Hon. WARREN G. MAGNUSON, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Chairman, Committee on Commerce, DEAR SENATOR: This is in response to your request for the views of the Department of Justice on S. 1147, a bill to amend paragraph (10) of section 5 of the Interstate Commerce Act so as to change the basis for determining whether a proposed unification or acquisition of control comes within the exemption provided for by such paragraph. This bill has been examined, but since its subject matter does not directly affect the activities of the Department of Justice we would prefer not to offer any comment concerning it. Sincerely, RAMSEY CLARK, Deputy Attorney General. Hon. WARREN G. MAGNUSON, COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES, Chairman, Committee on Commerce, DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Reference is made to your letter of February 18, 1965, requesting our comments on S. 1148, which would amend section 17(2) of the Interstate Commerce Act to enable the Commission to utilize its employees more effectively and to improve administrative efficiency by permitting the Commission to assign or refer, with certain exceptions, any of its work, business or functions in the matters which have not involved the taking of testimony at a public hearing or the submission of evidence by opposing parties in the form of affidavits to an individual Commission employee of particular classes or such other qualified employees as it may designate. Such employees would also be eligible for assignment to boards through which the Commission performs certain of its work. This bill would implement legislative recommendation No. 10 shown on page 65 of the 78th Annual Report of the Interstate Commerce Commission submitted to the Congress on December 31, 1964. The enactment of S. 1148 would not affect the functions and operations of our Office, nor would it adversely affect the interests of the United States as a user of transportation. It apparently would enable the Commission to utilize its qualified employees more effectively in the handling of routine or specialized matters with the purpose of contributing to improved overall administrative efficiency and, therefore, we have no objection to favorable consideration of S. 1148. Sincerely yours, JOSEPH CAMPBELL, Comptroller General of the United States. U.S. CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION, Hon. WARREN G. MAGNUSON, DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This is in further reply to your letter of February 18, 1965, requesting the Commission's views on S. 1148, a bill to amend the Interstate Commerce Act to enable the Interstate Commerce Commission to utilize its employees more effectively and to improve administrative efficiency. The Civil Service Commission has no comments to offer with respect to this bill as its subject is outside the scope of the Commission's jurisdiction. The Bureau of the Budget advises that from the standpoint of the administration's program there is no objection to the submission of this report. By direction of the Commission, Sincerely yours, JOHN W. MACY, Jr., Chairman. COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES, Hon. WARREN G. MAGNUSON, DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: We have your letter of February 18, 1965, in which you asked for our comments on S. 1149. This bill, part of the 1965 legislative program of the Interstate Commerce Commission, implements the Commission's legislative recommendation No. 11 (78th annual report, pp. 66, 67). The same recommendation has been made annually since 1961; two bills were introduced to effect it, S. 3420, 87th Congress, 2d session, and S. 675, 88th Congress, 1st session. However, the Congress took no action on these bills. The purpose of S. 1149 is to relieve the Interstate Commerce Commission of mandatory but said to be no longer necessary valuation requirements by appropriate amendment of section 19a of the Interstate Commerce Act, 49 U.S.C. 19a. In addition the bill, if enacted, would free the railroads from performing costly and time-consuming tasks now required of them under section 19a. The amendment proposed in S. 1149 does not relate to the functions and operations of our office. Because it would eliminate some unnecessary work and recordkeeping, we do not object to its favorable consideration by your committee. Sincerely yours, JOSEPH CAMPBELL, Comptroller General of the United States. GENERAL COUNSEL OF THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, Hon. WARREN G. MAGNUSON, Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., May 17, 1965. DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This is in reply to your inquiry requesting the views of this Department on S. 1149, a bill to amend section 19a of the Interstate Commerce Act to eliminate certain valuation requirements, and for other purposes. The bill would amend section 19a by eliminating the requirements that the Commission (1) determine the present value of land; (2) determine the valuation of property held by carriers for purposes other than for use in common carrier service; and (3) ascertain and report the amount, value, and disposition of aids, gifts, grants, and donations and the amount and value of concessions and allowances made by carriers in consideration thereof. Finally, the bill would make optional the section 19a (f) requirement