An Act to amend title VII of the Merchant Marine Act, 1936, as amended, to provide for experimental operation and testing of vessels owned hy the United States
PL 84-701 (H.R.11027), enacted 07/11/1956

70 S T A T . ] 
PUBLIC LAW 702-JULY 14, 1956 
531 
Public Law 701 
CHAPTER 574 
AN ACT 
jujy 11^ iggg 
To amend title VII of the Merchant Marine Act, 1936, as amended, to provide 
L
H
. R. IIO27] 
for experimental operation and testing of vessels owned hy the United 
States. 
Vessels. 
O p e r a tion and 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and Houne of Repu'esentativea of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled, That title VII of 
the Merchant Marine Act, 1936, as amended (46 U. S. C , sees. 1191- *®|f"|'j 
joos-
1204), is amended by adding at the end thereof a new section to read 2011. 
as follows: 
'•'SEC. 715. The Secretary of Commerce, for the purpose of practical 
development, trial, and testing, is authorized without regard to other 
provisions of this title or other laws relating to chartering and general 
agency operations, to operate, under general agency agreements or 
bareboat charter, vessels owned by the United States (including any 
national defense reserve vessel) which have been constructed, recon-
ditioned, or remodeled for experimental or testing purposes, in the 
foreign or domestic trade of the United States or for use for the 
account of any agency or department of the United States, under such 
reasonable terms or conditions as the Secretary of Commerce deter-
mines to be necessary to carry out the objects of this Act: 
Provided, 
hou'ei'cr, That not in excess of ten such vessels shall be operated and 
tested under the authority of this section in any one year. 
Bareboat 
charters entered into under this section shall be made at reasonable 
rates of charter and shall include such restrictions and conditions as 
the Secretary of Commerce determines to be necessary or appropriate . 
to protect the public interest, including provisions for recapture of 
profits as provided for in section 709 of this Act, as amended. Char- 
"^^ ^^^ '*^^* 
ters and general agency agreements entered into under this section 
shall be reviewed annually for the purpose of determining whether 
(conditions exist which would justify continuance of the charter or 
agreement. Those provisions of law prescribed or incorporated under 
the heading "VESSEL OPERATIONS REVOLVING FUND" in chapter VIII of 
the Third Supplemental Appropriation Act, 1951 (Public Law 45, 
Eighty-second Congress; 65 Stat. 52, 59), which relate to vessel 
46 use 1241a. 
operating activities of the Secretary of Commerce and to employment 
of seamen through general agents, shall be applicable in connection 
with charters and agreements entered into under this section." 
Approved July 11, 1956. 
Public Law 702 
CHAPTER 588 
JOINT RESOLUTION 
July U, 1956 
Directing the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study and investigation 
• ^'—ifl 
i— 
of Indian education in the United States. 
Resolved hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the indiMieducation. 
Interior (hereinafter referred to as the "Secretary"), acting through 
the Bureau of Indian Affairs, is authorized and directed to conduct 
a study and investigation of Indian education in the continental 
United States and Alaska, including a study and investigation of (1) 
the education problems of Indian children from non-English speak-
ing homes, and (2) the possibility of establishing a more orderly, 
equitable, and acceptable program for transferring Indian children 
to public schools.