to the civil-service laws, such officers and employees as may be neces-" sary to carry out the purposes of this Act, the appointment of whom is not otherwise provided for, and to fix their compensation in accordance with the Classification Act of 1923, as amended. The Administrator may employ laborers, mechanics, and workmen in connection with construction work or the operation and maintenance of electrical facilities (hereinafter called laborers, mechanics, and workmen'), subject to the civil-service laws, and fix their compensation without regard to the Classification Act of 1923, as amended, and any other laws, rules, or regulations relating to the payment of employees of the United States except the Act of May 29, 1930 (46 Stat. 468), as amended, to the extent that it otherwise is applicable. The Administrator is further authorized to employ physicians, under agreement and without regard to civil-service laws or regulations, to make physical examinations of employees or prospective employees who are or may become laborers, mechanics, and workmen. The Administrator, the Secretary of War, and the Federal Power Commission, respectively, are also authorized to appoint, without regard to the civil-service laws, such experts as may be necessary for carrying out the functions entrusted to them under this Act and to fix the compensation of each of such experts without regard to the Classification Act of 1923, as amended, but at not to exceed $7,500 per annum.

"(c) The Administrator may accept and utilize such voluntary and uncompensated services and with the consent of the agency concerned may utilize such officers, employees, or equipment of any agency of the Federal, State, or local governments which he finds helpful in carrying out the purposes of this Act; in connection with the utilization of such services, reasonable payments may be allowed for necessary travel and other expenses."

SEC. 6. Section 12 of the said Act is hereby amended to read as follows:

"(a) The Administrator is hereby authorized to determine, settle, compromise, and pay claims and demands against the United States which are not in excess of $1,000 and are presented to the Administrator in writing within one year from the date of accrual thereof, for any losses, injuries, or damages to persons or property, or for the death of persons, resulting from acts or omissions of employees acting within the scope of their employment pursuant to this Act. The Administrator is also authorized to determine, compromise, and settle any claims and demands of the United States for any losses, injuries, or damages to property under the Administrator's control, against other persons or public or private corporations. The Administrator's determination, compromise, settlement, or payment of any of the claims referred to in this subsection shall be final and conclusive upon all officers of the Government, notwithstanding the provisions of any other Act to the contrary. When claims presented to the Administrator under this subsection arise, in whole or in part, out of any damage done to private property, the Administrator may repair all or any part of such damage in lieu of making such

payments.

(b) The Administrator may, in the name of the United States, bring such suits at law or in equity as in his judgment may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act; and he shall be represented

in the prosecution and defense of all litigation, including condemnation proceedings, affecting the status or operation of the Bonneville project by his attorneys: Provided, however, That such attorneys shall supply the Attorney General with copies of the pleadings in all such cases and that the handling of litigation which, in the Attorney General's opinion, involves interpretation of the Constitution of the United States or which involves appearance in any United States circuit court of appeals or the United States Supreme Court shall be subject to the Attorney General's direction or supervision. The Administrator may compromise and make final Bettlement of such litigation and pay the amount due under any compromise or judgment. Complaints in condemnation proceedings permitted by section 2 (c) and 2 (d) of this Act shall be signed, verified, and filed by the Administrator."

SEC. 7. (a) Section 1426 of the Internal Revenue Code, as amended, is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new subsection:

"(j) CERTAIN EMPLOYEES OF BONNEVILLE POWER ADMINISTRATOR.The term 'employment' shall include such service as is determined by the Bonneville Power Administrator (hereinafter called the Administrator) to be performed after December 31, 1945, by a laborer, mechanic, or workman, in connection with construction work or the operation and maintenance of electrical facilities, as an employee performing service for the Administrator, but shall not include any service performed by such a laborer, mechanic, or workman, to whom the Act of May 29, 1930 (46 Stat. 468), as amended, applies. The term 'wages' means, with respect to service which constitutes employment by reason of this subsection, such amount of remuneration as is determined (subject to the provisions of this section) by the Administrator to be paid for such service. The Administrator is authorized and directed to comply with the provisions of the internal revenue laws on behalf of the United States as the employer of individuals whose service constitutes employment by reason of this subsection."

(b) Section 209 of the Social Security Act, as amended, is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new subsection:

"(p) (1) The term 'employment' shall include such service as is determined by the Bonneville Power Administrator (hereinafter called the Administrator) to be performed after December 31, 1945, by a laborer, mechanic, or workman, in connection with construction work or the operation and maintenance of electrical facilities, as an employee performing service for the Administrator, but shall not include any service performed by such a laborer, mechanic, or workman, to whom the Act of May 29, 1930 (46 Stat. 468), as amended, applies.

(2) The Social Security Board shall not make determinations as to whether an individual has performed services which are employment by reason of this subsection, the periods of such services, the amounts of remuneration for such services which constitutes 'wages' under the provisions of this section, or the periods in which or for which such wages were paid, but shall accept the determinations with respect thereto of the Administrator, and such agents as he may designate. as evidenced by returns filed by the Administrator as an employer

pursuant to section 1426 (j) of the Internal Revenue Code and cer tifications made pursuant to this subsection. Such determinations shall be final and conclusive.

"(3) The Administrator is authorized and directed, upon written request of the Social Security Board, to make certification to it with respect to any matter determinable for the Board by the Administrator under this subsection, which the Board finds necessary in administering this title."

