loans during the moratorium. Should any foreclosure of such a mortgage securing such a loan upon which a moratorium has been granted occur, no deficiency judgment shall be taken against the mortgagor if he shall have faithfully tried to meet his obligation.

TECHNICAL SERVICES AND RESEARCH

SEC. 506. (a) In connection with financial assistance authorized in sections 501 to 504, inclusive, the Secretary shall require that all new buildings and repairs financed under this title shall be substantially constructed and in accordance with such building plans and specifications as may be required by the Secretary. Buildings and repairs constructed with funds advanced pursuant to this title shall be supervised and inspected, as may be required by the Secretary, by competent employees of the Secretary. In addition to the financial assistanceauthorized in sections 501 to 504, inclusive, the Secretary is authorized to furnish, through such agencies as he may determine, to any person, including a person eligible for financial assistance under this title, without charge or at such charges as the Secretary may determine, technical services such as building plans, specifications, construction supervision and inspection, and advice and information regarding farm dwellings and other buildings. The Secretary is further authorized to conduct research and technical studies including the development, demonstration, and promotion of construction of adequate farm. dwellings and other buildings for the purposes of stimulating construction, improving the architectural design and utility of such dwellings and buildings, utilizing new and native materials, economies in materials and construction methods, new methods of production,. distribution, assembly, and construction, with a view to reducing the cost of farm dwellings and buildings and adapting and developing fixtures and appurtenances for more efficient and economical farm use.

(b) The Secretary of Agriculture shall prepare and submit to the President and to the Congress estimates of national farm housing needs and reports with respect to the progress being made toward meeting such needs, and correlate and recommend proposals for such executive action or legislation necessary or desirable for the furtherance of the national housing objective and policy established by this Act with respect to farm housing, together with such other reports or information as may be required of the Secretary by the President or the Congress.

PREFERENCES FOR VETERANS AND FAMILIES OF DECEASED SERVICEMEN

SEC. 507. As between eligible applicants seeking assistance under this title, the Secretary shall give preference to veterans and the families of deceased servicemen. As used herein, a "veteran" shall be a person who served in the land or naval forces of the United States during any war between the United States and any other nation and who shall have been discharged or released therefrom on conditions other than dishonorable. "Deceased servicemen" shall mean men or women who served in the land or naval forces of the United States during any war between the United States and any other nation and who died in service before the termination of such war.

LOCAL COMMITTEES TO ASSIST SECRETARY

SEC. 508. (a) For the purposes of this subsection and subsection (b) of this section, the Secretary may use the services of any existing committee of farmers operating (pursuant to laws or regulations carried out by the Department of Agriculture) in any county or parish in which activities are carried on under this title. In any county or parish in which activities are carried on under this title and in which no existing satisfactory committee is available, the Secretary is authorized to appoint a committee composed of three persons residing in the county or parish. Each member of such existing or newly appointed committee shall be allowed compensation at the rate of $5 per day while engaged in the performance of duties under this title and, in addition, shall be allowed such amounts as the Secretary may prescribe for necessary traveling and subsistence expenses. One member of the committee shall be designated by the Secretary as chairman. The Secretary shall prescribe rules governing the procedures of the committees, furnish forms and equipment necessary for the performance of their duties, and authorize and provide for the compensation of such clerical assistance as he deems may be required by any committee.

(b) The committees utilized or appointed pursuant to this section shall examine applications of persons desiring to obtain the benefits of this title and shall submit recommendations to the Secretary with respect to each applicant as to whether the applicant is eligible to receive the benefits of this title, whether by reason of his character, ability, and experience, he is likely successfully to carry out undertakings required of him under a loan or grant under this title, and whether the farm with respect to which the application is made is of such character that there is a reasonable likelihood that the making of the loan or grant requested will carry out the purposes of this title. The committees shall also certify to the Secretary their opinions of the reasonable values of the farms. The committees shall, in addition, perform such other duties under this title as the Secretary may require.

