Act of August 11, 1939 (Exchange for Critical and Strategic Materials) Chapter 690 of the 76th Congress, as amended 53 Stat. 1407, as amended Act of August 11, 1939 (Exchange for Critical and Strategic Materials) ch690 110–246 Statute Compilation United States House of Representatives Office of the Legislative Counsel text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain. GPO Statute Compilations USLM converter, version 20210527.1 2021-10-15 Act of August 11, 1939 10297 76 1939-08-11 Act of August 11, 1939 (Exchange for Critical and Strategic Materials) [Chapter 690 of the 76th Congress; 53 Stat. 1407] [As Amended Through P.L. 110–246, Effective May 22, 2008] [Currency: This publication is a compilation of the text of Chapter 690 of the 76th Congress. It was last amended by the public law listed in the As Amended Through note above and below at the bottom of each page of the pdf version and reflects current law through the date of the enactment of the public law listed at https://www.govinfo.gov/app/collection/comps/] [Note: While this publication does not represent an official version of any Federal statute, substantial efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of its contents. The official version of Federal law is found in the United States Statutes at Large and in the United States Code. The legal effect to be given to the Statutes at Large and the United States Code is established by statute (1 U.S.C. 112, 204).]
To facilitate the execution of arrangements for the exchange of surplus agricultural commodities produced in the United States for reserve stocks of strategic and critical materials produced abroad.Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
[15 U.S.C. 713a–7] That, notwithstanding any other provision of law, whenever the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, has concluded a treaty involving the exchange of surplus agricultural commodities produced in the United States which are held under loans made or made available by the Commodity Credit Corporation for stocks of strategic and critical materials produced abroad, the Commodity Credit Corporation is authorized, upon terms and conditions prescribed by the Secretary of Agriculture, to accept such strategic and critical materials in exchange for such surplus agricultural commodities; and for the purpose of such exchange the Secretary of War,1–1 the Secretary of the Navy, and the Secretary of the Interior acting jointly through the agency of the Army and Navy Munitions Board1–2 shall determine which materials are strategic and critical and the quantity and quality of such materials. In order to carry out the provisions of this Act, the Commodity Credit Corporation is authorized, upon terms and conditions prescribed by the Secretary of Agriculture, to procure, convey, transport, handle, store, maintain, or rotate such surplus agricultural commodities, and such reserve stocks of strategic and critical materials, as may be necessary to accomplish the purposes of this Act.1–1

The Department of War was designated the Department of the Army and the title of the Secretary of War was changed to Secretary of the Army by section 205(a) of the Act of July 26, 1947, P.L. 80–253, 61 Stat. 501. Section 205(a) of the Act of July 26, 1947, was repealed by section 53 of the Act of August 10, 1956, P.L. 84–1028, 70A Stat. 641. Section 1 of the Act of August 10, 1956, enacted “Title 10, Armed Forces” which in sections 3011–3013 continued the military Department of the Army under the administrative supervision of a Secretary of the Army.

1–2

The Army and Navy Munitions Board ceased to exist when the Chairman of the Board of Munitions took office and the records and personnel of the Army and Navy Munitions Board were transferred to the Munitions Board by the Act of July 26, 1947, section 213, P.L. 80–253, 61 Stat. 505. The Munitions Board was abolished by section 2 of 1953 Reorg. Plan No. 6, 18 F.R. 3743, 67 Stat. 638, and all functions of the Munitions Board were transferred to the Secretary of Defense by section 1 of 1953 Reorg. Plan No. 6.

 The Commodity Credit Corporation is authorized and directed to transfer to warehouses in or near cotton manufacturing centers in New England not to exceed three hundred thousand bales of cotton, to which it now has title or may hereafter acquire title, having regard for the grades and staples customarily required by manufacturers in that area: Provided, That all necessary costs in connection with such transfer will not result in additional net cost to the Corporation. In determining specific cotton to be exchanged under this Act, the determination shall be made by sampling and selection at the place where the cotton is stored on the date of ratification of a treaty providing for such exchange, and no cotton shall be exchanged under such treaty which, after such date, is transported to another place and there sampled and selected. Such reserve stocks of strategic and critical materials shall be stored on military or naval reservations or in other locations approved by the Secretary of War and the Secretary of the Navy. The Commodity Credit Corporation is authorized to transfer such reserve stocks of strategic and critical materials, upon such terms and conditions as the Secretary of Agriculture shall approve, to any other governmental agency. Such reserve stocks or strategic and critical materials shall be made available or disposed of by the Commodity Credit Corporation or other governmental agency only upon order of the President in accordance with the terms of the applicable treaty; when necessary to prevent deterioration, the Commodity Credit Corporation or other governmental agency is authorized to replace those quantities of the reserve stocks of such strategic and critical materials subject to deterioration with equivalent quantities of the same materials. The funds now or hereafter made available to the Commodity Credit Corporation are hereby made available to carry out the purposes of this Act. There is hereby authorized to be appropriated such additional sums as may be required to carry out the provisions of this Act. All funds for carrying out the provisions of this Act shall be available for allotment to bureaus and offices of the Department of Agriculture, and for transfer to such other agencies of the Federal Government as the Secretary of Agriculture may request to cooperate or assist in carrying out the provisions of this Act.