SEC. 5. The prosecution of such works for the control of the floods of the Mississippi River as have heretofore been authorized and are not included in the project herein adopted may, in the discretion of the Secretary of War, be continued under his direction and under the supervision of the Chief of Engineers, and funds appropriated under authority of this act may be expended therefor. In an emergency, funds appropriated for the execution of the project may be expended in the maintenance of any levee when it is demonstrated to the satisfaction of the Secretary of War that the levee can not be adequately maintained by local interests.

SEC. 6. Sections 3, 4, and 5, of the act entitled "An act to provide for the appointment of a Mississippi River Commission for the improvement of said river from the Head of Passes near its mouth to headwaters," are hereby repealed. All works for the improvement of the navigation and for controlling the floods of the Mississippi River, its tributaries, and outlets, including surveys and investigations in connection therewith, which, by virtue of existing law or regulations are now under the supervision and charge of the Mississippi River Commission, are hereby placed under the jurisdiction and control of the Secretary of War, and shall hereafter be prosecuted in accordance with such plans, projects, and specifications as may be formulated and approved by the Chief of Engineers, or as may be expressly authorized by Congress. All vessels, machinery, instruments, and other plant and property pertaining to the said works now under the control of said commission shall be transferred to the superintendence and control of the Secretary of War and Chief of Engineers. And all unexpended balances of appropriations heretofore made for said works, and all appropriations that may hereafter be made therefor, shall be expended under the direction of the Secretary of War and the supervision of the Chief of Engineers.

It shall be the duty of the said Mississippi River Commission to consider and advise on all questions relating to the improvement of the navigation of the Mississippi River and to the prosecution and control of floods which may be referred to it by the Chief of Engineers or higher authority. The president of the commission shall have the qualifications now prescribed by law for the Assistant Chief of Engineers; shall have the title brigadier general, Corps of Engineers, and shall receive the rank, pay, and allowances of a brigadier general while actually assigned to such duty.

SEC. 7. All existing laws relating to the acquisition of lands, easements, or rights of way needed for the prosecution, maintenance, or operation of works for the improvement of rivers and harbors are hereby made applicable to the acquisition of lands, easements, or rights of way needed for works of flood control.

SEC. 8. The creation of any obstruction not affirmatively authorized by Congress to the flood-discharge capacity of the alluvial valley of the Mississippi River below Cape Girardeau is hereby prohibited, and it shall not be lawful to build or commence the building of any levee or other structure in said alluvial valley, or in any flood way therein unless the work has been recommended by the Chief of Engineers and authorized by the Secretary of War. Any person or corporation who shall violate any provision of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction shall be punished by a fine not exceeding $2,500 nor less than $500, or by imprisonment (in the case of a natural person) not exceed one year, or by both such punishments in the discretion of the court; and the removal of any structures, or parts of structures, erected in violation of this section may be enforced by injunction or other process in the district court of the United States in the district in which such structures may exist, and proceedings to this end may be instituted under the direction of the Attorney General. The provisions of section 17 of the river and harbor act of March 3, 1899, are hereby made applicable to this section.

[S. 1999, Seventieth Congress, first session]

A BILL To provide for control of floods of the Mississippi River, and for other purposes

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That prevention of the destructive floods of the Mississippi River, and the protection of its highly improved valley from the accumulated waters of thirty-one States, is hereby recognized as a colossal

task which the Nation alone can perform; and it is the Nation's duty to undertake it immediately and pursue it vigorously under a comprehensive plan.

