date of title III was established as January 1, 1949. Practically no authoritative information was available to most members of the Reserve components prior to the issuance of instructions early in 1949 as to the requirements for earning credits for a year of satisfactory service subsequent to June 29, 1948. Accordingly. only those members of the Organized and Volunteer Reserve units meeting in a weekly or semimonthly basis were accruing points sufficient to make the current year a year of satisfactory service. During the first 6 months following enactment of Public Law 810, the only medium through which the majority of reservists could obtain the necessary points was by taking correspondence courses which until recently have been very limited. Although the enactment of said Public Law 810 has given impetus to the preparation of training material for volunteer units, the issuance of such material in sufficient volume to give all members opportunity to acquire necessary points will not occur for several months. Inasmuch as a considerable portion of the members of the Reserve components was not completely informed of the provisions of title III of Public Law 810 until early in 1949, and, even if informed, opportunity to earn the necessary points would have been denied a great many of them because of the lack of training material, it is considered desirable that the effective date be changed as proposed by the subject bills. From a psychological standpoint, it would seem that the armed services would be in a much better position to make use of title III of Public Law 810 as an encouragement for reservists to take a more active interest in Reserve matters if the starting date for the earning of points were advanced to July 1, 1949. Such an advancement of the effective date would allow all the services ample opportunity for publicity on information concerning the act and the issuance of training materials to be used by individuals for the earning of point credits. Of the two bills, H. R. 3912 and H. R 3039, the latter (advancing the effective date to July 1, 1949), is considered the more desirable. In order that H. R. 3039 may accomplish the intended purposes, the following additional amendments should be made to Public Law 810: Subsection (b) of section 302: Delete the words "the enactment of this Act" and substitute therefor "July 1, 1949". Section 303: In the last proviso, delete the words "the date of enactment of this Act" and substitute therefor "July 1, 1949". In order to further the morale and interest of the Reserve components of the armed forces, the Navy Department on behalf of the National Military Establishment, recommends that the bill H. R. 3039 be amended as set forth above and that it be enacted as so amended. Enactment of the proposed legislation will result in conferring eligibility for retirement pay on an unknown number of Reserve personnel; hence, there is no basis for estimating the cost of the enactment of the proposed legislation at this time. This report has been coordinated within the National Military Establishment in accordance with procedures prescribed by the Secretary of Defense. The Navy Department has been advised by the Bureau of the Budget that there is no objection to the submission of this report to the Congress. For the Secretary of the Navy. Respectfully yours, G. L. RUSSELL, Pursuant to the provisions of clause 2 (a) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, there follows hereafter the provisions of existing law as modified by the legislation under consideration (present law in roman; omitted parts in black brackets; and new law in italics). PUBLIC LAW 810, EIGHTIETH CONGRESS, CHAPTER 708, SECOND SESSION SEC. 302. (b) Subsequent to [the enactment of this Act] July 1, 1949, a year of satisfactory Federal service, for the purposes of this section only, shall consist of any year in which a person is credited with a minimum of fifty points, which points shall be credited on the following basis: (1) One point for each day of active Federal service; H. Repts., 81-1, vol. 5- -109 Reserve retirement benefits. It is particularly noteworthy that during the consideration of this legislation by the Congress recognition was given to the fact that the benefits provided would be most attractive to that large body of Reserve personnel who have seen service in World War II. This arose from the fact that these individuals would be in a position to receive very substantial credits for their active-duty service during wartime which would considerably increase the amounts of retirement pay which they might expect to receive upon reaching age 60. It was hoped by the Congress that this would serve as a substantial inducement to the personnel falling in this group to participate in Reserve activities and thus keep alive the invaluable experience which they had received as a result of active service in wartime. It is the sense of this committee, therefore, that failure to amend title III at this time would not only result in a seriously adverse psychological effect upon present and potential members of the Reserve components but that it would thereby tend to defeat the very objectives which were sought through the passage of the