1st Session No. 1025 RIGHT OF APPEAL FROM SUSPENSION OF LICENSES AND CERTIFICATES OF SERVICE JUNE 15, 1937.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. CROWE, from the Committee the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 7017] The Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 7017) to amend section 4450 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, as amended by the act of May 27, 1936 (49 Stat. 1380, 1383; U. S. C., 1934 edition, title 46, sec. 239), having had the same under consideration, report thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass. During the second session of the Seventy-fourth Congress there was enacted an act to provide for a change in the designation of the Bureau of Navigation and Steamboat Inspection, to create a Marine Casualty and Investigation Board, and increase efficiency in administration of the steamboat-inspection laws, and for other purposes. Section 4 (g) of that act provides, among other things, that if the Director of the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation shall find, after an investigation as provided for in said subparagraph, that a licensed officer or a member of the crew of a vessel holding a certificate of service has violated any of the provisions of the act or any regulation issued under the authority of the act, he shall in a written order suspend or revoke the license or certificate of service of such officer or member of the crew. It is provided that an appeal may be taken to the Secretary of Commerce from an order of revocation issued by the Director, but no such provision is made for an appeal from an order of the Director suspending a license or certificate of service. Under date of May 11, 1937, the Assistant Secretary of Commerce addressed to the Speaker of the House of Representatives a letter submitting a draft of a proposed bill to amend section 4 (g) of the act referred to above. This draft merely adds to section 4 (g), in the third sentence thereof, the words "suspended or" after the word "is" and before the word "revoked", and the effect of this amendment is to grant the right of appeal to the Secretary of Commerce from an order of the Director of the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation for either revocation or suspension of a license or certificate of service. A suspension, without the right of appeal to allow the Secretary of Commerce in cases which he deems worthy to alter or modify such order of suspension, would probably have the effect of depriving a person whose license or certificate had been suspended of his means of earning a livelihood, either temporarily or permanently. Without the license or certificate of service the officer or seaman is precluded from obtaining employment on a vessel. As the suspension of a license or a certificate of service, therefore, would prove to be most serious and so vitally affects the power of the officer or seaman to earn his living, your committee is of the opinion that the bill under consideration is highly meritorious and recommends its early enactment. As stated above, the bill is proposed by the Department of Commerce, and in his letter of May 11, 1937, which follows, the Assistant Secretary of Commerce states that the Bureau of the Budget has advised the Department that there would be no objection by that office to the presentation of the draft of the proposed legislation to Congress. Hon. W. B. BANKHEAD, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, Speaker, House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. MY DEAR MR. SPEAKER: I have the honor to submit for your consideration draft of a proposed bill to amend section 4450 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, as amended by the act of May 27, 1936, designated as an act to provide for a change in the designation of the Bureau of Navigation and Steamboat Inspection, to create a Marine Casualty and Investigation Board, and increase efficiency in administration of the Steamboat Inspection Laws, and for other purposes (49 U. S. Statutes 1380, 1383; title 46, U. S. Code, sec. 239). Section 4 (g) of the act provides, in part, that if the Director of Marine Inspection and Navigation shall find, after an investigation as provided for in said subparagraph, that a licensed officer or holder of a certificate of service has violated any of the provisions of the act, or any regulation issued thereunder, he shall in a written order suspend or revoke the license or certificate of service of such officer or holder of such certificate. The act provides that an appeal may be taken to the Secretary of Commerce from an order of revocation issued by the Director, but no provision is made for an appeal from an order of the Director suspending a license or certificiate of service. A suspension as provided for by the provisions of section 4 (g) would probably have the effect of depriving a person of his means of earning a livelihood, either temporarily or permanently. It is believed that when a license or certificate of service is suspended by order of the Director, the person affected thereby should be granted the right of appeal to the Secretary. The proposed amendment will afford such a right of appeal and its enactment is therefore recommended. The Bureau of the Budget has advised the Department that there would be no objection by that office to the presentation of the draft of the proposed legislation to Congress. Cordially yours, J. M. JOHNSON, Assistant Secretary of Commerce. CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW In compliance with paragraph 2a of Rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the changes proposed to be made by the bill (H. R. 7017) in section 4550 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, as amended by section 4 (g) of the act of May 27, 1936 (49 Stat. 1380, 1383; U. S. C., 1934 edition, title 46, sec. 239), are shown as follows (existing law in which no change is proposed is shown in roman, and the new matter proposed to be inserted is printed in ¿talics): SEC. 4. (g) In any investigation of acts of incompetency or misconduct or of any act in violation of the provisions of this title, or of any of the regulations issued thereunder, committed by any licensed officer or any holder of a certificate of service, the person whose conduct is under investigation shall be given reasonable notice of the time, place, and subject of such investigation and an opportunity to be heard in his own defense. The whole record of the testimony received by the board conducting such investigation and the findings and recommendations of such board shall be forwarded to the Director of the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation, and if that officer shall find that such licensed officer or holder of certificate of service is incompetent or has been guilty of misbehavior, negligence, or unskillfulness, or has endangered life, or has willfully violated any of the provisions of this title or any of the regulations issued thereunder, he shall, in a written order reciting said findings, suspend or revoke the license or certificate of service of such officer or holder of such certificate. The person whose license or certificate of service is suspended or revoked may within thirty days appeal from the order of the said Director to the Secretary of Commerce. On such appeal the appellant shall be allowed to be represented by counsel. The Secretary of Commerce may alter or modify any finding of the board which conducted the investigation or of the Director of the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation, but the decision of the Secretary of Commerce shall be based solely on the testimony received by the said board and shall recite the findings of fact on which it is based. NORTHERN PACIFIC HALIBUT ACT OF 1937 JUNE 15, 1937.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. WALLGREN, from the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 6149] The Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 6149) for the protection of the northern Pacific halibut fishery, having had the same under consideration, report thereon with an amendment and, as so amended, recommend that the bill do pass. The amendment proposed by the committee is as follows: Page 8, strike out all of the language in lines 11 to 17, inclusive, and insert in lieu thereof the following: Provided, That, except as provided in section 5 of this Act, all rights, powers, and duties conferred or imposed by such provisions of law upon any officer or employee of the Treasury Department shall, for the purposes of this Act, be exercised or performed by the Secretary of Commerce or by such persons as he may designate. Section 6 (c) of the bill, to which this amendment is made, would make the procedure relative to seizure, judicial forfeiture, and condemnation of a vessel for a violation of the customs laws, as well as the disposition of such vessel or the proceeds from the sale thereof, and the remission or mitigation of such forfeiture apply insofar as possible to seizures and forfeitures incurred or alleged to have incurred under the provisions of this act. This uniformity of practice appears to be very desirable. A proviso to this subsection provides that the duties imposed upon the collector of customs or any other person with respect to the seizure and forfeiture of a vessel under such custom laws shall be performed, as to seizure and forfeiture under this bill, by the Secretary of Commerce or such officers, agents, or other persons as he may designate. However, under section 5 of the bill, the Bureau of Fisheries, the Customs Service, and the Coast Guard are specifically designated as the agencies to enforce the provisions of the convention, and of the proposed bill, and any regulations issued |