evidences of indebtedness outstanding at any time in excess of 75 per centum of the value, as determined from time to time by the Secretary of the Treasury, of the real estate comprising the right of way for the central highway. The rate of interest, the maturity, and the other terms of such notes, bonds, or other evidence of indebtedness, and the security therefor, shall be determined by the corporation.

LIABILITY OF THE UNITED STATES

SEC. 205. The United States shall assume no liability, directly or indirectly, for any notes, bonds, or other evidences of indebtedness issued by the corporation and all such evidences of indebtedness shall so state on their face.

TAXATION

SEC. 206. The notes, bonds, and other evidences of indebtedness of the corporation, and income derived in respect thereof, and the corporation, its income and property, shall not be exempt from taxation by the United States, but shall be exempt from taxation by a State or political subdivision thereof.

GENERAL POWERS OF CORPORATION

SEC. 207. The corporation

(a) Shall have perpetual succession in its corporate name.

(b) May sue and be sued in its corporate name.

(c) May adopt a corporate seal, which shall be judicially noticed, and may alter it at pleasure.

(d) May make contracts.

(e) May acquire, hold for any lawful purpose, and dispose of property; except that the corporation shall not dispose of any part of the right of way of the central highway except by lease as herein provided.

(f) May appoint, fix the compensation of, and remove, without prejudice to contract rights, such officers, employees, and agents as are necessary for the conduct of the affairs of the corporation. Such employees and agents may be either individuals, partnerships, corporations, or associations. Each officer, employee, or agent responsible for the handling of money or other property of the corporation shall give bond in such amount, with such penalties and upon such terms, as the corporation may determine.

(g) May adopt, amend, and repeal by-laws.

(h) Shall have such powers not specifically denied by law as are necessary and proper to the exercise of the functions vested in it by this act.

OFFICES

SEC. 208. The corporation shall maintain its principal office in the District of Columbia and may establish such agencies or branch offices at such places as it finds advisable. The corporation shall be held an inhabitant and resident of the District of Columbia and of each State in which it is doing business, within the meaning of laws of the United States relating to venue of civil suits.

BOOKS

SEC. 209. The corporation shall keep, at its principal office in the custody of the board, correct books, showing the original minutes of the directors' meetings, and showing the accounts of the corporation's business transactions. The books shall be kept in such form and shall be open to inspection to such persons and at such times as the corporation may prescribe.

AUDIT

SEC. 210. The books and accounts of the corporation shall be audited at least once every year by the General Accounting Office. The report of the auditors shall be included by the corporation in its annual report to the Congress.

REPORT

SEC. 211. The corporation shall make an annual report to Congress at the beginning of each regular session containing a statement of the operations of the corporation during the preceding fiscal year.

SPECIAL POWERS OF THE CORPORATION

SEC. 212. The corporation is authorized

(a) To establish, construct, maintain, improve, and regulate the central highway (including tunnels, bridges, drainage structures, signs, guardrails, and protective structures in connection with the highway) in accordance with the plan approved by the Congress in accordance with the provisions of section 201, and for such purpose to acquire by purchase, condemnation, donation, or otherwise any real estate or interest therein which it deems necessary.

(b) After the completion of the central highway to provide, in its discretion, for tourist camps on any part of the right of way not used for roadbed.

(c) After the completion of the central highway to provide, in its discretion, for the establishment, operation, and maintenance along the highway, subject to the requirements of the air commerce act of 1926, of emergency landing fields, light and other signal structures, radio directional finding facilities, radio and other electrical communication facilities, and other structures and facilities in the aid of air navigation approved by the Secretary of Commerce. The Secretary of Commerce shall designate the route of such highway as a civil airway whenever and to the extent that the Secretary of Commerce finds that such route is suitable for interstate and foreign air commerce. The air navigation facilities owned or operated by the corporation may be made available for public use under such conditions and to the same extent as air navigation facilities owned or operated by the United States.

(d) To lease, upon such terms and conditions as the corporation deems advisable, any part of the right of way of the central highway not used for roadbed. Each such lease shall contain a provision authorizing the corporation to readjust the rental charges of the property leased at the end of each ten years at least; but the lease shall be valid for the term stipulated therein subject to the condition that the lessee, after such readjustment, agrees to pay the rental charges so readjusted. In lieu of real-estate taxes, the corporation shall pay to the State and its political subdivisions empowered to collect real-estate taxes, in which the property leased is located, 10 per centum of all moneys received as rentals from property so located. The corporation shall distribute such amount to the State and its political subdivisions, in such proportions as the governor of such State determines and reports to the corporation to be just and equitable, based upon the distribution of real-estate taxes in such State under the laws thereof.

