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EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT for BUREAU OF THE BUDGET WASHINGTON 25, D. C. NOV 6 1945 My dear Mr. . Latta: On November 2, 1945, you advised this office that H.R. 4083, "Author- izing the improvement of certain harbors in the interest of commerce and navigation, 11 had been received at the White House and requested repor ts and recommendations as to the approval of the bill. The bill authorizes the prosecution of projects for the improvement of Savannah Harbor, Georgia, in accordance with the report of the Chief of Engineers, House Document 227, Seventy-ninth Congress, at an estimated cost of $2,738,000, and the improvement of Two Harbors, Minnesota, in accordance with the report of the Chief of Engineers, House Document 805, Seventy-eighth Congress, at an estimated cost of $1,876,000. A facsimile of the enrolled enactment has been referred to the War Department, and its reply, recommending approval of the bill, is attached. A bill (H.R. 3477) was passed by the Congress during the current session but was vetoed by the President on July 28, 1945 (House Document 275), largely upon the ground that the bill did not incorporate the requirement contained in the proviso to section 2 of the omnibus river and harbor act of March 2, 1945, "That no project herein authorized shall be appropriated for or con- structed until six months after the termination of the present wars in which the United States is engaged unless the construction of such project has been recommended by an authorized defense agency and approved by the President as being necessary or desirable in the interest of the national defense and security, and the President has notified the Congress to that effect." The measure now under consideration overcomes this objection by providing that the prosecution of these rojects shall be "subject to the proviso in section 2 of the River and Harbor Act approved March 2, 1945.' The two projects involved in this measure appear to be meritorious, and I accordingly recommend that the bill be approved. Very truly yours, Mr. M. C. Latta, The White House. Director. Enclosures: Letter from War Department. as TABLED NARA Copy each of House and Senate reports on bill.