PRESERVATION OF EXISTING OBLIGATIONS AND CONTRACTS, AND Rules and
REGULATIONS

SEC. 107. (a) Nothing in this title shall impair any outstanding obligations or contracts made in connection with any of the functions, powers, and duties transferred by this title, including the pledge of the faith of the United States to the payment of the principal of and the interest on debentures now or hereafter issued under the National Housing Act, as amended, or annual contributions now or hereafter contracted for pursuant to the United States Housing Act of 1937, as amended, or any of the insurance funds created under said National Housing Act, as amended.

(b) All orders, rules, regulations, and permits, or other privileges made, issued, or granted by or in respect of any of the functions, powers, and duties transferred by this title shall continue in.effect until modified, superseded, or repealed.

ADMINISTRATIVE POWERS

SEC. 108. In carrying out their respective responsibilities, functions, powers, and duties, the Administrator and the Commissioners, respectively, may(a) With the consent of the agency or organization concerned, accept and utilize equipment, facilities, or the services of employees of any State or local public agency, and, in connection with the utilization of such services, may make reasonable payments for subsistence and actual transportation expenses;

(b) Appoint such officers and employees as they may find necessary, which appointments, notwithstanding the provisions of any other law, shall hereafter be made hereunder, and shall be subject to the civil-service laws and the Classification Act of 1923, as amended;

(c) Utilize, contract with, and act through, without regard to section 3709 of the Revised Statutes, any Federal, State, or local public agency, with the consent of the agency concerned, and any funds available to said Administrator and said Commissioners for carrying out their respective responsibilities, functions, powers, and duties shall be available for transfer to any such agency in reimbursement therefor;

(d) Make such expenditures as may be found necessary for the acquisition and maintenance of adequate administrative services; personal services and rent in the District of Columbia and elsewhere; expenses of travel; printing and binding; purchase and exchange of lawbooks, books of reference, and periodicals; purchase of newspapers; purchase, exchange, maintenance, repair, and operation of motorpropelled passenger-carrying vehicles, and apply the proceeds of sale or exchange allowances in whole or in part payment to such purchase or exchange; reimbursement for the actual cost of ferry fares, bridge, road, and tunnel tolls; purchase of photographic equipment, and supplies; temporary employment of persons, by contract or otherwise, for research work, and for engineering, technical, or other special services without regard to section 3709 of the Revised Statutes and the civil-service and classification laws; expenses of attendance, when specifically approved by the Administrator or the Commissioner concerned, at meetings of organizations concerned with the work of the Agency; preparation, mounting, shipping, and installation of exhibits; training programs for employees of the National Housing Agency and of State and local agencies engaged in housing activities concerned with the work of said Agency; payment of travel expenses, while away from their homes or regular places of business, including per diem in lieu of subsistence at place of employment, in accordance with the Standardized Government Travel Regulations, the Subsistence Expense Act of 1926, as amended, and the Act of February 14, 1931, as amended, of (1) persons employed intermittently as consultants or experts and receiving compensation on a per diem when-actually-employed basis, and (2) persons serving in an advisory capacity or employed without compensation, except that in case of (2) above there may be allowed not to exceed $10 per diem in lieu of subsistence en route and at place of service or employment, unless a higher rate is specifically provided by law; an allowance of not to exceed 5 cents per mile, unless a higher rate is specifically authorized by law, to personnel serving without compensation from the United States for expenses of travel performed by them in privately owned automobiles away from their designated posts of duty; an allowance of not to exceed 3 cents per mile, unless a higher rate is specifically authorized by law, to employees or others rendering service to the Government for use by them of privately owned automobiles for transportation on official business within the limits of their official stations or places of service; expenses of travel of officers and employees, including