SEC. 2. That for controlling the floods of the Mississippi River and continuing its improvement from the Head of Passes to the mouth of the Ohio River, the Secretary of War is hereby empowered, authorized, and directed to carry on continuously, by hired labor or otherwise, the plans of the Mississippi River Commission heretofore or hereafter adopted, to be paid for as appropriations may from time to time be made by law, not to exceed in the aggregate $775,000,000, to carry out the comprehensive plan for navigation and protection against floods recommended by the Mississippi River Commission in a special report to the Chief of Engineers, dated November 28, 1927, printed as Committee Document Numbered 1 of the Flood Control Committee of the House of Representatives, Seventieth Congress, first session: Provided, That pending the additional investigations suggested in this report, which shall be made as rapidly as possible, there shall be vigorous prosecution of work that is deemed essential whatever may be the result of these investigations: Provided further, That all floodways and spillways shall be controlled and the lands adjacent thereto be as fully protected from floods as those on the main river. Any funds which may hereafter be appropriated under authority of this act, and which may be allotted to works of flood control, such as revetments, levees, diversions or spillways, reservoirs, and so forth, may be expended upon any part of the Mississippi River between the Head of Passes and Rock Island, Illinois, and upon the tributaries and outlets of said river in so far as they may be affected by its flood waters.

SEC. 3. That the Mississippi River Commission shall maintain in the river below Cairo a minimum channel width of three hundred feet, with a depth of nine feet at all stages.

SEC. 4. That work of flood control on the Mississippi River shall be prosecuted with a view to protecting the valley from a flood exceeding that of 1927 by about 25 per centum.

SEC. 5. That all costs and charges connected with flood-control work shall be paid by the Federal Government.

SEC. 6. That the Act providing for "The appointment of a Mississippi River Commission for the improvement of said river from the Head of Passes near its mouth to its headwaters," approved June 28, 1879, is amended as follows: The president of the Mississippi River Commission shall receive the rank, pay, and allowances of a brigadier general of engineers and possess the qualifications now prescribed by law for the Assistant Chief of Engineers. One of the civil engineers appointed by the President of the United States as a member of the Mississippi River Commission shall be designated by him to be vice president of the commission and shall receive a salary of $10,000 a year. The other civilian members of the commission shall receive salaries of $6,000 a year. The president and vice president shall devote their entire time and attention to the duties of their respective positions.

The officers from the Engineer Corps of the Army assigned to duty as district officers under the Mississippi River Commission shall retain their posts, at the option of the commission, at least six years, and shall devote their entire time to the work of the commission.

SEC. 7. That all laws which conflict with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed.

[S. 2729, Seventieth Congress, first session]

A BILL To provide against destructive floods of the Mississippi River and its tributaries, for the protection of life and property along the Mississippi River and its tributaries, to provide against the interruption of interstate commerce and delay of United States mails and for the protection and improvement of navigation, defining the policy of Congress with respect to flood control, and for other purposes

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

POLICY

SECTION 1. In order to provide for the protection of life and property from floods and overflows of the Mississippi River and its tributaries and to provide against the interruption of interstate commerce and to facilitate the United

States mails and for the protection and improvement of navigation, it is hereby declared to be the policy of the Congress that the Federal Government shall assume entire charge of the subject of flood control upon and along the Mississippi River and its tributaries and that the entire cost of flood-control works and works for the protection and improvement of navigation upon and along the Mississippi River and its tributaries shall be borne by the Federal Government.

COMMISSION AND ITS AUTHORITY

SEC. 2. (a) The Mississippi River Commission shall hereafter be composed of nine members, who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, three of whom shall be selected from the Engineer Corps of the Army, three of whom shall be civilian engineers, and three of whom shall be selected because of experienced executive ability. The first appointments to the commission following the approval of this act shall be as follows: One Army engineer, one civilian engineer, and one selected because of experienced executive ability for terms of two years each; one Army engineer, one civilian engineer, and one selected because of experienced executive ability for terms of four years each; and one Army engineer, one civilian engineer, and one selected because of experienced executive ability for terms of six years each; and all appointments thereafter shall be for terms of six years. The President shall designate one of the appointees under this act as chairman of the commission.

(b) Any person appointed to fill a vacancy in the commission occurring prior to the expiration of the term for which his predecessor was appointed shall be appointed for the remainder of such term, and any member of the commission in office at the expiration of the term for which he was appointed may continue in office until his successor takes office. Vacancies in the commission shall not impair the powers of the remaining members to execute the functions of the commission, and a majority of the members in office shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of the business of the commission.

