Second War Powers Act, 1942, Section 1402, Executive Order 9157 and 1947 repeal legislation P.L. 507, 77th Congress, 2d Session (S2208), Approved March 27, 1942. An Act to further expedite the prosecution of the war…..
TITLE XIV – UTILIZATION OF VITAL WAR INFORMATION
Sec. 1401. The Secretary of Commerce shall, at the direction of the President, and subject to such regulations as the President may issue, make such special investigations and reports of census or statistical matters as may be needed in connection with the conduct of the war, an, in carrying out the purpose of this section, dispense with or curtail any regular census or statistical work of the Departmentof Commerce, or of any bureau or division thereof. Any person who shall refuse or willfully neglect to answer any questions in connection with any special investigations made under this section, or who shall willfully give answers that are false, shall upon conviction thereof be fined no exceeding $500 or imprisoned for a period of not exceeding sixty days, or both.
Sec. 1402. That notwithstanding any other provision of law, any record, schedule, report, or return, or any information or data contained therein, now or hereafter in the possession of the Department of Commerce, or any bureau or division thereof, may be made available by the Secretary of Commerce to any branch or agency of the Government, the head of which shall have made written request therefor for use in connection with the conduct of the war. The President shall issue regulations with respect to the making available of any such recpord, schedule, report, return, information or data, and with respect to the use thereof after the same has been made available. No person shall disclose or make use of any individual record, schedule, report, or return, or any information or data contained therein contrary to the terms of such regulations; and any person knowingly and willfully violating this provision shall be fuilty of a felony and upon conviction thereof shall be fined not exceeding $1,000, or be imprisoned not exceeding two years, or both.
Sec. 1403. For purposes of this title the term “person” shall include any individual, partnership, association, business trust, corporation, or any organized group of persons, whether incorporated or not. **** Source: United States Code Congressional Service, Acts of 77th Congress, Second Session, January 5 to December 16, 1942 (St. Paul, MN: West Publishing Co., 1943), p. 253. (50 U.S.C.A. Appendix section 644a) Executive Order No. 9157
REGULATIONS WITH RESPECT TO THE MAKING AVAILABLE OF RECORDS, SCHEDULES, REPORTS, RETURNS AND OTHER INFORMATION BY THE SECRETARY OF COMMERCE, AND WITH RESPECT TO THE USE THEREOF AFTER THE SAME HAVE BEEN MADE AVAILABLE.
WHEREAS section 1402 of the Second War Powers Act, 1942, approved March 27, 1942 reads as follows:
“Sec. 1402. That notwithstanding any other provision of law, any record, schedule, report, or return, or any information or data contained therein, now or hereafter in the possession of the Department of Commerce, or any bureau or division thereof, may be made available by the Secretary of Commerce to any branch or agency of the Government, the head of which shall have made written request therefor for use in connection with the conduct of the war. The President shall issue regulations with respect to the making available of any such recpord, schedule, report, return, information or data, and with respect to the use thereof after the same has been made available. No person shall disclose or make use of any individual record, schedule, report, or return, or any information or data contained therein contrary to the terms of such regulations; and any person knowingly and willfully violating this provision shall be fuilty of a felony and upon conviction thereof shall be fined not exceeding $1,000, or be imprisoned not exceeding two years, or both.”
NOW THEREFORE, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the foregoing statutory provision, and in order to carry out the purposes thereof, I hereby prescribe the following regulations:
1. Whenever any executive department or independent agency desires to have made available to it, pursuant to said section 1402, any record, schedule, report, or return, or any information or data contained therein, in the possession of the Department of Commerce, for use in connection with the conduct of the war, the head of such department or agency shall make a written request of the Secretary of Commerce to have such document or information made available to it, which request shall include:
(a) The name of the official who, or the bureau division or section which is to utilize the information;
(b) A description of the document or information desired to be made available;
(c) The manner in which it is desired that the document or information shall be made available; whether by inspect or by being furnished with copies thereof;
(d) The name of the representative of the official, bureau, division or section who is to make the inspection, or to whom the information is to be furnished;
(e) A statement that the document of information is to be used in connection with the conduct of the war and of the manner in which it is to be so used.
If the information requested by the head of the department or agency is of a statistical character, a copy of the request shall be submitted to the Division of Statistical Standards of the Bureau of the Budget at the time the request is submitted to the Secretary of Commerce.
2. Upon the receipt of the request, the Secretary of Commerce may make available to document or information requested, either by furnishing the information, or by furnishing the original or a copy of the document, or by permitting personal inspection of the same, and the Secretary of Commerce may impose such conditions and restrictions on the use of such document or information as he may deem advisable so as to protect any confidential feature that may be imposed by law or regulation on such document or information, consistent with the purposes o said section 1402 of the Second War Powers Act, and these regulations.
The Secretary of Commerce shall inform the Division of Statistical Standards of his action upon each request made, under section 1 of this order, if the information is of a statistical character.
3. The document or information that may be made available shall not be used for purposes, or disclosed to any person or agency, not covered by the request, or contrary to the conditions and restrictions imposed by the Secretary of Commerce.
4. Additional expenses incurred by the Department of Commerce in making available the documents or information requested shall be borne by the requesting agency.
5. For purposes of this title the term “person” shall include any individual, partnership, association, business trust, corporation, or any organized group of persons, whether incorporated or not.
6. These regulations shall not be applicable to or restrict the furnishing by the Department of Commerce of information to other agencies or the Government or to the general public, which is not made confidential by statute or regulation.
FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT
THE WHITE HOUSE,
May 9, 1942. Source: United States Code Congressional Service, Acts of 77th Congress, Second Session, January 5 to December 16, 1942 (St. Paul, MN: West Publishing Co., 1943). 1947 Repeal Legislation
The First Decontrol Act of 1947 (S931), Chapter 29, Public Law 29, passed March 31, 1947, repealed Section 1402 of Title XIV of the Second War Powers Act (50 U.S.C.A. Appendix, Section 644a). The act ended governmental control of the economy except in the case of commodities and products (e.g., rubber, sugar) that were still in short supply or needed control during reconversion at home or abroad. The opening section of the law noted that “The Congress hereby declares that it is vital to a free economy and full production in the United States that all emergency controls and war powers under the Second War Powers Act be removed except in certain limited instances.” The language continued by detailing the limited circumstances in which control could continue, with no further mention of Section 1402. Source: United States Code Congressional Service, Laws of 80th Congress, 1st Session, January 3, 1947-December 19, 1947 (St. Paul, MN: West Publishing Co., 1947).