That this section, as respects the determination, compromise, settlement, and payment of claims, shall be supplementary to, and not in lieu of all other provisions of law authorizing consideration, adjustment, determination, settlement, and payment of claims: Provided further, That no claim in excess of $3,000 shall be considered hereunder which accrued prior to September 8, 1939: Provided further, That all payments of claims made under this section shall be made out of the appropriation "miscellaneous expenses, Navy": And provided further, That the payment of any claim on which a net amount exceeding $1,000,000 is determined to be due from the United States, or which is compromised or settled at a net amount exceeding $1,000,000 payable by the United States, shall not be authorized by this section, and all claims determined, compromised, or settled hereunder at a net amount exceeding $1,000,000 payable by the United States shall be certified by the Secretary of the Navy to the Congress. SEC. 8. (a) On payment of any claim determined, compromised, or settled under section 7 of this Act at a net amount exceeding $3,000, but not exceeding $1,000,000, payable by the United States, the Secretary of the Navy within twenty days of payment shall file a report with the Naval Affairs Committee of the Senate and House of Representatives setting forth the nature of the claim, the vessel or vessels involved, the amount paid with respect thereto, the basis of the determination, compromise, or settlement, and other pertinent facts: Provided, That during any war the reports required under this section may omit any fact or facts disclosure of which, in the opinion of the Secretary, would be prejudicial to the National security. (b) Subject to the proviso of subsection (a) of this section, the Secretary of the Navy shall report to the Congress, at each session thereof, all claims which have been paid under this Act. [CHAPTER 404-2D SESSION] [S. 2050] AN ACT To amend the Act of August 2, 1939, entitled "An Act to prevent pernicious political activities", as amended by the Act of April 1, 1944, entitled "An Act to facilitate voting, in time of war, by members of the land and naval forces, members of the merchant marine, and others, absent from the place of their residence, and to amend the Act of September 16, 1942, and for other purposes". Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 22 of the Act of August 2, 1939, as amended by the Act of April 1, 1944 (Public Law 277, Seventy-eighth Congress), is amended to read as follows: "SEC. 22. It shall be unlawful for any officer of, or person employed in, the executive branch of the Federal Government, or any agency or department thereof, including the Army and Navy, to deliver or cause to be delivered to persons in the armed forces of the United States any general communication, Government magazine, Government newspaper, motion-picture film, or other literature or material, or to make, or cause to be made, any broadcast to the armed forces of the United States, paid for in whole or in part with Government funds, or sponsored by the Government, or any agency or department thereof, including the Army and Navy, which when considered in its entirety contains political propaganda obviously designed to affect the result of any election for President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, or Member of the House of Representatives, or obviously calculated to create bias for or against a particular candidate in any such election, except as hereinafter provided: "(1) The word 'sponsored' as used herein shall not be deemed to include sales at or through post exchanges, ship's service stores, or ship's stores of the armed forces, or purchases by company funds, welfare funds, or other similar nonappropriated funds of the armed forces. "(2) Nothing herein shall prohibit the rebroadcast over Government-controlled radio stations of any political address, but equal time must if requested be given for such purposes to representatives of each political party which has a candidate for President in at least six States in the current Presidential election. "(3) Nothing herein shall prevent the Army or Navy, or personnel thereof, from selling, distributing, presenting, or making available to members of the armed forces "(a) books, magazines, or newspapers of general circulation in the United States and also, in an overseas command, those of general circulation therein; or motion-picture films, radio broadcasts, radio rebroadcasts, plays, or entertainment material as generally presented to the public in the United States; or written material for use in educational programs of the armed forces similar to written material generally provided for use in civilian educational programs by recognized educational institutions in the United States: Provided, That the selection of such books, magazines, and newspapers, when the selection is necessarily limited by difficulties of transportation or other exigencies of war, shall be made in some impartial manner prescribed by the Secretary of War and the Secretary of the Navy for their respective services, such as a preference expressed by members of the armed forces, or the recommendation of expert committees, or otherwise; "(b) impartial and nonpartisan coverage or presentation of news or information of public events