REORGANIZATION PLAN NO. 5 OF 1953
Eff. June 30, 1953, 18 F.R. 3741, 67 Stat. 637
Prepared by the President and transmitted to the Senate and the House of Representatives in Congress assembled, April 30, 1953, pursuant to the provisions of the Reorganization Act of 1949, approved June 20, 1949, as amended [see 5 U.S.C. 901 et seq.].
THE EXPORT-IMPORT BANK OF WASHINGTON
Section 1. The Managing Director
There is hereby established the office of Managing Director of the Export-Import Bank of Washington, hereinafter referred to as the Managing Director. The Managing Director shall be appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and shall receive compensation at the rate of $17,500 per annum.
Sec. 2. Deputy Director
There is hereby established the office of Deputy Director of the Export-Import Bank of Washington. The Deputy Director shall be appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall receive compensation at the rate of $16,000 per annum, shall perform such functions as the Managing Director may from time to time prescribe, and shall act as Managing Director during the absence or disability of the Managing Director or in the event of a vacancy in the office of Managing Director.
Sec. 3. Assistant Director
There is hereby established the office of Assistant Director of the Export-Import Bank of Washington. The Assistant Director shall be appointed by the Managing Director under the classified civil service, shall receive compensation at the rate now or hereafter fixed by law for grade GS–18 of the general schedule established by the Classification Act of 1949, as amended [5 U.S.C. 5332], and shall perform such functions as the Managing Director may from time to time prescribe.
Sec. 4. Functions Transferred to the Managing Director
All functions of the Board of Directors of the Export-Import Bank of Washington are hereby transferred to the Managing Director.
Sec. 5. General Policies
The National Advisory Council on International Monetary and Financial Problems shall from time to time establish general lending and other financial policies which shall govern the Managing Director in the conduct of the lending and other financial operations of the bank.
Sec. 6. Performance of Transferred Functions
The Managing Director may from time to time make such provisions as he deems appropriate authorizing the performance of any of the functions of the Managing Director by any other officer, or by any agency or employee, of the bank.
Sec. 7. Abolition
The following are hereby abolished: (1) The Board of Directors of the Export-Import Bank of Washington, including the offices of the members thereof provided for in section 3(a) of the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945, as amended [12 U.S.C. 635a(a)]; (2) the Advisory Board of the Bank, together with the functions of the said Advisory Board; and (3) the function of the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Export-Import Bank of Washington of being a member of the National Advisory Council on International Monetary and Financial Problems. The Managing Director shall make such provisions as may be necessary for winding up any outstanding affairs of the said abolished boards and offices not otherwise provided for in this reorganization plan.
Sec. 8. Effective Date
Sections 3 to 7, inclusive, of this reorganization plan shall become effective when the Managing Director first appointed hereunder enters upon office pursuant to the provisions of this reorganization plan.
[A Board of Directors was reestablished for the Export-Import Bank of Washington by section 1 of act Aug. 9, 1954, ch. 660,
Message of the President
To the Congress of the United States:
I transmit herewith Reorganization Plan No. 5 of 1953, prepared in accordance with the provisions of the Reorganization Act of 1949, as amended.
The purpose of the reorganization plan is to simplify the organization and strengthen the administration of the Export-Import Bank of Washington by providing for a single Managing Director at the head of the bank. The management of the bank is now vested in a Board of Directors consisting of four full-time members and the Secretary of State, ex officio. The functions performed by the Board are essentially of an executive nature and are comparable to those vested in the heads of other executive agencies. Experience has demonstrated that the most effective performance of executive functions is more likely to be obtained under a single administrator than under a board.
The plan concentrates authority and responsibility for bank operations in the Managing Director. Safeguards are provided in the plan and in existing law, however, to assure that the bank follows sound lending and financial policies and that its activities are coordinated with those of other Government agencies having international responsibilities. Under the plan, the National Advisory Council on International Monetary and Financial Problems is authorized to establish the general lending and other financial policies which shall govern the operations of the bank. The Council is composed of the Secretary of the Treasury, as chairman, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Commerce, the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and the Director for Mutual Security.
At present the Board of Directors is not only subject to policy guidance by the National Advisory Council, under the provisions of the Bretton Woods Agreements Act, but is also required to consult with the Advisory Board for the Export-Import Bank, created by the Export-Import Bank Act, on major questions of policy and to receive recommendations from that Board. The composition of the Advisory Board largely parallels that of the Council. The differences are that only the latter includes the Director for Mutual Security as a member and that the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Export-Import Bank is the Chairman of the Advisory Board whereas the Secretary of the Treasury serves as the Chairman of the Council. Because of the similarity of the composition of the Advisory Board and Council, and of their functions as respects the bank, the reorganization plan abolishes the Advisory Board. It also abolishes the functions of the Advisory Board (conferred by sec. 3(d) of the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945).
The reorganization plan also provides for the abolition of the functions of the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Export-Import Bank of Washington with respect to his membership on the National Advisory Council on International Monetary and Financial Problems. The function of membership is conferred upon the Chairman by section 4 of the Bretton Woods Agreements Act, as amended. I contemplate that the Managing Director of the Export-Import Bank of Washington will participate as a nonvoting member of the National Advisory Council in relation to matters of concern to the bank. I believe there is merit in reducing the size of the Council and also believe that the interests of the bank can be properly placed before the Council without conferring full Council membership on the Managing Director of the Bank.
Under the reorganization plan the Export-Import Bank of Washington will continue in its status of a corporate entity, and independent agency, in the executive branch of the Government. The President will retain authority to terminate or modify any delegation or assignment of function made by the President to the bank or to any of its agencies or officers.
After investigation I have found and hereby declare that each reorganization included in Reorganization Plan No. 5 of 1953 is necessary to accomplish one or more of the purposes set forth in section 2(a) of the Reorganization Act of 1949, as amended. I also have found and hereby declare that by reason of these reorganizations it is necessary to include in the reorganization plan provision for the appointment and compensation of the new officers specified in sections 1, 2, and 3 of the reorganization plan. The rates of compensation fixed for these officers are, respectively, those which I have found to prevail in respect of comparable officers in the executive branch of the Government.
The taking effect of Reorganization Plan No. 5 of 1953 will accomplish a small immediate reduction of expenditures, since it will substitute 1 Managing Director, together with a deputy and assistant, for a Board which includes 4 full-time members. Other reductions in expenditures will probably be brought about also, through increased economy and efficiency in the performance of necessary services of the bank resulting from the simplification of its organization, but such reductions cannot be itemized in advance of actual experience.
Dwight D. Eisenhower.