An applicant for review of a final decision of the Board concerning a claim for benefits shall not be liable for costs, including costs of service, or costs of printing records, except that costs may be assessed by the court against such applicant if the court determines that the proceedings for such review have been instituted or continued without reasonable ground.

(g) Findings of fact and conclusions of law of the Board in the determination of any claim for benefits or refund and the determination of the Board that the unexpended funds in the account are available for the payment of any claim for benefits or refund under this Act, shall be, except as provided in subsection (f) of this section, binding and conclusive for all purposes and upon all persons, including the Comptroller General and any other administrative or accounting officer, employee, or agent of the United States, and shall not be subject to review in any manner other than that set forth in subsection (f) of this section.

(h) Except as may be otherwise prescribed by regulations of the Board, benefits payable with respect to any period prior to the date of a final decision of the Board with respect to a claim therefor, shall be paid only after such final decision. (i) No claimant claiming benefits shall be charged fees of any kind by the Board, its employees or representatives, with respect to such claim. Any such claimant may be represented by counsel or other duly authorized agent, in any proceeding before the Board or its representatives or a court, but no such counsel or agent shall either charge or receive for such services more than an amount approved by the Board or by the court before whom the proceedings of the Board are reviewed. Any person who violates any provision of this subsection shall be punished by a fine of not more than $10,000 or by imprisonment not exceeding one year.

CONCLUSIVENESS OF RETURNS OF COMPENSATION AND OF FAILURE TO MAKE RETURNS OF COMPENSATION

SEC. 6. Employers shall file with the Board, in such manner and form and at such times as the Board by regulations may prescribe, returns under oath of monthly compensation of employees, and, if the Board shall so require, shall furnish employees with statements of their monthly compensation as reported to the Board. Any such return shall be conclusive as to the amount of compensation earned by an employee during each month covered by the return, and the fact that no return was made of the compensation claimed to be earned by an employee during a particular calendar month shall be taken as conclusive that no compensation was earned by such employee during that month, unless the error in the amount of compensation returned in the one case, or the failure to make return of the compensation in the other case, is called to the attention of the Board within four years after the last date on which return of the compensation was required to be made.

FREE TRANSPORTATION

SEC. 7. It shall not be unlawful for carriers to furnish free trasportation to employees qualified for benefits or serving waiting periods under this Act, and to members and employees of the Board, in the same manner as such transportation is furnished to employees in their service.

CONTRIBUTIONS

SEC. 8. (a) Every employer shall pay a contribution, with respect to having employees in his service, equal to 3 per centum of so much of the compensation as is not in excess of $300 for any calendar month payable by him to any employee with respect to employment after June 30, 1939: Provided, however, That if compensation is payable to an employee by more than one employer with respect to any such calendar month, the contributions required by this subsection shall apply to not more than $300 of the aggregate compensation payable to said employee by all said employers with respect to such calendar month, and each such employer shall be liable for that proportion of the contribution with respect to such compensation which the amount payable by him to the employee with respect to such calendar month bears to the aggregate compensation payable to such employee by all employers with respect to such calendar month.

(b) Each employee representative shall pay, with respect to his income, a contribution equal to 3 per centum of so much of the compensation of such employee representative as is not in excess of $300 for any calendar month, paid to him for services performed as an employee representative after June 30, 1939. The compensation of an employee representative and the contribution with

respect thereto shall be determined in the same manner and with the same effect as if the employee organization by which such employee representative is employed where an employer as defined in this Act.

(c) In the payment of any contribution under this Act, a fractional part of a cent shall be disregarded unless it amounts to one-half cent or more, in which case it shall be increased to one cent.

(d) If more or less than the correct amount of the contribution required by this section is paid with respect to any compensation, then, under regulations prescribed under this Act by the Board, proper adjustments with respect to the contribution shall be made, without interest, in connection with subsequent contribution payments made under this Act by the same employer or employee representative.

(e) If more or less than the correct amount of the contribution required by this section is paid with respect to any compensation and the overpayment or underpayment of the contribution cannot be adjusted under subsection (d) of this section, the amount of the overpayment shall be refunded from the account, or the amount of the underpayment shall be collected, in such manner and at such times (subject to the statute of limitations properly applicable thereto) as may be prescribed by regulations of the Board.

