APRIL 9 (legislative day, APRIL 8), 1940.-Ordered to be printed Mr. OVERTON, from the Committee on Commerce, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany S. 2111] The Committee on Commerce, to whom was referred the bill (S. 2111) to amend the act entitled "An act granting additional quarantine powers and imposing additional duties upon the Marine Hospital Service," approved February 15, 1893, as amended, having considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment with the recommendation that the bill do pass. Reports from the United States Maritime Commission and the Treasury Department explaining the bill and in support thereof follow: UNITED STATES MARITIME COMMISSION, Washington, June 1, 1939. Hon. JOSIAH W. BAILEY, Chairman, Committee on Commerce, United States Senate. MY DEAR SENATOR: Under date of April 13, 1939, you requested the views and recommendations of the Commission with respect to S. 2111, a bill to amend the act entitled "An act granting additional quarantine powers and imposing additional duties upon the Marine Hospital Service," approved February 15, 1893, as amended. It The act of February 15, 1893, as amended (42 U. S. C. 81, 82), provides that it shall be unlawful for any merchant ship or other vessel from any foreign port or place to enter any port of the United States except in accordance with the provisions of the act and with such rules and regulations of State and municipal health authorities as may be made in pursuance of, or consistent with, the act. further provides, in section 2 (42 U. S. C. 82), that any vessel at any foreign port departing for any port in the United States, or any vessel at any port in the possessions or dependencies of the United States departing for any port in the United States or its possessions or dependencies, shall be required to obtain from the consul at the port of departure a bill of health in form prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury setting forth the sanitary history and condition of the vessel. Vessels operating exclusively in trade between foreign ports are excepted, as are vessels operating on or near the northern frontier of the United States and ports in the United States. The act then provides: "The provisions of this section shall not apply to vessels plying between foreign ports on or near the frontiers of the United States and ports of the United States adjacent thereto; but the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized, when in his discretion, it is expedient for the preservation of the public health, to establish regulations governing such vessels." The proposed bill would amend the provision above quoted by striking out the words "adjacent thereto." The effect of the bill, therefore, would be to extend the exception contained in the portion of the act quoted so that the provisions of the section would not apply "to vessels plying between foreign ports on or near the frontiers of the United States and ports of the United States." It is to be noted that the amendment does not affect the authority of the Secretary of the Treasury to establish regulations governing such vessels, when in his discretion such regulations are expedient for the preservation of the public health. The Commission has no objection to the proposed bill. We are advised by the Director of the Bureau of the Budget that there would be no objection to the submission of this report to your committee. Very sincerely yours, E. S. LAND, Chairman. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, Hon. JOSIAH W. BAILEY, Chairman, Committee on Commerce, United States Senate. DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: I am in receipt of your request of April 13, 1939, to submit comments on Senate bill 2111, entitled "A bill to amend the act entitled 'An act granting additional quarantine powers and imposing additional duties upon the Marine Hospital Service,' approved February 15, 1893, as amended." I am in full accord with the intent of this bill and recommend its enactment. The Department has been advised by the Bureau of the Budget that there is no objection to the submission of this report to your committee. Very truly yours, STEPHEN B. GIBBONS, Acting Secretary of the Treasury. O APRIL 9 (legislative day, APRIL 8), 1940.-Ordered to be printed Mr. OVERTON, from the Committee on Commerce, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 7420] The Committee on Commerce, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 7420) to amend laws for preventing collisions of vessels, having considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment with the recommendation that the bill do pass. The report of the House Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries follows: [H. Rept. No. 1532, 76th Cong., 3d sess.] The Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 7420) to amend laws for preventing collisions of vessels, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with amendments and recommend that the bill as amended do pass. The amendments are as follows: (1) Page 1, line 12, strike out the word "Commerce" and insert the word "War"; (2) Page 2, line 1, following the comma after the word "investigation" insert the following: "by rule, regulation or order,"; (3) Page 2, line 4, strike out the word "Commerce" and insert the word "War"; (4) Page 2, strike out lines 19 to 21, inclusive; (5) Page 3, line 7, strike out the word "Commerce" and insert the word "War"; (6) Page 3, line 7, following the comma after the word "investigation" insert the following: "by rule, regulation or order,"; (7) Page 3, line 11, strike out the word "Commerce" and insert the word "War"; (8) Page 4, line 21, strike out the word "Commerce" and insert the word "War"; (9) Page 4, line 21, following the comma after the word "investigation" insert the following: "by rule, regulation, or order," (10) Page 4, line 24, strike out the word "Commerce" beginning at the end of that line and continuing on page 5, line 1, and insert the word "War". PURPOSE OF AMENDMENTS Amendments Nos. 