MARINE CORPS PERSONNEL MAY 22, 1944.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. DICKSTEIN, from the Committee on Claims, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 4590] The Committee on Claims, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 4590) to reimburse certain Marine Corps personnel for personal property lost or damaged as the result of a fire at the marine barracks, naval supply depot, Bayonne, N. J., on April 25, 1943, having considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass. The purpose of the proposed legislation is to authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to pay such sum or sums, amounting in the aggregate not to exceed $1,268.06, as may be required by the Secretary of the Navy to reimburse, under such regulations as he may prescribe, certain Marine Corps personnel for the value of personal property lost or damaged as the result of a fire at the marine barracks, naval supply depot, Bayonne, N. J., on April 25, 1943. The Navy Department transmitted request to the Speaker of the House of Representatives for this legislation. Therefore, your committee recommend favorable consideration to the bill. Appended hereto is the letter from the Secretary of the Navy. Hon. SAM RAYBURN, Speaker of the House of Representatives, NAVY DEPARTMENT, Washington, March 29, 1944. Washington, D. C. MY DEAR MR. SPEAKER: There is transmitted herewith a draft of a proposed bill to reimburse certain Marine Corps personnel for personal property lost or damaged as the result of a fire at the marine barracks, naval supply depot, Bayonne, N. J., on April 25, 1943. The purpose of this proposed bill is to authorize and direct the Secretary of the Treasury to pay out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of $1,268.06, or such portion thereof as may be necessary to reimburse certain Marine Corps personnel for the value of personal property lost or damaged as the result of a fire at the marine barracks, naval supply depot, Bayonne, N. J.. on April 25, 1943. On the date above-mentioned a fire occurred in marine barracks building No. 62 at the naval supply depot, Bayonne, N. J., which substantially destroyed the entire building. The fire was of accidental origin and the personal effects of four Marine Corps officers were destroyed. There is no other authority of law by virtue of which the claims may be adjusted. The Navy Department is of the opinion that provision should be made for the payment of these claims in that the personnel involved were assigned to duty at said barracks by orders of the Navy Department and the loss of and damage to their property occurred without fault or negligence on their part. These claims were examined by the Commandant of the Marine Corps who has found the value of the property lost and damaged to be $1,268.06; said amount is itemized in exhibit A. The additional cost to the Government should this proposed legislation be enacted, would not exceed $1,268.06. The Navy Department recommends that the proposed legislation be enacted. The Navy Department has been advised by the Bureau of the Budget that there would be no objection to the submission of the proposed legislation to the Congress. Respectfully, JAMES FORRESTAL, Acting. O DECLARING THE POLICY OF THE CONGRESS WITH RESPECT TO THE INDEPENDENCE OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS MAY 22, 1944.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. BELL, from the Committee on Insular Affairs, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany S. J. Res. 93] The Committee on Insular Affairs, to which was referred the joint resolution (S. J. Res. 93) declaring the policy of the Congress with respect to the independence of the Philippine Islands, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with amendment and recommend that the joint resolution as amended do pass. The amendment is as follows: On page 4, line 2, strike out the words "full and". The Committee on Insular Affairs, to whom was referred the joint resolution (S. J. Res. 93) declaring the policy of the Congress with respect to the independence of the Philippine Islands, and for other purposes, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with an amendment and recommend that the joint resolution as amended do pass. This joint resolution deals with the subject of Filipino independence and the future security of the United States and the coming Philippine Republic. The whole subject of the Philippine matter, both present and future, has been considered by President Roosevelt; President Manuel Quezon, of the Philippine Commonweath, now living in Washington; various departments of our Government interested in the Philippines; and by Members and committees of Congress. Following the enactment of the Tydings-McDuffie law on March 24, 1934, the Filipinos adopted a constitution and energetically proceeded to carry out the course of action laid out in the act which would in 1946 make them a free and independent people. In the meantime, the Filipino people, their governmental institutions, and their commercial program reached a very high point. Under American sovereignty Filipinos were enjoying the highest standard of living of any peoples in the Far East. Relations between Filipinos and the Americans