(3) To make such other investigations in respect of such system of taxes as the Joint Committee may deem necessary.

(4) To investigate measures and methods for the simplification of such taxes, particularly the income tax.

(5) To publish from time to time for public examination and analysis proposed measures and methods for the simplification of such taxes; and

(6) To report from time to time to the Committee on Finance and the Committee on Ways and Means and, in its discretion, to the Senate or the House of Representatives, or both, the results of its investigations, together with such recommendations as it may deem advisable.

To the above, section 710 of the Revenue Act of 1928 added the duty of examining refunds in excess of $75,000 of income, war-profits, excess-profits, estate, and gift taxes and of making annual reports thereof to the Congress. A similar provision had theretofore been enacted in the first deficiency act, fiscal year 1927, approved February 28, 1927 (44 Stat. 1254). Section 3777 of the Internal Revenue Code, derived from section 710 of the Revenue Act of 1928, reads as follows: "SEC. 3777. Reports of refunds and credits in excess of $75,000.

"(a) By Commissioner to Joint Committee.-No refund or credit of any income, war-profits, excess-profits, estate, or gift tax in excess of $75,000 shall be made until after the expiration of 30 days from the date upon which a report giving the name of the person to whom the refund or credit is to be made, the amount of such refund or credit, and a summary of the facts and the decision of the Commissioner is submitted to the Joint Committee on Internal Revenue Taxation.

"(b) By Joint Committee to Congress.-A report to Congress shall be made annually by such committee of such refunds and credits, including the names of all persons and corporations to whom amounts are credited or payments are made, together with the amounts credited or paid to each."

The statute confers upon the Joint Committee certain powers necessary for the performance of its duties.

The committee is composed of 10 members, of whom 5 are members of the Committee on Finance and 5 of the Committee on Ways and Means. The Committee on Finance and the Committee on Ways and Means each elects its membership on the Joint Committee, 3 from the majority and 2 from the minority party. It has been the custom to elect ranking members.

The committee was organized in 1926 and functions with the aid of a permanent staff. It is the custom of the Joint Committee to elect a chairman and vice chairman annually, alternating these offices between the chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means and the chairman of the Committee on Finance.

JOINT COMMITTEE ON PRINTING

The Joint Committee on Printing, consisting of three Members of the Senate and three Members of the House of Representatives, was created by the act of August 3, 1846, and its principal duties are set forth in the Printing Act approved January 12, 1895. That act gave the committee authority "to remedy any neglect or delay in the public printing and binding." This authority was extended by section 11 of the Legislative Appropriation Act for 1920, empowering the committee "to adopt and employ such measures as, in its discretion, may be deemed necessary to remedy any neglect, delay, duplication, or waste in the public printing and binding and the distribution of Government publications."

The act of 1895 provides that the committee "shall have control of the arrangement and style of the Congressional Record, and, while providing that it shall be substantially a verbatim report of proceedings, shall take all needed action for the reduction of unnecessary bulk.' The committee is also authorized to provide for the publication of semimonthly and session indexes to the Record and has general authority over the forms and style of congressional printing and binding.

The CONGRESSIONAL DIRECTORY, memorial addresses on deceased Senators and Members, statute proceedings, and similar publications are compiled and prepared under the direction of the committee. The Superintendent of Documents publishes the index of public documents upon a plan approved by the committee and indexes such single volumes as it shall direct.

The committee is directed by law to establish rules and regulations for the printing of documents and reports in two or more editions. Orders for subsequent editions after 2 years from date of original order must receive its approval.

The committee directs whether extra copies of documents and reports shall be bound in paper or cloth, and prescribes the arrangement and binding of documents for depositary libraries.

The cost of printing any document or report which cannot be properly charged to any other appropriation may, upon order of the committee, be charged to the congressional allotment.

The committee may order additional copies printed of any Government publication within a limit of $200 in cost in any one instance.

The act of 1895 also provides that the committee shall exercise the following functions in regard to the purchase of paper for the public printing and binding: Fix upon standards of quality, receive proposals and award contracts therefor, appoint a member of the board of paper inspection, determine differences of opinion as to quality, act upon defaults, and authorize open-market purchases. The Legislative Appropriation Act for 1925 authorizes the Public Printer to procure under the direction of the Joint Committee on Printing in accordance with the act approved January 12, 1895, and furnish, on requisition, envelopes (not including envelopes printed in the course of manufacture) in common use by two or more departments, establishments, or services of the Government in the District of Columbia.

The Public Printer is required by law to advertise for bids for material, other than paper, under the direction of the committee, and to make a return to it on all such contracts awarded by him. The committee may authorize the Public Printer to make certain open-market purchases of material, and, by resolution, it has required him to obtain its approval on all purchases of machinery and equipment in excess of $1,000 in any one instance.

Maps and illustration plates for Government publications are purchased under the direction of the committee whenever the probable cost exceeds $1,200; or, whenever the exigencies of the public service do not justify advertisement, the committee may authorize immediate contracts for lithographing and engraving. Printing for the Patent Office is required by law to be done under such regulations and conditions as the committee may prescribe.

