[CHAPTER 84-1ST SESSION] [H. R. 3252] AN ACT To make emergency provision for certain activities of the United States Maritime Commission, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the authority of the United States Maritime Commission under Public Resolution Numbered 82, Seventy-sixth Congress, approved June 11, 1940 (54 Stat. 306), shall continue in effect during the national emergency declared by the President on September 8, 1939, to exist, but not after June 30, 1942. SEC. 2. (a) Whenever deemed by the President of the United States to be in the best interests of the national commerce and defense during the national emergency declared by the President on September 8, 1939, to exist, but not after June 30, 1942, (1) the United States Maritime Commission is hereby authorized, subject to the provisions of subsections (b) and (c) hereof, to negotiate contracts for the acquisition, construction, reconstruction, alteration, reconditioning, repair, outfitting, or equipping of complete vessels, or any portion thereof, including plans, spare parts, and equipment therefor, that the Commission has been or may be authorized to acquire, construct, reconstruct, alter, recondition, repair, outfit, or equip, pursuant to the Merchant Marine Act, 1936, as amended, or section 4 of Public Law Numbered 5, Seventy-seventh Congress, approved February 6, 1941, with or without advertising or competitive bidding upon determination that the price is fair and reasonable; (2) upon its determination that such action is in the best interests of the national commerce and defense because of changes in conditions. occurring after the execution of its contracts heretofore or hereafter entered into for the construction, reconstruction, alteration, reconditioning, repair, outfitting, or equipping of vessels, the Commission is hereby authorized to modify such contracts in conformity with provisions hereof relating to negotiated contracts, and to adjust the payments to be made thereunder, but the aggregate amount payable to the contractor under any contract modified pursuant hereto shall not exceed the amount which would have been payable if the contract as modified had been entered into under the authority of this section; (3) the furnishing of materials and performance of work required for or in connection with contracts made by the Commission for the acquisition, construction, reconstruction, alteration, reconditioning, repair, outfitting, or equipping of vessels shall, in the discretion of the President, take priority over the furnishing of materials or performance of work for private account or for export. (b) The provisions of Public Law Numbered 831, Seventy-sixth Congress, approved October 10, 1940 (54 Stat. 1092) (relating to compensation for all hours worked by laborers and mechanics in excess of eight hours per day or forty hours per week at not less than oneand-one-half times the basic rate of pay), shall apply in respect of any contract negotiated pursuant to subsection (a) hereof. (c) The cost-plus-a-percentage-of-cost system of contracting shall not be used under the authority to negotiate contracts granted by subsection (a) hereof, but contracts may be used providing for payment of cost plus a fixed fee, or cost plus a fixed fee with such bonuses and penalties as the Commission may deem necessary to secure maximum performance under such contracts, if for each contract (1) such fixed fee does not exceed 7 per centum of the estimated cost of the contract (exclusive of the fee and any bonuses payable thereunder) as determined by the Commission at the time of entering into such contract, and (2) the aggregate of such fixed fee plus any such bonuses payable thereunder does not exceed 10 per centum of such estimated cost. Performance or payment bonds required of the contractor under the Act of August 24, 1935 (49 Stat. 793; U. S. C., title 40, sec. 270a to 270d), may be waived by the Commission with respect to any contract negotiated or modified hereunder providing for payment of cost plus a fee as herein authorized. Any contract negotiated or modified hereunder providing for payment of cost plus a fee as herein authorized shall be excluded from consideration in the determination of profit of the contractor under section 505 (b) (2) of the Merchant Marine Act, 1936, as amended. (d) The Commission shall report every three months to the Congress the contracts entered into or modified under the authority hereof and not included in a prior report. SEC. 3. Whenever, during the national emergency declared by the President on September 8, 1939, to exist, but not after June 30, 1942, the Maritime Commission determines that operation in the foreign. trade under charter to a private operator of any vessel of the Commission available for the purposes hereof is necessary for the maintenance of the foreign commerce of the United States, and that the