Page:Legislative History of the AAF and USAF.djvu/73

 �This Page Declassified lAW EO12958 66 -- USA iCSTORICAL TIDIES or airframe tons herein permitted to th Air Force. In section 204 the Secretary of the 2nr Force was gxven the author/ty to procure the number of aircraft or arframe tons provided for above and to replace un- serwceable or obsolete aircraft. He was also given the authority to procure graded mis- sDes, spares, spare parts, and the equip- merit and iaczlitles necessary for the oper- ation and maintenance of the Air Force. Section 205 authorized the Secretary of the Air Force to carry on research and de- velopment programs related to Am Force activities and to procure the iacihties, equipment, serwces, and supplies neces- sary for such work. o Title IK of the ae stated that its provi- sions should be subjec to the duties and authority oi the Secretary of Defense and the various organizations of the Depart- ment of Defense as provided m the National Security Act of 194 and its amendments. I was specified also that the whole act would not be rendered invalid should a part thereof be invahd. Of grea importance [o the Air Force was the provision /n Title III authorizing the appropluation of funds o carry out the provmions of the act and specifically stating that moneys appropriated to the Depart- ment of the Air Force "for procurement of techn/cal m/litary equipment and supplies, the construction of public works, and for research and development" should remain available until expended unless it was otherwise prowded in the appropriation act concerned. This leg/slation was of impor- tance to the Air Force, as it established in law the composition and basic authorities of the Air Force, and gave it a firm legal base for carrying on its activities. No longer was the Air Force solely dependent on Army leg/slatxon for authority to carry on ts basic activities. It should be pointed out, however, that the practice of securing de- tailed authorizing legxslation in procure- ment matters, as exemplfiied in sections 203 and 204 of this act, sets up statutory limitations which tend to create psycho- logical blocks. These, hu turn, may hamper the expansion of the Air Force when the exiõencies of the world situation demand such expansion. - THE AIR FORCE ORGANIZATION ACT OF 1951 This legislation was followed in 1951 by another act which provided a statutory bass for the internal organization of the Air Force and the Department of the Air Force. Tins was accomplished when Con- gress passed the Ar Force Organizatmn Act of 1951, Public Law 150, 82 Cong., ! Sess. (approved 19 September 195). a This measure was introduced in the House oœ Representatives on I9 January 1951 by Rep- resentative Paul ;r. Kilday (Democrat, Texas) as H.R. 1726, "A bill to prowde for he organization of the Air Force and for other purposes " This bill was, in general, acceptable to the Air Force. The House Committee on Armed Services reported it back to the House without amendment on 22 January. It was referred to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and was passed by the House on 24 January 1951. S H.R. 1726 was then sent to the Senate and referred to the Senate Committee on Armed Services, which referred it back to the Sen- ate with amendments on 18 June 1951 G The amended version oœ H.R. 1726 which the Senate passed on 21 June 1951 differed in several respects from the bill passed by the House and it had to go to conference committee for revision into a form accepta- ble to both Houses.  In the conference repor (House Report No. 973) and statement the conference managers from both Houses areed to make certain concessions, The Senate was to recede from nine amendments it had made to the original bill, and the House was to recede from its disagreement with six other amendments made by the Senate. The conference committee agreed on a com.romise measure which was substan- tially the House bill, The major change was in the matter of the command authority of the Chief of Staff of the Ar Force. n the House bill the Chief of Staff had been given THIS PAGE Declassified lAW EO12958