Section 11 of the Legislative Appropriation Act for 1920 requires all printing, binding, and blank-book work for the Government to be done at the Government Printing Office, except such classes of work as shall be deemed by the Joint Committee on Printing to be urgent or necessary to have done elsewhere than in the District of Columbia for the exclusive use of any field service outside of said District.

JOINT COMMITTEE ON THE LIBRARY

The Joint Committee on the Library was established by law; in 1809 the two Houses by concurrent action supplemented the law, and in 1843 recognized it by joint rule. The joint rules having ceased to exist in 1876, the rules of the House recognized the committee in 1880. In 1902 a law increased the membership of the committee to five in each House.

The statutes confer on the joint committee certain executive functions, such as the acceptance or purchase of works of art for the Capitol, the assignment of the same to such place in the Capitol as they may deem suitable, and control of the Botanic Garden, and provide that its powers shall reside in the Senate portion in the recess after the expiration of a Congress.

Aside from the executive functions of the joint committee, the House branch exercises functions as a standing committee of the House, and has a jurisdiction covering construction and care of the building of the Library of Congress, management of the Library, purchase of books and manuscripts, erection of monuments to the memory of individuals, and in some instances on battlefields, and the removal of the remains of distinguished persons. The general affairs of the Smithsonian Institution and the incorporation of similar institutions are also within the jurisdiction of the House branch of the committee.

Neither the joint committee nor the House branch reports appropriation bills.

EXECUTIVE BRANCH

EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

Under authority of the Reorganization Act of 1939 and in accordance with the President's Reorganization Plans No. I and No. II, the Executive Office of the President comprises the following major divisions: The White House Office, Bureau of the Budget, National Resources Planning Board, Office of Government Reports, and Liaison Office for Personnel Management. Executive Order No. 8248 of September 8, 1939, established the divisions and defined their functions.

THE WHITE HOUSE OFFICE

The functions and duties of the White House Office, as defined in Executive Order No. 8248 of September 8, 1939, are as follows:

In general, to serve the President in an intimate capacity in the performance of the many detailed activities incident to his immediate office. To that end, the White House Office shall be composed of the following principal subdivisions, with particular functions and duties as indicated:

(a) The Secretaries to the President.-To facilitate and maintain quick and easy communication with the Congress, the individual Members of the Congress, the heads of executive departments and agencies, the press, the radio, and the general public.

(b) The executive clerk.-To provide for the orderly handling of documents and correspondence within the White House Office, and to organize and supervise all clerical services and procedure relating thereto.

(c) The administrative assistants to the President.-To assist the President in such matters as he may direct, and at the specific request of the President, to get information and to condense and summarize it for his use. These administrative assistants shall be personal aides to the President and shall have no authority over anyone in any department or agency, including the Executive Office of the President, other than the personnel assigned to their immediate office. In no event shall the administrative assistants be interposed between the President and the head of any department or agency, or between the President and any one of the divisions in the Executive Office of the President.

LIAISON OFFICE FOR PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT

The Liaison Office for Personnel Management assists the President in the execution of the duties imposed upon him by the Constitution and by legislation with respect to personnel management and in maintaining closer contact with all Federal departments and agencies in their relation to personnel-management policies.

OFFICE FOR EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT

The Office for Emergency Management was established by administrative order of May 25, 1940, in accordance with section I (6) of Executive Order No. 8248, which provides that there shall be, "in the event of a national emergency, or threat of a national emergency, such office for emergency management as the President shall determine.'

The functions of the Office are to (a) assist the President in the clearance of information with respect to measures necessitated by the threatened emergency; (b) maintain liaison between the President and the Council of National Defense and its Advisory Commission, and with such other agencies, public or private, as the President may direct, for the purpose of securing maximum utilization and coordination of agencies and facilities in meeting the threatened emergency; and (c) perform such additional duties as the President may direct.

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BUREAU OF THE BUDGET

The Bureau of the Budget was created by the Budget and Accounting Act of June 10, 1921. Prior to its transfer to the Executive Office of the President, by Reorganization Plan No. I under authority of the Reorganization Act of 1939, the Bureau was in the Treasury Department but under the immediate direction of the President. Under Reorganization Plan No. I, the Central Statistical Board and its functions, as well as those of the Central Statistical Committee, which was abolished, were transferred to the Bureau of the Budget.

The functions of the Bureau are:

1. To assist the President in the preparation of the Budget and the formulation of the fiscal program of the Government.

2. To supervise and control the administration of the Budget.

3. To conduct research in the development of improved plans of administrative management and to advise the executive departments and agencies of the Government with respect to improved administrative organization and practice.

4. To aid the President to bring about more efficient and economical conduct of Government service.

5. To assist the President by clearing and coordinating departmental advice on proposed legislation and by making recommendations as to Presidential action on legislative enactments.

6. To assist in the consideration and clearance and, where necessary, in the preparation of proposed Executive orders and proclamations.

