An Act to authorize the Post Office Department to designate enlisted personnel of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard as postal clerks and assistant postal clerks, and for other purposes
PL 83-57 (H.R.2327), enacted 06/06/1953

67 
S T A T . ] 
PUBLIC LAW 57-JUNE 6, 1953 
55 
Public Law 57 
CHAPTER 108 
AN ACT 
To authorize the Post Ofiioe Department to designate enlisted personnel of the 
Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard as postal clerks and 
assistant postal clerks, and for other purposes. 
June 6, 1953 
[H. R. 2327] 
Armed 
F o r c e s 
personnel. 
D e s i g n a t i o n as 
postal clerks, etc. 
Oath of office. 
Bond. 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress assemhled^ That enlisted per-
sonnel of the Army of the United States, the United States Navy, the 
Air Force of the United States, the United States Marine Corps, and 
the United States Coast Guard, and the reserve components thereof, 
may, upon selection by the Secretaries of the departments concerned, 
be designated by the Post Office Department as Army postal clerks 
and assistant Army postal clerks, Navy postal clerks, and assistant 
Navy postal clerks. Air Force postal clerks and assistant Air Force 
postal clerks. Marine Corps postal clerks and assistant Marine Corps 
postal clerks, and Coast Guard postal clerks and assistant Coast Guard 
postal clerks, as appropriate, who shall be authorized to receive and 
open all pouches and sacks of mail addressed to Army, Navy, Air 
Force, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard post offices, stations, vessels, 
and installations, to make proper deliveries of such mail, to receive 
matter for transmission in the mails, to receipt for registered matter 
(keeping an accurate record thereof), to keep and have for sale an 
adequate supply of postage stamps, to make up and dispatch mails and 
to perform any other postal duties as may be authorized by the Post-
master General, and in accordance with such rules and regulations as 
may be prescribed by the appropriate Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine 
Corps, or Coast Guard authority. Each postal clerk or assistant postal 
clerk mentioned herein shall take the oath of office prescribed for 
members of the postal service, and shall give bond to the United States 
in such penal sum as the Postmaster General may deem sufficient for 
the faithful performance of his duties as such postal clerk or assistant 
postal clerk: Provided^ That the Secretary concerned may waive the 
giving of bond in the case of such postal clerks and assistant postal 
clerks. 
SEC. 2. The Post Office Department shall be reimbursed annually by 
the department concerned, in an amount of money equal to the funds bonded''cie"rk 
and the value of other accountable postal stock embezzled by, or lost 
through the negligence, errors, or defalcations on the part of unbonded 
postal clerks, unbonded assistant postal clerks, persons acting in those 
capacities, or commissioned or warrant officers of the Army, Navy, 
Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard who have been designated 
custodians of postal effects by the appropriate commanding officer, 
and funds expended by the Post Office Department in payment of 
claims arising from negligence, errors, losses, or defalcations by such 
unbonded postal clerks, assistant postal clerks, persons acting in those 
capacities, or commissioned or warrant officers of the Army, Navy, 
Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard who have been designated 
custodians of postal effects by the appropriate commanding officer. 
SEC, 3. Postal clerks and assistant postal clerks appointed under this 
Act, shall be amenable in all respects to the discipline of their respective 
services, except that, as to their duties as such clerks, the commanding 
officer having jurisdiction over the post office, station, vessel, or instal-
lation at or on which they are stationed, and who exercises jurisdic-
tion over such clerks, shall require them to be governed by the Postal 
Laws and Regulations of the United States and such supplemental 
postal directives and regulations as may be prescribed by appropriate 
authorities. Whenever necessity arises therefor, any assistant postal 
clerk may be required by the appropriate commanding officer to per-
form the duties of a postal clerk. 
Reimbursement. 
L o s s e s by unr 
Regulations. 
56 
PUBLIC LAW 58-JUNE 13, 1953 
[67 S T A T . 
Termination of 
bond. 
R e c o V e ry 
l o s s e s . 
of 
Appropriation. 
Repeals. 
SEC. 4. Any bond given by Army, Navy, or Coast Guard mail clerks 
or assistant mail clerks or by Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, 
or Coast Guard postal clerks or assistant postal clerks, may be ter-
minated by the Secretary of the Department concerned, but such 
termination shall not affect the liability of any person or surety there-
under for losses or shortages occurring prior to such termination. 
SEC. 6. (a) The Secretaries of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and 
Treasury shall take such action as may be available to them to effect 
recovery of amounts paid under the provisions of this Act from the 
persons responsible for the losses or shortages. 
(b) There are hereby authorized to be appropriated out of any 
money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, such sums as may 
be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act. 
SEC. 6. The Act of August 21,1941 (ch. 392,55 Stat. 656), as amended 
by the Act of June 30, 1947 (ch. 170, 61 Stat. 211; 39 U. S. C. 138); 
paragraph 23 of the heading. Fourth Assistant Postmaster General, of 
the Act of May 27, 1908 (ch. 206, 35 Stat. 417-418), as amended (39 
U. S. C. 134); section 3 of the Act of August 24,1912 (ch. 389, 37 Stat. 
554), as amended (39 U. S. C. 135), and all other laws or parts of laws 
to the extent that they may be inconsistent or in conflict with the provi-
sions of this Act, are hereby repealed. 
Approved June 6, 1953. 
Public Law 58 
CHAPTER 112 
June 13. 1953 
JO^NT RESOLUTION 
[S. J. Res. 76] 
Designating the week beginning June 14, 1953, as "Theodore Roosevelt Week". 
Resolved hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled^ That the week beginning 
June 14, 1953, is hereby designated as "Theodore Roosevelt Week' 
in honor of our former President. 
The President is authorized and 
requested to issue a proclamation calling upon the people of the United 
States to observe such week by paying tribute to the achievements and 
memory of the late Theodore Roosevelt. 
Approved June 13, 1953.