Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 68 Part 1.djvu/1057

 68 S T A T.

1025

PUBLIC LAW 740-AUG. 31, 1954

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(c) The provisions of sections 221, 222, 223, and 224 of this title shall not apply to any censuses or surveys of governments provided for by subchapters III and IV of chapter 5 of this title, nor to other surveys provided for by subchapter IV of such chapter which are taken more frequently than annually. (d) Where the doctrine, teaching, or discipline of any religious denomination or church prohibits the disclosure of information relative to membership, a refusal, in such circumstances, to furnish such information shall not be an offense under this chapter. SUBCHAPTER III—PROCEDURE § 241. Evidence When any request for information, made by the Secretary or other authorized officer or employee of the Department of Commerce or bureau or agency thereof, is made by registered mail or telegram as authorized by section 224 of this title, the return receipt therefor or other written receipt thereof shall be prima facie evidence of an official request in any prosecution under such section. SEC. 2. Title III of the Public Health Service Act (58 Stat. 682), as amended, is amended by inserting, immediately following section 312 thereof (42 U.S.C. sec. 244), and preceding section 313 thereof (42 U.S.C. sec. 245), the following new section: "SEC. 312a. There shall be a collection of the statistics of the births and deaths in registration areas annually, the data for which shall be obtained only from and restricted to such registration records of such States and municipalities as in the discretion of the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare possess records affording satisfactory data in necessary detail, the compensation for the transcription of which shall not exceed 4 cents for each birth or death reported; or a minimum compensation of $25 may be allowed in the discretion of the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, in States or cities registering less than five hundred deaths or five hundred births during the preceding year." SEC. 3. Whenever reference is made in any other law or in any regulation or order to the Census Office, such reference shall be held and considered to mean the Bureau of the Census referred to in section 2 of Title 13, United States Code, as set out in section 1 of this Act. This section shall not be construed as affecting historical references to the Census Office which could have no present or future application to the Bureau of the Census. SEC. 4. If any part of Title 13, United States Code, as set in section 1 of this Act, is held invalid, the remainder of such title shall not be affected thereby. SEC. 5. No inference of a legislative construction is to be drawn by reason of the chapter in Title 13, United States Code, as set out in section 1 of this Act, in which any section is placed, nor by reason of the captions or catchlines used in such title. SEC. 6. The provisions of this Act shall take effect on January 1, 1955. SEC. 7. The sections of the Acts, and the Acts or parts of Acts, enumerated in the following schedule, are hereby repealed. Any rights or liabilities now existing under such statutes or parts thereof, and any proceedings instituted under, or growing out of, any of such statutes or parts thereof, shall not be affected by this repeal.

39777 O—55—pt. 1

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P u b l i c Health Service. Birth and death statistics.

R e f e r e n c e s to Census Office.

Separability.

Legislative conr struction.

Effective date. Repeals.

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