necessary service cannot be so provided as to meet effectively such needs under the provisions of the Merchant Marine Act, 1936, as amended, the Commission may, notwithstanding any other provision of law, charter such vessel to a private operator, a citizen of the United States (as defined in section 2 of the Shipping Act, 1916, as amended), for use in such foreign trades or services as the Commission may prescribe, on time or bare-boat basis, with or without competitive bidding or advertisement, upon such terms and conditions, for such period or periods, and subject to such restrictions, as the Commission may deem necessary or desirable for the protection of the public interest, and at such rate of charter as it may deem to be fair and reasonable in view of the attendant circumstances, but if the vessel is one constructed under the said Act, not lower than the minimum charter hire would be if the vessel were chartered under the provisions of section 714 of the said Act, as amended. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to modify or affect any provision of the Neutrality Act of 1939, as amended. SEC. 4. During the national emergency declared by the President on September 8, 1939, to exist, but not after June 30, 1942, notwithstanding any other provision of law, (1) the United States Maritime Commission is authorized to prescribe rules and regulations with regard to working hours and overtime employment for naval architects, marine engineers, draftsmen, estimators, inspectors of new construction and materials, and marine surveyors, or any of such employees engaged in its ship-construction program or its national-defense activities, and for other employees of the Commission performing services in such ship-construction program or national-defense activities which the Commission shall determine to be comparable to those of employees of other Government departments or agencies engaged in national-defense activities and authorized by law to receive compensation for overtime work, (2) compensation for employment in excess of forty hours in any administrative workweek computed at a rate not less than one-and-one-half times the regular rate is hereby authorized to be paid to the aforesaid employees of the Commission who work overtime pursuant to such rules and regulations, and (3) the President is authorized, in his discretion, to establish, in regard to hours of work and compensation for overtime of the employees hereinabove referred to, such uniformity with the War Department, the Navy Department, and the Coast Guard, and their field services as he may deem necessary in the interest of national defense. In determining overtime compensation for per annum employees under this section, the pay for one day shall be considered to be one threehundred-and-sixtieth of their respective per annum salaries, and the pay for one hour shall be considered to be one-eighth of the pay for one day. SEC. 5. The provisions of sections 1 and 2 of Public Law Numbered 5, Seventy-seventh Congress, approved February 6, 1941, shall apply to all activities and functions which the Maritime Commission may be authorized to perform pursuant to an Act to promote the defense of the United States, approved March 11, 1941, or any appropriations to carry out such Act, but nothing herein shall be construed to affect the appropriation made by Public Law Numbered 5. Approved, May 2, 1941. [CHAPTER 131-1ST SESSION] [H. R. 8783] AN ACT Authorizing the acquisition or construction of certain auxiliary vessels for the United States Navy, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President of the United States is hereby authorized to acquire or convert or to undertake the construction of five hundred and fifty thousand tons of auxiliary vessels of such size, type, and design as he may consider best suited for the purposes of national defense, such vessels to be in addition to those heretofore authorized. SEO. 2. There is hereby authorized to be appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, such sums as may be necessary to effectuate the purposes of this Act. Approved, May 24, 1941. . [CHAPTER 158-1ST SESSION] [H. R. 4632] AN ACT Authorizing vessels of Canadian registry to transport iron ore on the Great Lakes during 1941. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That by reason of emergency conditions in transportation on the Great Lakes, notwithstanding the provisions of section 27 of the Act of Congress approved June 5, 1920 (41 Stat. 999), as amended by Act of Congress approved April 11, 1935 (49 Stat. 154), and by Act of Congress approved July 2, 1935 (49 Stat. 442), or the provisions of any other Act of Congress or regulation, vessels of Canadian registry shall be permitted to transport iron ore between United States ports on the Great Lakes during the 1941 season of navigation on the Great Lakes. Approved, May 31, 1941. |