(c) Section 1606 of the Internal Revenue Code, as amended, is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new subsection: "(e) The legislature of any State may, with respect to service to be performed after December 31, 1945, by a laborer, mechanic, or workman, in connection with construction work or the operation and maintenance of electrical facilities, as an employee performing service for the Bonneville Power Administrator (hereinafter called the Administrator), require the Administrator, who for the purposes of this subsection is designated an instrumentality of the United States, and any such employee, to make contributions to an unemployment fund under a State unemployment compensation law approved by the Board under section 1603 and to comply otherwise with such law. Such permission is subject to the conditions imposed by subsection (b) of this section upon permission to State legislatures to require contributions from instrumentalities of the United States. The Administrator is authorized and directed to comply with the provisions of any applicable State unemployment compensation law on behalf of the United States as the employer of individuals whose service constitutes employment under such law by reason of this subsection." (d) Section 1607 of the Internal Revenue Code, as amended, is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new subsection: "(m) CERTAIN EMPLOYEES OF BONNEVILLE POWER ADMINISTRATOR.— The term 'employment' shall include such service as is determined by the Bonneville Power Administrator (hereinafter called the Administrator) to be performed after December 31, 1945, by a laborer, mechanic, or workman, in connection with construction work or the operation and maintenance of electrical facilities, as an employee performing service for the Administrator. The term 'wages' means, with respect to service which constitutes employment by reason of this subsection, such amount of remuneration as is determined (subject to the provisions of this section) by the Administrator to be paid for such service. The Administrator is authorized and directed to comply with the provisions of the internal revenue laws on behalf of the United States as the employer of individuals whose service constitutes employment by reason of this subsection."

[PUBLIC LAW 318-79TH CONGRESS]

[CHAPTER 58-2D SESSION]

[H. R. 4932)

AN ACT

To amend section 9 of the Boulder Canyon Project Act, approved December 21, 1928.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 9 of the Boulder Canyon Project Act (45 Stat. 1057, 1063; 43 U. S. C., sec. 617h) is amended to read as follows:

"All lands of the United States found by the Secretary of the Interior to be practicable of irrigation and reclamation by the irrigation works authorized herein shall be withdrawn from public entry. Thereafter, at the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, such lands shall be opened for entry, in tracts varying in size but not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres, as may be determined by the Secretary of the Interior, in accordance with the provisions of the reclamation law, and any such entryman shall pay an equitable share in accordance with the benefits received, as determined by the said Secretary, of the construction cost of said canal and appurtenant structures; said payments to be made in such installments and at such times as may be specified by the Secretary of the Interior, in accordance with the provisions of the said reclamation law, and shall constitute revenue from said project and be covered into the fund herein provided for: Provided, That all persons who served in the United States Army, Navy, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard during World War II, the War with Germany, the War with Spain, or in the suppression of the insurrection in the Philippines, and who have been honorably separated or discharged therefrom or placed in the Regular Army or Naval Reserve, shall have the exclusive preference right for a period of three months to enter said lands, subject, however, to the provisions of subsection (c) of section 4 of the Act of December 5, 1924 (43 Stat. 672, 702; 43 U. S. C., sec. 433); and also, so far as practicable, preference shall be given to said persons in all construction work authorized by this chapter: Provided further, That the above exclusive preference rights shall apply to veteran settlers on lands watered from the Gila canal in Arizona the same as to veteran settlers on lands watered from the All-American canal in California: Provided further, That in the event such an entry shall be relinquished at any time prior to actual residence upon the land by the entryman for not less than one year, lands so relinquished shall not be subject to entry for a period of sixty days after the filing and notation of the relinquishment in the local land office, and after the expiration of said sixty-day period such lands shall be open to entry, subject to the preference in this section provided."

Approved March 6, 1946.

[CHAPTER 517-2D SESSION]

[H. R. 5674]

AN ACT

To amend the laws authorizing the performance of necessary protection work between the Yuma project and Boulder Dam by the Bureau of Reclamation.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the provision of the Act entitled "An Act authorizing the construction, repair, and preservation of certain public works on rivers and harbors, and for other purposes", approved January 21, 1927 (44 Stat. 1010, 1021), amended by the Act entitled "An Act to authorize defraying cost of necessary work between the Yuma project and Boulder Dam", approved July 1, 1940 (54 Stat. 708), is hereby further amended to read as follows:

"That for the purpose of controlling the floods, improving navigation, and regulating the flow of the Colorado River, there is hereby authorized to be appropriated, out of any moneys in the Treasury of the United States not otherwise appropriated, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1928, and annually thereafter, such sums as may be necessary, to be spent by the Bureau of Reclamation under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, to defray the cost of (a) operating and maintaining the Colorado River front work and levee system in Arizona, Nevada, and California; (b) constructing, improving, extending, operating, and maintaining protection and drainage works and systems along the Colorado River; (c) controlling said river, and improving, modifying, straightening, and rectifying the channel thereof; and (d) conducting investigations and studies in connection therewith: Provided, That the expenditure of moneys for any of the foregoing purposes shall not be deemed a recognition of any obligation or liability whatsoever on the part of the United States: Provided further, That, within the discretion of the Secretary of the Interior, local communities to be benefited by works constructed pursuant to this Act may be required to provide, without cost to the United States, necessary rights-of-way and maintenance of the completed works and assurance, satisfactory to him, of payment of valid claims arising out of damage caused to persons or property by reason of the construction, operation, or maintenance of any such works: Provided further, That any moneys received by the United States as reimbursement in accordance with contracts heretofore entered into under the authority of the Act of December 21, 1928 (45 Stat. 1057), as amended, and ratified by the Act of August 30, 1935 (49 Stat. 1028, 1039), for expenditures made under the authority of this paragraph, shall be covered into the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts. In connection with operations conducted under this paragraph, the Secretary of the Interior shall have the same authority with respect to (a) the acquisition, exchange and disposition of lands, interests in lands,