Lapas attēli
PDF
ePub

AGENCY COMMENTS

The committee has requested reports from the Bureau of the Budget, General Services Administration, International Cooperation Administration, General Accounting Office, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, and the Department of Defense. As of this date, the only report received by the committee was submitted by the Comptroller General of the United States. The Comptroller General indicated that making this property available in foreign countries was a matter of policy to be determined by the Congress and therefore made no recommendations concerning the merits of the bills. However, he did suggest that the committee may wish to take into consideration the need for establishing procedures (1) to insure that the property would not be used for discharging the responsibilities of other Federal agencies outside the United States and (2) that specific criteria be established in order to determine eligibility, (3) to assure that the property is used for the purpose for which donated, and (4) to place certain terms, conditions and restrictions on the use of the property donated.

Approved:

WALTER L. REYNOLDS,

GLENN K. SHRIVER, Professional Staff Member.

Chief Clerk and Staff Director.

[S. 3154, 86th Cong., 2d sess.]

A BILL To amend section 402 of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, to prescribe procedures to insure that foreign excess property which is disposed of overseas will not be imported into the United States to the injury of the economy of this country.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 402 of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (40 U.S.C. 512) is amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 402. Foreign excess property may be disposed of (a) by sale, exchange, lease, or transfer, for cash, credit, or other property, with or without warranty, and upon such other terms and conditions as the head of the executive agency concerned deems proper; but it shall be unlawful to import such property into the United States after such sale or other disposition if the Secretary of Agriculture (in the case of any agricultural commodity, food, or cotton or woolen goods) or the Secretary of Commerce (in the cast of any other property) determines that the importation of such property would be injurious to the economy of this country, or (b) for foreign currencies or credits, or substantial benefits or the discharge of claims resulting from the compromise or settlement of such claims by any executive agency in accordance with the law, whenever the head of the executive agency concerned determines that it is in the interest of the United States to do so. Such property may be disposed of without advertising when the head of the executive agency concerned finds so doing to be most practicable and to be advantageous to the Government. The head of each executive agency responsible for the disposal of foreign excess property may execute such documents for the transfer of title or other interest in property and take such other action as he deems necessary or proper to dispose of such property; and may authorize the abandonment, destruction, or donation of foreign excess property under his control which has no commercial value or the estimated cost of care and handling of which would exceed the estimated proceeds from its sale.

"The Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Commerce may make any determinations, rules, regulations, and orders deemed necessary or appropriate to carry out their respective functions hereunder.

"Property which is imported in violation of this section or any determination, rule, regulation, or order promulgated hereunder shall be subject to forfeiture to the United States. All provisions of law relating to seizure, summary and judicial forfeiture, and condemnation for violation of the customs laws; the disposition of the property forfeited or condemned or the proceeds from the sale thereof; the remission or mitigation of such forfeitures; and the compromise of claims and the award of compensation to informers in respect of such forfeitures shall apply to seizures and forfeitures incurred, or alleged to have incurred, under the provisions of this section, insofar as applicable and not inconsistent

with the provisions hereof: Provided, That no sale of such seized or forfeited property shall be made except upon condition, supported by appropriate bond, that the property shall be exported to a destination other than the United States or reduced to scrap. Awards of compensation to informers under this section may be paid only out of funds specifically appropriated therefor.

"The importation into the United States of property disposed of as foreign excess property for the purpose of repair, reconditioning, or rehabilitation of such property and its reexportation thereafter, or for the purpose of transit through the United States, shall not be an importation to which this section applies, if the importer of such property shall, prior to such importation, furnish bond for the performance of such undertaking in such amount and on such conditions as the Secretary of the Treasury shall prescribe."

STAFF MEMORANDUM NO. 86-2-24, SENATE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS MAY 27, 1960

Subject: S. 3154 (Humphrey; Engle), bills to amend section 402 of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 to prescribe procedures to insure that foreign excess property which is disposed of overseas will not be imported into the United States to the injury of the economy of this country.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this bill is to amend section 402 of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 so as to revise and improve existing law dealing with the importation of foreign excess property in the following respects:

(1) To make unlawful the importation of such property if it would result in undue loss of production or employment in the United States; (2) to give the Secretaries of Commerce and Agriculture authority to make determinations and regulations to administer the law; (3) to provide for the forfeiture of property imported in violation of law and other penalties; and (4) to permit the temporray importation of property for certain purposes under bond.

Under existing authority of law, the head of an executive agency may sell foreign excess property which is under his control but in no event may such property be sold without a condition forbidding its importation into the United States, unless the Secretary of Agriculture or the Secretary of Commerce (depending on the type of property involved) determines that the importation of such property would relieve domestic shortages or otherwise be beneficial to the economy of the country.

BACKGROUND

This bill resulted from rather extensive hearings which were held by the House Committee on Government Operations and from complaints filed with the committee by manufacturers, jobbers, dealers, and surplus property retailers.