expenses of transportation of their immediate families, in accordance with regulations prescribed by the President, and the expenses of the transfer of their household goods and effects, in accordance with the Act of October 10, 1940, who, in the interest of the Government, are transferred from one official station to another for permanent duty, when approved by the Administrator or the Commissioner concerned in the order directing such transfer, but such expenses shall not be allowed or paid from Government funds where such transfer is made primarily for the convenience or benefit of the office or employee; purchase and exchange of technical apparatus; and for such other adininistrative expenses as may, from time to time, be found necessary in carrying out the responsibilities, functions, powers, and duties imposed upon the Administrator and the Commissioners, respectively, by or pursuant to law: Provided, That the provisions of section 3709 of the Revised Statutes shall not apply to any purchase or contract by said Administrator or Commissioners for services or supplies if the amount thereof does not exceed $300: And provided further, That funds made available for administrative expenses in carrying out the responsibilities, functions, powers, and duties imposed upon the Administrator and the Commissioners, respectively, by or pursuant to law shall be consolidated into single administrative expense fund accounts of said Administrator and of each of the constituent units, respectively, for expenditure by them, respectively, in accordance with the provisions hereof: And provided further, That the following shall be considered as nonadministrative expenses: (1) all necessary expenses of the Federal Home Loan Bank Administration in I connection with the conservatorship or liquidation of insured institutions, the liquidation or handling of assets of or derived from insured institutions, the payment of insurance, and action for or toward the avoidance, termination, or minimizing of defaults or losses; (2) all necessary expenses (including services performed on a force account, contract or fee basis, but not including other personal services) of the Federal Home Loan Bank Administration in connection with the acquisition, protection, operation, maintenance, improvement, or disposition of real or personal property belonging to the Home Owners' Loan Corporation or in which it has an interest; (3) all necessary expenses (including services performed on a contract or fee basis, but not including other personal services) of the Federal Home Loan Bank Administration in connection with the handling, including the purchase, sale, and exchange, of securities on behalf of Federal Home Loan Banks, and the sale, issuance, and retirement of, or payment of interest on, debentures or bonds, under the Federal Home Loan Bank Act, as amended; (4) all necessary expenses (including services performed on a contract or fee basis, but not including other personal services) of the Federal Housing Administration in connection with the acquisition, protection, completion, operation, maintenance, improvement, or disposition of real or personal property of said Administration acquired under authority of the National Housing Act, as amended; and (5) all necessary expenses of the Federal Public Housing Authority in providing representatives of said Authority at the sites of non-Federal projects during their development which are paid from fees collected for such services from the local pub lic agencies receiving financial aid from the Authority: And provided further, That, except as otherwise provided in applicable restrictions expressly set forth in provisions declaring funds available for administrative expenses thereof, the administrative expenses (including nonadministrative expenses) and other obligations of the Federal Home Loan Bank Administration shall be incurred, allowed, and paid in accordance with the provisions of the Federal Home Loan Bank Act, as amended; the Home Owners' Loan Act of 1933, as amended; and title IV of the National Housing Act, as amended, and the administrative expenses (including nonadministrative expenses) and other obligations of the Federal Housing Administration shall be incurred, allowed, and paid in accordance with the provisions of the National Housing Act, as amended.

DELEGATION OF POWERS

SEC. 109. The Administrator may delegate to such officers within the National Housing Agency as he may designate any of his functions, powers, and duties, and, where any such function, power, or duty is delegated to one or more of the Commissioners, redelegations by any such Čommissioner to such officers as he may designate are hereby authorized. Said Commissioners may likewise delegate to such officers within their respective constitutent units as they may designate any of their functions, powers, and duties. Delegations under this section may include the authority to employ persons for duty, and the authority to authorize the payment of expenses for travel and for transportation of immediate families of officers and employees and transfer of their household goods and effects on change in official station.

AUTHORIZATIONS FOR APPROPRIATIONS

SEC. 110. There is hereby authorized to be appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, such sums as may be necessary for the administrative expenses of the Administrator and the constituent units in carrying out their responsibilities, functions, powers, and duties.

ANNUAL REPORT

SEC. 111. The Administrator shall receive from the respective Commissioners the annual reports of operations and activities heretofore required to be submitted to the Congress by the second sentence of section 20 of the Federal Home Loan Bank Act, as amended, sections 5 and 406 (e) of the National Housing Act, as amended, and section 7 (b) of the United States Housing Act of 1937, as amended, and, together with said reports, shall submit to the Congress annually a report of the programs and activities of the National Housing Agency.

RULES AND REGULATIONS

SEC. 112. The Administrator and the Commissioners, respectively, may make such rules and regulations as they deem necessary to carry out their respective responsibilities, functions, powers, and duties. The Administrator may undertake such review of the rules and regulations made by the Commissioners as are necessary in the exercise of his general supervisory and coordinating responsibilities.