that the Commission keep itself informed of changes in the quantities, costs, and values of the property of carriers following completion of the original valuation of such property. The Interstate Commerce Commission has indicated that the cost of keeping these records current generally outweighs their utility. We are informed that the concept of reproduction value for ratemaking purposes is generally in disuse by the Commission, except with regard to pipelines. Upon the section 19a (f) requirement being made optional as proposed, the Commission would continue to have the authority to require from pipelines current information about property units for use in developing reproduction cost as an element in determining the rate bases for pipelines. But with the change in 19a (f), the Commission could cease requiring such information from railroads, from whom it is not needed, resulting in savings to the latter carriers and to the Commission as well. For these reasons, this Department supports the enactment of S. 1149. We have been advised by the Bureau of the Budget that there would be no objection to submission of this report from the standpoint of the administration's program. Sincerely, DEAN LEWIS (For Robert E. Giles). 49-278-65 Hon. WARREN G. MAGNUSON, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Chairman, Committee on Commerce, Washington, D.C., DEAR SENATOR: This is in response to your request for the views of the Department of Justice on S. 1149, a bill to amend section 19a of the Interstate Commerce Act to eliminate certain valuation requirements, and for other purposes. This bill has been examined, but since its subject matter does not directly affect the activities of the Department of Justice we would prefer not to offer any comment concerning it. DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Reference is made to your request for the views of this Department on S. 1149, to amend section 19a of the Interstate Commerce Act to eliminate certain valuation requirements, and for other purposes. The proposed bill would eliminate certain requirements relating to the determination of the value of land and other property of common carriers in connection with the establishment of rates by the Interstate Commerce Commission. The proposed legislation is not of primary interest to this Department and the Department has no comment to make with respect to its general merits. The Department has been advised by the Bureau of the Budget that there is no objection from the standpoint of the administration's program to the submission of this report to your committee. Sincerely yours, FRED B. SMITH, Acting General Counsel. Hon. WARREN G. MAGNUSON, COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES, Chairman, Committee on Commerce, DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Reference is made to your letter of February 18, 1965, requesting our comments on S. 1150, which would give effect to legislative recommendation No. 12 of the Interstate Commerce Commission as set forth on page 67 of its 78th Annual Report. This bill proposes to amend section 20a (12) of the Interstate Commerce Commission Act so as (a) to eliminate the necessity for prior approval of the Commission for a person to hold the position of officer or director of more than one carrier when such carriers are in a single integrated system of carriers lawfully operated under common control, and (b) to make it clear that the prohibition against the holding by "any person" of the position of officer or director of more than one carrier, except when such carriers are lawfully operated under common control, applies to the holding of such positions by different members, officers, employees, or directors, of the same firm, copartnership, corporation, association, or joint stock association, or to the representation of a person on the board of directors of more than one carrier through an agent or nominee. In justification of the enactment of S. 1150, it is reported at page 2716 of the Congressional Record for February 17, 1965, that the filing and processing of formal applications for such authority entail considerable time and expense both for the applicant and the Commission, which could be saved without adversely affecting the public interest. It is also stated therein that a total of 851 interlocking directorship applications were filed during the period covered by the Commission's 74th, 75th, 76th, and 77th Annual Reports to Congress (1960 through 1963) and that since only about 2 percent of these applications involved positions in unaffiliated carriers, the time and money consumed in filing and processing approximately 98 percent of these applications could have been saved if the section were revised as recommended, and that a considerable reduction in recordkeeping expenses would have been realized. If enacted, this legislation would not effect the functions of our office or the interests of the United States as a purchaser of transportation. From the broad standpoint, we favor legislation designed to relieve the Interstate Commerce Commission of unnecessary regulatory burdens and to permit more efficacious use of its staff. We therefore would have no objection to favorable consideration of S. 1150 by your committee. Sincerely yours, JOSEPH CAMPBELL. Comptroller General of the United States. COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES, Hon. WARREN