7. To plan and promote the improvement, development, and coordination of Federal and other statistical services.

8. To keep the President informed of the progress of activities by agencies of the Government with respect to work proposed, work actually initiated, and work completed, together with the relative timing of work between the several agencies of the Government.

The Director of the Bureau of the Budget is vested with authority to make, waive, or modify apportionments of appropriations, and to approve the use of printing and binding appropriations for the printing of publications.

NATIONAL RESOURCES PLANNING BOARD

Provision for the creation of the National Resources Planning Board was made by the President's Reorganization Plan No. I, effective July 1, 1939, pursuant to the Reorganization Act of 1939. Plan No. I abolished the National Resources Committee and the Federal Employment Stabilization Office in the Department of Commerce and transferred their functions to the new Board. The former National Resources Committee was the successor to the National Resources Board, which, in turn, succeeded the National Planning Board of the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works.

The functions of the Board are:

1. To collect, prepare, and make available to the President such plans, data, and information as may be helpful to a planned development and use of national resources, and related subjects referred to it by the President, and to recommend to the President and the Congress long-time plans and programs for the wise use and fullest development of such resources.

2. To advise the President from time to time of the trend of employment and business activity, and of the existence or approach of periods of business depression and unemployment in the United States or in any substantial portion thereof; and to recommend measures leading to the improvement and stabilization of economic conditions.

3. To collect information concerning advance construction plans and estimates by all Federal agencies, the States, municipalities, and other public and private agencies, and to list for the President and the Congress all proposed public works in the order of their relative importance with respect to (a) the greatest good to the greatest number of people, (b) the emergency necessities of the Nation, and (c) the social, economic, and cultural advancement of the people of the United States.

4. To receive and record all proposed Federal projects involving the acquisition of land (including transfer of land jurisdiction) and land-research projects, and, in an advisory capacity, to provide the agencies concerned with such information or data as may be pertinent to the projects.

5. To consult and cooperate with agencies of the Federal Government, with the States and municipalities or agencies thereof, and with any public or private

planning or research agencies or institutions, in carrying out any of its duties and functions, and to act as a clearing house and means of coordination for planning activities, linking together various levels and fields of planning.

Through nine field offices, under the direction of regional chairmen and counselors, the National Resources Planning Board cooperates with 42 State planning boards and with regional or other planning agencies.

OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT REPORTS

The Office of Government Reports is an administrative unit created pursuant to the President's Reorganization Plan No. II, effective July 1, 1939. The office replaced the National Emergency Council, which was abolished by Reorganization Plan No. II.

It assists the President in dealing with special problems requiring the clearance of information between the Federal Government and State and local governments and private institutions. It keeps the President currently informed of the opinions, desires, and complaints of citizens and groups of citizens and of State and local governments with respect to the work of Federal agencies. It reports to the President, on the basis of the information it has obtained, possible ways and means of reducing the cost of the operation of the Government.

It collects and distributes information concerning the purposes and activities of executive departments and agencies for the use of Congress, administrative officials, and the public.

DIVISION OF PRESS INTELLIGENCE

The Division of Press Intelligence was established in August 1933 as a division of the National Recovery Administration in order to provide Government officials with a prompt and comprehensive press service. On July 10, 1935, it became a division of the National Emergency Council.

It makes available to Members of Congress and Federal officials a daily bulletin presenting news and editorial discussion of governmental, economic, and related subjects compiled from a list of 350 newspapers; a weekly report comprising abstracts of articles and editorials relating to public affairs; a daily newspaperclipping service; and a special daily service involving requests for research and reports gathered from the permanent files of newspaper clippings.

UNITED STATES INFORMATION SERVICE

The United States Information Service was established in March 1934 as a division of the National Emergency Council, to function as a central clearing house for information on all phases of governmental activity. It serves both the Government and the general public by furnishing, upon request, factual information on the structure and operations of the various Federal departments and agencies and by directing inquiries into proper channels. It compiles and publishes the United States Government Manual, a reference book of factual information concerning the functions and organization of Government agencies.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE

SECRETARY OF STATE

The Secretary of State, who is the highest ranking Cabinet member, is charged, under the direction of the President, with the conduct of negotiations of whatever character relating to the foreign affairs of the United States, and has charge of the correspondence with the diplomatic and consular representatives of the United States and with the representatives of foreign powers accredited to the United States. The Secretary of State grants and issues passports to nationals of the United States. Exequaturs to foreign consuls in the United States are issued through his office. He prescribes, promulgates, and administers_regulations under treaties and laws governing international traffic in arms. He has custody of the seal of the United States, of current records relating to presidential electors, and of the originals of acts and resolutions of Congress subsequent to the Sixty-seventh Congress, and treaties, conventions, and other international agreements of the United States subsequent to August 14, 1906, and proclamations thereof by the President. He certifies the adoption of amendments to the Constitution of the United States. He publishes the acts and resolutions of Congress, Territorial papers, treaties and other international acts of the United States, and papers relating to the foreign relations of the United States.