(e) To issue permits and licenses for openings into, crossings over and under, or the use of any portion of the right of way of the central highway for purposes not inconsistent with the provisions of this act. In each such case the permittee or licensee shall be required to make such payment as will be sufficient to compensate completely for any damage done, and the receipts therefrom shall be covered into the treasury of the corporation.

CHARACTER OF HIGHWAY

In

SEC. 213. Except where such a plan is impracticable and unnecessary, the central highway shall be so constructed as to permit a two-way fast traffic for tourist and nontruck traffic, and a two-way traffic for trucks and heavy traffic. The width and number of the traffic lanes shall be fixed by the commission. approving the types and width of construction, types of surface, and kinds of material, and the character of improvement, repair, and maintenance in each case, the corporation shall give consideration to the type and character which shall be best suited for each locality and to the probable character and extent of the future traffic.

INCOME FROM OPERATIONS OF THE CORPORATION

SEC. 214. (a) The income of the corporation after paying the expenses of operation and maintenance and improvement of the central highway and other property of the corporation shall be used

(1) For the payment of interest upon any notes, bonds, or other evidences of indebtedness issued under the provisions of section 204 and for the retirement of such notes, bonds, or other evidences of indebtedness; and

(2) For the payment of interest upon bonds issued under the provisions of section 304 and for the retirement of such bonds from time to time as the condition of the treasury of the corporation permits.

(b) After all the notes, bonds, or other evidences of indebtedness described in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of this section, and the bonds described in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of this section have been retired, there shall be paid to every State which shall have donated land for the right of way, 75 per centum of the annual income of the corporation derived from leases on such donated property in such State.

TITLE III-MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

COOPERATION WITH EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND OTHER AGENCIES

SEC. 301. (a) The commission and the corporation may, in cooperation with any Government establishment, avail themselves of the services and facilities of such Government establishment in order to avoid preventable expense duplication of effort.

or

(b) The President may, by Executive order, direct any such Government establishment to furnish the commission or the corporation with such information and data pertaining to the functions of the commission or the corporation, respectively, as may be contained in the records of such Government establishment. The order of the President may provide such limitations as to the use of the information and data as he deems desirable.

(c) The commission and the corporation may cooperate with any State or department, agency, or political subdivision thereof, or with any person; and may construct, maintain, and operate any part of the central highway within any State, by or through the State highway department of such State or any State department, commission, board, or official having adequate powers and suitably equipped and organized to discharge to the satisfaction of the commission and corporation the duties herein required.

APPROPRIATION OF PUBLIC LANDS

SEC. 302. (a) If the corporation determines that any part of the public lands or reservations of the United States is reasonably necessary for the right of way of the central highway or as a source of materials for the construction or maintenance of the highway, the corporation shall file with the head of the executive department supervising the administration of such lands or reservations a map showing the portion of such lands or reservations which it is desired to appropriate. (b) If within a period of two months after such filing such officer shall not have certified to the corporation that the proposed appropriation of such land or materials is contrary to the public interest or inconsistent with the purposes for which such land or materials have been reserved, or shall have agreed to the appropriation and transfer under conditions which he deems necessary for the adequate protection and utilization of such lands or reservations, such land or materials may be appropriated for the purposes and subject to the conditions so specified. (c) If at any time the need for any such land or materials for such purpose shall no longer exist, notice of the fact shall be given by the corporation, and such land or materials shall immediately revert to the control of the head of the executive department from which they have been appropriated.

REGULATION OF THE HIGHWAY

SEC. 303. The corporation may prescribe and promulgate such regulations as it deems necessary for preserving and protecting the central highway and safeguarding traffic thereon; but nothing in this act shall affect the civil, criminal, or administrative jurisdiction of the several States over persons or property upon the highway, or the rights and duties of persons with respect to the use and enjoyment of the highway under the laws of the several States.

ISSUANCE OF BONDS

SEC. 304. (a) There is hereby authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to enable the Secretary of the Treasury to make payments upon the stock subscription when called by the corporation.

(b) In order to meet such payments, the Secretary of the Treasury, if he deems it advisable, may exercise the authority granted by the various Liberty bond acts and the Victory loan act, as amended and supplemented, to issue bonds, notes, and certificates of indebtedness of the United States, and any bond so

issued shall be disregarded in computing the maximum amount of bonds authorized by section 1 of the second Liberty bond Act, as amended.