In 1958 a number of manufacturers and dealers became alarmed at the influx of surplus property into the United States which was put on the market in competition with the domestic manufacturers. The House Committee on Government Operations held hearings on this matter in July 1958, after which a report (H. Rept. 2661) was issued criticizing the way the Department of Commerce administered the law and made specific recommendations as to how the committee thought the statute should be administered.

Subsequently the Department revised its regulations and tightened up on the controls for the reimportation of foreign excess property after which the import dealers complained to the Department of Commerce and to the committee that the law was now being too strictly interpreted, and the foreign excess property dealers were encountering considerable difficulty in obtaining permission to bring property into the United States which had been acquired overseas. The committee decided to make another review and examination of the statute and the Department of Commerce regulations. Additional hearings were held in January 1959, at which time the importers contended that in most cases they were not competing against the manufacturers of new equipment but were operating in an entirely different market. They contended that foreign excess property was sold on the second-hand market where it provided additional em

ployment and that the property and business was beneficial to the economy of the country.

The Department of Commerce and representatives of the manufacturers of new equipment objected to the contentions made by the import dealers. However, it was generally agreed that the present statute (sec. 402 of the Property Act) had serious defects which made it very difficult to administer or enforce As a result of these hearings a bill was drafted which was introduced in the House of H.R. 9996 and a companion bill, S. 3154, was introduced in the Senate by Senator Humphrey and cosponsored by Senator Engle.

H.R. 9996 was reported (H. Rept. 1638) by the Committee on Government Operations to the House of Representatives on May 23, 1960.

An examination of the bill as reported by the House (H. Rept. 1638) reveals that it is identical to the Senate bill with the following exceptions:

Page 2, line 4, the House committee deleted the word "if" and inserted the word "unless" in lieu thereof.

Page 2, lines 8 and 9, the phrase "be injurious to the economy of this country" was deleted and the phrase "not result in undue loss of production or improvement in the United States" was inserted in lieu thereof.

Page 4, line 10, delete "prior to such importation" and insert in lieu thereof "upon entry for any such purpose."

On page 4, after line 12, the following new material was inserted by the House committee:

"The provisions of this section shall also apply to importations into the United States of property sold or disposed of abroad as surplus property pursuant to the Surplus Property Act of 1944 (58 Stat. 765).

"For the purposes of this section, the term 'United States' shall include the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

"SEC. 2. Subsection (b) of section 601 of such Act is amended to read as follows:

"(b) by any officer of the Government under the authority of the Surplus Property Act of 1944, as amended, or any other authority, with respect to surplus property located in the continental United States, Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands;'.

"SEC. 3. The amendments made by this Act shall take effect on the expiration of the ninety-day period which begins the date of enactment of this Act." The staff has been informed that these amendments were worked out by the House Committee on Government Operations in cooperation with representatives of the General Services Administration, Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, and the Department of the Treasury. All of the affected agencies and the Bureau of the Budget have approved the amendments which are intended to clarify and strengthen the purpose and intention of the proposed legislation. It is also understood that these amendments will permit the Department of Commerce to issue regulations and instructions which will be better understood and easier to administer.

AGENCY COMMENTS

The committee has received favorable reports from all of the agencies which will be affected by this proposal. Agency comments and recommendations will be made available for insertion in the record and placed in the report, if ap proved by the committee.

GLENN K. SHRIVER, Professional Staff Member.

[blocks in formation]

[S. 3489, 86th Cong., 2d sess.]

A BILL To amend section 203 (j) of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, as amended (40 U.S.C. 484 (j)), to provide that the Department of Defense may allocate surplus property under its control for transfer under that Act only to educational institutions conducting approved military training programs

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 203 (j) of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, as amended (40 U.S.C. 484 (j)), is amended—

(1) by amending paragraph (2) to read as follows:

"(2) In the case of any surplus property under the control of the Department of Defense, the Secretary of Defense shall determine whether such property is usable and necessary for activities of educational institutions which are of special interest to the armed services because they maintain military training programs which are approved by the Secretary of the Army, Navy, or Air Force, as the case may be, and which apply for such property: Provided, That any organization established by law of the United States whose object is to encourage and foster the development of aviation that was eligible to receive surplus property under this paragraph on the day before the date of enactment of this proviso shall continue thereafter to be eligible to receive surplus property under this paragraph. If, upon application made by any such institution or organization, the Secretary of Defense determines that such property is usable and necessary for any such purpose, he shall allocate it for transfer by the Administrator to the appropriate State agency for distribution to such institution or organization. If the Secretary determines that such property is not usable and necessary for such purposes, it may be disposed of in accordance with paragraph (3) or paragraph (4) of this subsection."; and

(2) by amending the first sentence of paragraph (3) by striking out the word "and" before the designation "(B)", and inserting before the period at the end thereof a comma and the words "and (C) any other tax-supported or nonprofit activity which, before the date of enactment of this clause, was eligible to receive property under paragraph (2) but which is not eligible to receive property under that paragraph after that date."

