AMENDING THE COMMODITY CREDIT CORPORATION CHARTER ACT

JUNE 2, 1949.-Ordered to be printed

Mr. SPENCE, from the committee of conference, submitted the following

CONFERENCE REPORT

[To accompany S. 9001

The committee of conference on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses on the amendment of the House to the bill (S. 900) to amend the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act, and for other purposes, having met, after full and free conference, have agreed to recommend and do recommend to their respective Houses as follows: That the Senate recede from its disagreement to the amendment of the House and agree to the same with an amendment as follows:

In lieu of the matter proposed to be inserted by the House amendment insert the following: That section 2 of the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act (Public Law Numbered 806, Eightieth Congress) is amended by deleting the words "direction and control of its Board of Directors" at the end of the said section and substituting therefor the words "supervision and direction of the Secretary of Agriculture (hereinafter referred to as the 'Secretary')".

SEC. 2. Section 4 (h) of the said Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act is amended be deleting the second sentence thereof and inserting in its place the following: "The Corporation shall have power to acquire personal property necessary to the conduct of its business but shall not have power to acquire real property or any interest therein except that it may (a) rent or lease office space necessary for the conduct of its

business

and (b) acquire real property or any interest therein for the purpose of providing storage adequate to carry out effectively and efficiently any of the Corporation's programs, or of securing or discharging obligations owing to the Corporation, or of otherwise protecting the financial interests of the Corporation: Provided, That the authority contained in this subsection (h) shall not be utilized by the Corporation for the purpose of acquiring real property, or any interest therein, in order to provide storage facilities for any commodity unless the Corporation determines that

existing privately owned storage facilities for such commodity in the area concerned are not adequate: Provided further, That no refrigerated coldstorage facilities shall be constructed or purchased except with funds specifically provided by Congress for that purpose: And provided further, That nothing contained in this subsection (h) shall limit the duty of the Corporation, to the maximum extent practicable consistent with the fulfillment of the Corporation's purposes and the effective and efficient conduct of its business, to utilize the usual and customary channels, facilities, and arrangements of trade and commerce in the warehousing of commodities: And provided further, That to encourage the storage of grain on farms, where it can be stored at the lowest cost, the Corporation shall make loans to grain growers needing storage facilities when such growers shall apply to the Corporation for financing the construction or purchase of suitable storage, and these loans shall be deducted from the proceeds of price support loans or purchase agreements made between the Corporation and the growers. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Commodity Credit Corporation is authorized, upon terms and conditions prescribed or approved by the Secretary of Agriculture, to accept strategic and critical materials produced abroad in exchange for agricultural commodities acquired by the Corporation. Insofar as practicable, in effecting such exchange of goods, normal commercial trade channels shall be utilized and priority shall be given to commodities easily storable and those which serve as prime incentive goods to stimulate production of critical and strategic materials. The determination of the quantities and qualities of such materials which are desirable for stock piling and the determination of which materials are strategic and critical shall be made in the manner prescribed by section 2 of the Strategic and Critical Materials Stock Piling Act (60 Stat. 596). Strategic and critical materials acquired by Commodity Credit Corporation in exchange for agricultural commodities shall, to the extent approved by the Munitions Board of the National Military Establishment, be transferred to the stock pile provided for by the Strategic and Critical Materials Stock Piling Act; and when transferred to the stock pile the Commodity Credit Corporation shall be reimbursed for the strategic and critical materials so transferred to the stock pile from the funds made available for the purpose of the Strategic and Critical Materials Stock Piling Act, in an amount equal to the fair market value, as determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, of the material transferred to the stock pile. Nothing contained herein shall limit the authority of the Commodity Credit Corporation to acquire, hold, or dispose of such guantity of strategic and critical materials as it deems advisable in carrying out its functions and protecting its assets."

SEC. 3. Section 9 of the said Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act is amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 9. DIRECTORS' ADVISORY BOARD: (a) The management of the Corporation shall be vested in a board of directors (hereinafter referred to as the 'Board'), subject to the general supervision and direction of the Secretary. The Secretary shall be an ex officio director and shall serve as Chairman of the Board. The Board shall consist of six members (in addition to the Secretary), who shall be appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. In addition to their duties as members of the Board, such appointed members shall perform such other duties as may be prescribed by the Secretary. Each appointed member of the Board shall receive compensation at such rate not in excess of the maximum then payable under the Classification Act of 1923, as

amended, as may be fixed by the Secretary, except that any such member who holds another office or position under the Federal Government the compensation for which exceeds such rate may elect to receive compensation at the rate provided for such other office or position in lieu of the compensation provided by this section. A majority of the directors shall constitute a quorum of the Board and action shall be taken only by a majority vote of those present.

