the Act of August 11, 1939, as amended. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That for the purpose of facilitating and simplifying the administration of the Federal reclamation laws (Act of June 17, 1902, 32 Stat. 388 and Acts amendatory thereof or supplementary thereto) and the Act of August 11, 1939 (53 Stat. 1418), as amended, the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized to delegate, from time to time and to the extent and under such regulations as he deems proper, his powers and duties under said laws to the Commissioner of Reclamation, an Assistant Commissioner, or the officer in charge of any office, division, district, or project of the Bureau of Reclamation. Approved, December 19, 1941. December 19, 1941 [H. R. 5305] [Public Law 357] Bedford, Mass. Grant of easements poses. [CHAPTER 596] AN ACT Authorizing the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs to grant easements in certain lands to the town of Bedford, Massachusetts, for road-widening purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Adminis for road-widening pur- trator of Veterans' Affairs is authorized and directed to grant easements, subject to any rights which the Boston and Maine Railroad Company may have in and over tract numbered 2, to the town of Bedford, Massachusetts, for road-widening purposes, in two small strips of land of the Veterans' Administration facility in such town, described as follows: TRACT NUMBERED 1 Beginning at a point in the northeasterly line of Page or Pine Hill Road at the southerly corner of the property of the United States of America and known as Veterans' Administration Facility, Bedford, Massachusetts, north twenty-six degrees twenty-six minutes and thirty seconds west one hundred and seventeen and ninety-six onehundredths feet along the northeasterly line of said road to a point in the new northeasterly street line as laid out by the county commissioners of Middlesex County on December 20, 1940; thence south twenty-eight degrees ten minutes and five seconds east one hundred and sixteen and forty-four one-hundredths feet along the said new northeasterly street line to a point in the southeasterly property line of the United States of America; thence south thirty-nine degrees twenty-three minutes and forty seconds west three and eighty-five onehundredths feet along the southeasterly property line of the United States of America to the point of beginning, containing five onehundredths acre, more or less. |