the second sentence thereof "on the basis of the cost, including not more than one year of carrying charges, of such assets to the Corporation, or the average market prices of such assets for a period of twelve months ending with March 31 of each year, whichever is less" and inserting in lieu thereof "on the basis of the cost, or, insofar as practicable, the average market price of such assets during the last month of the fiscal year covered by the appraisal, whichever is the lower". The first appraisal of the assets and liabilities of the Commodity Credit Corporation on the basis established by this amendment shall be made as of June 30, 1944.

SEC. 2. Section 7 of the Act approved January 31, 1935, (49 Stat. 4), as amended, is hereby amended by changing the designation thereof to section 7 (a); by striking out in the first sentence of such section "February 17, 1944" and inserting in lieu thereof "June 30, 1945" (this amendment to be effective as of February 17, 1944); and by striking out the period at the end of such section and inserting in lieu thereof a colon and the following: "Provided, however, That the Corporation shall at all times maintain complete and accurate books of account and shall determine the procedures to be followed in the transaction of the corporate business.

"(b) The financial transactions of the Corporation beginning with the period from July 1, 1944, shall be audited by the General Accounting Office in accordance with the principles applicable to commercial corporate transactions and under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the Comptroller General of the United States: Provided, That the Corporation shall continue to have the authority to make final and conclusive settlement and adjustment of any claims by or against the Corporation or the accounts of its fiscal officers: Provided further, That a report of such audit shall be made to the Congress, together with such recommendations as the Comptroller General may deem advisable, and that each such report shall cover a period of one fiscal year: Provided further, That a copy of each such report shall be furnished the Secretary of the Treasury and that the findings contained therein shall be considered by the Secretary in appraising the assets and liabilities and determining the net worth of the Corporation under sections 1 and 2 of the Act of March 8, 1938 (52 Stat. 107), as amended: Provided, however, That nothing in this section shall be construed as modifying legislation authorizing the use of funds of the Corporation for administrative expenses and requiring accountability therefor.

"(c) The expenses of the audit as provided in this section may be paid up to and including June 30, 1946, from moneys advanced therefor by the Corporation, or from any appropriation or appropriations for the General Accounting Office, and appropriations so used shall be reimbursed promptly by the Corporation as billed by the Comptroller General: Provided, That any such advances or reimbursements shall be considered as nonadministrative expenses of the Corporation. For the purpose of such audit the representatives of the General Accounting Office shall have access to all papers, books, files, accounts, financial records, warehouses, and all other things, property, and places belonging to or under the control of or used or employed by the Corporation and shall be afforded full facilities for verifying transactions with the balances in depositaries and with fiscal agents: Provided further, That the certified financial reports and schedules of the fiscal agents of the Corporation based on commercial audits in the usual course of business may be accepted by the General Accounting Office in its audit of the financial transactions of the Corporation as final and not subject to further audit verification.

"(d) Any examination of the corporate records shall be made at the place or places where such records are normally kept in the transaction of the corporate business, and the Corporation shall retain custody of contracts, vouchers, schedules, or other financial or accounting documents, either original or duplicate, relating to its nonadministrative transactions."

SEC. 3. No funds appropriated to, borrowed by, or in the custody or control of any governmental agency (including any Government-owned or Governmentcontrolled corporation) shall be directly or indirectly used by or made available to the Commodity Credit Corporation or any other governmental agency (including any Government-owned or Government-controlled corporation) to make any subsidy or other payment, or to pay or absorb losses, on any agricultural commodity or any commodity processed or manufactured in whole or substantial part thereform, including milk and livestock and the products thereof, either to reduce, or in lieu of increasing, maximum prices established on such commodities under the provisions of the Emergency Price Control Act of 1942, as amended, or Public Law No. 729, approved October 2, 1942, except as provided in section 4 hereof: Provided, That with respect to any such commodities for which programs involving such payments or losses have been announced on or before January

14, 1944, such programs may be carried out to the extent only that funds are available for such purpose under existing law, but such programs shall be completed not later than June 30, 1944: Provided further, That support prices shall continue to be maintained and announced for any such commodities pursuant to section 4 of Public Law No. 147, approved July 1, 1941, as amended, and loans shall continue to be made pursuant to section 8 of Public Law No. 729, approved October 2, 1942, but any maximum prices heretofore or hereafter established for such commodities shall not be below the support prices therefor or below the prices specified in section 3 of Public Law No. 729, approved October 2, 1942: Provided further, That none of the foregoing provisions shall apply to any payments or losses incurred in transactions with respect to domestic sugar beets and sugarcane, and competitive domestic vegetable oils and fats and oil seed and oil seed meals: And provided further, That nothing herein shall be construed to prevent the making of parity payments or soil-conservation payments authorized under existing law, or benefits to sugar growers authorized under title III of the Sugar Act of 1937, as amended, or the sale of feed wheat as authorized by exist ing law.

