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SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION    1453

would be no danger of losing the site for the National Air Museum.  The public would be interested and helpful, and then, too, the aviation industry could be approached for private funds to help in the construction of the National Air Museum building.  It was agreed that it was a hard situation legislatively, and on motion it was

VOTED that the Regents request the Congressional Regents to handle, at their discretion, the matter of getting the new bill, to be proposed by Senator Anderson embracing S. 1984 and S. 1985, passed.

REPORT ON THE RECODIFICATION OF THE BASIC LAWS RELATED TO THE SMITHSONIAN

It was reported that at present the Judiciary Committee in the House of Representatives under the chairmanship of Congressman Emanuel Celler was hard at work on the complete revision and codification of that part of the United States Code that deals with education, and in which the laws governing the Smithsonian Institution are included. The Secretary presented a suggested motion to the Board that read as follows: 

That the Congressional Regents of the Smithsonian Institution be requested to assist in establishing in the new code a clear recognition of the long established right of the Regents to appoint private roll employees without reference to the Civil Service Commission and to retain in the code the historic "Preamble" to Smithsonian legislation.

The Secretary explained that the "Preamble" had always been retained in previous codifications of the laws, but the Committee so far had failed to include it. The second point was that the Smithsonian's legal authority, carried in the enabling Act of August 10, 1846, to appoint private roll employees without reference to the Civil Service Commission should not be abrogated. There was considerable discussion of legislative procedure and the difficulties involved when any changes are made during revision and codification of the Code. Senator Anderson and Senator Saltonstall stated it would be better to bring out the code without change and suggested Mr. Vorys and Mr. Cannon make floor amendments to avoid embarrassment. Mr. Cannon stated that the code might not come to the

Transcription Notes:
Reviewed