time the Commission may not permit the certification and appointment in the departmental service in Washington, D. C., of eligibles who have not proved residence in a State, Territory, or the District of Columbia for at least 1 year preceding the date of application. It regularly occurs that a small but significant percentage of the eligibles cannot or do not comply with this requirement. There are a number of reasons for this: The principal ones are: (1) The marriage of a woman to a citizen of another State within 1 year of her application for appointment in the departmental service: by operation of law she takes upon marriage the residence of her husband and, accordingly. she can prove neither 1 year's residence in her own State nor 1 year's residence in her husband's State; and (2) the movement of citizens from one State to another during the year preceding application. As the result of the failure of these groups of eligibles to prove residence the Commission may not permit their appointment in the departmental service. Where there is a shortage of qualified eligibles this has proved administratively inefficient in that vacancies may not be filed although there are available and qualified applicants. The Commission believes that the appointment of such persons should be permitted after a register of eligibles who fully meet the residence requirements has become exhausted. The second and minor objective of the proposed legislation is to permit the proof of residence within a State for the required period of 1 year. The present wording of the applicable law is that the applicant must show legal or voting residence in "said county" for the required period of not less than 1 year. these days of frequent movement of citizens of a State across county lines, the Commission has found the "county" requirement almost inoperable. In The proposed legislation (1) amends the Civil Service Act and (2) revokes the residence proviso contained in the act of July 11, 1890, as amended by the act of May 15, 1937. Both acts have heretofore contained residence provisions currently applicable. The proposed legislation combines the two in the form of an amendment to the Civil Service Act with the necessary changes to carry out the objectives mentioned above. The proposed legislation has the full support of this Commission. We were advised by the Bureau of the Budget at the time a draft of the proposed legislation was originally submitted that it was considered to be in conformity with the program of the President. Sincerely yours, HARRY B. MITCHELL, President. CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW In compliance with paragraph 2a of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by the bill, as introduced, are shown as follows (existing law proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new matter is printed in italics, existing law in which no change is proposed is shown in roman): THIRD PARAGRAPH OF THE SECOND CLAUSE of Section 2 of the Act of JANUARY 16, 1883, AN ACT TO REGULATE AND IMPROVE THE CIVIL SERVICE OF THE UNITED STATES (22 STAT. 403; 5 U. S. C. 633) Third, appointments to the public service aforesaid in the departments st Washington shall be apportioned among the several States and Territories and the District of Columbia upon the basis of population as ascertained at the last preceding census. Hereafter [Every] every application for [an] examination before the Civil Service Commission for appointment in the departmental service in the District of Columbia shall [contain, among other things, a statement, under oath, setting forth his or her actual bona fide residence at the time of making the application, as well as how long he or she has been a resident of such place] be accompanied by a certificate of an officer, with his official seal attached, of the county and State of which the applicant claims to be a citizen, that such applicant was, at the time of making such application, a legal or voting resident of said State, and had been such resident for a period of not less than one year next preceding, but this provision shall not apply to persons who may be in the service with civil-service status and seek promotion or appointment in other branches of the Government. The Civil Service Commission may authorize the appointment, without regard to the provisions of this paragraph, of persons otherwise qualified when persons who mod The requirements of this paragraph are not available. PROVISO (AS AMENDED) OF THE SECOND PARAGRAPH UNDER THE CAPTION "CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION" IN THE ACT OF JULY 11, 1890 [Hereafter every application for examination before the Civil Service Commission for appointment in the departmental service in the District of Columbia shall be accompanied by a certificate of an officer, with his official seal attached, of the county and State of which the applicant claims to be a citizen, that such applicant was, at the time of making such application, a legal or voting resident of said county, and had been such resident for a period of not less than one year next preceding, but this provision shall not apply to persons who may be in the service with civil-service status and seek promotion or appointment in other branches of the Government.] [PUBLIC-No. 88-75TH CONGRESS! [CHAPTER 196-1ST SESSION] (H. R. 29281 AN ACT To amend the law relating to residence requirements of applicants for examinations before the Civi Service Commissio [Be it enacted by the enate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the proviso of the second paragraph under the caption "Civil Service Commission" in the Act entitled "An Act making appropriations for the legislative, executive, and judicial expenses of the Government for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, and for other purposes". approved Julv 11. 