and between the Philippine government and the Government of the United States were friendly and as cooperative as have existed anywhere in the world. Thus, when our promise of complete independence was on the threshold of fulfillment, when the last steps toward independence were being taken by the Filipino people, and when they were preparing for the election which would usher in the first President and Congress of a completely free and independent Philippine Islands, the Japanese struck, on December 7, 1941, and temporarily halted this whole machinery of progress for complete independence for the Philippines. We are now busily engaged in the Southwest Pacific in driving the Japs back farther and farther and eventually will drive the Japs completely out of the Philippine Islands, restore law and order and democratic processes, and give the Filipino people the independence which they have long struggled to achieve and which we have definitely promised shall be theirs. In view of the great strides the Philippine Commonwealth has recently made and the valiant resistance of the Filipinos to Japanese invasion, plus their continuing loyalty to the United States, it is now proposed to advance the date for ultimate Philippine independence; that is, to give them their independence before July 4, 1946, as the Tydings-McDuffie law now provides. To that end the joint resolution declares it to be the policy of the Congress to drive the Japanese from the islands, restore as quickly as possible the orderly and free democratic processes of government to the Filipino people, and thereupon establish the complete independence of the Philippine Islands as a separate and self-governing nation. First, the President of the United States is authorized, after negotiation with the President of the Commonwealth of the Philippines or the President of the Filipino Republic, to withhold or to acquire and retain such bases, necessary appurtenances to such bases, and the rights incident thereto, in addition to any provided by the Tydings-McDuffie law, as he may deem necessary for the full and mutual protection of the Philippine Islands and the United States. Second, in order speedily to effectuate the policy of hastening the time of independence for the Filipinos the President of the United States is authorized, after consultation with the President of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, to advance the date of the independence of the Philippine Islands by proclaiming their independence as a separate and self-governing nation prior to July 4, 1946. Third, the resources of the United States both of men and materials are pledged for continued use to redeem the Philippines from the invader and to speed the day of ultimate and complete independence for the people of the Philippine Islands. The Filipinos will hear of the passage of this resolution and will be heartened. The passage will reflect the continued and increasing interest of the American people in the welfare of their friends, the Filipinos, who so heroically rose as one man to defend the rights of liberty-loving nations. Our Government's impartial reporting of this news will do much to destroy the enemy's propaganda designed to convince the Filipinos that General MacArthur will not and cannot return to avenge Bataan and Corregidor. It is believed that prompt enactment of this joint resolution will be to the mutual advantage not only of the Philippine Islands but of the United States as well. AMENDING THE ACT ENTITLED "AN ACT TO EXPEDITE THE PROVISION OF HOUSING IN CONNECTION WITH NATIONAL DEFENSE, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES," APPROVED OCTOBER 14, 1940, AS AMENDED MAY 22, 1944.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. LANHAM, from the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 4728] The Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 4728) to amend the act entitled "An act to expedite the provision of housing in connection with national defense, and for other purposes," approved October 14, 1940, as amended, having considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass. STATEMENT The bill is a minor amendment of a technical nature, and merely clarifies the last proviso of section 3 of the act of October 14, 1940, as amended, by making it clear that the funds made available under that act may be used for the processing of priorities and allocations of materials, not only for housing construction required solely for in-migrant war workers, but also for housing construction, repairs, and maintenance, required for purposes other than the housing of in-migrant war workers particularly in congested war areas and to relieve individual hardship. While the enactment of the bill will greatly facilitate the processing of priorities for privately financed housing, it will not require additional expenditures. On the contrary, the bill represents an economy move with regard to the processing of priorities for privately financed war housing, and with regard to simplifying and making easier what the private builder has to do in order to obtain his priorities. The bill is also a forward step in the direction of facilitating privately financed housing, beyond that required solely for in-migrant H. Repts., 78-2, vol. 8-54 |