4. To communicate those resolutions to all the countries on the American Continents and invite the countries whose Parliaments were not represented to adhere to these resolutions. Therefore, the Permanent Committee to Promote American Unity Through the Parliaments, and in compliance with the third resolution, is constituted as follows: President, Pedro Castelblanco, of Chile; and members, Messrs. Luis Carlos Mese, of Colombia; Jose Albertassi Munoz, of Costa Rica; Jose Erasmo Pacheco, of El Salvador; Pete Jarman, of the United States; Carlos F. Madrazo, of Mexico; Carlos Morales, of Nicaragua; Roberto Jimenez, of Panama; Carlos Sayan Alverez, of Peru; and Luis Batlle Berres, of Uruguay. Copies of letters from Acting Secretary of State Edward R. Stettinius, Jr., and Acting Secretary of State Joseph C. Grew, favoring the "general aims and purposes of the resolution" sent to Chairman Bloom under dates of November 1, 1944, and February 9, 1945, are herewith incorporated in this report: The Honorable SOL BLOOM, House of Representatives. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, February 9, 1945 MY DEAR MR. BLOOM: With further reference to my letter of February 6 regarding House Resolution 37, I am enclosing herewith a copy of a letter to you dated November 1, 1944, reporting on House Resolution 646, which was submitted to the last Congress and whose wording is identical with that of House Resolution 37. The Department of State is still of the opinion, as stated in the letter of November 1, that the general aims and purposes of the resolution merit sympathetic consideration. Sincerely yours, The Honorable SOL BLOOM, House of Representatives. JOSEPH C. GREW, Acting Secretary. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, November 1, 1944. MY DEAR MR. BLOOM: Under date of September 26, 1944, I acknowledged receipt of your letter of September 22, 1944, transmitting for the comment of the Department copies of House Resolution 646, expressing the approval of the House of Representatives of certain resolutions adopted at Santiago, Chile, on April 15, 1944, looking toward the establishment of an American Interparliamentary Congress. This Department's efforts to promote continental unity are so well known as to need no elaboration, and I scarcely need say that we are continuously and forcefully engaged in countless projects to that end. I have examined the language of the aforesaid resolutions adopted at Santiago, Chile, and I note that the resolutions merely contemplate the designation of a committee for the purpose of organizing and fixing the time, place, and subject matter of the Interparliamentary Congress of America. Although the House may desire more detailed information regarding the scope and nature of the proposed American Interparliamentary Congress before giving formal approval through legislative action, and although there exist obvious difficulties in the way of establishing such a congress during. the war, I nevertheless believe that the general aims and purposes of the resolution merit sympathetic consideration. I am not, however, commenting in detail on the method of procedure indicated in the resolution, as it seems to me that, should the Congress desire to offer its collaboration in such a proposed organization, the means for effectuating such a collaboration should be chosen by the Congress itself. The Department has been informed by the Bureau of the Budget that there is no objection to the submission of this report. Sincerely yours, EDWARD R. STETTINIUS, Jr., O CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS DATA SUBMITTED TO THE WAR PRODUCTION BOARD FEBRUARY 13, 1945.-Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed Mr. HOBBS, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 1531] The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 1531) to provide for the control of confidential business data submitted to the War Production Board, having considered the same, report the bill favorably to the House with the recommendation that it do pass. In a letter addressed to the Speaker of the House of Representatives under date of June 26, 1944, Mr. Donald M. Nelson, Chairman of the War Production Board, directed attention to the need for a declaration of policy and a statement of law sufficient to safeguard the keeping and use of confidential data submitted on their formal questionnaires. Pursuant to his suggestion H. R. 5188 was introduced. During the hearings on the bill H. R. 5188, Hon. John Lord O'Brian, just before he resigned as General Counsel, War Production Board, made a statement of the problem confronting that agency with respect to the confidential information furnished by business concerns, and strongly urged the enactment of H. R. 5188. In the present Congress this bill was reintroduced as H. R. 1531. The need for this legislation is explained fully in the following letters from the Chairman and the former Chairman of the War Production Board: Hon. HATTON W. SUMNERS, Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary, WAR PRODUCTION BOARD, Washington, D. C., February 1, 1945. House of Representatives. DEAR JUDGE SUMNERS: It has come to my attention that you have introduced into the new Congress H. R. 1531, a bill to provide for the control of confidential business data submitted to the War Production Board. This bill is the same, I believe, as H. R. 5188, which you introduced in the last Congress, and which your committee considered briefly in the hearings before them on the bill to extend the Second War Powers Act. At that time, the