and affairs and persons in public life, through the media of servicemen's publications and motion pictures, radio programs, news services, and educational and orientation courses originated by the Army or Navy: Provided, That if in any issue or presentation space or time is allotted to editorials or columns supporting a political party which has a candidate for President in at least six States in the current Presidential election, an equal amount of space or time shall be allotted in the same issue or presentation to similar matter concerning each such other political party. "(4) Nothing in this section shall prevent the sending of any letter, communication, magazine, newspaper, or other literature by any individual, corporation (other than a Government-owned or Government-controlled corporation), or political committee to any member of the armed forces, addressed personally to such member of the armed forces, and paid for by him, or by the individual, corporation, or committee sending the same." SEC. 2. Such Act as amended is further amended by adding after section 24 thereof the following new section: "SEC. 25. The provisions of sections 22 and 23 shall expire upon the expiration of six months after the termination of hostilities in the present war as proclaimed by the President or declared by concurrent resolution of the Congress." [CHAPTER 405-2D SESSION] [S. 1508] AN ACT To provide effective date of awards of death pension or compensation in cases of persons missing or missing in action to authorize payment of such benefits from the date of death of such person as reported or found by the Secretary of War or the Secretary of the Navy, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That effective December 7, 1941, where in the case of a person in the active land or naval service a report of death or a finding of death has been made by the Secretary of War or the Secretary of the Navy, the effective date of an award of death pension or compensation payable under Public Law Numbered 2, Seventy-third Congress, as amended, shall be the day following the date fixed by the Secretary as the date of death in such report or finding: Provided, That claim be filed prior to one year after report or finding of death is made: And provided further, That death pension or compensation under the laws administered by the Veterans' Administration shall not be payable to any dependent for any period for which such dependent has received, or is entitled to receive, an allowance, allotment, or service pay of the deceased. Approved September 7, 1944. (263) [CHAPTER 407-2D SESSION] AN ACT To amend further the Pay Readjustment Act of 1942. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Pay Readjustment Act of 1942 is hereby amended by amending section 3A thereof, as added by section 3 of the Act of December 2, 1942 (Public Law 785, Seventy-seventh Congress), to read as follows: "SEC. 3A. In computing the service for all pay purposes of persons paid under the provisions of section 1, 3, 8, or 9 of this Act, such persons, in addition to the time required to be credited by the section under which they are paid, shall be credited with full time for all periods during which they were enlisted or held commissions as officers or held appointments as warrant officers or Army field clerks or as commissioned warrant officers in any of the services mentioned in the title of this Act, or in the Regular Army Reserve, or in the Medical Reserve Corps of the Navy, the Dental Reserve Corps of the Navy, or in the Organized Militia prior to July 1, 1916, or in the National Guard, or in the National Guard Reserve, or in the National Guard of the United States, or in the Enlisted Reserve Corps, or in the Naval Militia, or in the National Naval Volunteers, or in the Naval Reserve Force, Naval Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve Force, Marine Corps Reserve, Coast Guard Reserve, and the Reserve Corps of the Public Health Service, or in the Philippine Scouts, or in the Philippine Constabulary, or in the Coast and Geodetic Survey as authorized by section 2 (b) of the Act of January 19, 1942 (56 Stat. 6). The provisions of this section shall not be construed to permit any person to receive pay and allowances in excess of the maximum limitations imposed upon the total pay and allowances of his rank, grade, or rating by any of the provisions of this Act, nor to modify the character of service required for advancement of commissioned warrant officers to a higher pay period." SEC. 2. (a) The third and fourth paragraphs of section 8 of such Act are each hereby amended by inserting after the word "masters" the words "and chief engineers". (b) The sixth paragraph of section 8 of such Act is hereby amended to read as follows: "Every person paid under the provisions of this section shall receive an increase of 5 per centum of the base pay of his period for each three years of service, not exceeding thirty years. Such service shall be active Federal service in any of the services mentioned in the title of this Act or Reserve components thereof; service in the active National Guard of the several States, Territories, and the District of Columbia; and service in the Enlisted Reserve Corps of the Army, the Officers' Reserve Corps of the Army, the Naval Reserve, the Marine Corps Reserve, and the Coast Guard Reserve." |