HOUSE RESOLUTION 296, 83D CONGRESS, 1ST SESSION Resolved, That the Committee on the Judiciary, acting as a whole or by subcommittee, is authorized to make a full and complete investigation and study of the merits, if any, of all claims against the United States for compensation for property damage, personal injuries, and death alleged to have been caused by the explosions which occurred at Texas City, Texas, on April 16 and 17, 1947. As soon as practicable during the present Congress the committee shall report to the House, or to the Clerk of the House if the House is not in session, the results of its investigation and study, together with its findings and such recommendations as it deems advisable. For the purposes of this resolution the said committee, or any subcommittee thereof, is hereby authorized to sit and act during the present Congress at such times and places within the United States whether the House is in session, has recessed, or has adjourned, to hold such hearings, and to require by subpena or otherwise the attendance and testimony of such witnesses and the production of such books, records, correspondence, memoranda, papers, and documents, as it deems necessary. Subpenas may be issued over the signature of the chairman of the committee or any member of the committee designated by him, and may be served by any person designated by such chairman or member. The chairman of the committee or any member thereof may administer oaths to witnesses. LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, UNITED STATES, COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY, Hon. JOSEPH W. MARTIN, Jr., The Capitol, Washington, D. C. DEAR MR. SPEAKER: The attached report of a special subcommittee of the Committee on the Judiciary appointed pursuant to House Resolution 296, 83d Congress, 1st session, to make a full investigation and study of the merits of all claims against the United States for compensation for property damage, personal injuries, and death alleged to have been caused by the explosions which occurred at Texas City, Tex., on April 16 and 17, 1947, has been submitted by the special subcommittee, unanimously adopted by the full committee and is hereby forwarded to the House of Representatives. Sincerely yours, CHAUNCEY W. REED, M. C., Chairman. V March 24, 1954.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. REED of Illinois, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the following REPORT [Pursuant to H. Res. 296, 83d Cong., 1st sess.] House Resolution 296 of the 83d Congress, 1st session, sponsored by Hon. Clark Thompson of Texas, directed the Committee on the Judiciary, acting as a whole or by subcommittee, to make a full and complete investigation and study of the merits, if any, of all claims against the United States for compensation for property damage, personal injuries, and death alleged to have been caused by the explosions which occurred at Texas City, Tex., on April 16 and 17, 1947. Representative Chauncey Reed, chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary, appointed a special subcommittee composed of Representatives Edgar A. Jonas of Illinois, chairman, DeWitt Hyde of Maryland, and Thomas J. Lane of Massachusetts to proceed under this resolution. This is the report of the special subcommittee as unanimously adopted by the full committee. The special subcommittee in its investigation conducted hearings for 3 days at Galveston and Texas City, Tex. In addition, it had at its disposal for study and use, the record of the trial court in the Dalehite case-a test case relating to the disaster-consisting of 39 volumes and over 33,000 pages of testimony and exhibits. It also had the views of the Department of Justice transmitted by letter dated January 4, 1954. For reasons to be stated later in the report, the committee is of the considered opinion that the United States Government is wholly responsible for the explosions and the resulting catastrophe at Texas City; that the disaster was caused by forces set in motion by the Government, completely controlled or controllable by it. It recommends therefore that Congress enact appropriate legislation to compensate the innocent victims who not only were incapable of contributing to the disaster but, because of the suddenness and force of the explosions, could not escape it. Because of the enormity of the disaster and the great number of claims involved, the committee adopted the procedure of determining first whether negligence and responsibility therefor existed on the part of the Federal Government and then, if the responsibility was found to exist, to promulgate a plan whereby, at some later date, the individual damages suffered by each claimant could be determined and settled.1 INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT On April 16 and 17, of 1947, a man-made disaster occurred in Texas City, Tex., of almost unbelievable proportions. Loaded bags of ammonium nitrate fertilizer stowed for overseas shipment in the holds of two ships at the docks in that city blew up. The disaster occurred as a result of the explosion of an inherently dangerous material manufactured, packaged, shipped, and controlled by the United States Government under the label of fertilizer. Over 570 persons perished in the disaster, and about 3,500 more suffered injuries. Damage to private properties ran into millions of dollars. The committee, as will be pointed out in this report, is of the firm belief that the United States Government is wholly responsible for this catastrophe. The fertilizer which blew up in Texas City was part of a fertilizer project through which the United States was seeking to carry out a program of foreign aid to various war-ravaged and famine-stricken areas overseas. While there were many who had a