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of art, drawings, plans, models, and condemned or obsolete combat material that are not needed by that department to

(1) a municipal corporation;

(2) a soldiers' monument association;

(3) a State museum;

(4) an incorporated museum, operated and maintained for educational purposes only, whose charter denies it the right to operate for profit;

(5) a post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States;

(6) a post of the American Legion;

(7) a local unit of any other recognized war veterans' association; or

(8) a post of the Sons of Veterans Reserve. (Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, § 1, 70A Stat. 143.)

Section 2573. Excess property: transfers to Canal Zone Government.

A military department may transfer to the Canal Zone Government, without reimbursement and regardless of location, any supplies, including tools, structures, vessels, and floating equipment, that are excess property as defined by section 472(e) of title 40 and have been certified by the Governor of the Canal Zone as necessary for the care, maintenance, operation, improvement, sanitation, or government of the Canal Zone. (Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, § 1, 70A Stat. 143.)

Section 2574.

Armament: sale of individual pieces.

A piece of armament that can be advantageously replaced, and that is not needed for its historical value, may be sold by the military department having jurisdiction over it for not less than cost, if the Secretary concerned considers that there are adequate sentimental reasons for the sale. (Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, § 1, 70A Stat. 144.)

Section 2575. Disposition of unclaimed property.

(a) The Secretary of any military department, and the Secretary of the Treasury, under such regulations as they may respectively prescribe, may each by public or private sale or otherwise, dispose of all lost, abandoned, or unclaimed personal property that comes into the custody or control of his department, other than property subject to section 4712, 4713, 6522, 9712, or 9713 of this title or subject to subsection (c) of this section. However, property may not be disposed of until diligent effort has been made to find the owner, his heirs or next of kin, or his legal representative, nor until one year after the date when the property is received at

a storage point designated by the Secretary. If the owner, his heirs or next of kin, or his legal representative is determined but not found, the property may not be disposed of until the expiration of 120 days after the date when notice, giving the time and place of the intended sale or other disposition, has been sent by registered mail to that person at his last known address.

(b) The net proceeds from the sale of property under this section shall be covered into the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts. The owner, his heirs or next of kin, or his legal representative may file a claim for those proceeds with the General Accounting Office within five years after the date of the disposal of the property. If not filed within that period, such a claim may not be considered by a court or the General Accounting Office.

(c) No property covered by this section may be delivered to the Soldiers' Home by the Secretary of the Army or the Secretary of the Air Force, except papers of value, sabers, insignia, decorations, medals, watches, trinkets, manuscripts, and other articles valuable chiefly as keepsakes. The Home shall deliver the property to the owner, his heirs or next of kin, or his legal representative, if he establishes a right to it within two years after its receipt by the Home. (Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, § 1, 70A Stat. 144.)

CHAPTER 155.-ACCEPTANCE OF GIFTS AND SERVICES Section 2601. General gift funds.

(a) The Secretary concerned may accept, hold, administer, and spend any gift, devise, or bequest of real or personal property, made on the condition that it be used for the benefit, or in connection with the establishment, operation, or maintenance, of a school, hospital, library, museum, cemetery, or other institution or organization under the jurisdiction of his department. He may pay all necessary expenses in connection with the conveyance or transfer of a gift, devise, or bequest made under this subsection.

(b) Gifts and bequests of money, and the proceeds of the sale of property, received under subsection (a) shall be deposited in the Treasury in the fund called

(1) "Department of the Army General Gift Fund", in the case of deposits of that department;

(2) "Department of the Navy General Gift Fund", in the case of deposits of that department;

(3) "Department of the Air Force General Gift Fund", in the case of deposits of that department; and

(4) "Coast Guard General Gift Fund", in the case of deposits of the Secretary of the Treasury.

The Secretary concerned may disburse funds deposited under this

subsection for the benefit or use of the designated institution or organization, subject to the terms of the gift, devise, or bequest.

(c) For the purposes of Federal income, estate, and gift taxes, property that is accepted under subsection (a) shall be considered as a gift, devise, or bequest to or for the use of the United States.

(d) The Secretary of the Treasury, upon the request of the Secretary of a military department, may retain money, securities, and the proceeds of the sale of securities, in the gift fund of the department concerned, and may invest money and reinvest the proceeds of the sale of securities in that fund in securities of the United States or in securities guaranteed as to principal and interest by the United States. The Secretary of the Treasury may do likewise with respect to the Coast Guard General Gift Fund. The interest and profits accruing from those securities shall be deposited to the credit of the gift fund of the department concerned, and may be disbursed as provided in subsection (b). (Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, § 1, 70A Stat. 144.)

