since the charges for processing the claims are paid from the vested property before payment is made on such claims, it is obvious that only a fraction of the amount claimed can be paid. In fact, the costs of determining the validity of the claim, and the eligibility of the claimant, will exceed the amount payable on most of these claims. Finally most of the 3,500 claims are on bonds of the enemy governments, and the rights of these bond claimants have been the subject of recent negotiations with the German and Japanese Governments, as a result of which detailed refunding arrangements have been effected. Comsequently, the American bondholders have adequate opportunity to enforce their rights against the real obligors, without the necessity of Government intervention. Each such bondholder is able to liquidate the bond obligation through normal trading procedures on established exchanges. "In category of claims based on obligations expressed or payable in foreign currency, there are approximately 20,000 such claims. Of these, ***.” Prompt and favorable consideration of this measure will be appreciated. The Bureau of the Budget has advised that there is no objection to the submission of this report. Sincerely, Hon. J. PERCY PRIEST, WILLIAM P. ROGERS, Deputy Attorney General. GENERAL COUNSEL, TREASURY DEPARTMENT, Washington, D. C., February 21, 1955. Chairman, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Reference is made to your letter of February 5, 1955, requesting a statement of this Department's views on H. R. 3462, to amend the Trading With the Enemy Act relating to debt claims. The effect of the proposed legislation would be to exclude from the provisions of section 34 of the Trading With the Enemy Act, the section which permits the assertion of certain debt claims against property which has been vested by the Alien Property Custodian, those claims which are based on obligations asserted against foreign governments, their political subdivisions, agencies or instrumentalities (with certain exceptions) and those based on foreign currency obligations. It would also provide that certain determinations made by the Alien Property Custodian, pursuant to section 34, would be final and not subject to judicial review. Since it is believed that the subject of the proposed legislation is primarily the concern of the Department of Justice rather than the Treasury Department, this Department has no comments to make with respect to the bill. Very truly yours, DAVID W. KENDALL, General Counsel. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, Hon. J. PERCY PRIEST, BUREAU OF THE BUDGET, Washington, D. C., February 11, 1955. Chairman, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, House Office Building, Washington, D. C. MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This will acknowledge your letter of January 5, 1955, requesting the comments of this office with respect to H. R. 3462, a bill to amend the Trading With the Enemy Act relating to debt claims. As you are aware, H. R. 3462 is the introduced version of draft legislation which, along with an accompanying justification, was transmitted to the Congress by the Department of Justice with the approval of this office. For the reasons given in such justification, the Bureau of the Budget recommends that your committee give favorable consideration to H. R. 3462. Sincerely yours, PERCIVAL BRUNDAGE, Deputy Director. 81964-56--22 Hon. J. PERCY PRIEST, TREASURY DEPARTMENT, Washington, D. C., March 3, 1955. Chairman, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, House of Representatives, Washington D. C. MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Reference is made to your letter of February 8, 1955, requesting a statement of this Department's views on H. R. 3608, to amend section 9 (a) of the Trading With the Enemy Act, as amended. Section 9 (a) now provides that if a claimant for the return of property vested' by the United States shall file suit for the return of such property the United States is barred from making any disposition of the property until a final judgment has been entered in the suit. The present bill would provide that. the starting of litigation shall not be a bar to the orderly administration of the vested property and would allow the sale of vested property at any time before a final judgment in favor of a claimant. Under the present provisions of law any claim for the return of vested property, no matter how ill founded, can at any time before sale bring to a standstill the orderly process of liquidating vested property. The enactment of H. R. 3608 would avoid the delay and waste involved in the present procedures and would allow disposition of vested property within a reasonable period of time after vesting. It should be noted furthermore that the present bill is designed to protect the rights of individuals whose property may have been vested erroneously. In view of the foregoing, the Treasury Department recommends the enactment of H. R. 3608. The Department has been advised by the Bureau of the Budget that enactment of H. R. 3608 would be in accord with the program of the President. Very truly yours, W. RANDOLPH BURGESS, Acting Secretary of the Treasury. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, BUREAU OF THE BUDGET, Washington, D. C., March 3, 1955. Hon. J. PERCY PRIEST, Chairman, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, House Office Building, Washington, D. C. MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This will acknowledge your letter of February 8, 1955, requesting the comments of this Office with respect to H. R. 3608, a bill to amend section 9 (a) of the Trading With the Enemy Act. This bill would permit, upon determination by the President in time of war or national emergency that the interest and the welfare of the United States so require, the sale of property which had been taken over by the Alien Property Custodian and the ownership of which is under litigation. It would also provide for payment of the proceeds of the disposition, or of just compensation, in the event such litigation eventually terminated in a judgment or settlement against the Government. The Treasury Department is submitting a favorable report on this bill to your committee. For the reasons given in that report and since it would facilitate the administration's policies of getting the Government out of private business and of winding up the