"(b) In addition to the Board of Directors there shall be an advisory board reflecting broad agricultural and business experience in its membership and consisting of five members who shall be appointed by the President, and who shall serve at the pleasure of the President. Not more than three of such members shall belong to the same political party. The advisory board shall meet at the call of the Secretary, who shall require it to meet not less often than once each ninety days; shall survey the general policies of the Corporation, including its policies in connection with the purchase, storage, and sale of commodities, and the operation of lending and price-support programs; and shall advise the Secretary with respect thereto. Members of the advisory board shall receive for their services as members compensation of not to exceed $50 per diem when actually engaged in the performance of their duties as such, together with their necessary traveling expenses while going to and coming from meetings."

SEC. 4. Section 10 of the said Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act is amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 10. Personnel of Corporation: The Secretary shall appoint such officers and employees as may be necessary for the conduct of the business of the Corporation, define their authority and duties, delegate to them such of the powers vested in the Corporation as he may determine, require that such of them as he may designate be bonded and fix the penalties therefor. The Corporation may pay the premium of any bond or bonds. With the exception of experts, appointments shall be made pursuant to the civil service laws and the Classification Act of 1923, as amended (5 U. S. C., 1946 edition, 661).”

SEC. 5. Section 4 (c) of the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act is amended

(a) by inserting in the second sentence thereof after the word "jurisdiction" a comma and the following: "without regard to the amount in controversy,";

(b) by striking out the fourth sentence thereof and inserting in lieu thereof the following: "No suit by or against the Corporation shall be allowed unless (1) it shall have been brought within six years after the right accrued on which suit is brought, or (2) in the event that the person bringing such suit shall have been under legal disability or beyond the seas at the time the right accrued, the suit shall have been brought within three years after the disability shall have ceased or within six years after the right accrued on which suit is brought, whichever period is longer. The defendant in any suit by or against the Corporation may plead, by way of set-off or counterclaim, any cause of action, whether arising out of the same transaction or not, which would otherwise be barred by such limitation if the claim upon which the defen 'nt's cause of action is basel had not been barred prior to the date that the plaintiff's cause of action arose: Provided, That the defendant shall not be awarded a judgment on

any such set-off or counterclaim for any amount in excess of the amount of the plaintiff's claim established in the suit."; and

(c) by inserting before the period at the end thereof a comma and the following: "except that (1) any such suit against the United States based upon any claim of the type enumerated in title 28, section 1491, of the United States Code, may be brought in the United States Court of Claims, and (2) no such suit against the United States may be brought in a district court unless such suit might, without regard to the provisions of this Act, be brought in such court".

SEC. 6. Section 15 of the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act is amended by adding at the end thereof a new subsection as follows:

"use of wordS 'COMMODITY CREDIT CORPORATION'.

"(f) No individual, association, partnership, or corporation shall use the words 'Commodity Credit Corporation' or any combination of the same, as the name or a part thereof under which he or it shall do or purport to do business. Every individual, partnership, association, or corporation violating this prohibition shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine of not more than $1,000 or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or both."

And the House agree to the same.

The managers on the part of the House at the conference on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses on the amendment of the House to the bill (S. 900) to amend the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act, and for other purposes, submit the following statement in explanation of the effect of the action agreed upon by the conferees and recommended in the accompanying conference report:

The House amendment struck out all of the Senate bill after the enacting clause and inserted a substitute amendment. The committee of conference recommended that the Senate recede from its disagreement to the amendment of the House with an amendment which is a substitute for both the Senate bill and the House amendment and that the House agree to the same.

In general the conference substitute follows the language of the House amendment. Except for clarifying changes, the differences between the conference substitute and the House amendment are indicated below.

The House amendment provided that the members of the Board of Directors of the Commodity Credit Corporation would be appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture and serve at his pleasure. The Senate bill provided that the members of the Board of Directors would be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The conference substitute contains the provision of the Senate bill providing that the Board of Directors of the Corporation be appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent of

the Senate.

The House amendment modified the provision in the present Charter Act which prohibits the Corporation from acquiring real property or any interest therein in such a manner that the Corporation could rent or lease office space necessary for the conduct of its business, or acquire real property or any interest therein for the purpose of providing storage adequate to carry out effectively and efficiently any of the Corporation's programs, or of securing and discharging obligations Owing to the Corporation, or of otherwise protecting the financial interest of the Corporation. The Senate bill contained a similar pro

vision

excepting, however, the Senate bill provided that such authority could not be used for storage for cotton, tobacco, and refrigerated cold storage. The conference substitute contains the language of the House amendment and the following proviso with respect to refrigerated cold

storage:

Provided further, That no refrigerated cold storage facilities shall be constructed r purchased except with funds specifically provided by Congress for that purpose. The conference substitute would permit the Corporation to lease refrigerated cold storage facilities but would prohibit it from constructing or purchasing such facilities except with funds specifically provided by Congress for that purpose. This limitation on the construction or purchase of refrigerated cold storage facilities is not intended to prevent the Corporation from making replacements of machines and equipment, repairs or improvements necessary to operate and maintain leased cold storage facilities.

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