Official Document Text
Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB Archive)
By virtue of the authority vested in me by section 2 (d) of Reorganization Plan No 8 of 1953, and as President of the United States, it is ordered as follows: SECTION 1. Determination. It is hereby determined that it is necessary, in order to carry out the functions transferred to the Director of the United States Information Agency (hereinafter referred to as the Director) by the provisions of subsections (a), (b), and (c) of section 2 of the said Reorganization Plan No. 8 of 1953, to authorize the Director to exercise, in relation to the respective functions so transferred, the authority specified in sections 2 and 3 hereof. SEC. 2. Authority under the Foreign Service Act and related laws, (a) Except as provided in section 2 (c) of this order, the Director is authorized to exercise, with respect to Foreign Service Reserve officers. Foreign Service staff officers and employees, and alien clerks and employees employed to perform the said transferred functions, the authority available to the Secretary of State under the Foreign Service Act of 1943, 60 Stat. 999, as heretofore or hereafter amended, or under any other provision of law pertaining specifically, or generally applicable, to Foreign Service Reserve officers, Foreign Service staff officers and employees, and alien clerks and employees, including the authority to prescribe regulations, not Inconsistent with applicable laws, incident to the exercise of such authority. The Director is further authorized to exercise in the performance of the said transferred functions the authority available to the Secretary of State under sections 561 and 562 of the Foreign Service Act of 1946, as amended, and under sections 1021 through 1071 thereof. (b) The prohibitions and requirements contained in sections 1001 through 1005 and section 1011 of the Foreign Service Act of 1946, as amended, shall be applicable to the personnel of the United States Information Agency. (c) There are hereby excluded from the authority granted to the Director by section 2 (a) of this order the following described powers now vested in or delegated to the Secretary of State: (1) The authority of the Secretary of State to make recommendations to the President for the commissioning of Foreign Service Reserve officers as diplomatic or consular officers, or both, under section 524 of the Foreign Service Act of 1946, as amended, and to make recommendations for the commissioning of Foreign Service staff officers or employees as consuls under section 533 of such act, and the authority of the Secretary to commission Foreign Service staff officers as vice consuls under the said section 533. The Director may, whenever he considers it necessary to carry out the functions transferred to him by the said Reorganization Plan No. 8 of 1953, request the Secretary of State to recommend to the President that persons employed under section 2 (a) of this order be commissioned as diplomatic or consular officers, or oth, or to grant such persons diplomatic or consular commissions, as appropriate. (2) The authority vested in the President by sections 443 and 901 of the Foreign Service Act of 1946, as amended, which has been delegated to the Secretary of State by Executive Orders Nos. 10000 and 10011, and successive amendments thereof, to designate places, fix rates, and prescribe regulations governing the payment of additional compensation, known as "foreign post differential", to employees in foreign areas of executive departments and independent establishments of the United States, and to designate places, flx rates, and prescribe regulations, with respect to civilian employees of the Government serving abroad, governing living-quarters allowances, cost-of-living allowances, and representation allowances. SEC. 3. Authority under various other statutes. The Director is authorized to exercise the authority available to the Secretary of State or the Director of the Foreign Operations Administration, as the case may be, under the following described provisions of law: (a) The Foreign Service Buildings Act of 1926, as amended (22 U.S.C. 292-300), regarding the acquisition, construction, alteration, repair, furnishing, exchange, and disposal of buildings and grounds in foreign countries. (b) The act of July 9, 1949 (5 U.S.C. 170a, b, and c), regarding the transfer, acquisition, use, and disposal of international broadcasting facilities. (c) The act of August 3, 1950 (19 U.S.C. 1201, par. 1628), regarding the importation of sound recordings. (d) The provisions under the first heading "Salaries and Expenses" of the Department of State Appropriation Act, 1954, regarding (1) employment of aliens, by contract, for services abroad, (2) purchase of uniforms, (3) cost of transporting to and from a place of storage and the cost of storing the furniture and household effects of an employee of the Foreign Service who is assigned to a post at which he is unable to use his furniture and effects, under such regulations as the Secretary of State may prescribe, (4) dues for library membership in organizations which issue publications to members only, or to members at a price lower than to others, (5) examination of estimates of appropriations in the field, (6) purchase of ice and drinking water abroad. (7) payment of excise taxes on negotiable instruments abroad, and (8) procurement, by contract or otherwise, of services, supplies, and facilities, as follows: (i) maintenance, improvement, and repair of properties used for international information activities in foreign countries, (ii) fuel and utilities for Government-owned or leased property abroad, and (iii) rental or lease for periods not exceeding ten years of offices, buildings, ground, and living quarters, and the furnishing of living quarters to officers and employees engaged in international information activities abroad (22 U.S.C. 291). (e) The provisions of the Department of State Appropriation Act, 1954, regarding (1) exchange of funds for payment of expenses in connection with the operation of information establishments abroad without regard to the provisions of section 3651 of the Revised Statutes (31 U.S.C. 543), (section 103 of the General Provisions of the Department of State Appropriation Act, 1954), (2) payment of travel expenses outside the continental limits of the United States from funds available In the fiscal year that such travel is authorized and actually begins (section 104 of the General Provisions of the Department of State Appropriation Act. 1954), (3) granting authority to the chief of each information Field Staff to approve, with the concurrence of the Chief of Mission, use of Government-owned vehicles for travel under conditions described in section 105 of the General Provisions of the Department of State Appropriation Act, 1954, and (4) purchase with foreign currencies for use abroad of passenger motor vehicles (exclusive of buses, ambulances, and station wagons) at a cost not to exceed the equivalent of $2,200 for each vehicle (section 106 of the General Provisions of the Department of State Appropriation Act, 1954). (f) Section 202 of the Revised Statutes of the United States (5 U.S.C. 156), so far as it authorizes the Secretary of State to keep the American public informed about the international information aspects of the United States foreign affairs. (g) Section 504 (d) of the Mutual Security Act of 1951, as amended (relating to reduction in personnel), with respect to personnel transferred from the Mutual Security Agency or the Foreign Operations Administration to the United States Information Agency. (h) Section 161 of the Revised Statutes of the United States (5 U.S.C. 22) and section 4 of the act of May 26, 1949 (5 U.S.C. 151c), regarding the promulgation of rules and regulations and the delegation of authority. SEC 4. Effective date. This order shall become effective on August 1, 1953. DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER THE WHITE HOUSE, August 1, 1953.