1890, as amended. is hereby amended to read as follows: ["Hereafter every application for examination before the Civil Service Commission for appointment in the departmental service in the District of Columbia shall be accompanied by a certificate of an officer, with his official seal attached, of the county and State of which the applicant claims to be a citizen, that such applicant was, at the time of making such application, a legal or voting resident of said county, and had been such resident for a period of not less than one year next preceding, but this provision shall not apply to persons who may be in the service with civil-service status and seek promotion or appointment in other branches of the Government."] Approved, May 15, 1937. FEDERAL PROPERTY AND ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES ACT OF 1949 MAY 24, 1949.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. Dawson, from the Committee on Expenditures in the Executive Departments. submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 4754) The Committee on Expenditures in the Executive Departments, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 4754) to simplify the procurement, utilization, and disposal of Government property, to reorganize certain agencies of the Government, and for other purposes, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with amendments and recommend that the bill, as amended, do pass. The amendments are as follows: Page 2, title II, sec. 206, strike the period and add ", and cataloging. Page 3, line 5, strike "-" after the word "public". Page 3, line 23, strike "i" in parenthesis and insert "1". Page 7, line 16, strike the word "Agency", and insert in lieu "Administration" Page 8, line 24, after the word "Administration" insert. ",". Page 13, line 21, after the word "public", strike "-". Page 14, line 9, after the word "public", strike “-”. Page 15, line 13, strike "35d" and insert "354"; strike ")" and insert ", 41 U. S. C. (7b))”. Page 18, line 8, after the word "value", strike "". Page 19, line 2, after the word "property", insert "". Page 21, line 15, after the word "usable", insert "and necessary". Page 22, line 2, after "non", strike "-". Page 38, line 8, strike the word "Agency" and insert in lieu "Administration". Page 50, line 14, strike "III" and insert in lieu “IV”. Page 54, line 7, after "(6)" insert "The first and second provisos contained in the fourth paragraph under the heading "Division of Supply" in". Page 57, line 5, after the parenthesis, strike ": and". Page 57, line 6, strike out entire subsection "(29)". Page 60, line 17, strike "iv" in parenthesis and insert "4”. Page 62, between lines 10 and 11. insert new subsection, “(17) Central Intelligence Agency;". Page 62, line 11, strike figure "17" in parenthesis and insert "18". DEVELOPMENT IN FIELD OF PROPERTY MANAGEMENT The need for an improved and efficient property management program, dealing with the problems facing the Federal Government in this respect, is becoming ever more apparent. The House with the passage of a bill in 1943 (H. R. 2795) took the initial step toward the recognition and solution of this complex phase of government. However, the Congress deferred action on that legislation, owing to the pressing necessity of disposal of war-surplus goods without dislocating the national economy. Instead the Surplus Property Act of 1944 was passed. This act had for its major purpose the handling of our wargenerated surplus, with a limited lifetime of 3 years following the date of cessation of hostilities. This act will terminate on December 31, 1949. The President, by special message dated March 5, 1948, recommended to the Congress renewed consideration of legislation in the field of property management. With this in mind, the Federal Works Administrator was directed to draft for evaluation a bill to effect such purpose. This bill, termed "The Federal Property Act of 1948" (S. 2754, 80th Cong.) was unanimously reported out by the Senate Committee on Expenditures in the Executive Departments, and would have established a sound system for property management. This bill was never taken up by the Senate prior to adjournment because of the pressure of other matters. In February of this year, the Federal Works Administrator, with the approval of the Director of the Bureau of the Budget, acting on behalf of the President, again presented a bill drafted for the accomplishment of a uniform property management system. This bill, H. R. 2781, "The Federal Property Act of 1949." effectively parallels the recommendations, for the most part, of the Commission on Organization of the Executive Branch of the Government. (As reported out of House and Senate Committees on Expenditures, these bills became H. R. 4754 and S. 1809, respectively.) The framework of this legislation establishes a General Services Administration, headed by an Administrator, answerable directly to the President, who would concern himself with the procurement, utilization, and disposal of Government property. In this way, great strides can be made in increased efficiency and economy of operation of the Federal Government. |