June 28, 19,65 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD "- HOUSE

S. 1012. An act for the relief of Dr. Otto

F. Kernberg;

S. 1076. An act for the relief of Kurush

Sahbaz;

S. 1760. An act to authorize the acceptance of a settlement of certain indebtedness

of Greece to the United States and to authorize the use of the payments resulting

from the settlement for a cultural and educational exchange program;

8. 1903. An act to amend the United Nations Participation Act, as amended (63 Stat.

734-736);

S. 2080. An act to provide for the coinage

of the United States;

S.J. Res. 56. Joint resolution authorizing

the President to proclaim the occasion of the

bicentennial celebration of the birth of

James Smithson;

S.J. Res. 71. Joint resolution to amend

the joint resolution of January 28, 1948, providing for membership and participation by

the United States in the South Pacific Commission; and

S. Con. Res. 40. Concurrent resolution authorizing the Secretary of the Senate to

make a correction in the enrollment of S.

1229.

The message also announced that the

Senate agrees to the report of the com- mittee of conference on the disagreeing

votes of the two Houses on the amendments of the House to the bill (8. 1229)

entitled "An act to provide uniform

policies with respect to recreation and

fish and wildlife benefits and costs of

Federal multiple-purpose water resource

projects, and for other purposes."

COMMUNICATION FROM THE

CLERK OF THE HOUSE

The SPEAKER laid before the House

the following communication from the

Clerk of the House of Representatives:

JUNE 25, 1965.

The Honorable the SPEAKER,

House of Representatives.

Sin: Pursuant to authority granted on

June 24, 1965, the Clerk received from the

Secretary of the Senate today, the followIng message:

That the Senate passed H.J. Res. 541, entitled "Joint resolution to extend the Area

Redevelopment Act for a period of 2 months."

Respectfully yours,

RALPH R. ROBERTS,

Clerk,

U.S. House of Representatives.

HOUSE BILLS AND JOINT

RESOLUTION ENROLLED

Mr. BURLESON, from the Committee on House Administration, announced

that that committee had examined and

found truly enrolled bills and a joint resolution of the House of the following

titles:

H.R. 3994. An aot to remove the present

$5,000 limitation which prevents the Secretary of the Air Force from settling and payIng certain claims arising out of the crash

of a U.S. aircraft at Wichita, Kans.;

H.R. 3996. An act to amend provisions of

law relating to the settlement of admiralty

claims;

H.R. 6507. An act to make section 1952 of

title 18, United States Code, applicable to travel in aid of arson;

H.R. 6848. An act to amend section 35 of

title 18 of the United States Code relating to the imparting or conveying of false information;

H.R. 5988. An act to provide that Commissioners of the Federal Maritime Commission

shall hereafter be appointed for a term of

5 years, and for other purposes; and

H.J. Res. 451. Joint resolution to extend

the Area Redevelopment Act for a period of

2 months.

ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE SPEAKER

The SPEAKER. The Chair desires to

announce that pursuant to the authority

granted him on Thursday, June 24, 1965,

he did on June 25, 1965, sign the following enrolled bill of the House:

H.R. 5988. An act to provide that Commissioners of the Federal Maritime Commission shall hereafter be appointed for a term

of 5 years, and for other purposes.

And on June 26, 1965, sign the following enrolled bills and joint resolution

of the House:

H.R. 3994, An act to remove the present

$5,000 limitation which prevents the Secretary of the Air Force from settling and

paying certain claims arising out of the

crash of a U.S. aircraft at Wichita, Kans.;

H.R. 3996. An act to amend provisions of

law relating to the settlement of admiralty

claims;

H.R. 6507. An act to make section 1952 of

title 18, United States Code, applicable to

travel in aid of arson;

H.R. 6848. An act to amend section 35

of title 18 of the United States Code relating to the imparting or conveying of false

information; and

H.J. Res. 541. Joint resolution to extend

the Area Redevelopment Act for a period

of 2 months.

COMMUNICATION FROM THE CLERK

OF THE HOUSE

The SPEAKER laid before the House

the following communication from the

Clerk of the House of Representatives:

JUNE 26, 1965.

The Honorable the SPEAKER,

House of Representatives.

SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith

a sealed envelope addressed to the Speaker

of the House of Representatives from the

President of the United States, received in

the Clerk's Office at 12:03 p.m. on June 26,

1965, and said to contain H.R. 2166, an act for

the relief of Staiman Brothers-Simon Wrecking Co., and a veto message thereon.

Respectfully yours,

RALPH R. ROBERTS,

Clerk,

U.S. House of Representatives.

STAIMAN BROS.-SIMON WRECKING

CO.-VETO MESSAGE FROM THE

PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED

STATES (H. DOC. NO. 221)

The SPEAKER. The Clerk will read

the message.

The Clerk read as follows:

To the House of Representatives:

I return without my approval H.R.

2166, a bill "For the relief of Staiman

Brothers-Simon Wrecking Co."

The bill confers jurisdiction on the

Court of Claims to render judgment on the claim of Staiman Brothers-Simon

Wrecking Co. for losses allegedly sustained by them in connection with a

$301,000 contract for the purchase from

the General Services Administration of

buried cast iron pipe in a surplus'military

water system which had been laid some 16 years previously. The bill also waives

all defenses of the United States based

upon provisions in the purchase contract

explicitly denying warranty as to quantity, size, and character and barring

claims based on errors or omissions in the

description of the pipe.

The claimants allege that the weight

of the pipe which they removed fell almost 40 percent short of the estimated

weights. They argue that adequate in,

spection was not possible because the

pipe was underground and that under

these circumstances the descriptions of

the pipe set out in the Government's

invitation to bid should be regarded as nullifying by implication the express dls.

claimers by the Government of any war- rality or guaranty.

The conditions of sale of the property

were clear and specific. The invitation

to bid invited bidders to inspect the material being offered, with a notation that

failure of a bidder to do so or to fully

inform himself as to the condition of the

property would not constitute grounds

for any adjustment. It also stated that

the property was being sold without warranty as to quantity, condition, size, or

kind and that no claim for deduction on

such grounds would be considered. It

further indicated that while identification and location of the property were

believed to be correct, any error or omission in the description would not con- stitute ground for a claim.

In short, the contract involved a substantial business risk-the amount of

pipe actually In the ground could exceed,

equal, or fall below expectations, with

consequent effect on profits from the

contract.

The General Accounting Office denied

a claim submitted administratively In a decision dated May 25, 1962.

I note that this bill would restrict the

Court of Claims' authority to decide this

case on the merits, since it would waive

the Government's defenses based on contract provisions to which the claimants

agreed with their eyes wide open.

Many other purchasers of Government

surplus property have had to abide by

provisions in their contracts like the

ones involved in this case even though

losses were the consequence. The decision of the Comptroller General referred

to above cited numerous similar contract cases in which the courts have applied

the rule of caveat emptor.

In summary, I believe that the relief

which this bill would grant would be

discriminatory and would set an unwise

and unfortunate precedent. Accordingly, I am constrained to withhold my

approval.

LYNDON B. JOHNSON.

THE WHITE HOUSE, June 26, 1965.

The SPEAKER. The objections of

the President will be spread at large

upon the Journal.

Without objection, the bill and mes- sage will be referred to the Committee on the Judiciary and ordered to be printed.

There was no objection.

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