The Indian Claims Commission was established by act of August 13, 1946 (60 Stat. 1049; 25 U.S.C. 70), and is independent of all other agencies of the Government.

TYPES OF CLAIMS

The claims which the Commission is to hear and determine are: Claims in law or equity arising under the Constitution, laws, treaties of the United States, and Executive orders; all other claims in law or equity, with respect to which the claimant would have been entitled to sue in a court of the United States if the United States was subject to suit; claims which would result if the treaties, contracts, and agreements between the claimant and the United States were revised on the ground of fraud, duress, unconscionable consideration, mutual or unilateral mistake, or any other ground cognizable by a

court of equity; claims arising from the taking by the United States, whether as the result of a treaty of cession or otherwise, of lands owned or occupied by the claimant without the payment of compensation agreed to by the claimant; and claims based upon fair and honorable dealings that are not recognized by any existing rule of law or equity. No claim accruing after August 13, 1946, shall be considered by the Commission.

No claim not presented by August 13, 1951, may thereafter be submitted to any court, administrative agency, or Congress for consideration.

Deductions which shall be made in determining the quantum of relief are specified in the act.

ADJUDICATION

The final determination of the Commission shall be filed with the clerk.

The Inter-American Foundation was created as a Government corporation by act of December 30, 1969 (83 Stat. 821; 22 U.S.C. 290f). Multiyear funding was authorized and up to $50 million of appropriated funds were made available for the programs of the Foundation with said funds remaining available until expended. The Foundation was also empowered to receive and utilize private contributions and resources entrusted to it by international lending agencies. The Foundation has entered into an agreement with the Inter-American Development Bank to channel up to $79 million of the resources of the Social Progress Trust

Fund to Foundation-identified proj

ects.

Management of the Foundation is vested in an unsalaried 7-member board of directors appointed by the President of the United States. The Foundation is not a development agency in the usual sense, since it has no resident staff in Latin America or the Caribbean, does not design or operate projects, and does not provide technical assistance.

The purpose of the Foundation is to support social change in Latin Ameri ca and the Caribbean. It tries to be responsive to the efforts of nongovernmental groups to solve basic social and

economic problems. This approach stems from the belief that only the recipients themselves can define problems and needs in their communities according to their own cultural values. After 6 years of operation, the Foundation has provided over $50 million for almost 500 projects in 27 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. Grants have ranged from $400 to $1.5 million, with an average of about $100,000. Projects funded include a wide variety of activities, such as workers' self-managed enterprises, credit

and production cooperatives, cultural awareness programs, self-help housing, agriculture extension services, legal aid clinics, a bank run by and for workers, peasant associations, and nonformal education.

For further information, contact the Office of President, Inter-American Foundation, 1515 Wilson Boulevard, Rosslyn, Va. 22209. Phone, 703-841-3811.

Approved.

WILLIAM M. DYAL, JR.,

President.

JOHN A. GRADY. ERNEST R. OLSON. PETER M. SHANNON. JOEL E. BURNS. MARTIN E. FOLEY. ALAN M. FITZWATER.

The Interstate Commerce Commission was created as an independent establishment by the act to regulate commerce of February 4, 1887 (24 Stat. 379, 383; 49 U.S.C. 1-22), now known as the Interstate Commerce Act. The Commission's authority has been strengthened and the scope of its jurisdiction has been broadened by subsequent legislation, such as the Hepburn Act, the Panama Canal Act, the Motor Carrier Act of 1935, and the Transportation Acts of 1920, 1940, and 1958.

The Commission was created by Congress to regulate, in the public interest, carriers subject to the Interstate Commerce Act which are engaged in transportation in interstate commerce and in foreign commerce to the extent that it takes place within the United States. Surface transportation under the Commission's jurisdiction includes railroads, trucking companies, bus lines, freight forwarders, water carriers, oil pipelines, transportation brokers, and express agencies.

The Chairman is designated by the President from among the Commissioners. The Commissioners elect their own Vice Chairman annually. The other nine Commissioners serve on one of three divisions: Operating Rights (Division One); Rates, Tariffs and Valuation (Division Two); and Finance and Service (Division Three).

The entire Commission acts on matters of national transportation importance. The Commission may delegate certain duties and functions to individual Commissioners or to boards consisting of not less than three eligible employees. The three divisions function as appellate divisions for action on petitions for reconsideration or rehearing of decisions of divisions or boards of employees.

Field offices are maintained in 78 cities to audit carrier accounts, monitor the utilization of railroad freight cars in order to avoid severe shortages, investigate violations of the Interstate Commerce Act and related laws, and provide assistance to the public in its use of regulated carriers which provide transportation by railroad, highway, waterway, and oil pipeline.

FUNCTIONS AND ACTIVITIES

In broad terms and within prescribed legal limits, Commission regulation encompasses transportation economics

and service.

In the transportation economics area, the Commission settles controversies over rates and charges among competing and like modes of transportation, shippers, and receivers of freight, passengers, and others. It rules upon applications for mergers, consolidations, acquisitions of control, and the sale of carriers and issuance of