Executive Order 9935

By virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, including the Trading with the Enemy Act of October 6, 1917 (40 Stat. 411), as amended, and the act of August 5, 1947, Public Law 370, 80th Congress, 1st Session, it is hereby ordered as follows:

 The Attorney General and the United States Maritime Commission are authorized and directed to transfer to the Government of Italy all right, title, interest, and possession of the United States, the Attorney General, or the Maritime Commission in the following vessels, which were under Italian registry and flag on September 1, 1939:

The United States Maritime Commission is authorized and directed to designate 15 surplus Liberty ships and to transfer them to the Government of Italy, it having been determined by the Commission that 15 Liberty ships have a total tonnage approximately equal to the total tonnage of vessels under Italian registry and flag on September 1, 1939, and subsequently seized in United States ports and thereafter lost while being employed in the United States war effort.

The above transfers shall be made pursuant to agreements to be executed by the Attorney General or the United States Maritime Commission or both, as the case may require, acting on behalf of the United States, and by the Government of Italy, which agreements shall contain substantially the following provisions and such other provisions consistent with the act of August 5, 1947, as the Attorney General and the Maritime Commission, in consultation with the Secretary of State, shall consider necessary and appropriate: 

The Liberty ships to be transferred to the Government of Italy shall be selected by the United States Maritime Commission, in consultation with the Government of Italy, such vessels to be operated by Italy for commercial use. Provision shall be made that such Liberty ships are to be operated under the Italian flag and shall not be sold to any person or corporation not a national of Italy, without the consent of the Government of the United States.

The Attorney General and the United States Maritime Commission shall act in consultation with the Secretary of State in carrying out the terms of this Executive order with all possible promptness in a manner which will effectuate the foreign policy of the United States to assist friendly and democratic European nations to rebuild their economies without delay.</LI><BR/></OL>

, March 16, 1948.