(b) The limitation contained in section 1 of the Act of May 25, 1926, defining the area within which sites or additions to sites for public buildings in the District of Columbia may be purchased, is hereby extended, and the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized, empowered, and directed to acquire, for the use of the United States, by purchase, condemnation, or otherwise, any land and buildings which he may determine should be acquired within the area bounded by Pennsylvania Avenue and New York Avenue on the north, Virginia Avenue and Maryland Avenue projected in a straight line to Twining Lake on the south, and Delaware Avenue southwest on the east, including properties within said area belonging to the District of Columbia, but excluding those portions of squares 267, 268, and 298 not belonging to the District of Columbia; the square known as south of 463; all of square 493; lots 16, 17, 20, and 21, and 808 in square 536; and lots 16 and 45 in square 635. The Secretary of the Treasury is further authorized, empowered, and directed to acquire the necessary land for the extension of the building known as Treasury Annex Numbered 1, northwardly to H Street northwest.

(c) When deemed by him desirable or advantageous, the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to employ, by contract or otherwise, outside professional or technical services of persons, firms, or corporations, to such extent as he may require, without reference to the Classification Act of 1923 as amended, or to section 3709 of the Revised Statutes of the United States.

(d) That in submitting estimates for appropriations under the above authorized extension of the public building program, preference shall be given to those projects where sites have been acquired or authorized to be acquired under the Public Building Act of May 25, 1926, and prior Acts, where the postal receipts have reached the sum of $7,500 annually.

(e) That the provisions of the Act of May 25, 1926 (Forty-fourth Statutes, page 630), and all amendments thereto, shall apply to the Territories in the same manner and to the same extent that they apply to the several States.

[H. R. 16297]

An Act To amend the Act entitled "An Act to provide for the construction of certain public buildings, and for other purposes," approved May 25, 1926 (44 Stat. 630), and Acts amendatory thereof.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Act entitled "An Act to provide for the construction of certain public buildings, and for other purposes," approved May 25, 1926 (44 Stat. 630), and Acts amendatory thereof, are hereby amended to provide that for the purpose of carrying into effect the provisions of said Acts and to permit of expediting the public-building program thereby authorized, the amounts heretofore authorized to be appropriated for public-building projects outside the District of Columbia are extended $100,000,000: Provided, That under this authorization and from appropriations (exclusive of appropriations made for remodeling and enlarging public buildings) heretofore made or herein authorized for the acquisition of sites for, or the construction, enlarging, remodeling, or extension of public buildings under the control of the Treasury Department, not more than $65,000,000 in the aggregate, shall be expended annually, of which sum not more than $15,000,000 may be expended on projects in the District of Columbia (except that any part of the balance of such sums remaining unexpended at the end of any fiscal year may be expended for the respective purposes herein authorized in any subsequent fiscal year without reference to this limitation, beginning with the fiscal year 1928).

SEC. 2. That the provisions contained in the Act of May 25, 1926, as amended by the Act of February 24, 1928, limiting the amount that may be expended annually in any one of the States, Territories, or possessions of the United States to $10,000,000 be, and the same are hereby, further amended so as to increase the amount that may be expended in any one of the States, Territories, or possessions of the United States to an amount not to exceed $20,000,000 annually from the date of the passage of this Act until December 31, 1933, after which time the amount which shall be expended in any one of the States, Territories, or possessions of the United States shall not exceed the sum of $15,000,000 annually.

SEC. 3. That in the case of any projects authorized under the provisions of the Public Building Act approved May 25, 1926, hereinbefore mentioned, and the several Acts amendatory thereof, when the bid of the lowest responsible bidder received in response to public advertisement exceeds the amount available under the estimated limit of cost fixed by Congress, the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized, in his discretion, to enter into contracts for the construction of such buildings in an amount not exceeding 5 per centum in excess of such estimated limit of cost: Provided, That this provision shall not apply to any contract entered into prior to the approval of this Act, nor to any contract entered into after December 31, 1933: Provided, That in the exercise of this discretion the Secretary of the Treasury shall not incur obligations in excess of the amounts heretofore or herein authorized for appropriations.

Approved, February 16, 1931.

[H. R. 14040]

An Act To enable the Secretary of the Treasury to expedite work on the Federal building program authorized by the Act of Congress entitled "An Act to provide for the construction of certain public buildings and for other purposes," approved May 25, 1926, and Acts amendatory thereof.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That to enable the Secretary of the Treasury to expedite work on the Federal building program authorized by the Act of Congress entitled "An Act to provide for the construction of certain public buildings and for other purposes," approved May 25, 1926, and Acts amendatory thereof, the Secretary of the Treasury be, and he is hereby, authorized and empowered to obtain by contract without competition, topographical surveys of sites, test pits and borings where such sites have been selected although title thereto may not have been vested in the United States; to limit to such number of days as he deems proper the advertising for bids for sites for public buildings; to obtain outside architectural, engineering, technical, or professional services to such extent as he deems necessary in connection with the plans and specifications for Federal buildings which have been specifically authorized to be constructed where the sites have been selected notwithstanding title to such sites may not have been vested in the United States.

Approved, February 6, 1931.

[H. R. 12343]

An Act To authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to accep donations of sites for public buildings.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Treasury may, in his discretion, accept on behalf of the United States the donation of sites for public buildings, in cases when allocation of funds have been or may hereafter be reported to Congress under the provisions of the Public Buildings Act, approved May 25, 1926, and Acts amendatory thereof, notwithstanding that specific authorization for the acquisition of sites in such cases may not yet have been made by Congress. Approved, June 27, 1930.

(13)

99812-38--2

[S. 3068]

An Act To amend section 355 of the Revised Statutes to permit the Attorney General to accept certificates of title in the purchase of land by the United States in certain cases.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 355 of the Revised Statutes of the United States (United States Code, title 33, section 733; title 34, section 520; title 40, section 255; and title 50, section 175) be, and the same is hereby, amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 355. No public money shall be expended upon any site or land purchased by the United States for the purposes of erecting thereon any armory, arsenal, fort, fortification, navy yard, customhouse, lighthouse, or other public building of any kind whatever, until the written opinion of the Attorney General shall be had in favor of the validity of the title, nor until the consent of the legislature of the State in which the land or site may be, to such purchase, has been given. The district attorneys of the United States, upon the application of the Attorney General, shall furnish any assistance or information in their power in relation to the titles of the public property lying within their respective districts. And the secretaries of the departments, upon the application of the Attorney General, shall procure any additional evidence of title which he may deem necessary, and which may not be in the possession of the officers of the Government, and the expense of procuring it shall be paid out of the appropriations made for the contingencies of the departments, respectively: Provided, however, That in all cases of the acquisition of land or any interest therein by the United States for the purposes herein specified or for other purposes, wherein the written opinion of the Attorney General in favor of the validity of the title of such land is or may be required or authorized by law, the Attorney General may, in his discretion, base such opinion upon a certificate of title of a title

company.

Approved, June 28, 1930.