Page:Legislative History of the AAF and USAF.djvu/79

 �This Page Declassified lAW EO12958 1949 enacted in the 81st Congress; and some of the suggested lcgisiation has not yet been enacted.* The increasingly wide scope of post- World War !I Air Force legislation can be seen in a list of selected legislation of in- terest to the Deputy Chief of Staff for Per- sonnel and Administration, USAF, which was prepared by the Budget and Legs- .lative Branch of the Executive Office, DCS/- PA, about 19 June 1948. Ths hat, which covered just a part of the second seanon of the 80th Congress, included 32 public laws enacted, 14 bills awaiting the President's signature, and 106 bills winch were intro- duced but failed to pass. e This hat, of course, contained just a small sample of the number and type of bills directly or indi- rectly concerning the Air Force introduced in Congress every year. Many of these bills never reached the floor in either House of Congress; they were killed in committee, often on the advice or recommendation of Air Force officia]s. Other bills were aided in helr passage by the recommendations of Air Force officials, or by their favorable testimony before the committees and sub- committees concerned. A great deal of the legeslotion enacted in behalf of the Air Force was drafted in the Air Force itself and, after receiving the proper approvals, was trarmnntted to Congress for introduc- tion and reference to the proper committee. The USAF maintamed close liaison with Congress when it was in session and was active in framing its own legislative pro- gram and in seeing that it came to the attention of Congress. REORGANIZATION OF THE LEGISLATIVE SERVICES OF THE POSTWAR AIR FORCE The hnd].g of Air Force ]eslative a- fairs grew large and became such an im- portant responsibility that it became neces- sary for the Air Force Establishment to reorganize and expand those staff organi- zations which handled its legi.qatxve pro- gram. In 1946 the Legislative Services Sec- tion, Office of the Air Judge Advocate, AC/AS, Personnel, with its taff of approxi- legislation l:rav[dg for th estahllahmen of an Air Academy, mately 13 military and civilig.n personnel, was transferred to the Office of the Director of Information and redesigneted the Office of Legisiatve Services.  Ths office was charged wihh the respon- sibility of preparing drafts of proposed AAF legislation, the accompanlang letters of transmittal, and all other correspondence pertaining thereto; securing the coordina- tion of the Air Staff offices concerned; and forwarding the legislative recommenda~ tions to the Legislation and Liaison Division of the War Department Special Staff. This division, in turn, secured the concurrence of the War Department and transmitted the legislative proposals to the Bureau of the Budget and to Congress.  When the Air Force became a separate department in the National Military Estab- lishment, the Office of the Director of In- formation, along with its subordinate organization, the Office of Legislative Serv- ices, was transferred to the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force. Soon thereafter the Office of the Director of Information was reorganized as the Directorate of Pub- lic Relations and it three subordinate of- rices were redesignated as divisions; the Air Irfformation Dvision, the Legislative Services Division (formerly the Office of Legislative Services), and the Civil Liaison Divimon. But this organization was short lived. Late in 1947 the Legislative Seroroes Division and the Civil Liaison Division were combined to form the Legislative and Liai- son Division with two branches, the Legis- lative Services Branch and the Civil Liaison Branch. Later a third branch was added, the Congressional Liaison Branch.  As soon as the Air Force had become a separate department, negotiations had been started to transfer to the equivalen Air Force organization certain legislative and Congressional functions that were being performed by the Legislative and Liaison Divisxon of the Departmen of the Army. By July 1948 both functions and personnel cf the Army office had been transferred to the Legislative and Liaison Division of the Directorate of Public Rela- tions, Department of the Air Force, which now had a total of approximately 61 per- THIS PAGE Declassified lAW EO12958
 *  wss no Illlit1 he sring of 1954 ha Congl'es enacted