Statement of limitations for damages for death.. Stevens, Hon. Robert T., Secretary of the Army, letter, May 9, 1955, TEXAS CITY CLAIMS ACT WEDNESDAY, MAY 11, 1955 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE No. 2 OF THE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE, Washington, D. C. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10 a. m. in room 346, Old House Office Building, the Honorable Thomas J. Lane, chairman of the subcommittee, presiding. Present: The Honorable Messrs. Thomas J. Lane, E. L. Forrester, Harold D. Donohue, Charles A. Boyle, William E. Miller of New York, and Usher L. Burdick. Also present: Cyril F. Brickfield, counsel, Walter R. Lee, legislative assistant. Mr. LANE. The subcommittee will be kind enough to come to order. This committee has under consideration this morning H. R. 4045 filed by Mr. Thompson of Texas, a bill to provide for settlement of claims for damages resulting from the disaster which occurred at Texas City, Tex., on April 16 and 17, 1947. (H. R. 4045 is as follows:) [H. R. 4045, 84th Cong., 1st sess.] A BILL To provide for settlement of claims for damages resulting from the disaster which occurred at Texas City, Texas, on April 16 and 17, 1947 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may be cited as the "Texas City Claims Act". SEC. 2. (a) There is hereby established a commission to be known as the Texas City Claims Commission (referred to in this Act as the "Commission"), which shall be composed of three members to be appointed by the President. The President shall designate the member of the Commission who shall be the chairman thereof. (b) Two members of the Commission shall constitute a quorum. (c) The members of the Commission shall each receive $50 per diem when engaged in the actual performance of duties vested in the Commission, plus reimbursement for travel, subsistence, and other expenses incurred by them in the performance of such duties. (d) The Commission shall have the power, without regard to the provisions of the civil-service laws and the Classification Act of 1949, as amended, to appoint and fix the compensation of such personnel as it deems necessary for the purposes of the performance of its duties, and the appropriations therefor are hereby authorized. (e) Service of an individual as a member of the Commission or employment of an individual by the Commission shall not be considered to be service or employment bringing such individual within the provisions of sections 281, 283, 284, 434, or 1914 of title 18 of the United States Code, or section 190 of the Revised Statutes (5 U. S. C. 99). SEC. 3. (a) The Commission shall receive, investigate, and allow claims against the United States for damages sustained by individuals, firms, companies, associations, and corporations as a result of the disaster at Texas City, Texas, on 1 April 16 and 17, 1947. The Commission shall limit itself to the determination of (1) the amount to be allowed and paid pursuant to this Act, and (2) the individuals, firms, companies, associations, and corporations entitled to receive the same. (b) Prior to the expiration of sixty days after the date on which two of its members shall have been appointed and have taken office, the Commission shall promulgate and publish rules of procedure for handling the claims to which this section applies. It shall determine and fix damages, if any, in the case of each claim within twelve months from the date on which the claim was submitted. (c) No claim shall be allowed unless, prior to the expiration of one hundred and eighty days after the date on which two members of the Commission shall have been appointed and have taken office, the claimant submits such claim in writing in accordance with rules prescribed by the Commission. (d) No claim shall be approved for payment under this Act unless it shall appear to the satisfaction of the Commission that such claim was a part of a civil action filed against the United States in a United States district court prior to April 25, 1950; except that the Commission, for good cause shown, may waive the limitation date of April 25, 1950, where it is shown that the claimant, because of infancy, insanity, or other reason, was unable to bring such civil action. (e) Except as otherwise provided in this Act, in carrying out its provisions the Commission shall be governed by the law of the State of Texas. (f) Claims for damages based on death may be submitted only by persons, or their legal representatives, authorized to sue for wrongful death under the revised statutes of the State of Texas. SEC. 4. (a) The Secretary of the Treasury shall pay, out of moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, in full settlement, the claims referred to in this Act in the amounts approved for payment by the Commission. (b) Any payment made under subsection (a) shall be in full settlement and discharge of all claims against the Government of the United States: (c) Before paying any claim allowed by the Commission, the Secretary of the Treasury shall require of and receive from the claimant an assignment to the United States, to the extent of the payment to be made by the Secretary, of any right of action arising out of the Texas City disaster which such claimant may have against a third party. SEC. 5. No attorney or agent shall receive, an account of services rendered in connection with any claim allowed under this Act, in excess of 15 per centum of the amount paid under this Act, any contract to the contrary notwithstanding. Whoever violates this section shall be fined not to exceed $5,000. SEC. 6. The Commission, twenty-four months after the date of enactment of this Act, shall transmit to the Congress a report containing- (a) a statement of each claim submitted in accordance with this Act which has not been settled by it, with supporting papers and a report of its findings of facts and recommendations; and (b) a report of each claim settled and paid pursuant to this Act, which report shall include a brief statement concerning the character and justice of the claim, the amount claimed, and the amount approved and paid. SEC. 7. At the close of the sixtieth day after the date on which its report is submitted to the Congress pursuant to section 6, the Commission shall cease to exist. Mr. LANE. Without objection I will have the committee report containing a history and analysis of the problems on Texas City inserted in the record at this point. (Report set out in appendix p. 142). Mr. LANE. This is a matter on which this committee held extensive hearings on December 16, 17, and 18, 1953, on a bill which was then House Resolution 296. The committee not only held hearings