general counsel, Mr. John Lord O'Brian, informed your committee that I approved the bill and recommended that it be enacted into law by the Congress as early as possible. A brief statement of the problem which is sought to be covered by the bill will, I think, be of assistance to your committee. The War Production Board has had for some time internal regulations dealing with the handling and disclosure of classified information under the Espionage Act. These regulations are in accord with the policies of the armed services and other war agencies in handling this material and in case of a violation, the penalties under the Espionage Act may be invoked. The question arose early in 1944 as to whether other information of a confidential nature which is not covered by the Espionage Act was adequately protected under any existing Federal legislation. Much information dealing with industrial production and financial matters has been submitted to the War Production Board in confidence by concerns which report to the War Production Board on our formal questionnaires and in addition much of it has been made available by those concerns and others on a cooperative and voluntary basis to assist us in the war effort. The first type of information supplied on questionnaires is protected, to some extent, by the terms of the Second War Powers Act and of section 4 of the Federal Reports Act of 1942. As a first step to a complete protection which we felt was required for all of our "confidential" information, the Chairman of the War Production Board, Mr. Donald M. Nelson, issued General Administrative Order No. 2-155 by virtue of his inherent power as head of an agency to make suitable rules and regulations to regulate the affairs of the agency. This order set forth the policy that confidential business data shall only be used by employees of the Board for official purposes and shall not be taken away in the form of personal files by an employee who severs his connections with the Board. The Office of the General Counsel consulted with the Department of Justice to see whether under existing Federal legislation this regulation could be adequately enforced. The conclusion which was reached as a result of these conferences was that while some of this information might be safeguarded under existing legislation such as the Espionage Act, the Second War Powers Act, and the Federal Reports Act of 1942, to cover adequately the problem, especially in the cases of those who have severed or who are severing their connection with the Government, it would be necessary to ask the Congress for additional legislation. A bill accordingly was prepared in consultation with the Department of Justice and a draft of this proposed bill was submitted to the Attorney General and was cleared through the Bureau of the Budget. That bill was then submitted by Mr. Nelson to the Speaker. A copy of this letter is enclosed. Your bill is in accord with the draft which we submitted to the Speaker. It has been our belief that the information covered in your bill was submitted to the War Production Board with the understanding that this information would be very carefully safeguarded and that the confidence in which it was submitted would not be violated. In receiving this information under conditions that it would be held only for the use of the War Production Board and related agencies, we in effect gave a pledge to industry and business reporting to us that we would not use this information for any other purposes. For that reason, we have asked for a statement of policy from the Congress, together with effective power to enable us to live up to that pledge, and I believe that it is most important that H. R. 1531 be speedily enacted into law. The Bureau of the Budget has advised that it has no objection to the submission of this report. Sincerely yours, F. M. EATON, (for J. A. Krug, Chairman). WAR PRODUCTION BOARD, Hon. SAM RAYBURN, Speaker of the House, House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. DEAR MR. SPEAKER: It has been called to my attention that much confidential information regarding business and industry in the United States has been made available, in confidence, to the offices of the War Production Board by manufacturers and producers with the understanding that this information is for warproduction purposes only. Examination of the United States Statutes at Large has shown that there is no complete declaration of policy and law with respect to the safeguarding of confidential information, other than of a military nature, which may be submitted to Government agencies for their own special needs. We are very anxious that this information shall not be used for purposes other than war production, and to secure this end, we would like such a declaration of policy by the Congress, and a statement of law to carry out that policy. I enclose a copy of a proposed bill to provide for the control of confidential business data submitted to the War Production Board, which I believe will fulfill the needs of a declaration of policy and a statement of law sufficient to safeguard the keeping and use of confidential data which we have had submitted to us. If you approve of this bill, will you be good enough to have it submitted to the chairman of the appropriate committee so that if it meets his approval, it may be introduced in the Congress and enacted into law? I have been advised by the Bureau of the Budget that the enactment of the proposed legislation is in accord with the program of the President. Sincerely, D. M. NELSON. |