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, and 10 change the word "Commerce" to "War". The original jurisdiction to define anchorage areas is vested in the Secretary of War, and to avoid the possibility of confusion, it was decided to be preferable to vest in 8. Repts., 76-8, vol. 2————24 the Secretary of War jurisdiction to define the areas contemplated by this legislation rather than the Secretary of Commerce. Amendments Nos. 2, 6, and 9 insert after the word "investigation" the phrase "by rule, regulation, or order". The purpose of these amendments is to afford flexibility and facility in defining or changing the excepted areas This is desirable as the class of vessels to be accommodated are small vessels which occupy areas where existing requirements constitute a burden and in many instances work as a limitation on the ownership of vessels of that type; that is, vessels of not more than 65 feet in length. These amendments have the approval of both the Department of War and the Department of Commerce. Amendment No. 4 strikes out lines 19 to 21, both inclusive. This amendment is explained in a letter to the chairman of the committee, dated January 6, 1940, from the Assistant Secretary of Commerce, J. M. Johnson, wherein he said: "On July 27, 1939, I submitted to the Speaker of the House of Representatives a draft bill to amend laws for preventing collisions of vessels, which was introduced in the House by you as H. R. 7420. The draft bill as presented to you contained a sentence which appears on page 2, lines 19 to 21, inclusive, of H. R. 7420, as follows: ""A vessel aground in or near a fairway shall carry the above light or lights and the two red lights prescribed by article 4 (a).' "This sentence was included in the draft bill in error and it is the view of this Department that the bill should be amended by the deletion of that sentence. The sentence appears in article 11 of the International Rules at the present time, but does not appear in article 11 of the Inland Rules, and this Department perceives no reason for now including it in the Inland Rules." PURPOSES OF THE BILL Under date of July 27, 1939, Assistant Secretary of Commerce, J. M. Johnson, sent a letter to the Speaker of the House, and submitted therewith the original text of the bill, H. R. 7420. A copy of the letter is attached to this report. This letter called attention to the fact that the article and rules therein referred to, while serving a salutary purpose with respect to vessels generally, worked unnecessary burdens on small craft of not more than 65 feet in length. The existing articles require that every vessel anchored anywhere on the navigable waters of the United States between the hours of sunset and sunrise shall exhibit one anchor light if under 150 feet in length and two such lights if 150 feet in length or over. The bill, as amended, proposes to permit the Secretary of War, after appropriate investigation, to designate by rule, regulation, or order, such areas as he may deem proper as "special anchorage areas" for small craft and to allow small craft to anchor in those special anchorage areas without exhibiting anchor lights. It will be noted that the exception relates to vessels not more than 65 feet in length and exempts them from the requirement to carry or exhibit the white light when anchored in the special anchorage areas. The bill will not increase the expenditures of the Department, and the Assistant Secretary informs your committee that the Bureau of the Budget has advised that there would be no objection to the submission of the report to Congress. The testimony taken at the hearings on this bill shows that many of the boats are anchored in small creeks and out-of-the-way places, and when an inspector comes around in these out-of-the-way places, he reports these boats. The owners are immediately faced with a penalty, and the necessity to submit petitions for relief. Almost without exception, relief is granted, but the boat owners are subjected to considerable trouble and the Department to considerable unnecessary work. This bill will legalize existing practices and relieve boatmen owning boats of 65 feet and under from the need for anchorage lights in out-of-the-way places when the anchorage lights serve no useful purpose and there is little or no waterborne commerce in the vicinity. In many cases the owners of such small craft reside some distance from the places where their vessels are moored or anchored and are unable, except at the cost of considerable time and money, to place and exhibit the required anchor light on their boats each night. Many persons desiring such craft for recreational or pleasure purposes forego ownership because of the expense of looking after their craft even though they are anchored in areas where there is no commerce, where lights are not needed, where there is no danger to their own or any other craft, and yet where under the rigorous provisions of existing law a light must be shown from sunset to sunrise at all seasons of the year. |