FOREWORD The United States Government Organization Manual is the official handbook of the Federal Government. It contains descriptions of the agencies of the legislative, judicial, and executive branches, including brief descriptions of certain boards, commissions, and committees. The Manual contains brief statements on the quasi-official agencies and of selected international organizations. In an effort to make the Manual more useful to the public, a new section entitled "Sources of Information" has been included in most agency statements. This section gives helpful information to those interested in employment, contracting with the Federal Government, environmental prograins, small business opportunities, publications, speakers and films available to civic and educational groups, as well as programs and activities of specific agencies. Included as supplemental information are charts of some of the more complex agencies, commonly used abbreviations, brief histories of agencies abolished or transferred since 1933, and a list showing where department and agency regulatory material is published in the Code of Federal Regulations. The United States Government Organization Manual is published annually by the Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Service, General Services Administration, as a special edition of the Federal Register pursuant to part 31 of the regulations of the Administrative Committee (Dec. 1, 1969; 34 F.R. 19117; 1 CFR Part 31). A facsimile of the "Freedom of Information Act" (5 U.S.C. 552) is carried at page 560, below. Agencies subject to this act are required by the provisions thereof to separately state and currently publish in the Federal Register descriptions of the agency organization and the established places at which and methods whereby the public may secure information or make submittals or requests. Users interested in these detailed statements should consult the indexes to the daily issues of the Federal Register. FRED J. EMERY, Director of the Federal Register. JAMES B. RHOADS, Archivist of the United States. ROBERT L. KUNZIG, Administrator of General Services. |