Section 2602. American National Red Cross: cooperation and assistance.

(a) Whenever the President finds it necessary, he may accept the cooperation and assistance of the American National Red Cross, and employ it under the armed forces under regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of Defense.

(b) Personnel of the American National Red Cross who are performing duties in connection with its cooperation and assistance under subsection (a) may be furnished

(1) transportation, at the expense of the United States, while traveling to and from, and while performing, those duties in the same manner as civilian employees of the armed forces;

(2) meals and quarters, at their expense or at the expense of the American National Red Cross, except that where civilian employees of the armed forces are quartered without charge, employees of the American National Red Cross may also be quartered without charge; and

(3) available office space, warehousing, wharfage, and means of communication, without charge.

(c) No fee may be charged for a passport issued to an employee of the American National Red Cross for travel outside the United States to assume or perform duties under this section.

(d) Supplies of the American National Red Cross, including gifts for the use of the armed forces, may be transported at the expense of the United States, if it is determined under regulations prescribed under subsection (a) that they are necessary to the cooperation and assistance accepted under this section.

(e) For the purposes of this section, employees of the American National Red Cross may not be considered as employees of the United States. (Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, § 1, 70A Stat. 145.)

Section 2631.

CHAPTER 157.-TRANSPORTATION

Supplies: preference to United States vessels. Only vessels of the United States or belonging to the United States may be used in the transportation by sea of supplies bought for the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps. However, if the President finds that the freight charged by those vessels is excessive or otherwise unreasonable, contracts for transportation may be made as otherwise provided by law. Charges made for the transportation of those supplies by those vessels may not be higher than the charges made for transporting like goods for private persons. (Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, § 1, 70A Stat. 146.)

Section 2632. Transportation to and from certain places of employment.

(a) Whenever the Secretary of a military department determines that is is necessary for the effective conduct of the affairs of that department, he may, at reasonable rates of fare fixed under regulations to be prescribed by him, provide assured and adequate transportation by motor vehicle or water carrier to and from their places of employment for persons attached to, or employed in, that department, and during a war or during a national emergency declared by Congress or the President, for persons attached to, or employed in, a private plant that is manufacturing material for that department.

(b) Transportation may not be provided under subsection (a) unless the Secretary of the military department concerned, or an officer of the department concerned designated by the Secretary, determines that

(1) other facilities are inadequate and cannot be made adequate;

(2) a reasonable effort has been made to induce operators of private facilities to provide the necessary transportation; and

(3) the service to be furnished will make proper use of transportation facilities and will supply the most efficient transportation to the persons concerned.

(c) To provide transportation under subsection (a), the department may

(1) buy, lease, or charter motor vehicles or water carriers having a seating capacity of 12 or more passengers;

(2) maintain and operate that equipment by

(A) enlisted members of the Army, Navy, Air Force or Marine Corps, as the case may be;

(B) employees of the department concerned; and

(C) private persons under contract; and

(3) lease or charter the equipment to private or public carriers for operation under terms that are considered necessary by the Secretary or by an officer of the department designated by the Secretary, and that may provide for the pooling of Government-owned and privately owned equipment and facilities and for the reciprocal use of that equipment.

(d) Fares received under subsection (a), and proceeds of the leasing or chartering of equipment under subsection (c) (3), shall be covered into the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts. (Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, § 1, 70A Stat. 146.)

CHAPTER 159.-REAL PROPERTY; RELATED PERSONAL PROPERTY; AND LEASE OF NON-EXCESS PROPERTY Section 2661. Planning and construction of public works projects by military departments.

The Secretary of Defense shall maintain direct surveillance over the planning and construction public works projects by the military departments. The Secretary shall keep currently and fully informed of the status, progress, and cost of, and other pertinent matters concerning, those projects. (Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, § 1, 70A Stat. 147.)

Section 2662. Real property transactions: Reports to the Armed Services Committees.

(a) The Secretary of a military department, or his designee, may not enter into any of the following listed transactions by or for the use of that department until after the expiration of 30 days from the date upon which a report of the facts concerning the proposed transaction is submitted to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and House of Representatives:

(1) An acquisition of fee title to any real property, if the estimated price is more than $50,000.

(2) A lease of any real property to the United States, if the estimated annual rental is more than $50,000.

(3) A lease of real property owned by the United States, if the estimated annual rental is more than $50,000.

(4) A transfer of real property owned by the United States to another Federal agency or another military department or to a State, if the estimated value is more than $50,000.

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