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MAR 6 19A6 EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT BUREAU OF THE BUDGET WASHINGTON, 25, D. C. MAR 6 1946 My dear Mr. Latta: On February 28, 1946, you advised this of fice that H.R. 129, "To provide for the barring of certain claims by the United States in con- nection with Government checks and warrants, " had been received at the White House and requested reports and recommendations as to the approval of the bill. It is the purpose of the bill to bar the United States or any agency or official thereof from bringing suit to enforce the liability of any endorser, transferor, depositary, or financial agent on any forged or unauthorized signature or endorsement or any alteration of a Government check or warrant, unless such suit is brought within six years after the presentation of such check or warrant for payment, or unless within that period the United States or an agency thereof notifies such endorser, transferor, depositary or financial agent of the existence of such a claim. The period of limitations would be extended for an additional 180 days in those cases in which a claim is filed with the General Accounting Office under the Act of June 22, 1926 (31 U.S.C. 122). Section 2 of the bill would authorize the Comptroller General to credit the accounts of the Treasurer of the United States with the amount of any check or warrant with respect to which the period of limitations provided by the measure had elapsed, if there was no negligence on the part of the Treasurer of the United States in failing to give notice of the existence of the claim. In those cases in which the endorser, transferor, depositary or financial agent fraudulently concealed the facts concerning a forged or unauthorized endorsement or alteration, the statute of limitations would be extended for a period of two years from the date of the dis- covery by the United States of such concealment (Sec. 3) . A facsimile of the enrolled enactment has been referred to the Treasury Department, the Department of Justice, and the General