the contractor appeals or sues within 90 days after the delivery to him of the findings of the agency or the determination of any intraagency appeal, or within 1 year after his demand for findings if the agency fails to deliver them, he is barred from an appeal or suit, and any findings become final and conclusive or, if none were made, he is deemed to have waived his claim.

The Appeal Board is appointed by the Director and may sit locally in panels of one or inore members. One member may hear any appeal involving $25,000 or less or involving any larger sum if the war contractor does not demand a larger panel. If the contractor appeals to the Appeal Board and is dissatisfied with its decision, he may still bring suit against the United States within 90 days, as if he had not taken the appeal to the Board.

In the proceedings before it, the Appeal Board or court is not bound by the findings of the agency but must treat them as prima facie correct, and the war contractor has the burden of establishing that a larger amount is due him. If the contractor failed to negotiate in good faith for settlement, or failed to furnish the agency information reasonably requested by it, or failed to prosecute diligently any required intra-agency appeal, the Board or court may refuse to receive in evidence any information not submitted to the agency, or may deny interest on the claim for any period, or may remand the case to the agency for further proceedings. Unless the case is remanded, the Board or court shall enter the appropriate award or judgment which may be larger or smaller than the amount allowed by the findings.

Under this section war contractors are authorized by agreement to submit to the Appeal Board or to a contracting agency any dispute between them regarding any termination claim. The decision is final and conclusive on the parties and on the United States in the absence of fraud or collusion.

This section also authorizes any contracting agency and any war contractor, by agreement, to arbitrate any termination claim under the United States Arbitration Act.

COURT OF CLAIMS

Section 14 deals with the Court of Claims. Subsection (a) authorizes the court to appoint not more than 10 auditors and not more than 20 additional commissioners for the purpose of expediting the adjudication of termination claims. Subsection (b) contains provisions for interpleader by the Attorney General in the Court of Claims.

PERSONAL FINANCIAL LIABILITY

Section 15 relieves Government officers and agents from liability in connection with termination settlements and interim financing except for their own fraud, and requires the General Accounting Office to allow any such disbursements in settling the accounts of any disbursing officer.

This section also authorizes any Government agency to rely upon certificates of war contractors in making termination settlements or interim financing and to allow war contractors and other persons to rely on such certificates without financial liability in the absence of fraud on their part.

GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE

Section 16 clarifies the role of the General Accounting Office in connection with termination settlements.

(1) As to such individual settlements, the function of the General Accounting Office is confined to determining after final settlement whether the settlement payments were in accordance with the settlement and whether the records transmitted to it or other information warrant a reasonable belief that the settlement was induced by fraud. For this purpose, the Comptroller General may examine any records of any agency or war contractor relating to termination settlements.

(2) Whenever the General Accounting Office believes that any settlement was induced by fraud, the Comptroller General must report the facts to the Department of Justice, the Director and the contracting agency. The Department of Justice is directed to make an investigation and the contracting agency must withhold from moneys due the contractor the amount certified by the General Accounting Office to have been affected by the fraud, until the Department of Justice notifies it that fraud is not present. In any such case the Department of Justice is required to take appropriate action to recover any improper payments.

(3) The Comptroller General may also investigate settlements completed by each agency for the purpose of reporting to Congress or whether the settlement methods and procedures employed by the agency are designed to obtain expeditious and fair settlements in accordance with the act and regulations of the Director; whether they are followed by the agency with care and efficiency; and whether they adequately protect the interests of the Government. The Comptroller General must make recommendations to correct any failure to meet these standards and must submit to Congress with his report any comments of the agency with respect thereto.

Otherwise the jurisdiction of the Comptroller General is not affected by the act.

DEFECTIVE, INFORMAL, AND QUASI CONTRACTS

Section 17 (a) protects any person who has arranged to furnish or furnished to an agency or war contractor any materials, services, or facilities related to the prosecution of the war without a valid contract, relying in good faith upon the apparent authority of an officer or agent of the agency, written or oral instructions or any other request to proceed from the agency. Under it he is entitled to receive fair compensation therefor from the agency.

Subsection (b) of this section deals with formal or technical defects or omissions in any prime contract or in the authority of officers or agents of any agency which might otherwise invalidate the contract. Each contracting agency is directed to disregard any such defect or omission to amend the contract or commitment to cure it, and to settle any obligation created by the contract.

Where the agency fails to settle any such claim by agreement, the dispute is subject to the provisions of section 13 dealing with appeals.

RECORDS, FORMS, AND REPORTS

Section 18 contains comprehensive provisions to insure adequate supervision, records, and checks for interim financing and termination settlements.

Subsection (a) requires the Director to establish policies for supervision and review within the contracting agencies to prevent and detect fraud, to insure uniformity in administration, and to provide for expeditious settlements. It also directs him to prescribe the records to be prepared by the agencies and by contractors in connection with such settlements and financing and the records to be transmitted to the General Accounting Office. He is directed to endeavor to reduce the amount of record keeping, reporting, and accounting to the minimum compatible with the protection of the public interest.

Subsection (b) directs the Director to require the agency subject to the act to prepare information and reports to assist him in appraising their operations and to aid him and other Government agencies in performing their functions under the act. The Director may require any agency to furnish to him any information under its control.

Subsection (c) requires the Director to provide for making available to other agencies advance notice and other information on cut-backs in war production.

Subsection (d) requires the Director to make investigations in connection with termination settlements and interim financing and authorizes him to use existing agencies for this purpose or if these are inadequate to establish in his office a special unit to supplement and facilitate the work of assisting agencies.

