In order that its provisions may be in accord with the foregoing suggestions, I recommend that the bill be amended to read as follows:

"That the Secretary of the Interior, in the case of lands not within any known geologic structure of a productive oil or gas field, shall waive the rentals stipulated in oil and gas leases issued pursuant to section 17 of the Act of February 25, 1920, as amended by the Act of August 21, 1935 (49 Stat. 674), for the second and third lease years, unless a valuable deposit of oil or gas be sooner discovered."

The Director of the Bureau of the Budget has advised me that there is no objection to the presentation of this report.

MAY 24 (legislative day, APRIL 24), 1940.—Ordered to be printed

Mr. O'MAHONEY, from the Committee on Public Lands and Surveys, submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany H. R. 8403]

The Committee on Public Lands and Surveys, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 8403) to convey certain lands to the State of Wyoming, having considered the same, report the same to the Senate with the recommendation that it pass.

This measure, H. R. 8403, is a companion measure to S. 3287, introduced in the Senate. It was passed by the House of Representatives on April 15, 1940, after having been amended to meet the suggestion of the Department of the Interior.

The bill provides for the conveyance to the State of Wyoming, upon payment of $36.95, of a tract of land covering 1.478 acres in the State of Wyoming, a portion of which has been occupied, with the consent of the United States Biological Survey, by the State Highway Commission of Wyoming and the highway department of Teton County, Wyo.

The favorable report which was submitted to the House by the Department of the Interior reads as follows:

Hon. MARVIN JONES,

THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR,
Washington, March 30, 1940.

Chairman, Committee on Agriculture,

House of Representatives.

MY DEAR MR. JONES: I have received your letter of February 21 with which was enclosed a copy of H. R. 8403, a bill to convey certain lands to the State of Wyoming, and in which you requested a report from this Department on the proposed measure.

The bill would authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to convey 1.478 acres of specifically described land to the State of Wyoming.

Since the Biological Survey was transferred from the Department of Agriculture to the Department of the Interior under the President's Reorganization Plan No. II (53 Stat. 1431), it is suggested that, if enacted, the bill be amended to refer

to the Secretary of the Interior rather than to the Secretary of Agriculture, as jurisdiction over the area is now in this Department.

The land in question is located in Section 27 (NW1⁄4SW), T. 41 N., R. 16 W. of the sixth principal meridian of Wyoming, and is a part of the National Elk Refuge under the administration of the Biological Survey of this Department. The tract was acquired in a 1,240-acre purchase for the elk refuge under authority contained in the act of August 10, 1912 (37 Stat. 293), at a cost of $25 per acre. Its original cost to the Government, therefore, was $36.95.

A portion of the land described in the bill has been occupied by the State Highway Commission of Wyoming under a permit issued by the Secretary of Agriculture on June 10, 1931, and the remainder of the area has been used by the Highway Department of Teton County, Wyo., under a permit issued by the Chief of the Biological Survey on October 29, 1937. The State highway department has erected a storage warehouse on the site, and the county highway department maintains a storage yard for equipment and materials on the area.

The land occupied by the State and county highway authorities and covered by the bill is included within a 14-acre administrative site originally granted by permit of the Biological Survey to the Forest Service under date of January 9, 1926, and the issuance of the permits to the State and county officials was agreeable to the Forest Service. The entire 14-acre tract is also outside of the big-game fencing that encloses the elk refuge at this point.

The Biological Survey has enjoyed the full cooperation of the State and county highway departments, particularly in the use of their equipment in removing snow and otherwise keeping open the road from the refuge headquarters to the town of Jackson, which has greatly facilitated the administration of the refuge.

The granting of the area to the State as contemplated by the proposed bill would not interfere with the administration of the elk refuge. The Department, therefore, has no objection to the enactment of the proposed bill if it is amended to provide reimbursement in the amount of $36.95 to the Federal Government for the original cost of the land.

I have been advised by the Director of the Budget that there is no objection to the presentation of this report to the committee.

Sincerely yours,

AUTHORIZING THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY TO ACQUIRE LAND AT KEY WEST, FLA.

MAY 24 (legislative day, APRIL 24), 1940.-Ordered to be printed

Mr. ANDREWS, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, submitted the

following

REPORT

[To accompany H. R. 9140]

The Committee on Naval Affairs, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 9140) to authorize the Secretary of the Navy to acquire land at Key West, Fla., having considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment with the recommendation that the bill do pass.

The purpose of this bill is to authorize the Secretary of the Navy to acquire approximately 62 acres of land bordering on the Gulf of Mexico for use by the Navy as a naval air station primarily for basing naval patrol planes.

Under the limited national emergency, one unit of the inner aviation patrol for the enforcement of neutrality was assigned to Key West. The site that it is proposed to acquire under the provisions of this bill is the one that is now under lease by the Navy and in use as a base for patrol planes assigned to Key West.

This property was leased to permit the installation of essential facilities for the patrol squadron, including a seaplane hangar, barracks and mess hall for enlisted men, quarters for bachelor officers, storehouse and utility building, dispensary, ready magazines, a small boat pier, gasoline storage and necessary services, such as fresh-water and sewerage systems, electric power and telephone lines, and roads. and walks. The estimated cost of these facilities which are being constructed under contract is approximately $700,000.

The fair assessed value of the property upon which the above facilities are located is $125,000. The annual rental of the property under the lease is $20,000. The lease includes a provision for the inclusion of the first year's rental of $20,000 in the purchase price of $125,000, provided the option to purchase is exercised before November 27, 1940. In view of the favorable location of the aviation activities at Key West from a strategic standpoint and the certainty that with the facil