part in the production, shipping, and handling of this fertilizer, it was nevertheless the United States Government which conceived and initiated the foreign aid program and it was the Government which controlled or had the power to control all phases of the project right from the manufacturing stage to the final delivery of the fertilizer at its destination. The dissenting opinion of Mr. Justice Jackson in Dalehite v. United States (346 U. S. 15, 48), a test case relating to this disaster, aptly stated the responsibility of the United States Government in the following language: This was a man-made disaster; it was in no sense an "act of God". The fertilizer had been manufactured in Government-owned plants at the Government's order and to its specifications. It was being shipped at its direction as part of its program of foreign aid. The disaster was caused by forces set in motion by the Government, completely controlled or controllable by it. Its causative factors were far beyond the knowledge or control of the victims; they were not only incapable of contributing to it, but could not even take shelter or flight from it. HISTORY OF COURT LITIGATION Before going into a discussion of the merits of the issues and problems relating to the Government's responsibility for this castastrophe, it may be well to consider at the outset, the history and status of the matter when it was presented to the Congress for investigation and study. The committee believes this to be necessary because the belief has been expressed that the persons who suffered damage in the disaster, having litigated their claims under the Federal Tort Claims Act and having had their day in court and lost, should not now petition Congress as a further remedy. This belief, however, is far from being correct. 1 There were over 8.000 claims filed in the Federal district court under the Federal Tort Claims Act in the Texas City disaster litigation. Approximately 1,510 claims were based on wrongful death, approximately 988 on personal injury claims, and approximately 5,987 on property damage or destruction claims. It would be manifestly impracticable for a committee of Congress to hear and ascertain the amount claimed by each individual claimant. It is a matter of record that subsequent to the disaster over 300 actions against the United States were instituted in the names of some 8,500 claimants under the Federal Tort Claims Act for death, personal injury, and property damages arising out of the disaster. After those suits were filed, the parties, in order to simplify matters and to eliminate repetition of questions and legal issues common to all litigants, consolidated their cases with the approval of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas under Civil Action No. 787, Elizabeth Dalehite et al. v. United States (1950). The plan of procedure adopted by that trial court was to determine first whether negligence and liability existed on the part of the Federal Government and then, if the liability was found, to ascertain at some later date, the amount of damages each individual claimant suffered. Findings of district court establish liability of Government After a trial of the issues, the district court judge, sitting without a jury, found negligence on the part of the Government and rendered judgment in favor of the plaintiffs. The basic ground for the district court's findings is expressed in its "Findings of Fact" that the Record discloses blunders, mistakes, and acts of negligence, both of omission and commission, on the part of defendant [the U. S. Government] its agents, servants, and employees, in deciding to begin the manufacture of this inherently dangerous fertilizer. And from the beginning of its manufacture on down to and after the day of the Texas City disaster, it discloses such disregard of and lack of care for the safety of the public and of persons manufacturing, handling, transporting, and using such fertilizer as to shock one. When all the facts in this record are considered, one is not surprised by the Texas City disaster, i. e., that men and women, boys and girls, in and around Texas City going about their daily tasks in their homes, on the streets, in their places of employment, etc., were suddenly and without warning killed, maimed, or wounded, and vast property damage done. The surprising thing is that there were not more of such disasters. The court found that the United States was negligent also in manufacturing the fertilizer, in selection of the coating used, and in the manner in which it prepared the fertilizer for shipment and that "each shipment of such fertilizer was a dangerous public and private nuisance from the time it was manufactured." Reversal of district court on the law by appellate courts On appeal, however, the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit unanimously reversed (197 F. 2d 771) and the United States Supreme Court, by a division of 4 judges to 3, 4 being a majority since 2 judges did not sit, affirmed the decision of the court of appeals (346 U. S. 15). The Supreme Court through its majority decision decided that the acts of negligence found by the district court could not give it jurisdiction to entertain the lawsuits, because the claims were based upon the exercise of a "discretionary function" within the meaning of the Federal Tort Claims Act. To put it another way, the Supreme Court held that the Federal Tort Claims Act did not apply to the type of governmental action involved in the Texas City disaster litigation. Background and pertinent provisions of Federal Tort Claims Act Prior to 1946, which was the year of the passage of the Federal Tort Claims Act, persons seeking compensation for tort claims against the United States Government had, for the most part, only one |