Finally, under subsection (e), whenever any contracting agency or the Director suspects fraud, the facts must be reported to the Department of Justice for investigation, and the agency must withhold from amounts due the contractor any amount affected by the fraud until the Department of Justice finds that fraud is not present.

PREPARATION OF RECORDS; PROSECUTION OF FRAUD

Section 19 contains various provisions designed to aid in detecting fraud and to punish it.

Subsection (a) requires the preservation of records of a war contractor relating to any war contract of $25,000 or more and the records of any war contractor or any purchaser relating to any disposition of termination inventory involving $5,000 or more. Such records must be kept until 5 years after such disposition of inventory, or after final settlement of such war contract, or after the termination of hostilities, whichever applicable period is longer. The Director may authorize the destruction of such records and may permit the substitution of photographs or microphotographs which then have the same force and effect as the originals. For any willful concealment or destruction of such records any corporation is subject to fine up to $50,000 and any natural person is subject to fine of up to $10,000 or imprisonment up to 5 years or both.

Subsection (b) amends the first section of the act of August 24, 1942 (56 Stat. 747). This amendment suspends until 3 years

after the termination of hostilities the running of any existing statute of limitation applicable to any Federal offense involving fraud against the United States or connected with the negotiation, procurement, award, performance, payment for interim financing, cancelation or other termination, or settlement of any war contract.

Subsection (c) imposes a civil penalty on any false or fraudulent claim, bill, receipt, voucher, statement, account certificate, affidavit, or deposition or any concealment of a material fact or any other device for the purpose of obtaining or aiding to obtain any benefit from the United States in connection with any contract with the United States or with any other person or any conspiracy for any of these purposes. Any person doing so must pay to the United States 25 percent of the amount wrongfully sought but not received, and must forfeit any benefit received. In addition, he must pay the United States $2,000 for each such act and double the amount of any damages which the United States may have sustained as a result, together with the costs of suit. The district courts within whose jurisdiction any such person is found are given jurisdiction to try any such suit.

Subsection (d) deals with the criminal penalties for fraud. It makes it clear that the provisions of section 35-A of the Criminal Code (18 U. S. C., sec. 80) also apply to any such statement, representation, or other document made or used or caused to be made or used for any purpose under the act. Section 35-A imposes criminal penalties up to $10,000 in fines and up to 10 years' imprisonment for fraudulent actions involving the Government.

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Section 20 contains miscellaneous provisions relating to the administration of the act.

Subsection (a) authorizes any contracting agency to make any contract or amendment of a contract necessary and appropriate to carry out the provisions of the act; in settling any termination claim, to assume or indemnify the war contractor against any claim by any person in connection with such termination claims or settlement.

Subsection (b) authorizes any contracting agency to prescribe the amount and kind of evidence required to identify any person as a war contractor or any contract as a war contract for the purposes of the act and makes any determination thereunder final and conclusive for any of the purposes of this act.

Subsection (c) authorize appropriations to be made for the administration of the act.

Subsection (d) continues in effect, until superseded by the Director or the agency, all policies and procedures relating to terminations and interim financing heretofore prescribed by the Director of War Mobilization or any contracting agency, and in effect upon the effective date of the act, if not inconsistent with it.

Subsection (e) makes it clear that this act is not intended to impair or modify any valid war contract or any valid term or provision thereof, or any assignment of any claim thereunder without the consent of the parties thereto.

Subsection (f) permits any contracting agency to authorize or direct its employees to aid war contractors in preparing and presenting termination claims and obtaining interim financing as a part of their official duties, and exempts any such aid from section 109 of the Criminal Code or any other law, if the employee receives no compensation directly or indirectly from the war contractor.

For the protection of smaller war contractors, the Smaller War Plants Corporation is directed by subsection (g) to inform small business concerns regarding interim financing, termination settlements and property removal, and to assist them in making such settlements, obtaining such financing and in removing inventories.

USE OF APPROPRIATED FUNDS

Section 22 authorizes any contracting agency to use for interim financing, the payment of claims, and for any other purposes authorized in the act, any funds appropriated to it for those purposes or for the purposes of war production or war procurement, and to expend any such funds on behalf of any other contracting agency for the purposes authorized in the act. Where such joint expenditures are made, the agencies are authorized to allocate the expenditures among them by agreement, joint estimate, or any other method authorized by the Director, and to transfer funds between them accordingly.

OTHER FUNCTIONS OF THE DIRECTOR

In addition to his other functions under the act, section 21 requires the Director (1) to promote the training of personnel for termination settlements and interim financing, (2) to collaborate with the Smaller War Plants Corporation in aiding smaller war contractors to obtain expeditious settlements and financing, (3) to promote decentralization of administration, and (4) to consult with war contractors through appropriate methods.

DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY

Section 23 authorizes the Director to delegate his authority and discretion to any Deputy Director, or to the head of any Government agency to the extent necessary for handling problems peculiar to that agency. The head of any Government agency may delegate his authority and discretion to employees of his agency or of any other agency. Two or more Government agencies may exercise jointly any authority and discretion conferred upon them individually by or pursuant to the act.

APPLICABILITY

Sections 24 and 25 deal with the application of the act.

Under section 24 it becomes effective 20 days after its enactment. However, certain of its provisions do not apply to any terminated war contract which has theretofore been finally settled. Nothing in the act limits or affects any authority conferred by the Lend-Lease Act.