EFFECTIVE Date; TERMINATION OF EXECUTIVE ORDER 9070

SEC. 113. This title shall become effective upon the appointment hereunder of the National Housing Administrator and the respective Commissioners and thereupon Executive Order 9070 of February 24, 1942, shall cease to be effective. TITLE II—RESEARCH, MARKET ANALYSIS, AND LOCAL PLANNING

SEC. 201. To enable private enterprise and localities to meet more of the need for housing and related community development through their own efforts, the National Housing Administrator shall

(1) Make studies and publish reports (i) relating to building materials and methods of production, residential design and construction, and zoning laws and other codes and regulations, to develop sound and tested standards of safety, durability, livability, and health in housing and related neighborhood and community development, and to reduce housing costs, including operating costs, consistently with the maintenance of such standards; and (ii) relating to improvement of employment and investment opportunities in house building, better methods of home financing, and other matters affecting housing and related community development. Such studies shall where feasible draw upon or be undertaken cooperatively with other agencies of Federal, State, or local governments. There is hereby authorized to be appropriated, for the purposes of this paragraph, over an initial period of five years beginning with the date of enactment of this Act, a sum not to exceed $12,500,000

(b) Encourage localities to make studies of their own housing needs and markets, along with surveys and plans for housing and related community development, including desirable patterns of land use and community growth, and provide, where requested and needed by the localities, technical advice and guidance toward the making of such studies, surveys, and plans.

SEC. 202. The Administrator may extend financial aid to local public bodies for the purposes of paragraph (b) of section 201: Provided, That no such aid to any local public bodies under this title shall exceed 50 per centum of the cost to the local government of conducting such studies, surveys, and plans. There is hereby authorized to be appropriated for such purposes, over an initial period of five years beginning with the date of enactment of this Act, a sum not to exceed $25,000,000.

SEC. 203. Where a local public agency makes any studies, surveys, and plans. described in paragraph (b) of section 201 in preparation of any projects which may be assisted under title VI of this Act or under the United States Housing Act of 1937, as amended, such local public agency may receive loans from the agency administering said title or said Act for the purpose of aiding in financing

the cost of such studies, surveys, plans, and other necessary work in the preparation of projects. Contracts may be made hereunder for such loans upon the condition that such loans shall be repaid by the local public agency involved, with interest, out of any money which becomes available to such agency for the undertaking of the project involved.

TITLE III-AMENDMENTS TO EXISTING AIDS TO PRIVATELY FINANCED HOUSING

FEDERAL SAVINGS AND LOAN ASSOCIATION OPERATIONS

SEC. 301. Section 5 (c) of the Home Owners' Loan Act of 1933, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows:

"(c) Such associations may lend or invest their funds only

"(1) in obligations of or fully guaranteed by the United States and in the stock and bonds of a Federal Home Loan Bank;

"(2) on the security of their shares;

"(3) on the security of first liens upon homes or combination of homes and business property within fifty miles of their home office (or, in the case of an association which is converted from a State-chartered institution, in the territory in which it made loans while operating under State charter): Provided, That not more than $20,000 shall be loaned on the security of a first lien upon any one such property;

"(4) in any mortgage or obligation which is insured or as to which a commitment for the insuring thereof has been made, or as to which the association has insurance, under title I or title II of the National Housing Act, as amended "(5) on the security of guaranties by the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs under title III of the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, as amended, on loans made for the purchase or construction, or repair, alteration, or improvement, of homes or combination of homes and business property located within the territory specified in clause numbered (3) hereof; except (1) that not exceeding 15 per centum of the assets of any such association may be loaned on the security of first liens upon any improved real estate without regard to type of improvement, location, or amount of individual loan, and (2) that any such association may invest not exceeding 15 per centum of its assets (i) in the development and construction, or acquisition, of rental housing projects located within fifty miles of its home office and insured, or for which a commitment to insure has been made, pursuant to title VII of the National Housing Act, as amended (which projects it is hereby authorized to own, operate, maintain, lease, convey, sell, and transfer), or (ii) in the acquisition, on its own account or jointly with one or more home financing institutions eligible under section 4 (a) of the Federal Home Loan Bank Act, as amended, to become a member or nonmember borrower of a Federal Home Loan Bank, of the entire capital stock of a corporation organized for the sole purpose of developing and constructing, or acquiring, and operating any such rental housing projects, and, except for the last clause thereof, the provisions of subsection (h) of this section 5 shall apply to any such corporation, the entire capital stock of which is so held.”

