United States Information Agency

United States Information Agency salaries and expenses For expenses necessary to enable the United States Information Agency, as authorized by Reorganization Plan No. 8 of 1953, the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act (75 Stat. 527), and the United States Information and Educational Exchange Act, as amended (22 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.), to carry out international information activities, including employment, without regard to the civil service and classification laws, of (1) persons on a temporary basis (not to exceed $20,000), (2) aliens within the United States, and (3) aliens abroad for service in the United States relating to the translation or narration of colloquial speech in foreign languages (such aliens to be investigated for such employment in accordance with procedures established by the Director of the Agency and the Attorney General); travel expenses of aliens employed abroad for service in the United States and their dependents to and from the United States; salaries, expenses, and allowances of personnel and dependents as authorized by the Foreign Service Act of 1946, as amended (22 U.S.C. 801–1158); entertainment within the United States not to exceed $500; hire of passenger motor vehicles; insurance on official motor vehicles in foreign countries; services as authorized by 5 U.S.C. 3109; payment of tort claims, in the manner authorized in the first paragraph of section 2672, as amended, of title 28 of the United States Code when such claims arise in foreign countries; advance of funds notwithstanding section 3648 of the Revised Statutes, as amended; dues for library membership in organizations which issue publications to members only, or to members at a price lower than to others; employment of aliens, by contract, for service abroad; purchase of ice and drinking water abroad; payment of excise taxes on negotiable instruments abroad; purchase of uniforms for not to exceed fourteen guards; actual expenses of preparing and transporting to their former homes the remains of persons, not United States Government employees, who may die away from their homes while participating in activities authorized under this appropriation; radio activities and acquisition and production of motion pictures and visual materials and purchase or rental of technical equipment and facilities therefor, narration, script-writing, translation, and engineering services, by contract or otherwise; maintenance, improvement, and repair of properties used for information activities in foreign countries; fuel and utilities for Government-owned or leased property abroad; rental or lease for periods not exceeding five years of offices, buildings, grounds, and living quarters for officers and employees engaged in informational activities abroad; travel expenses for employees attending official international conferences, without regard81 Stat. 433 to the Standardized Government Travel Regulations and to the rates of per diem allowances in lieu of subsistence expenses under 5 U.S.C. 5701–5708, but at rates not in excess of comparable allowances approved for such conferences by the Secretary of State; and purchase of objects for presentation to foreign governments, schools, or organizations; $156,479,000: Provided, That not to exceed $110,000 may be used for representation abroad: Provided further, That this appropriation shall be available for expenses in connection with travel of personnel outside the continental United States, including travel of dependents and transportation of personal effects, household goods, or automobiles of such personnel, when any part of such travel or transportation begins in the current fiscal year pursuant to travel orders issued in that year, notwithstanding the fact that such travel or transportation may not be completed during the current year: Provided further, That passenger motor vehicles used abroad exclusively for the purposes of this appropriation may be exchanged or sold, pursuant to section 201(c) of the Act of June 30, 1949 (40 U.S.C. 481(c)), and the exchange allowances or proceeds of such sales shall be available for replacement of an equal number of such vehicles and the cost, including the exchange allowance of each such replacement, except buses and station wagons, shall not exceed $1,500: Provided further, That, notwithstanding the provisions of section 3679 of the Revised Statutes, as amended (31 U.S.C. 665), the United States Information Agency is authorized, in making contracts for the use of international short-wave radio stations and facilities, to agree on behalf of the United States to indemnify the owners and operators of said radio stations and facilities from such funds as may be hereafter appropriated for the purpose against loss or damage on account of injury to persons or property arising from such use of said radio stations and facilities: Provided further, That existing appointments and assignments to the Foreign Service Reserve for the purposes of foreign information and educational activities which expire during the current fiscal year may be extended for a period of one year in addition to the period of appointment or assignment otherwise authorized. salaries and expenses (special foreign currency program) For payments in foreign currencies which the Treasury Department determines to be excess to the normal requirements of the United States, for necessary expenses of the United States Information Agency, as authorized by law, $8,604,000, to remain available until expended. special international exhibitions For expenses necessary to carry out the functions of the United States Information Agency under section 102(a)(3) of the “Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961” (75 Stat. 527), $2,709,000, to remain available until expended: Provided, That not to exceed a total of $7,200 may be expended for representation. special international exhibitions (special foreign currency program) For payments in foreign currencies which the Treasury Department determines to be excess to the normal requirements of the United States, for necessary expenses of the United States Information Agency in connection with special international exhibitions under the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961 (75 Stat.81 Stat. 434 527), $387,000, to remain available until expended: Provided, That not to exceed $1,250 may be expended for representation. acquisition and construction of radio facilities For an additional amount for the purchase, rent, construction and improvement of facilities for radio transmission and reception, purchase and installation of necessary equipment for radio transmission and reception, without regard to the provisions of the Act of June 30, 1932 (40 U.S.C. 278a), and acquisition of land and interests in land by purchase, lease, rental, or otherwise, $18,200,000, to remain available until expended: Provided, That this appropriation shall be available for acquisition of land outside the continental United States without regard to section 355 of the Revised Statutes (40 U.S.C. 255), and title to any land so acquired shall be approved by the Director of the United States Information Agency.