GENERAL POWERS OF SECRETARY

SEC. 509. (a) The Secretary, for the purposes of this title, shall have the power to determine and prescribe the standards of adequate farm housing and other buildings, by farms or localities, taking into consideration, among other factors, the type of housing which will provide decent, safe, and sanitary dwelling for the needs of the family using the housing, the type and character of the farming operations to be conducted, and the size and earning capacity of the land.

(b) The Secretary may require any recipient of a loan or grant to agree that the availability of improvements constructed or repaired with the proceeds of the loan or grant under this title shall not be a justification for directly or indirectly changing the terms or conditions of the lease or occupancy agreement with the occupants of such farms to the latter's disadvantage without the approval of the Secretary.

ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS

SEC. 510. In carrying out the provisions of this title, the Secretary shall have the power to

(a) make contracts for services and supplies without regard to the provisions of section 3709 of the Revised Statutes, as amended, when the aggregate amount involved is less than $300; (b) enter into subordination, subrogation, or other agreements satisfactory to the Secretary;

(c) compromise claims and obligations arising out of sections 502 to 505, inclusive, of this title and adjust and modify the terms of mortgages, leases, contracts, and agreements entered into as circumstances may require, including the release from personal liability, without payments of further consideration, of―

(1) borrowers who have transferred their farms to other approved applicants for loans who have agreed to assume the outstanding indebtedness to the Secretary under this title; and

(2) borrowers who have transferred their farms to other approved applicants for loans who have agreed to assume that portion of the outstanding indebtedness to the Secretary under this title which is equal to the earning capacity value of the farm at the time of the transfer, and borrowers whose farms have been acquired by the Secretary, in cases where the Secretary determines that the original borrowers have cooperated in good faith with the Secretary, have farmed in a workmanlike manner, used due diligence to maintain the security against loss, and otherwise fulfilled the covenants incident to their loans, to the best of their abilities;

(d) collect all claims and obligations arising out of or under any mortgage, lease, contract, or agreement entered into pursuant to this title and, if in his judgment necessary and advisable, to pursue the same to final collection in any court having jurisdiction: Provided, That the prosecution and defense of all litigation under this title shall be conducted under the supervision of the Attorney General and the legal representation shall be by the United States attorneys for the districts, respectively, in which such litigation may arise and by such other attorney or attorneys as may, under law, be designated by the Attorney General;

(e) bid for and purchase at any foreclosure or other sale or otherwise to acquire the property pledged or mortgaged to secure a loan or other indebtedness owing under this title, to accept title to any property so purchased or acquired, to operate or lease such property for such period as may be necessary or advisable, to protect the interest of the United States therein and to sell or otherwise dispose of the property so purchased or acquired by such terms and for such considerations as the Secretary shall determine to be reasonable and to make loans as provided herein to provide adequate farm dwellings and buildings for the purchasers of such property;

(f) utilize with respect to the indebtedness arising from loans and payments made under this title, all the powers and authorities given ven to him under the Act approved December 20, 1944, entitled An Act to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to compromise, adjust, or cancel certain indebtedness, and for other purposes" (58 Stat. 836), as such Act now provides or may hereafter be amended;

(g) make such rules and regulations as he deems necessary to carry out the purposes of this title.

LOAN FUNDS

SEC. 511. The Secretary may issue notes and other obligations for purchase by the Secretary of the Treasury in such sums as the Congress may from time to time determine to make loans under this title (other than loans under section 504 (b)) not in excess of $25,000,000 on and after July 1, 1949, an additional $50,000,000 on and after July 1, 1950, an additional $75,000,000 on and after July 1, 1951, and an additional $100,000,000 on and after July 1, 1952. The notes and obligations issued by the Secretary shall be secured by the obligations of borrowers and the Secretary's commitments to make contributions under this title and shall be repaid from the payment of principal and interest on the obligations of the borrowers and from funds appropriated hereunder. The notes and other obligations issued by the Secretary shall be in such forms and denominations, shall have such maturities, and shall be subject to such terms and conditions as may be prescribed by the Secretary with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury. Such notes or obligations shall bear interest at a rate determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, taking into consideration the current average rate on outstanding marketable obligations of the United States as of the last day of the month preceding the issuance of the notes or obligations by the Secretary. The Secretary of the Treasury is authorized and directed to purchase any notes and other obligations of the Secretary issued hereunder and for such purpose is authorized to use as a public debt transaction the proceeds from the sale of any securities issued under the Second Liberty Bond Act, as amended, and⚫ the purposes for which securities may be issued under such Act are extended to include any purchases of such obligations. The Secretary of the Treasury may at any time sell any of the notes or obligations acquired by him under this section. All redemptions, purchases, and sales by the Secretary of the Treasury of such notes or obligations shall be treated as public debt transactions of the United States.