G. MAGNUSON, DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: We have your letter of February 18, 1965, in which you asked for our comments on S. 1152. S. 1152, which you introduced at the request of the Interstate Commerce Commission to implement its legislative recommendation No. 17, 78th annual report, pages 71 and 72, seeks to cope with the efforts of litigants in damage suits resulting from common carrier accidents to compel testimony from Commission investigators and to compel production of Interstate Commerce Commission records and reports. The same recommendation was made in the 77th annual report; S. 2557, a similar bill, was introduced in the 2d session of the 88th Congress but no further action was taken. S. 1152 proposes to amend section 220 (f) of the Interstate Commerce Act (49 U.S.C. 320 (f)), section 8 of the Locomotive Inspection Act (45 U.S.C. 32, 33), and section 4 of the Accident Reports Act (45 U.S.C. 41), to provide that employees of the Interstate Commerce Commission who investigated motor or rail carrier accidents may not be called in subsequent damage suits to give expert or opinion testimony unless the Interstate Commerce Commission or the court in which the suit is brought determines that the evidence is not reasonably available otherwise. Where such testimony is authorized, it is to be given only by deposition pursuant to the Commission's regulations. The sections proposed to be amended now clearly prohibit the use in damage suits of reports to and by the Commission relating to carrier accidents; however, there is at present no statutory prohibition against requiring Commission investigators to testify. If S. 1152 should be enacted, conceivably there would be fewer demands upon the time of the Commission's investigative staff to respond to subpenas to testify or to produce documents and the work of the Commission would proceed in more orderly fashion. While this type of legislation would not directly affect the functions and operations of this Office, we think it is in the public interest and we have no objection to favorable consideration of S. 1152 by your committee. Sincerely yours, JOSEPH CAMPBELL, Comptroller General of the United States. COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES, Hon. WARREN G. MAGNUSON, DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Reference is made to your letter of February 18, 1965, requesting comments on S. 1153. This bill proposes to give effect to legislative recommendation No. 18 of the Interstate Commerce Commission as set forth on page 72 of its 78th annual report. In justification of the enactment of S. 1153, it is stated at page 2717 of the Congressional Record for February 17, 1965, that the purpose of the attached draft bill is to eliminate from various statutes administered by the Interstate Commerce Commission the mandatory requirement that certain reports, applications, and complaints be made under oath and to authorize the Commission to impose such requirements at its discretion. It is also stated that the oath requirements are, in the opinion of the Commission, both unnecessary and burdensome, because section 1001 of title 18, United States Code, imposes penalties of fine and imprisonment for knowingly making false statements or representations to Federal administrative agencies, and these provisions have been construed to apply to the giving of false information even though not under oath. Also, penalties for knowingly making false statements in carrier reports are contained in section 20(7) (b) and comparable provisions in other parts of the Interstate Commerce Act. S. 1153, if enacted, would not affect the functions and operations of our Office, or the interests of the United States as a purchaser of transportation. However, the bill seems to be in the public interest and, assuming that its enactment would serve to improve the administrative process in the Interstate Commerce Commission, we recommend its favorable consideration by your committee. Sincerely yours, JOSEPH CAMPBELL, Comptroller General of the United States. GENERAL COUNSEL OF THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, Hon. WARREN G. MAGNUSON, DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This is in reply to your request for the views of the Department of Commerce concerning S. 1153, a bill to amend the Interstate Commerce Act and certain supplementary and related acts with respect to the requirement of an oath for certain reports, applications, and complaints filed with the Interstate Commerce Commission. This bill would eliminate the requirement that certain submissions to the Commission be made under oath, except when specified by the Commission. The submissions involved are presently required by various parts of the Interstate Commerce Act, as well as section 77 of the Bankruptcy Act and the acts of 1910 and 1911 (generally termed the Accident Reports Act and Locomotive Inspection Act), as amended. In view of the Administration's desire to render existing regulations less burdensome, and in view of the existing penalties imposed by 18 U.S.C. 1001 for false statements made to Federal agencies, this Department recommends enactment of S. 1153. We have been advised by the Bureau of the Budget that there would be no objection to submission of this report from the standpoint of the Administration's program. Sincerely, ROBERT E. GILES. |