SEC. 6. Except as otherwise permitted by this Act or by the laws relating to military personnel, only actual and necessary traveling expenses shall be allowed to any person holding employment or appointment under the United States.

SEC. 7. The fixing and payment under this Act of travel allowances and of advances and recovery thereof, and reimbursement of travel expenses under this Act, shall be in accordance with regulations which shall be promulgated by the Director of the Bureau of the Budget.

SEC. 8. This Act shall not be construed to modify or repeal any Act providing for the traveling expenses of the President of the United States or any Act providing for mileage allowances for the President of the Senate or Members of Congress.

SEC. 9. (a) The Subsistence Expense Act of 1926 and the Auto Mileage Act of February 14, 1931, are repealed. examination of estimates in the field), applicable to civilian officers or employees All Acts (other than appropriation items for of the departments and establishments, providing for reimbursement of actual travel or transportation expense, and all other Acts. general or special, which are inconsistent with or in conflict with the provisions of this Act (except such Acts or parts of Acts as fix or permit rates higher than the maximum rates established under this Act) are hereby modified. but only to the extent of inconsistency or conflict with the provisions of this Act: Provided, however, That Acts making appropriations for the fiscal years 1949 and 1950 (whether approved before or after the approval of this Act) which authorize or permit. in either general or specific terms, the payment of travel or transportation expenses without regard to the Subsistence Expense Act of 1926, as amended. or the Standardized Government Travel Regulations, shall be construed to authorize payment of such expenses from the appropriation concerned without regard to this Act.

(b) Wherever provision is made in any law for the payment of per diem allowances to officers and employees in any branch or establishment of the Government not covered by this Act, in accordance with the rates provided in the Subsistence Expense Act of 1926, such law is hereby amended to provide for payment at the rates prescribed in or under this Act.

SEC. 10. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 1949.

O

CLARIFYING THE STATUS OF THE ARCHITECT OF THE CAPITOL UNDER THE FEDERAL PROPERTY AND ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES ACT OF 1949

AUGUST 25, 1949.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

Mr. DAWSON, from the Committee on Expenditures in the Executive Departments, submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany H. J. Res. 340]

The Committee on Expenditures in the Executive Departments, to whom was referred the joint resolution (H. J. Res. 340) to clarify the status of the Architect of the Capitol under the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, having considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that the joint resolution do pass.

PURPOSE

The effect of House Joint Resolution 340 would be to exempt the Architect of the Capitol from any mandatory requirements of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, but which would permit him, on a voluntary basis, to use such of the services authorized by that act as he might request.

GENERAL STATEMENT

This legislation, directed toward the clarification of the status of the Architect of the Capitol, is supported by the following considerations and exposition of the duties and responsibilities of the Architect, as an officer of the Congress.

With respect to the application of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 to the Senate and House of Representatives, the conference report on that act (H. Rept. 935, 81st Cong.) stated as follows:

APPLICABILITY TO SENATE AND HOUSE

Under the House bill the Senate and House of Representatives were included in the definition of "Federal agency" in section 3 (b). The Senate amendment

contained provision excluding the Senate and the House of Representatives from the definition and specifying both Houses of Congress, among the bodies for which the Administrator is to provide procurement and related services, only upon request, as set out under section 201 (b). The substitute adopts the Senate language. Thus the autonomy of the Congress is preserved, except insofar as it shall, upon its request, desire to be included in the procurement and related services.

Although the Senate and House were excepted from the definition of "Federal agency" by the conferees, the Architect of the Capitol was left included within the definition of "Federal agency." Exclusion of the Senate and House and inclusion of the Architect of the Capitol does not actually preserve the autonomy of Congress, for the following

reasons:

Most of the expenditures, excluding personal services, that are made annually to supply the needs of the Congress are not made by officers of the Senate or officers of the House, but by the Architect of the Capitol who functions as an officer of the Congress. The Architect's status as an officer of the Congress has been clearly defined by the Comptroller General in numerous rulings, and the Office of the Architect of the Capitol has likewise been defined as a part of the legislative establishment.

Unlike the heads of other agencies under the legislative establishment, the Architect of the Capitol does not function as an independent officer empowered by Congress to make and operate under his own rules and regulations, but actually performs most of his duties, under existing law, under the direction of committees and commissions of the Congress, who for many years have been vested by Congress with the authority to make rules, regulations, and policies governing the Architect of the Capitol in the exercise of his duties.

The Architect of the Capitol, by law, is charged principally with the care, maintenance, and operation of the Capitol, Senate and House Office Buildings, Capitol Power Plant, Legislative Garage, Capitol Grounds, and structural and mechanical care of the Library of Congress buildings.

In exercising his duties in connection with the maintenance of the House Office Buildings, the Architect, under the provisions of the act of March 4, 1907 (34 Stat. 1365), is subject to the orders and direction of the House Office Building Commission.

In exercising his duties in connection with the Capitol Power Plant, the Architect, under the provisions of the act of March 4, 1911 (36 Stat. 1414), is also subject to the orders and direction of the House Office Building Commission.