(c) The chairman of the commission shall receive a salary of a year, and the other members shall each receive a salary of a year, together with necessary traveling expenses and expenses incurred for subsistence, or per diem allowed in lieu thereof, within the limitations prescribed by law, while away from the principal offices of the commission on business required by this act or, if assigned to any other office established by said commission, then while away from such office on business required by this act. In the case of members of the commission who are Army officers such salary and allowance shall be in lieu of all pay and allowances to which they are entitled as such officers. SEC. 3. (a) The commission (1) shall maintain its principal office in and such other offices in the Mississippi Valley as it deems necessary; (2) shall have an official seal, which shall be judicially noticed; (3) shall make annual report to Congress of all receipts and expenditures made or ordered by the commission, together with such recommendations as the commission deems advisable; (4) shall make such regulations as are necessary to execute the power vested in it under this act; (5) may, without regard to the civil service laws or the classification act of 1923, appoint and fix the salaries of a secretary and such engineers, experts, legal advisers, and other officers, agents, and employees as may be necessary to execute the functions vested in the commission under this act and may make such expenditures, including expenditures for rent and personal services at the seat of government and elsewhere for law books, periodicals, and books of reference, and for printing and binding as may be deemed necessary by the commission.

(b) The Secretary of War is authorized upon request of the commission, and when consistent with the requirements of his office, to detail temporarily for duty with the commission such officers and men of the Corps of Engineers and such officers and employees of the War Department as he may deem advisable. Such persons when so assigned to duty with the commission shall receive such additional compensation as the commission may determine.

TRANSFER OF AUTHORITY

SEC. 4. (a) Except as provided in section 11 of this act, all functions heretofore conferred upon any agency of the Federal Government in respect of

flood control and the protection and improvement of navigation upon and along the Mississippi River and its tributaries, including functions with respect to bridges, dams, dikes, causeways, wharves, and other structures, and all property, papers, documents, files, records, correspondence, maps, surveys, plans, estimates, proposals, and reports pertaining exclusively to the administration of such functions are hereby transferred to the commission.

(b) The commission shall take over and assume all leases, contracts, and obligations pertaining to the exercise of such functions and shall take proper means to safeguard the rights and interests of contractors or other parties having any interest in such leases, contracts, or obligations.

SPECIAL POWERS OF THE COMMISSION

SEC. 5. The commission is hereby authorized and directed, for the purpose of protecting life and property from the greatest probable flood, aiding interstate commerce, and preventing interruptions to United States mails, and for the purpose of protecting and improving navigation, to proceed at once, under the methods provided for in this act, to order the enlargement, strengthening, reinforcement, relocation, and reconstruction of existing levees upon and along the Mississippi River and its tributaries, as well as to order the construction of such additional levees and the establishment, construction, and maintenance of such controlled and regulated spillways, flood ways, diversion channels, storage basins, and reservoirs as may be necessary, in the opinion of the commission, to control destructive flood waters; and the commission shall in the study and direction of all such works give due consideration to the promotion and encouragement, without additional cost, of the conservation of fish and wild life and reforestation. For such purposes the commission is hereby authorized (1) to take over and assume control of all levees and other flood-control works and works of improvement along the Mississippi River and its tributaries; (2) to locate, construct, and maintain, in such manner as is provided for in this act, works for bank and channel stabilization and other improvements in the interests of navigation, and to locate and relocate levees; construct, maintain, and operate spillways, flood ways, and reservoirs; to construct revetments, and use any other means necessary to control flood stages on the Mississippi River and its tributaries, giving special consideration to the flood problem in the lower reaches of the Mississippi River and its outlets to the end that between the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers at Cairo, in the State of Illinois, and the Gulf of Mexico the maximum flood stages along the Mississippi River shall be lowered wherever possible: Provided, however, That all work done under authority of this section shall be so coordinated through spillways and other methods that the flood stage shall not exceed nineteen feet on the Carrollton gauge at New Orleans, in the State of Louisiana; (3) to acquire by purchase, condemnation, or otherwise, lands, rights of way, and materials necessary in carrying out the provisions of this act; (4) in carrying out the provisions of this act the commission shall give immediate consideration to flood control along the lower reaches of the Mississippi River and its outlets, and shall give immediate preference thereto in the use of moneys appropriated under authority of this act.