affairs of the Office of Alien Property at the earliest practicable date, you are advised that enactment of H. R. 3608 would be in accord with the program of the President. Sincerely yours, Hon. J. PERCY PRIEST, HAROLD PEARSON, DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, D. C., September 7, 1955. Chairman, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, House of Representatives. DEAR MR. PRIEST: Further reference is made to your letter of February 11, 1955, transmitting for the comment of the Department of State four copies of H. R. 3779, a bill to extend the period for the filing of certain claims under the War Claims Act of 1948, as amended, by World War II prisoners of war, which has been introduced in the 84th Congress. The act entitied "An act to amenu sections 6 and 7 of the War Claims Act of 1948" (Public Law 303, 82d Cong., approved April 9, 1952) authorized the War Claims Commission to administer and provide for the payment of claims of members of the Armed Forces of the United States who, as prisoners of war during World War II, were subjected to inhumane treatment or were forced to perform uncompensated labor. Section 3 of that act provides as follows: "Claims for compensation under subsection (d) of section 6 of the War Claims Act of 1948, as amended, must be filed with the War Claims Commission within 1 year after the date of the enactment of this act." Public Law 359, 83d Congress, approved May 13, 1954, amended this provision of Public Law 303 by striking out "within 1 year after the date of enactment of this act" and inserting in lieu thereof "on or before August 1, 1954." The proposed measure would extend the period of time, within which claims of World War II prisoners of war for benefits authorized by Public Law 303 may be filed, from August 1, 1954, to February 10, 1955. The proposed measure would also provide that the settlement of claims validated by the act be completed on or before March 31, 1955. As you are aware, the benefits encompassed by Public Law 303 are presently administered by the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission of the United States, the successor agency of the War Claims Commission. The Department is not in possession of sufficient information to enable it to express an opinion respecting the necessity or desirability of extending the period for the filing of claims of this character as proposed in H. R. 3779. The Department has been informed by the Bureau of the Budget that there is no objection to the submission of this report. Sincerely yours, FLORENCE KIRLIN, Acting Assistant Secretary (For the Acting Secretary of State). EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, Hon. J. PERCY PRIEST, BUREAU OF THE BUDGET, Washington, D. C., September 8, 1955. Chairman, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, House Office Building, Washington, D. C. MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This is in reply to your letter of February 11, 1955, requesting the views of this office with respect to H. R. 3779, a bill to extend the period for the filing of certain claims under the War Claims Act of 1948, as amended, by World War II prisoners of war. The bill would extend the period of time within which World War II prisoners of war could file claims for benefits under the War Claims Act of 1948, as amended, from August 1, 1954, to February 10, 1955. The bill would also require settlement of claims validated by the act to be completed on or before March 31, 1955. This provision would, of course, have to be amended before the bill is enacted. It is considered that ample time has already been allowed for the filing of claims by World War II prisoners, since one extension of over a year has already been authorized. Further extensions of the time for filing claims would extend program operations for an indefinite period. Accordingly, you are advised that for the reasons outlined above the Bureau of the Budget would recommend against enactment of H. R. 3779. Sincerely yours, RALPH W. E. REID, Assistant Director. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, Hon. J. PERCY PRIEST, Washington, D. C., February 25, 1955. Chairman, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Reference is made to your request for the views of this Department on H. R. 3779, to extend the period for the filing of certain claims under the War Claims Act of 1948, as amended, by World War II prisoners of war. The bill would extend from August 1, 1954, to February 10, 1955, the time for filing claims by any American prisoner of war for compensation for forced labor performed by him during his imprisonment or for inhumane treatment to which he was subjected by any enemy government in violation of the Geneva Convention. The Department has no comments to make with respect to the bill. DAVID W. KENDALL, General Counsel. FOREIGN CLAIMS SETTLEMENT COMMISSION OF THE UNITED STATES, Hon. J. PERCY PRIEST, Chairman, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, House of Representatives, Washington 25, D. C. DEAR MR. PRIEST: This is in further response to your request of February 11, 1955, for the views of the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission with respect to the bill (H. R. 3779) to extend the period for the filing of certain claims under the War Claims Act of 1948, as amended, by World War II prisoners of war. The bill would amend section 3 of the act entitled "An act to amend sections 6 and 7 of the War Claims Act of 1948," approved April 9, 1952 (Public Law 303, 82d Cong.). This law added subsection (d) to section 6 of the War Claims Act of 1948, as amended, under which claims were authorized by former members of the Armed Forces of the United States who were held prisoners of war as defined in the act. Specifically it authorized the War Claims Commission, now the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission, to receive and provide for the payment of such claims at the rate of $1.50 per diem for each day upon which the claimant was subjected to forced, uncompensated labor or other inhumane treatment as measured by the provisions of the Geneva Convention of 1929 relating to the treatment of prisoners of war. The time for filing claims pursuant to section 6 (d) originally expired April 9, 1953, in accordance with the provisions of the law in that respect. On May 13, 1954, with the enactment of Public Law 359, 83d Congress, this filing