CONTRIBUTIONS

SEC. 512. In connection with loans made pursuant to section 503, the Secretary is authorized, on and after July 1, 1949, to make commitments for contributions aggregating not to exceed $500,000 per annum and to make additional commitments, on and after July 1 of each of the years 1950, 1951, and 1952, respectively, which shall require additional contributions aggregating not more than $1,000,000, $1,500,000, and $2,000,000 per annum, respectively.

SEC. 513. There is hereby authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary (a) such sums as may be necessary to meet payments on notes or other obligations issued by the Secretary under section 511 equal to (i) the aggregate of the contributions made by the Secretary in the form of credits on principal due on loans made pursuant to section 503, and (ii) the interest due on a similar sum represented by notes or other obligations issued by the Secretary; (b) an additional $2,000,000 for grants pursuant to section 504 (a) and loans pursuant to section 504 (b) on and after July 1, 1949, which amount shall be increased

by further amounts of $5,000,000, $8,000,000, and $10,000,000 on July 1 of each of the years 1950, 1951, and 1952, respectively; and (c) such further sums as may be necessary to enable the Secretary to carry out the provisions of this title.

TITLE VI-MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

ADVISORY COMMITTEES

SEC. 601. The Housing and Home Finance Administrator may appoint such advisory committee or committees as he may deem necessary in carrying out his functions, powers, and duties, under this or any other Act. Service as a member of any such committee shall not constitute any form of service or employment within the provisions of sections 281, 283, or 284 of title 18 United States Code.

AMENDMENTS OF NATIONAL BANKING ACT

SEC. 602. (a) The last sentence of paragraph Seventh of section 5136 of the Revised Statutes, as amended, is amended by inserting before the colon, after the words "obligations of national mortgage associations", a comma and the following: "or such obligations of any local public agency (as defined in section 110 (h) of the Housing Act of 1949) as are secured by an agreement between the local public agency and the Housing and Home Finance Administrator in which the local public agency agrees to borrow from said Administrator, and said Administrator agrees to lend to said local public agency, prior to the maturity of such obligations (which obligations shall have a maturity of not more than eighteen months), monies in an amount which (together with any other monies irrevocably committed to the payment of interest on such obligations) will suffice to pay the principal of such obligations with interest to maturity thereon, which monies under the terms of said agreement are required to be used for the purpose of paying the principal of and the interest on such obligations at their maturity, or such obligations of a public housing agency (as defined in the United States Housing Act of 1937, as amended) as are secured either (1) by an agreement between the public housing agency and the Public Housing Administration in which the public housing agency agrees to borrow from the Public Housing Administration, and the Public Housing Administration agrees to lend to the public housing agency, prior to the maturity. of such obligations (which obligations shall have a maturity of not more than eighteen months), monies in an amount which (together with any other monies irrevocably committed to the payment of interest on such obligations) will suffice to pay the principal of such obligations with interest to maturity thereon, which monies under the terms of said agreement are required to be used for the purpose of paying the principal of and the interest on such obligations at their maturity, or (2) by a pledge of annual contributions under an annual contributions contract between such public housing agency and the Public Housing Administration if such contract shall contain the covenant by the Public Housing Administration which is authorized by subsection (b) of section 22 of the United States Housing Act of 1937, as amended, and if the maximum sum and the maximum period specified in such contract pursuant to said subsection 22 (b)