(EXTRACT FROM) [PUBLIC-No. 800-76TH CONGRESS] [H. R. 10572] Making supplemental appropriations for the national defense for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1941, and for other purposes. Provided further, That the last two provisos under this heading in title I of the Second Supplemental National Defense Appropriation Act, 1941 (Public, Numbered 781, Seventy-sixth Congress), are amended to read as follows: "Provided further, That the Secretary of War may, with respect to contracts for public works for the Military Establishment, whether or not for construction at military posts, entered into upon a cost-plus-a-fixed-fee basis out of funds appropriated for the fiscal year 1941 or authorized to be entered into prior to July 1, 1941, waive the requirements as to performance and payment bonds of the Act approved August 24, 1935 (49 Stat. 793; 40 U. S. C. 270a): Provided further, That the fixed fee to be paid the contractor as a result of any contract for public works entered into on or after September 9, 1940, for the construction and installation of buildings, utilities, and appurtenances at military posts shall not exceed 6 per centum of the estimated cost of the contract, exclusive of the fee, as determined by the Secretary of War.": Provided further, That the Secretary of War and Secretary of the Navy shall submit monthly, within ten days following the last day of each month, commencing on or before November 10, 1940, to the respective chairmen of the Committees on Military and Naval Affairs and Appropriations of the Senate and House of Representatives a report where such Secretaries are respectively concerned of (1) all cost-plus-a-fixed-fee contracts concluded within the period embraced by each report, and (2) of all land acquisitions acconiplished within such periods, such reports to show (1) as to cost-plus-a-fixed-fee contracts the object or objects thereof, the name and place of business of the contractor, the estimated cost of the contract exclusive of the fee, the amount of the fee, and the date of the contract, and (2) as to land acquisitions the location, area, intended use, the purchase price, the amount appropriated therefor, and the assessed value (first reports shall cover the period July 1 to October 31, 1940). Approved, October 8, 1940. (54) [PUBLIC NO. 309-76TH CONGRESS] [CHAPTER 511-1ST SESSION] [S. 2562] AN ACT To facilitate certain construction work for the Army, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That to enable the Secretary of War to accomplish without delay or excessive cost those public-works projects for which appropriations are available or may become available, to be located in Alaska and the Panama Canal Zone, he is hereby authorized to enter into contracts upon a cost-plusa-fixed-fee basis after such negotiations as he may authorize and approve and without advertising for proposals with reference thereto. Approval by the President shall be necessary to the validity of any contract entered into under authority of this section. The fixed fee to be paid the contractor as a result of any contract entered into under authority of this section shall be determined at or before the time such contract is made, and shall be set forth in such contract. Such fee shall not exceed 10 per centum of the estimated cost of the contract, exclusive of the fee, as determined by the Secretary of War. Changes in the amount of the fee shall be made only upon material changes in the scope of the work concerned as determined by the Secretary of War whose determination shall be conclusive. (b) Negotiations under this section shall be between the Secretary of War, or a duly authorized representative, and three or more reputable and qualified contracting individuals, firms, or corporations regularly engaged in work of comparable magnitude and class to that contemplated by the negotiations, as determined by the Secre tary of War, and contracts may be made with any such individual, firm, or corporation, or with any two or more of them jointly, upon such terms and conditions as the Secretary of War may determine to be fair and equitable and in the interests of the national defense. For each contract entered into under authority of this section the Secretary of War may detail an Army officer to duty, without additional compensation, as an executive representative of the contracting officer. The contract shall provide that the officer so detailed shall have the right to attend any meetings of the board of directors or other executive or administrative board or committee of any corporation, partnership, firm, or syndicate which is or may become a party thereto for the purpose of submitting propositions, propounding questions, and receiving information relative to any matter within the purview of the contract with the intent and for the purpose of safeguarding the interests of the United States, coordinating efforts, and promoting mutually beneficial relationships, and making decisions within the scope of his delegated authority and not in conflict with any provision of the contract. (c) In any project the contract for which is negotiated under authority of this section, the Secretary of War may waive the require ment of a performance and a payment bond and may accept materials required for any such project at such place or places as he may deem necessary to minimize insurance costs. (d) The Secretary of War shall report annually to the Congress all contracts entered into under authority of this section, including the names of the contractors and copies of the contracts concerned, together with the amounts thereof. SEC. 2. Whenever deemed by him to be advantageous to the national defense, and providing that in the opinion of the Secretary of War the existing facilities of the War Department are inadequate, the Secretary of War is hereby authorized to employ, by contract or otherwise, outside architectural or engineering corporations, firms, or individuals for the production and delivery of the designs, plans, drawings, and specifications required for the accomplishment of any public works or utilities project of the War Department without reference to the Classification Act of 1923 (42 Stat. 1488), as amended (5 U. S. C., ch. 13), or to section 3709 of the Revised Statutes of the United States (41 U. S. C. 5). In no case shall the fee paid for any service authorized by this section exceed 6 per centum of the esti mated cost, as determined by the Secretary of War, of the project to which such fee is applicable. Approved, August 7, 1939. [PUBLIC-No. 811-76TH CONGRESS] [CHAPTER 779-3D SESSION] [H. R. 10464] AN ACT To assist in the national-defense program by amending sections 3477 and 3737 of the Revised Statutes to permit the assignment of claims under public contracts. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That sections 3477 and 3737 of the Revised Statutes be amended by adding at the end of each such section the following new paragraph: "The provisions of the preceding paragraph shall not apply in any case in which the moneys due or to become due from the United States or from any agency or department thereof, under a contract providing for payments aggregating $1,000 or more, are assigned to a bank, trust company, or other financing institution, including any Federal lending agency: Provided, "1. That in the case of any contract entered into prior to the date of approval of the Assignment of Claims Act of 1940, no claim shall be assigned without the consent of the head of the department or agency concerned; "2. That in the case of any contract entered into after the date of approval of the Assignment of Claims Act of 1940, no claim shall be assigned if it arises under a contract which forbids such assignment; "3. That unless otherwise expressly permitted by such contract any such assignment shall cover all amounts payable under such contract and not already paid, shall not be made to more than one party, and shall not be subject to further assignment, except that any such assignment may be made to one party as agent or trustee for two or more parties participating in such financing; "4. That in the event of any such assignment, the assignee thereof shall file written notice of the assignment together with a true copy of the instrument of assignment with "(a) the General Accounting Office, "(b) the contracting officer or the head of his department or agency, "(c) the surety or sureties upon the bond or bonds, if any, in connection with such contract, and "(d) the disbursing officer, if any, designated in such contract to make payment. Notwithstanding any law to the contrary governing the validity of assignments, any assignment pursuant to the Assignment of Claims Act of 1940 shall constitute a valid assignment for all purposes." Any contract entered into by the War Department or the Navy Department may provide that payments to an assignee of any claim arising under such contract shall not be subject to reduction or setoff, and if it is so provided in such contract, such payments shall not be subject to reduction or set-off for any indebtedness of the assignor to the United States arising independently of such contract. SEC. 2. This Act may be cited as the "Assignment of Claims Act of 1940". Approved, October 9, 1940. |