basic legislation. The enactment of the bill now under consideration will result in no cost to the Government which was not contemplated by the Congress during the consideration of Public Law 810. It may possibly result in some slight additional cost over that which might be incurred if no change were made in the law at this time. If there be such additional cost, however, it will arise only because the Congress has preserved the rights of those persons to whom the promise of retirement benefits was held out but who will be unable to accumulate a total of 20 years of satisfactory Federal service merely because of their failure to obtain credit for the year of June 29, 1948, to June 28, 1949, as a "year of satisfactory Federal service" within the meaning of title III. The committee feels that this legislation will serve to promote and strengthen the Reserve program and, therefore, urgently recommends its enactment. This legislation meets with the approval of the National Military Establishment and no objection thereto has been interposed by the Bureau of the Budget as is indicated in the following letter from the Judge Advocate General of the Navy, which refers to the bills H. R. 3912 and H. R. 3039, predecessors to the present bill which were designed to accomplish the same purpose. NAVY DEPARTMENT, OFFICE OF THE JUDGE ADVOCATE GENERAL, The Honorable CARL VINSON, House of Representatives. DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Your requests for comments on the bills, H. R. 3912 and H. R. 3039, both entitled "To amend section 302 (c) of the Army and Air Force Vitalization and Retirement Equalization Act of 1948," have been assigned to this Department by the Secretary of Defense for the preparation of a report thereon expressing the views of the National Military Establishment. The purpose of both bills is to amend subsection (c) of section 302 of the Army and Air Force Vitalization and Retirement Equalization Act of 1948 (Public Law 810, 80th Cong.) so as to make certain provisions of title III thereof which became effective on the date of enactment (June 29, 1948), effective as of January 1, 1949, in the case of H. R. 3912, and July 1, 1949, in the case of H. R. 3039. Title III of the afore-mentioned Army and Air Force Vitalization and Retirement Equalization Act requires that points toward a year of satisfactory service be earned subsequent to the date of enactment (June 29, 1948). Instructions implementing this title were issued early in January of 1949, and the effective date of title III was established as January 1, 1949. Practically no authoritative information was available to most members of the Reserve components prior to the issuance of instructions early in 1949 as to the requirements for earning credits for a year of satisfactory service subsequent to June 29, 1948. Accordingly, only those members of the Organized and Volunteer Reserve units meeting in a weekly or semimonthly basis were accruing points sufficient to make the current year a year of satisfactory service. During the first 6 months following enactment of Public Law 810, the only medium through which the majority of reservists could obtain the necessary points was by taking correspondence courses which until recently have been very limited. Although the enactment of said Public Law 810 has given impetus to the preparation of training material for volunteer units, the issuance of such material in sufficient volume to give all members opportunity to acquire necessary points will not occur for several months. Inasmuch as a considerable portion of the members of the Reserve components was not completely informed of the provisions of title III of Public Law 810 until early in 1949, and, even if informed, opportunity to earn the necessary points would have been denied a great many of them because of the lack of training material, it is considered desirable that the effective date be changed as proposed by the subject bills. From a psychological standpoint, it would seem that the armed services would be in a much better position to make use of title III of Public Law 810 as an encouragement for reservists to take a more active interest in Reserve matters if the starting date for the earning of points were advanced to July 1, 1949. Such an advancement of the effective date would allow all the services ample opportunity for publicity on information concerning the act and the issuance of training materials to be used by individuals for the earning of point credits. Of the two bills, H. R. 3912 and H. R 3039, the latter (advancing the effective date to July 1, 1949), is considered the more desirable. In order that H. R. 3039 may accomplish the intended purposes, the following additional amendments should be made to Public Law 810: Subsection (b) of section 302: Delete the words "the enactment of this Act" and substitute therefor "July 1, 1949". Section 303: In the last proviso, delete the words "the date of enactment of this Act" and substitute therefor "July 1, 1949". In order to further the morale and interest of the Reserve components of the armed forces, the Navy Department on behalf of the National Military Establishment, recommends that the bill H. R. 3039 be amended as set