FEDERAL HOME LOAN BANK OPERATIONS

SEC. 302. Section 10 of the Federal Home Loan Bank Act, as amended, is hereby amended as follows:

(a) By striking out paragraph numbered (1) of subsection (a), by renumbering paragraphs numbered (2), (3), and (4), as (1), (2), and (3), respectively, and by adding at the end of said subsection the following new paragraph:

"Without regard to any other provisions of this subsection and subsection (b), each Federal Home Loan Bank, upon the approval of the Federal Home Loan Bank Commissioner by regulations or otherwise, is authorized to make advances to its members upon the security of (i) any mortgage or obligation which is insured or as to which a commitment for the insuring thereof has been made, or as to which the member institution has insurance, under title I, II, or VI of the National Housing Act, as amended, or (ii) any obligation, whether or not secured by first mortgage, which is guaranteed by the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs under the provisions of title III of the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, as amended, relating to home purchase or construction or home repair, alteration, or improvement: Provided, That any advance made under this paragraph may not be for an amount in excess of 90 per centum of the unpaid principal of the mortgage or obligation on the security of which such advance is being made."

(b) By striking out the word "twenty" in clause numbered (1) of the first sentence of subsection (b) and inserting in lieu thereof the word "twenty-five". SEC. 303. Section 11 of the Federal Home Loan Bank Act, as amended, is hereby amended by striking out in the last sentence of subsection (b) the language "held and secured under section 10 (a) of this Act" and inserting in lieu thereof the following: "(exclusive of those evidencing unsecured advances), and the obligations of, or fully guaranteed by, the United States, held".

SEC. 304. Section 20 of the Federal Home Loan Bank Act, as amended, is hereby amended by striking out the word "twice" where it appears in the first

sentence.

FEDERAL SAVINGS AND LOAN INSURANCE CORPORATION OPERATIONS

SEC. 305. Section 402 of the National Housing Act, as amended, is hereby amended as follows:

(a) By striking out in subsection (b) the following: "the Home Owners' Loan Corporation shall be entitled to the payment of dividends on such stock out of net earnings at a rate equal to the interest rate on such bonds, which dividends shall be cumulative" and inserting in lieu thereof the following: "the Home Owners' Loan Corporation shall be entitled to the payment of dividends (which dividends shall be cumulative) on such stock out of net earnings until July 1, 1945, at a rate equal to the interest rate on such bonds, and after June 30, 1945, at a rate equal to the average interest rate on the bonds of the Home Owners' Loan Corporation outstanding during the period with respect to which such dividends are paid or accumulate".

(b) By adding at the end of subsection (d) the following new paragraph: "The Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to purchase any obligations issued by the Corporation pursuant to this title, and for such purpose the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to use as a public-debt transaction the proceeds of the sale of any securities hereafter issued under the Second Liberty Bond Act, as now or hereafter in force, and the purposes for which securities may be issued under the Second Liberty Bond Act, as now or hereafter in force, are extended to include such purchases. The Secretary of the Treasury may, at any time, sell, upon such terms and conditions and at such price or prices as he shall determine, any of the obligations acquired by him under this paragraph. All redemptions, purchases, and sales by the Secretary of the Treasury of such obligations shall be treated as public-debt transactions of the United States. The Secretary of the Treasury shall not at any time purchase any obligations under this paragraph if such purchase would increase the aggregate principal amount of his then outstanding holdings of such obligations under this paragraph to an amount greater than three times the aggregate amount of the then outstanding capital stock, reserves, and surplus of the Corporation.'

SEC. 306. Section 404 of the National Housing Act, as amended, is hereby amended as follows:

(a) By striking out the word "one-eighth" wherever it appears in subsections (a) and (b) and inserting in lieu thereof "one-twelfth".

(b) By amending subsection (c) to read as follows:

(c) The one-twelfth of 1 per centum per annum insurance premium rate shall be effective as of July 1, 1946."

FEDERAL HOUSING ADMINISTRATION OPERATIONS

MODERNIZATION AND IMPROVEMENT LOANS

SEC. 307. Section 2 (b) of the National Housing Act, as amended, is hereby amended as follows:

(a) By striking out the word "three" in clause numbered (2) and inserting in lieu thereof the word "five".

(b) By striking out the first proviso and inserting in lieu thereof the following: "Provided, That insurance may be granted to any such financial institution with respect to any obligation not in excess of $10,000 and having a maturity not in excess of seven years and thirty-two days representing any such loan, advance of credit, or purchase made by it if such loan, advance of credit, or purchase is made for the purpose of financing the alteration, repair, improvement, or conversion of an existing structure used or to be used as a hotel, apartment house, dwelling for two or more families, hospital, orphanage, college, school, office building, or a building designed for manufacturing, industrial, or commercial purposes:"

(c) By striking out the last sentence.