In exercising his duties in connection with the maintenance of the Senate Office Building, the Architect, under the provisions of the act of June 8, 1942 (56 Stat. 342), is subject to the orders and direction of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration.

In like manner, statutory controls have also been placed over the Architect of the Capitol in the performance of his other duties, such as the act of February 14, 1902 (32 Stat. 20), which requires Congress to pass upon any plans changing the architectural features of the Capitol Building or the landscape features of the Capitol Grounds.

The Architect also performs, by law, other duties intimately connected with the Senate and House, such as the care of works of art in the Capitol, under the Joint Committee on the Library; the procurement of busts of Vice Presidents, under the Senate Committee

on Rules and Administration; operation of the House restaurants, under the House of Representatives; arranging for ceremonies held in the Capitol Building and on the Capitol Grounds, in cooperation with officials of the Senate and House; also serves with the Sergeants at Arms of the Senate and House as a member of the Capitol Police Board.

The committee learned that the Architect is also charged with the planning and construction of such buildings and other improvements as committed to his care by Congress from time to time, being recently charged with the planning and construction of the New Senate Office Building, under the direction of the Senate Office Building Commission, and with the reconstruction of the roofs over the Senate and House wings of the Capitol and remodeling of the Senate and House Chambers under the direction of a special committee of five Senators and a special committee of five Representatives.

The Architect also from time to time serves as a member of congressional commissions charged by Congress with special improvement programs.

Because of the nature of the Architect's duties and the statutory set-ups under which he functions, it has been the practice of the Congress, particularly in recent years, to accord the Architect of the Capitol the same treatment as the Senate and House under general administrative acts, such as the Administrative Expense Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 811).

Such action has resulted in the elimination of confusion and ambiguity, as legislation and appropriations placing duties upon the Architect of the Capitol are at times susceptible of the interpretation of being Senate and House functions, rather than Architect of the Capitol functions, since final control over the activities involved is vested in commissions and committees of the Congress. In making a statutory interpretation in connection with the Senate Office Building several years ago, the Comptroller General ruled that although the appropriations for maintenance of the buildings were carried under the Architect of the Capitol, nevertheless the supervision and ultimate control of the affairs of the building, so far as the making of final determinations were concerned, were vested by the specific terms of law in the Senate Committee on Rules.

As a practical illustration, under existing law, the Sergeant at Arms of the Senate is charged with the duty of purchasing and supplying furniture for the Senate wing of the Capitol; the Clerk of the House of Representatives is charged with the duty of purchasing and supplying furniture for the House of Representatives in accordance with designs approved by the Architect of the Capitol; the Architect of the Capitol is charged with the duty of purchasing and supplying furniture for the Senate Office Building. Under the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, the Sergeant at Arms of the Senate and the Clerk of the House may meet the furniture requirements of the Senate and House without regard to the specification and procurement requirements of that act, whereas the Architect of the Capitol must purchase furniture for the Senate Office Building either through the Administrator of General Services or in compliance with specifications prescribed by the Administrator. This is also true of numerous other items, which could result in a lack of uniformity in the buildings.

In any event, it results in officers of the Senate and House having an optional use of the services of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, while committees and commissions of Congress directing the activities of the Architect of the Capitol are subject to the control of the Administrator of General Services with respect to the use of the Administrator's purchase specifications, if his procurement services are not used.

Certain other features of the act, such as the inventory, records, and excess-property provisions, also give rise to difficulty in determining items that are under the Architect of the Capitol as distinguished from the Senate and House.

It is well to point out that the maintenance, repair, and improvement work done in the Capitol group of buildings must, necessarily, be programed and adapted to the convenience of the Congress, and it is the opinion of the Architect of the Capitol that the services. required to be rendered by him to the Congress can be more effectively and expeditiously rendered, if the services provided by the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 are authorized to be used by the Architect of the Capitol, and the committees and commissions under which he serves, on an optional, rather than a mandatory basis, in keeping with past practices.

CONCLUSIONS

It is the consensus of the committee that adoption of the legislation herein recommended will not only serve to clarify the status of the Architect of the Capitol under the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act, but will also preserve the authority of committees and commissions of Congress with respect to the office of the Architect of the Capitol; will coordinate the application of such act to the officers of the Senate and the House, and the Architect of the Capitol, and otherwise facilitate service to the Congress, and will, in the opinion of the Architect of the Capitol, more fully accomplish the conferees' intent to preserve the autonomy of Congress.

The committee has been apprised that this request has been submitted at the direction and approval of the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Attached and made a part of this report are the reports of the Bureau of the Budget, the Comptroller General, and the General Services Administration.

Hon. WILLIAM L. DAWSON,

EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT,

BUREAU OF THE BUDGET,
Washington, D. C., August 17, 1949.

Chairman, Committee on Expenditures in the Executive Departments,
House of Representatives, Washington, D. C.

DEAR MR. DAWSON: This is with respect to your letter of August 15, 1949, enclosing a draft of a joint resolution to clarify the status of the Architect of the Capitol under the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949. The enactment of the joint resolution would be in accord with the program of the President.

Sincerely yours,

ELMER B. STAATS, Acting Director.