and conferences here in the Capital but they also made a trip to see for themselves at Texas City, Tex., some of the scenes of the place where this disaster occurred on April 16 and 17, 1947. Hearings were held at Texas City and also at Galveston, Tex. As a result of those hearings that bill was favorably reported by the subcommittee and the full Committee on the Judiciary and passed the House and was then considered in the Senate but the bill failed to become law (H. R. 9785, 83d Cong.). For that reason this committee must now go over this entire matter again because there is a new makeup of this Committee on the Judiciary and subcommittee that will have a hearing on the bill here. I know that all of us on the committee are pleased to have as the first witness our Congressman from Texas, Congressman Thompson, who has been vitally interested in this subject matter for a long period of time and has put in a good many hours with the subcommittee last year. He has also been with the members of the subcommittee and helped to bring about these hearings to work out some legislation which may be considered in reference to the subject matter. The first witness will be Congressman Thompson. We are pleased to have you here this morning and I know you are well versed in the subject matter and if you will be kind enough, Congressman, to come to the table we will be pleased to hear you. Mr. THOMPSON. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. STATEMENT OF HON. CLARK W. THOMPSON, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF TEXAS Mr. THOMPSON. I thank you very much, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee. I represent the Ninth Congressional District in the State of Texas. Mr. Chairman, if it suits your pleasure I would like to briefly review the legislative history of the Texas City disaster claims legislation and bring it up to date. And perhaps, to a very small extent, touch on what happened in Texas City for the benefit of some who may not have been in the hearings before. The disaster occurred just about 8 years ago. It was caused by the blowing up of a ship at 9 o'clock on the morning of the 16th of April 1947. This was followed by the blowing up of another ship shortly thereafter that night or early in the morning of the 17th. It was obviously a manmade disaster. It did a terrific amount of damage. It killed 570 people and hurt thousands. It laid waste a large portion of Texas City. There was hardly a house in the community that was not damaged to some extent. Being obviously a manmade disaster an effort was shortly commenced to find out who was to blame. It was discovered that the explosion was caused by a product labeled as fertilizer which was manufactured under Government supervision and in Government ordnance plants. Since, apparently, the Government had control of the situation and could have either warned the people of the danger of the commodity being handled or could, perhaps, have taken the necessary steps to keep it from exploding, suit was filed in behalf of the injured in the Federal District Court of the Southern District of Texas under the Federal Tort Claims Act. The long history of the litigation can better be told by some of the attorneys who are here today. For my part, as a layman, I may simply say that the lower court held the Government negligent on eighty-odd counts and liable for the damage. The case was appealed and finally went to the Supreme Court and just about 2 years ago the Supreme Court on a 4 to 3 division held that the Tort Claims Act did not apply. There was still no doubt of the Government's part in the accident and there was in my own mind and in the minds of a great number of us who had followed it from the beginning-there was in my mind. a very strong conviction that the Government was still responsible even though for legal reasons the Tort Claims Act may not have applied. For that reason, after consulting with experts on your own committee, Mr. Chairman, and others who were capable and competent to advise as to the proper procedure, because of the magnitude of the case itself, it seemed best to start the legislative procedure by having a committee appointed from the Judiciary Committee to go to Texas City or any other place they thought advisable and there to investigate the facts, look into the legal background and then to report to the Congress on whether or not the Government seemed to be liable and, if so, by what means the injured could be compensated. The committee was appointed accordingly. Those who were on itthe then chairman, the gentleman from Illinois, Mr. Jonas; the gentleman from Massachusetts, the present chairman of the committee, Mr. Lane; the gentleman from Maryland, Mr. Hyde, and I am glad to see that he is keeping up his interest in the case although I understand he is not a member of this particular subcommittee. The committee, after long deliberations, and after hearings on the ground and again here in Washington, reported that the Government was liable. A bill was introduced about a year ago by Judge Jonas to provide compensation for the claimants. That bill passed the House of Representatives without a dissenting vote but very late in the session. It was then sent to the Senate where hearings were held but only days remained for us to explain the situation to the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee and then to get it through that body. Ultimately the Senate did pass their version of the bill, and I am happy to say without a dissenting vote. It was too late then to go into conference and so, with the differences between the two bodies, the bill died on the calendar. In each case, Mr. Chairman, may I remind the committee the House and the Senate admitted the Government's liability. It was only a question of how to compensate the injured' and to what extent. There was never any question that I know of that the individuals injured should be compensated. So, at the beginning of this session and for many weeks preceding it, of course, we studied the situation and finally decided on the bill H. R. 4045 as being the best approach to the settlement of the claims. An identical bill was introduced in the Senate and sponsored, by the way, by the two State Senators, Senator Lyndon Johnson and Senator Price Daniel. I understand Senator Daniel is the author but under the rules of his own Judiciary Committee he sits in as an observer. We made every effort to draw a bill that would be acceptable to both bodies so we could expedite the settlement of such claims as you may consider are justified, and not ask these people injured 8 years ago to wait any longer than this particular session of the Congress. |