White House Press Release, Executive Order Number 9689

494 IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 1, 1946 EXECUTIVE ORDER 9659 CONSOLIDATION OF SURPLUS PROPERTY FUNCTIONS WHEREAS the Surplus Property Administration has now.substantially completed the performance of its policy-making functions, the War Assets Corporation is now vested with the major part of domestic surplus property disposal, and the State Department is now vested with the major part of forsign surplus property disposal; and WHEREAS, after a reasonable period in which to make necessary administrative arrangements, it will be feasible and desirable to estab- lish a War Assets Administration as a separate agency directly responsible to the President to exercise consolidated functions relating to the dis- posal of domestic surplus property; NOW THEREFORE, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and Statutes, including Title I of the First War Powers Act, 1941 (55 Stat. 838), and as President of the United States, it is hereby ordered as follows: 1. The functions of the Surplus Property Administrator and of the Surplus Property Administration are hereby transferred, except as otherwise provided herein, to the chairman of the board of directors of NARA the War Assets Corporation, and to the War Assets Corporation, respec- tively, and the Surplus Property Administration shall be deemed merged into and consolidated with the War Assets Corporation. 2. All functions of the Surplus Property Administrator and the Surplus Property Administration which relate to surplus property located outside the continental United States, Hawaii, Alaska (including the Aleutian Islands), Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands are trans- ferred to the Secretary of State and the Department of State, respectively. 3. Effective March 25, 1946, (a) there shall be established, in the Office for Emergency Management of the Executive Office of the President, a War Assets Administration at the head of which there shall be a War Assets Administrator, who shall be appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and who shall receive a salary at the rate of $12,000 per annum unless the Congress shall otherwise provide, and (b) the functions of the War Assets Corporation relative to surplus property and of the chairman of the board of direc- tors of the War Assets Corporation relative to surplus property shall be transferred to the Var Assets Administrator. 4. There shall be transferred to the agencies to which func- tions are transferred by this order so much as the Director of the Bureau of the Budget shall determine to relate primarily to such func- tions, respectively, of the records, administrative property, personnel, and funds of the Surplus Property Administration, the Office of War Mobilization and Reconversion, the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, and the War Assets Corporation. All authorizations, commitments, or other obligations incurred as a disposal agency by the Reconstruction Finance Corporation or by the War Assets Corporation under the Sur- plus Property Act of 1944 shall be transferred to the War Assets Administration upon its establishment. 5. There shall be subject to the Classification Act of 1923, as amended, those positions transferred to the War Assets Corporation hereunder which are now subject to the said Act, and also all positions transferred to the War Assets Administration hereunder; provided that if the salary of the incumbent of any position so transferred to the said Administration is above the maximum of the allocated grade such salary shall not be reduced so long as the position is held by the incumbent. The provisions of section 1 hereof notwithstanding, the respective accounting and fiscal procedures in effect with respect to the functions merged shall continue in effect from February 1, 1946 to March 25, 1946. OVER)