SEC. 4. (a) Within a period of one hundred and twenty days from the effective date of this Act, and within each six-month period thereafter, maximum prices heretofore or hereafter established on milk and the products thereof (pursuant to the Emergency Price Control Act of 1942, as amended, or Public Law 729, approved October 2, 1942), shall be adjusted on a regional or market basis as the case may require to the extent necessary to (1) reflect changes in farm labor costs, feed prices (including all feed fed whether purchased or home grown), and other costs since January 1, 1941; (2) place the production of milk and the products thereof on a competitive basis with alternative opportunities which are available to producers of milk; (3) correct inequities as between markets; and (4) maintain or increase the production of milk and the products thereof for war and civilian purposes: Provided, That in determining the extent to which maximum prices shall be adjusted as provided herein, due consideration shall be given to historical and normal differentials customarily applied as between markets and regions: Provided further, That in no event shall maximum prices on milk and the products thereof be established below support prices therefor or below the prices specified in section 3 of Public Law Numbered 729, approved October 2, 1942: Provided further, That where minimum prices to producers of milk have been regulated under any agreements or orders pursuant to the provisions of the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, as amended, the War Food Administrator is hereby directed, within the periods prescribed in this section (relating to the adjustment of maximum prices), to adjust such minimum prices to reflect adjustments in maximum prices determined and ordered pursuant to the provisions of this section. Except as expressly provided herein, nothing contained in this section is intended, nor shall be construed to repeal, amend, or supersede the provisions of the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, as amended.

(b) In order to effectuate the purposes of paragraph (a) of this section, the War Food Administrator and the Price Administrator are hereby directed to hold public hearings on a regional or market basis as the case requires. For such purposes there shall be utilized the hearing procedure and the personnel of the Food Distribution Administration of the United States Department of Agriculture established under the provisions of the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, as amended, and such other personnel of the Department of Agriculture and the Office of Price Administration as may be required. As soon as practicable after the completion of the hearing, but in any event within the periods specified in paragraph (a), the War Food Administrator and the Price Administrator shall make public their joint findings based only on relevant substantial evidence of record at the hearing and the Price Administrator forthwith shall issue an order adjusting such maximum price or prices on the basis of and in conformance with such findings.

(c) Any person (within the meaning of section 302 (h) of the Emergency Price Control Act of 1942, as amended) who is adversely affected by the order of the Price Administrator may, within thirty days after the action adjusting such maximum price or prices, file a complaint with the Emergency Court of Appeals specifying his objections and praying that the order be enjoined or set aside in whole or in part.

The War Food Administrator shall be made a party to the proceedings and upon service of the summons and complaint, the Price Administrator shall certify and file in the court the transcript of the proceedings and the record upon which the order adjusting such maximum price or prices was based. The proceedings in and the determinations, orders, and decrees of such court shall be subject to all

applicable provisions of section 204 of the Emergency Price Control Act of 1942, as amended; except, that wherever the term "Administrator" is used therein, it shall, for the purposes hereof, be construed to mean the War Food Administrator and the Price Administrator: Provided, That during the pendency of such proceedings the Price Administrator may not modify or rescind his order adjusting such maximum price or prices except upon the basis of additional joint findings on evidence adduced pursuant to the order of the court. The provisions of this section shall terminate coterminous with the expiration of the Emergency Price Control Act of 1942, as amended.

SEC. 5. The Commodity Credit Corporation may sell at a loss perishable fruits or vegetables, owned or controlled by it, the increased production of which has been requested by the War Food Administrator, if there is danger of substantial loss through deterioration by spoilage.

SAM RAYBURN,

Speaker of the House of Representatives.
H. A. WALLACE,

Vice President of the United States and President of the Senate.

[Endorsement on back of bill:]

I certify that this Act originated in the House of Representatives.

DISTRIBUTION METHODS AND COSTS (BUILDING MATERIALS)

LETTER

FROM THE

CHAIRMAN, FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

TRANSMITTING

REPORT OF THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION ON DISTRIBUTION METHODS AND COSTS, PART 111BUILDING MATERIALS-LUMBER, PAINTS AND VARNISHES, AND PORTLAND CEMENT

FEBRUARY 21, 1944.-Referred to the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce and ordered to be printed