STAFF MEMORANDUM No. 86-2-25, SENATE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS, MAY 27, 1960

Subject: S. 3489, to amend section 203 (j) of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, as amended (40 U.S.C. 484(j)), to provide that Department of Defense may allocate surplus property under its control for transfer under that act only to educational institutions conducting approved military training programs.

PURPOSE

This bill was drafted by the Department of Defense, forwarded to the President of the Senate and introduced by Senator John L. McClellan on May 5, 1960. The purpose of this bill is to clarify section 203 (j) of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, as amended, permitting the Secretary of Defense to donate surplus personal property to schools and colleges of special interest to the armed services. The bill proposes to amend the act so that schools and colleges must maintain military training programs which are approved by Secretary of the Army, Navy, or Air Force in order to qualify for Federal surplus property.

The bill further provides that any organization established by law, whose object is to encourage and foster the development of aviation which was eligible to receive surplus property on the day before the date of enactment of this act shall continue thereafter to be eligible to receive surplus property, by donation from the Federal Government. This is intended to preserve the present eligibility of the Civil Air Patrol to receive surplus property as is under the control of the Department of Defense, directly from that Department.

BACKGROUND

Section 203 (j) of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 has authorized the Secretary of Defense to donate surplus property which is under his custody and control to schools, colleges, and educational institutions which were considered of special interest to the Department of Defense. Under this provision of law, Federal property has been donated to a large number of schools, colleges, and educational institutions. However, some organizations which did not maintain regular approved classroom study programs petitioned the Department of Defense from time to time for inclusion in the program and as a result some were made eligible by administrative determination of the Secretary of Defense. This established a precedent under which the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and other similar organizations became eligible, thereby

placing those organizations in a position of receiving surplus property, in some instances before it became available to the regular health and educational activities administered by the State departments of health and education. In 1956 the committee had under consideration several bills to amend the Property Act (S. 3693, H.R. 7227) at which time this condition was presented to the committee and the statute was amended in order to place a more restrictive application on its interpretation. This change in the law helped to forego further expansion or interpretation of section 203 of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, however, neither the Department of Defense nor the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was satisfied with the law The staff and it was agreed that a new bill would be submitted to Congress, for the purpose of clarifying and defining the authority intended under the act. is informed that the bill (S. 3489) was developed by the Department of Defense in cooperation with officials of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, and of the Bureau of the Budget.

EXISTING STATUTE AND PROPOSED CHANGES

There follows an excerpt from section 203 (j) (2) together with the changes in law to be made by this bill. The material to be deleted is enclosed in black brackets and the new material is italicized.

"In the case of any surplus property under the control of the Department of Defense, the Secretary of Defense shall determine whether such property is usable and necessary for [educational] activities of educational institutions which are of special interest to the armed services, [such as Maritime academies or military, Naval, Air Force or Coast Guard preparatory schools] because they maintain military training programs which are approved by the Secretary of the Army, Navy, or Air Force, as the case may be, and which apply for such property; provided, that any organization established by law of the United States whose object is to encourage and foster the development of aviation that was eligible to receive surplus property under this paragraph on the day before the date of enactment of this proviso shall continue thereafter to be eligible to receive surplus property under this paragraph. If upon application made by any such institution or organization, the Secretary of Defense determines that such property is usable and necessary for such purposes, he shall allocate it for transfer by the Administrator_to the appropriate state agency for distribution to such [educational activities] institution or organization. [If such Secretary shall determine that such property is usable and necessary for such purposes, he shall allocate it for transfer by the Administrator to the appropriate State agency for distribution to such educational activities.] If he shall the Secretary determines that such property is not usable and necessary for such purposes, it may be disposed of in accordance with paragraph (3) or paragraph (4) of this subsection; and

"(2) by amending the first sentence of paragraph (3) by striking out the word "and" before the designation "(B)", and inserting before the period at the end thereof a comma and the words "and (C) any other tax-supported or nonprofit activity which, before the date of enactment of this clause, was eligible to receive property under paragraph (2) but which is not eligible to receive property under that paragraph after that date."

AGENCY COMMENTS

As of this date the only agency which has reported on the bill was the General Accounting Office. The Comptroller General stated in part, as follows:

"We have no special knowledge as to the merit or desirability of the proposed legislation and we therefore offer no comment or recommendation with regard to the bill."

For the information of the committee, there is attached a letter dated August 28, 1959, from the Secretary of Defense which contains some background and an explanation statement of the proposed legislation.

[blocks in formation]

GLENN K. SHRIVER, Professional Staff Member.

« iepriekšējāTurpināt »