An Act to establish an Alaska International Rail and Highway Commission.
PL 84-884 (S.985), enacted 08/01/1956

888 
PUBLIC LAW 884-AUG. 1, 1956 
[70 ST A T , 
August 1, 1956 
[S. 985] 
Public Law 884 
CHAPTER 840 
AN ACT 
To establish an Alaska International Rail and Highway Commission. 
Alaska 
Interna-
t i o n a l R a i l and 
Highway Commis-
sion. 
Establishment. 
Duties. 
Cooperation with 
Canada. 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and Home of Representatives 
of the 
Umted States of America in Congress asseinbled, That (a) there is 
hereby established an Alaska International Rail and Highway Com-
mission (hereinafter referred to as the "Commission") which shall 
be composed of twelve members, to be appointed by the President, as 
follows: 
(1) five of the members of the Commission shall be Members 
of the Congress of the United States, not more than three of 
whom shall be members of the same political party; 
(2) four of the members shall be selected from the executive 
branch of the Government, of whom, if practicable, one shall be 
from the Department of the Army, to be designated by the Sec-
retary of the Army, one from the Department of the Interior, 
one from the Department of State, and 6ne from the Department 
of Commerce; and 
(3) three of the members shall be selected from the general 
public, one of whom shall be a resident of Alaska and one of 
whom shall be a resident of the Pacific Northwest region of the 
United States. 
(b) The Commission shall select a chairman and a vice chairman 
from among its members. 
(c) A quorum of the Commission shall consist of seven members. 
Any vacancy in the Commission shall not affect its powers and shall 
be filled in the same manner in which the original appointment was 
made. 
(d) The appointment of an officer of the Army on the active list 
as a member of the Commission is authorized as an exception to section 
1222, Revised Statutes (10 U. S. C. 576), and does not vacate his 
appointment as a commissioned officer of the Army. 
SEO. 2. It shall be the duty of the Commission— 
(a) to make a thorough and complete study of the economic 
and military advantages of additional highway and rail trans-
portation facilities connecting continental United States with 
central Alaska; 
(b) to make a thorough and complete study of Jhe most feasible 
and direct routes of rail and highway transportation between the 
United States and Alaska, in relation to the economic benefits to 
be derived therefrom by the United States, Canada, and Alaska; 
and 
(c) to make a thorough and complete study of the most feasible 
feeder rail and highway routes connecting coastal ports and cities 
with the rail and highway facilities between the United States 
and Alaska, determined most feasible and beneficial by the Com-
mission. 
In making such studies, the Commission shall give particular atten-
tion to the feasibility of rail and highway facilities between the Pacific 
Northwest region and Alaska. In determining the most feasible and 
beneficial routes for rail and highway facilities, the Commission shall 
take into consideration the proximity to such routes of suitable sites 
for airfields. 
SEC. 3. The Commission is authorized to cooperate with the officials 
of the Dominion of Canada and of the Province of British Columbia 
and with any commission or similar body appointed for such purpose 
by the Dominion of Canada or the Province of British Columbia. 
The Secretary of State shall, at the request of the Commission, 
70 STAT.] 
PUBLIC LAW 884-AUG. 1, 1956 
88» 
arrange for meetings with such officials and with such commissions 
or similar bodies of the Dominion of Canada or of the Province of 
British Columbia. 
SEC. 4. (a) The Commission may, in carrying out its duties under 
lowers, 
this Act, hold such liearings, take such testimony, sit and act at such 
places and times, and incur such expenditures as the Commission 
deems necessary. Any member of the Commission may administer 
oaths or affirmations to witnesses appearing before the Commission. 
The Commission may, without regard to the civil-service law^s and 
the Classification Act of 1949, employ and fix the compensation of such 
f uicfVo? inote. 
ex{)erts, consultants, and other employees, as it deems necessary to 
assist it in carrying out its duties under this Act. 
(b) The Commission is authorized to utilize the facilities, informa-
tion, and personnel of the departments, agencies, and establishments 
of the executive branch of the Government which it deems necessary to 
carry out its duties under this Act; and each such department, agency, 
and instrumentality is authorized to furnish such facilities, informa-
tion, and personnel to the Commission upon request made by the chair-
man or vice chairman. The Commission shall reimburse each such 
department, agency, and instrumentality for the services of any per-
sonnel utilized. The furnishing of information by any such depart-
ment, agency, or instrumentality shall be subject to such restrictions 
as the head of the department, agency, or instrumentality deems neces-
sary for the security of the United States. 
(c) In performing its duties under this Act the Commission shall 
utilize all information available by reason of any surveys and plans 
made under authority of the Act entitled "An Act providing for a 
location survey for a railroad connecting the existing railroad system 
serving the United States and Canada and terminating at Prince 
George, British Columbia, Canada, with the railroad system serving 
Alaska and terminating at Fairbanks, Alaska", approved October 26, 
®
^ ^
*
*
*
* ^°^ 
1949. 
SEC. 5. The Commission may delegate to any member of the Com- powersf **^**" °' 
mission or to any committee composed of members of the Commission 
any of the duties and powers conferred upon it by this Act, other 
than the duty of submitting reports and recommendations to the 
Congress pursuant to section 7. 
SEC. 6. Members of the Commission shall serve without compensa- fof 
expend""**"* 
*tion but shall be reimbursed for travel, subsistence, and other neces-
sary expenses incurred by them in the performance of their duties. 
SEC. 7. The Commission shall report the results of its studies and 
Reports to con-
submit its recommendations to the Congress from time to time, and 
shall make a final report and submit its final recommendations to the 
Congress not later than two years after the date of enactment of this 
Act. 
The final report shall include estimates of the cost of construc-
tion of rail and highway facilities along the routes determined most 
feasible and beneficial by the Commission, together with estimates of 
the economic benefits to the United States, Canada, and Alaska. 
The 
Termination. 
Commission shall cease to exist, and all authority conferred by this 
Act shall terminate, thirty days after the date of submission of the 
final report. 
SEC. 8. There are hereby authorized to be appropriated such sums, 
Appropriation, 
not in excess of $75,000, as may be necessary to enable the Commission 
to perform its duties under this Act, 
Until such time as funds may 
be appropriated pursuant to this authorization, the President is au-
thorized to make available to the Commission, from any emergency 
fund available to him, such sums as may be necessary. 
Approved August 1, 1956.