(f) The contributions required by this Act shall be collected by the Board and shall be deposited by it with the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, 90 per centum thereof to the credit of the account and 10 per centum thereof to the credit of the fund.

(g) The contributions required by this Act shall be collected and paid quarterly or at such other times and in such manner and under such conditions not inconsistent with this Act as may be prescribed by regulations of the Board, and shall not be deducted, in whole or in part, from the compensation of employees in the employer's employ. If a contribution required by this Act is not paid when due, there shall be added to the amount payable (except in the case of adjustments made in accordance with the provisions of this Act) interest at the rate of 1 per centum per month or fraction of a month from the date the contribution became due until paid. Any interest collected pursuant to this subsection shall be credited to the account.

(h) All provisions of law, including penalties, applicable with respect to any tax imposed by section 600 or section 800 of the Revenue Act of 1926, and the provisions of section 607 of the Revenue Act of 1934, insofar as applicable and not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, shall be applicable with respect to the contributions required by this Act: Provided, however, That all authority and functions conferred by or pursuant to such provisions upon any officers or employees of the United States, except the authority to institute and prosecute, and the function of instituting and prosecuting, criminal proceedings, shall, with respect to the contributions required by this Act, be vested in and exercised by the Board or such officers and employees of the Board as it may designate therefor.

PENALTIES

SEC. 9. (a) Any officer or agent of an employer, or any employee representative, or any employee acting in his own behalf, or any person whether or not of the character herein before defined, who shall willfully fail or refuse to make any report or furnish any information required by the Board in the administration of this Act, or who shall knowingly make or aid in making or cause to be made any false or fraudulent statement or report when a statement or report is required to be made for the purposes of this Act, or who shall knowingly make or aid in making or cause to be made any false or fraudulent statement or claim for the purpose of causing benefits or other payment to be made or not to be made under this Act, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $10,000 or by imprisonment not exceeding one year, or both.

(b) Any agreement by an employee to pay all or any portion of the contribution required of his employer under this Act shall be void, and it shall be unlawful for any employer, or officer or agent of an employer, to make, require, or permit any employee to bear all or any portion of such contribution. Any employer, or officer or agent of an employer, who violates any provision of this subsection shall be punished for each such violation by a fine of not more than $10,000 or by imprisonment not exceeding one year, or both.

(c) Any person who violates any provision of this Act, the punishment for which is not otherwise provided, shall be punished for each such violation by a fine of not more than $1,000 or by imprisonment not exceeding one year, or both.

(d) All fines and penalties imposed by a court pursuant to this Act shall be paid to the court and be remitted from time to time by order of the judge to the Treasury of the United States to be credited to the account.

RAILROAD UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE ACCOUNT

SEC. 10. (a) The Secretary of the Treasury shall maintain in the unemployment trust fund established pursuant to section 904 of the Social Security Act an account to be known as the railroad unemployment insurance account. This account shall consist of (i) 90 per centum of all contributions collected pursuant to section 8 of this Act, together with all interest thereon collected pursuant to section 8 of this Act; (ii) all amounts transferred or paid into the account pursuant to section 13 or section 14 of this Act; (iii) all additional amounts appropriated to the account in accordance with any provision of this Act or with any provision of law now or hereafter adopted; (iv) a proportionate part of the earnings of the unemployment trust fund, computed in accordance with the provisions of section 904 (e) of the Social Security Act; (v) all amounts realized in recoveries for overpayments or erroneous payments of benefits; (vi) all amounts transferred thereto pursuant to section 11 of this Act; (vii) all fines or penalties collected pursuant to the provisions of this Act; and (viii) all amounts credited thereto pursuant to section 2 (g) or section 12 (g) of this Act. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, all moneys credited to the account shall be mingled and undivided, and are hereby permanently appropriated to the Board to be continuously available to the Board without further appropriation, for the payment of benefits and refunds under this Act, and no part thereof shall lapse at any time, or be carried to the surplus fund or any other fund.