period was extended from April 9, 1953, to August 1, 1954, thereby validating several thousand late-filed claims on hand as of that date and permitting the filing of new claims under section 6 (d). H. R. 3779 would extend the August 1 date to February 10, 1955, thereby validating a substantial number of claims filed after August 1 and on or before February 10, 1955. In addition the bill would require the Commission to complete the settlement of such claims filed after August 1, 1954, on or before March 31, 1955. According to the Commission's records there were on hand as of February 10, 1955, 2,788 late-filed claims originating in the Philippines under Public Law 359. Although the Commission has not examined each claim, it is believed that from a fair sampling 50 percent of these claims are either duplicates or completed informal claims timely filed and acted upon. In addition the Commission has received 261 late-filed claims by former prisoners of war residing in the United States. The Commission, therefore, has a record of 1,655 claims which would be validated by enactment of H. R. 3779. On the basis of its past experience, the Commission estimates that awards will be entered in approximately 958 cases, resulting in a total payment of an estimated $241,000 from the war claims fund. The provision requiring the settlement of these claims on or before March 31, 1955, will place the Commission under extreme pressure at a time when every effort is being made to terminate on that date, as required by law, the claims program authorized under the act prior to August 1, 1954. The chief difficulty with respect to claims validated by enactment of H. R. 3779 will be the development of a substantial number of the claims to the point where either an award or disallowance can be entered. From its preliminary examination of the claims the Commission estimates that there will be several hundred initial claims in which supporting data are totally lacking or are inadequate to justify either allowance or disallowance. There will be claims filed by eligible survivors, for example, in which evidence of death and the relationship of the claimants to the decedent will have to be obtained. On the other hand, the Commission believes that a fairly substantial number of these claims can be processed without difficulty for the reason that the claimants have heretofore established their entitlement to prisoner of war per diem payments authorized in the original War Claims Act of 1948, section 6 (a) through (c). The Bureau of the Budget advises that, while there would be no objection to the submission of this report, it seriously questions the justification for a further extension of the time for filing claims. This position is based on the belief that ample time has already been allowed for this purpose (an extension beyond the original date having been granted by law) and also that further extensions of the time for filing claims would necessitate program operations for an indefinite period. Sincerely yours, Hon. J. PERCY PRIEST, WHITNEY GILLILLAND, Chairman. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, OFFICE OF THE DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL, Chairman, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This is in response to your request for the views of the Department of Justice concerning the bill (H. R. 4274) to amend the War Claims Act of 1948, so as to extend the benefits of such act to persons captured or interned by, or in hiding from, the Japanese Government in China during World War II. Section 5 (a) of the War Claims Act of 1948, as amended (50 U. S. C. App. 2004 (a)), afforded detention benefits to civilian United States citizens who were captured by the Japanese forces during World War II in the Philippine Islands and Territories or possessions of the United States, or who went into hiding in those areas to avoid capture. H. R. 4274 would amend section 5 (a) to authorize payment of these detention benefits to civilian United States citizens who were captured by the Japanese during World War II in China or who went into hiding into China to avoid capture. Section 2 of the bill, relating to the time for filing claims, was apparently drawn with reference to the original section 2 (c) of the War Claims Act of 1948, as amended by the act of May 27, 1949 (63 Stat. 112), which extended the filing period for claims under section 5 (a) until March 1, 1951. Subsequently section 2 (c) was redesignated section 2 (b) by the act of August 21, 1954 (68 Stat. 759). Furthermore, the act of April 5, 1951 (65 Stat. 28), extended the March 1, 1951, filing date to March 31, 1952. Thus the dates set forth in section 2 of the bill, as well as the reference therein to section 2 (c) of the War Claims Act, are in error. This Department has no information on which to judge the merits of the proposal and accordingly expresses no opinion on the question of policy involved. However, it should be noted that the funds for the payment of the benefits under the bill would be derived from the war claims fund which, pursuant to sections 12 and 13 of the War Claims Act of 1948, consists of the net proceeds of German and Japanese property vested under the Trading With the Enemy Act, as amended (50 U. S. C. App. 1 et seq.), and not subject to return under the latter act. The Office of Alien Property of the Department of Justice has transferred a total of $225 million to the war claims fund including $75 million transferred pursuant to the directive in Public Law 211, 83d Congress, approved August 7, 1953 (67 Stat. 461). This Department does not have information indicating whether commitments under present law will exhaust the money now in the war claims fund and thus prevent the financing of this legislation from that fund. If so, the ultimate financing of the bill under present law would have to come from vested assets to be transferred to the war claims fund in the future under section 12 of the War Claims Act, which added section 39 to the Trading With the Enemy Act. Thus this bill, or other pending measures to broaden or increase the benefits payable out of the War Claims Act, might involve the use of the same funds required for the financing of H. R. 6730, proposing a return of vested property to natural persons up to a maximum of $10,000. This lastmentioned measure was submitted as part of the President's program, and the Department of Justice urges its enactment. |