79TH CONGRESS 1st Session } HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES { REPORT RELIEF OF CERTAIN OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES OF THE FOREIGN SERVICE OF THE UNITED STATES January 30, 1945.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House and ordered to be printed Mr. BLOOM, from the Committee on Foreign Affairs, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 687] The Committee on Foreign Affairs, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 687) for the relief of certain officers and employees of the Foreign Service of the United States who, while in the course of their respective duties, suffered losses of personal property by reason of war conditions, having considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass. The Committee on Foreign Affairs held hearings on December 7, 1944, on an identical bill, H. R. 4988, during which testimony was given by Mr. Laurence C. Frank, Chief, Division of Foreign Service Administration, Department of State. Following Mr. Frank's testimony, the bill was unanimously ordered favorably reported. The bill, however, was not reached for consideration before adjournment. On January 4, 1945, the bill was reintroduced as H. R. 687. Hearings were held on January 30, 1945, and the bill again was unanimously ordered favorably reported. For the information of the House, there is included in this report the message of the President of the United States transmitting a report from the Secretary of State with reference to the enactment of legislation for the relief of certain officers and employees of the Foreign Service of the United States, dated May 29, 1944. [H. Doc. No. 622, 78th Cong., 1st sess.] MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES TRANSmitting RepORT FROM THE Secretary of State WITH REFERENCE TO THE ENACTMENT OF LEGISLATION FOR THE SUM OF $90,130.91 FOR THE RELIEF OF CErtain OfficERS AND EMPLOYEES OF THE FOREIGN SERVICE OF THE UNITED STATES To the Congress of the United States of America: I commend to the favorable consideration of the Congress the enclosed report from the Secretary of State to the end that legislation may be enacted appropriating the sum of $90,130.91 for the relief of certain officers and employees of the Foreign Service of the United States who have sustained losses by reason of war conditions which have been prevailing in all parts of the world during the past 5 years. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT. THE WHITE HOUSE, May 29, 1944. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, The PRESIDENT, The White House: I have the honor to submit, with a view to its transmission to Congress, the following report and recommendations in relation to claims of certain officers and employees of the Foreign Service of the United States for reimbursement of losses sustained by them by reason of war conditions which have been prevailing in all parts of the world during the past 6 years. The Department has received 67 claims aggregating $160,740.62 for consideration by a claim board established in pursuance of Departmental Order No. 1082 dated August 20, 1942. Of this number 2 claims have been denied in full; 1 has been withdrawn; 6 have been deferred, and 2 claims of 1 individual have been consolidated. The remaining 57 claims, aggregating $134,290.15 after careful scrutiny and evaluation by the board, have been reduced by $44,059.24 or approximately 32 percent of the declared aggregate amount claimed; and these claims, in the remaining amount of $90,130.91, are recommended herein for consideration by the Congress. For more convenient consideration the claims have been placed in two general categories: 1. Those resulting from bombings, looting, or confiscation of property by enemy military or civil authorities which have been listed geographically. 2. Those resulting from the disruption of overland transportation systems, lack of ocean transportation facilities, and from submarine activities of the enemy. A description of the conditions giving rise to the claim, the amount of the claim, the reduction made as the result of the Board's examination, and the amount approved and recommended to be appropriated for reimbursement are set forth in each claim. GREAT BRITAIN LONDON Claim of Mary Ann Braswell, Foreign Service clerk. Miss Braswell is assigned to the Embassy in London. As the result of one of the bombing raids by the German forces a fire destroyed the laundry where Miss Braswell had sent personal effects to be laundered. After salvage operations were completed she found that some of her effects had been destroyed. Claim of John A. Bywater, vice consul. Mr. Bywater was assigned to Konigsberg, Germany, when the war in Europe broke out. His effects were placed in storage in Königsberg upon his departure for the United States. They were later shipped to him in Washington, D. C., were many months in transit, and upon arrival many articles were missing. BERLIN Claim of Frank C. Lee, Foreign Service officer, class II. Mr. Lee was assigned to the Embassy in Berlin at the time of his resignation from the Foreign Service in 1941. Efforts were made to have his effects, which were stored in the Embassy in Berlin, forwarded to the United States. Because of war conditions it was not until the summer of 1943 that the effects from Berlin were received. Many articles were missing and others badly damaged when they reached Washington. Claim of George R. Canty, Foreign Service officer, class V. Mr. Canty had been assigned to Amsterdam in 1940. Some of his household effects were in Paris. After the outbreak of war in Europe he was authorized to ship his effects to the United States. They were en route from Paris via Lisbon to New York from November 1941 to March 1942. Upon their arrival in Washington they were found to be greatly damaged due to exposure during the long transit time caused by war conditions. Name George R. Canty, Foreign Service officer, class V. Claimed Disallowed Approved $313.05 $313.05 Claim of Eugene A. Masuret, Foreign Service officer, unclassified. Mr. Masuret was assigned to the Embassy at Paris when war in Europe broke out. On June 11, 1940, because of the imminent approach of the German forces he was ordered to Bordeaux. He took with him his automobile. However he was unable to use it as the German authorities refused delivery of gasoline and the car was placed in a garage until July 1941 when upon his departure for the United States he stored it with Les Gardes Meubles Laborde Pierre of Bordeaux. The Department has been informed that Mr. Masuret's car has been requisitioned by the Germans. Claim of J. Dawson Kiernan, Foreign Service clerk. Mr. Kiernan was a Foreign Service clerk in Bordeaux. When the German forces occupied Bordeaux he endeavored to ship his effects to Lisbon but without success and they were placed in storage with the firm of Laborde Pierre. The effects were taken over by the Germans before the Swiss authorities could take charge of them. Repeated efforts to have the Germans restore them have failed. Claim of Frank A. Keller, Foreign Service clerk. Mr. Keller was assigned to the consulate in Strasbourg. On September 3, 1939, when war broke out, he was instructed to proceed to Bordeaux. He was unable to pack and ship his effects which were necessarily left in Strasbourg He later applied to the German authorities for permission to return to Strasbourg but this was refused. The Department of State was notified of this refusal on March 21, 1941 and requested to protect his furniture. Mr Keller was informed that his possessions had been placed in safe custody in a building in Strasbourg. On July 21, 1941, the consulate at Bordeaux was closed and Mr. Keller was forced to leave certain of his property when he departed for Lisbon. The information now in the Department of State indicates that practically all of the property belonging to Mr. Keller both in Strasbourg and Bordeaux has been confiscated by the German authorities. Claim of Harry M. Donaldson, Foreign Service officer, unclassified. Mr. Donaldson was assigned to the consulate at Havre, France, at the time the German forces occupied France in 1940. He was forced to leave his post on a few hours' notice and necessarily left his effects in his apartment. Later he endeavored to have them shipped to Lisbon. It was not until June 1941 that his effects arrived at Marseille where he was then stationed. Many articles were badly damaged and a number of them missing. Since the German authorities took over the entire building where his apartment was located, it is believed that the looting of Mr. Donaldson's effects was done by German military personnel. |