APPLICABILITY OF BRIDGE LAWS

SEC. 305. All bridges constructed under the provisions of this Act over navigable waters of the United States shall be subject to the provisions of section 9 of the act entitled "An act making appropriations for the construction, repair, and preservation of certain public works on rivers and harbors, and for other purposes," approved March 3, 1899, the act entitled "An act to regulate the construction of bridges over navigable waters," approved March 23, 1906, and any law amendatory of, supplementary to, or in subsitution for such section or act, respectively.

SEPARABILITY OF PROVISIONS

SEC. 306. If any provision of this act is declared unconstitutional or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the validity of the remainder of the act and the application of such provision to other persons and circumstances shall not be affected thereby.

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Warren Martin wishes to make a statement in behalf of Senator du Pont, who unhappily is ill and unable to be present in person.

STATEMENT OF WARREN MARTIN, IN BEHALF OF SENATOR DU PONT

Mr. MARTIN. Mr. Chairman, I want to draw the committee's attention to the fact that all that Senator du Pont's bill accomplishes is contained in Title I, which establishes a national survey commission consisting of five members of the Cabinet, whose departments would be directly interested, and six individuals of outstanding qualifications and experience appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. The commission is authorized and instructed to make a preliminary examination and survey for a central highway as direct as practicable from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast, and to study the practicability of a highway along the Pacific seaboard, along the southern boundary, along the Atlantic seaboard, a highway from a point on the Central highway as near longitude 100° as may be practicable northwest to connect with the western seaboard highway in the State of Washington, and a highway from a point on the central highway as near longitude 95° as may be practicable south to connect with the southern boundary highway, and to report to Congress. Title I also contains necessary instructions and authority.

That is all that is accomplished by this bill.

The balance of the bill, Title II and Title III, presents practical suggestions to a future Congress, upon whose action will depend

whether construction is authorized.

Two questions naturally arise the necessity for this legislation and how could such construction be practically financed and not be a drain on the Treasury and a burden upon the taxpayer.

On the first question, the important benefits to national defense and mail transportation, the committee, I am sure, will appreciate, and they afford ample authority for the enactment of this legislation. Motor-driven vehicles have developed during the past 20 years until they are at present an everyday necessity in business and social life.

In 1926, 22,001,393 motor-driven vehicles were registered in the United States, which is 80 per cent of the total number of motordriven vehicles in the world. Of this number over one-fifth, or 4,528,422 farmer-owned motor-driven vehicles were registered. During that same year 4,223,170 motor-driven vehicles were manufactured in the United States.

To demonstrate the extended interstate use of motor-driven vehicles I draw attention to the fact that in 1926, 15,489,000 motorists visited the national parks. In 1916, 28,358 cars went into the national parks; in 1921, 175,825 cars went into the national parks; and in 1926, 406,248 cars went into the national parks.

Ample other statistics are available to demonstrate the remarkable and steadily growing use of motor-driven vehicles.

In practically every community of fair-sized population there is present a serious question of traffic congestion. This has developed within such a comparatively short time that communities have not been prepared to meet the situation, and such unpreparedness has increased the difficulty and materially increased the cost of correcting the same.

Interstate motor traffic is increasing at a remarkable annual rate, as shown by Government statistics, and such traffic necessarily goes through congested communities, increasing their traffic difficulties.

The motor-driven vehicle has become such an everyday necessity in the lives of practically every citizen, irrespective of class or geographic location, that congressional action for through transcontinental roads is only a question of time.

The creation of the commission provided for in this bill will supply Congress with necessary, full detailed information, enabling it to more efficiently and economically legislate on an inevitable approaching situation. Many bills will be introduced at every session, and without some policy of preparedness, as provided for in this bill, Congress will be at a disadvantage to legislate.

Senator BROOKHART. How will you finance this proposition?

Mr. MARTIN. That comes next. The bill makes a suggestion simply to a future Congress that when it accepts the report as shall have been made by your commission, of course with amendments as the facts may warrant, a provision is contained therein that the Government shall take 500 feet of right of way assuming 100 feet of which shall be taken for immediate use, for four roads; the remaining, which will not be immediately needed, and until such time as needed for national defense or for post roads, the commission has authority to lease. The income from the leases will pay for the upkeep of the road and, in time, will reimburse the cost of construction. Senator BROOKHART. What would you lease it for?

Mr. MARTIN. There are many things. Take, for instance, the road between Philadelphia and Atlantic City

Senator BROOKHART. Are you going into the farming business? Mr. MARTIN. Two hundred feet on either side would not be enough for farming, but a road of this kind immediately builds up. That has been the experience of every road.

Senator BROOKHART. You anticipate that there will be sort of a city built along that road?

Mr. MARTIN. No. Where such right of way is taken, involving a business, such business is likely to remain, leasing the property for