forth above and that it be enacted as so amended. Enactment of the proposed legislation will result in conferring eligibility for retirement pay on an unknown number of Reserve personnel; hence, there is no basis for estimating the cost of the enactment of the proposed legislation at this time. This report has been coordinated within the National Military Establishment in accordance with procedures prescribed by the Secretary of Defense. The Navy Department has been advised by the Bureau of the Budget that there is no objection to the submission of this report to the Congress. For the Secretary of the Navy. Respectfully yours, G. L. RUSSELL, Pursuant to the provisions of clause 2 (a) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, there follows hereafter the provisions of existing law as modified by the legislation under consideration (present law in roman; omitted parts in black brackets; and new law in italics). PUBLIC LAW 810, EIGHTIETH CONGRESS, CHAPTER 708, SECOND SESSION SEC. 302. (b) Subsequent to [the enactment of this Act] July 1, 1949, a year of satisfactory Federal service, for the purposes of this section only, shall consist of any year in which a person is credited with a minimum of fifty points, which points shall be credited on the following basis: (1) One point for each day of active Federal service; H. Repts., 81–1, vol. 5- -109 (2) One point for each drill or period of equivalent instruction, such drills and periods of equivalent instruction to be restricted to those prescribed and authorized by the Secretary of the respective service for the year concerned, and to conform to the requirements prescribed by other provisions of law; (3) Fifteen points for membership in a reserve component for each year of Federal service other than active Federal service. (c) Each year of service as a member of a reserve component prior to [the enactment of this Act] July 1, 1949, shall be deemed to be a year of satisfactory Federal service for the purposes of this section, subject to the provisions of subsection (e) of section 306 of this Act. (d) (e) SEC. 303. Any person granted retired pay pursuant to the provisions of this title shall receive such pay at an annual rate equal to 21⁄2 per centum of the active duty annual base and longevity pay which he would receive if serving, at the time granted such pay, on active duty in the highest grade, temporary or permanent, satisfactorily held by him during his entire period of service, multiplied by a number equal to the number of years and any fraction thereof (on the basis of three hundred and sixty days per year) which shall consist of the sum of the following: (i) All periods of active Federal service; (ii) One day for each point credited pursuant to subparagraphs (2) and (3) of subsection (b) of section 302 of this Act, but no more than sixty days shall be credited on this basis in any one year for the purposes of this section: Provided, That no person shall be entitled to receive such retired pay at an annual rate in excess of 75 per centum of said active duty pay: Provided further, That for each year of Federal service, other than active Federal service, performed as a member of a reserve component prior to [the date of enactment of this Act] July 1, 1949, and credited in accordance with subsection (c) of section 302 of this title, such member shall be credited with fifty days for each of such years, for the purposes of this section. O 1st Session No. 1259 COTTON ACREAGE ALLOTMENTS AND MARKETING QUOTAS AUGUST 11, 1949.-Ordered to be printed Mr. COOLEY, from the committee of conference, submitted the following CONFERENCE REPORT (To accompany S. 1962) The committee of conference on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses on the amendment of the House to the bill (S. 1962) to amend the cotton and wheat marketing quota provisions of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938. as amended, having met, after full and free conference, have agreed to recommend and do recommend to their respective Houses as follows: That the Senate recede from its disagreement to the amendment of the House and agree to the same with an amendment as follows: In lieu of the matter proposed to be inserted by the House amendment insert the following: That sections 342 to 350, inclusive, of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, as amended, are amended to read as follows: "NATION AL MARKETING QUOTA "SEC. 342. Whenever during any calendar year the Secretary determines that the total supply of cotton for the marketing year beginning in such calendar year will exceed the normal supply for such marketing year, the Secretary shall proclaim such fact and a national marketing quota shall be in effect for the crop of cotton produced in the next calendar year. The Secretary shall also determine and specify in such proclamation the amount of the national marketing quota in terms of the number of bales of cotton (standard bales of five hundred pounds gross weight) adequate, together with (1) the estimated carry-over at the beginning of the marketing year which begins in the next calendar year and (2) the estimated imports during such marketing year, to make available a normal supply of cotton. |