SEC. 6. (a) The commission shall have exclusive jurisdiction, direction, and control of the location, construction, arrangement, and maintenance of all flood-control works herein provided for.

(b) All work of construction, reconstruction, maintenance, or other actual work in relation to flood control and in relation to the protection and improvement of navigation upon the Mississippi River and its tributaries as ordered and directed from time to time by the commission shall be carried out under the supervision of the Chief of Engineers, United States Army, and with such personnel and under such regulations as the Chief of Engineers may from time to time designate, and in conformity with the plans, specifications, surveys, and orders of the commission.

EXEMPTIONS FROM EXISTING LAW

SEC. 7. The provisions of existing law requiring the prior approval of Conress for examinations and surveys and prosecution of works of improvement of rivers and harbors shall not apply in respect of examinations and surveys nor in respect of works in relation to flood control under the provisions of this

act, and all examinations and surveys and works of flood control upon and along the Mississippi River and its tributaries heretofore authorized by the Congress may be modified by the commission to such extent as the commission deems advisable in order effectively to carry out the provisions of this act. The appropriations heretofore made or authorized to be made with respect to any such examination or survey or works of flood control shall be available for expenditure in respect thereof whether or not such plans are modified by the commission under the provisions of this act. But nothing in this act shall be construed to permit the commission to make any examinations or surveys or to proceed with works of improvement of rivers and harbors or channel stabilization in relation to navigation without the prior approval of Congress; nor shall the commission have any power to modify any examinations or surveys or any works of river and harbor improvement in relation to navigation without the prior approval of Congress.

STUDY OF FLOODS IN GENERAL

SEC. 8. The Congress hereby recognizes that the protection of life and property of the citizens of the United States and the protection of interstate commerce from destructive flood waters is a national duty, and therefore the commission is hereby authorized and directed to proceed as soon as practicable to investigate and study all watersheds producing floods destructive to life or property or which obstruct interstate commerce, utilizing in said studies all available reports, data, and other material, and shall formulate and report to Congress as soon as practicable, or from time to time as the studies are completed, with a view to the formulation of plans for the control of destructive flood waters on the entire United States, which reports shall contain such data as are now required in reports provided for in section 3 of the act approved March 7, 1917.

SEC. 9. To carry out the provisions of this act the commission is hereby authorized to utilize the engineering, scientific, and constructive services of the bureaus, boards, and commissions of the several Government departments of the United States and commissions created by Congress that relate to the study, development, or control of rivers and subjects related thereto.

PENDING PROCEEDINGS NOT AFFECTED

SEC. 10. (a) The transfer to the commission of any function or any agency of the Government shall not affect pending cases or proceedings or invalidate any act done or order made by any such agency in respect of such functions prior to the transfer. All proceedings, hearings, investigations, and other matters pending at the time of transfer before any such agency in respect of functions transferred to the commission under the provisions of this act shall be continued before the commission and determined by it.

(b) All offenses committed and all penalties and liabilities incurred in respect of any such function prior to the time of such transfer may be prosecuted and punished in the same manner and with the same effect as if such transfer had not been made.

(c) All rules, regulations, and orders made in respect of any such function prior to such transfer and in effect at the time thereof shall after such time continue in effect to the same extent as if such transfer had not been made, unless modified, superseded, or repealed by action of the commission.

(d) All unexpended appropriations in respect to any such function shall upon such transfer become available for expenditure by the commission and shall be treated as if the commission had been originally named in the laws making the appropriation.

APPROPRIATIONS

SEC. 11. (a) There is hereby authorized to be appropriated, out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of $ or as much thereof as may be necessary, to carry out the provisions of this act, but expenditures under authority of this act shall not exceed $ for the first year following the approval of this act and $ for the second year following the approval of this act, and $ for each of the succeeding eight years.

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