(b) All moneys in the account shall be used solely for the payment of the benefits and refunds provided for by this Act. The Board shall, from time to time, certify to the Secretary of the Treasury the name and address of each person or company entitled to receive benefits or a refund payment under this Act, the amount of such payment, and the time at which it shall be made. Prior to audit or settlement by the General Accounting Office, the Secretary of the Treasury, through the Division of Disbursements of the Treasury Department, shall make payments from the account directly to such person or company of the amount of benefits or refund so certified by the Board: Provided, however, That if the Board shall so request, the Secretary of the Treasury, through the Division of Disbursements of the Treasury Department, shall transmit benefits payments to the Board for distribution by it through employment offices or in such other manner as the Board deems proper.

(c) The Board shall include in its annual report to Congress a statement with respect to the status and operation of the account.

(d) The Secretary of the Treasury is hereby directed to advance to the credit of the account such sums, but not more than $25,000,000, as the Board requests for the purpose of paying benefits. Such sums shall be repaid from the account on January 1, 1941, or at such earlier time as the Board may, by agreement with the Secretary of the Treasury, determine.

(e) Section 904 (a) of the Social Security Act is hereby amended to read as follows:

"There is hereby established in the Treasury of the United States a trust fund to be known as the 'unemployment trust fund', hereinafter in this title called the 'fund'. The Secretary of the Treasury is authorized and directed to receive and hold in the fund all moneys deposited therein by a State agency from a State unemployment fund, or by the Railroad Retirement Board to the credit of the railroad unemployment insurance account. Such deposit may be made directly with the Secretary of the Treasury or with any Federal Reserve bank or member bank of the Federal Reserve System designated by him for such purpose."

(f) Section 904 (e) of the Social Security Act is hereby amended to read as follows:

"The fund shall be invested as a single fund, but the Secretary of the Treasury shall maintain a separate book account for each State agency and the railroad unemployment insurance account and shall credit quarterly on March 31, June 30, September 30, and December 31, of each year, to each account, on the basis of the average daily balance of such account, a proportionate part of the earnings of the fund for the quarter ending on such date."

(g) Section 904 (f) of the Social Security Act is hereby amended by adding thereto the following sentence: "The Secretary of the Treasury is authorized and directed to make such payments out of the fund as the Railroad Retirement Board may duly certify, not exceeding the amount standing to the railroad unemployment insurance account at the time of such payment.'

RAILROAD UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE ADMINISTRATION FUND

SEC. 11. (a) There is hereby established in the Treasury of the United States a fund to be known as the railroad unemployment insurance administration fund. This fund shall consist of (i) 10 per centum of all contributions collected pursuant to section 8 of this Act; (ii) all amounts advanced to the fund by the Secretary of the Treasury pursuant to this section; (iii) all amounts appropriated by subsection (b) of this section; and (iv) such additional amounts as Congress may appropriate for expenses necessary or incidental to administering this Act. Such additional amounts are hereby authorized to be appropriated.

(b) In addition to the other moneys herein provided for expenses necessary or incidental to administering this Act, there is hereby appropriated to the fund such amount as the Secretary of the Treasury and the Board shall jointly estimate to have been collected or to be collectible with respect to the calendar years 1936, 1937, 1938, and 1939, from employers subject to this Act, under title IX of the Social Security Act, less such amount as the Secretary of the Treasury and the Board shall jointly estimate will be appropriated or has been appropriated to States or Territories pursuant to the Act of Congress approved August 24, 1937 (Public, Numbered 353, Seventy-fifth Congress), as proceeds of taxes paid by employers pursuant to title IX of the Social Security Act.

Until the amount appropriated by this subsection is credited to the fund, the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby directed to advance to the credit of the fund such sums, but not more than $2,000,000, as the Board requests for the purpose of financing the costs of administering this Act. Such advance shall be repaid from the fund at such time after the amount appropriated by this subsection is credited to the fund as the Board by agreement with the Secretary of the Treasury may determine, but not later than January 1, 1940.

(c) Nothwithstanding any other provision of law, all moneys at any time credited to the fund are hereby permanently appropriated to the Board to be continuously available to the Board without further appropriation for any expenses necessary or incidental to administering this Act, including personal services in the District of Columbia and elsewhere; travel expenses, including expenses of attendance at meetings when authorized by the Board; actual transportation expenses and not to exceed $10 per diem to cover subsistence and other expenses while in attendance at and en route to and from the place to which he is invited, to any person other than an employee of the Federal Government who may, from time to time, be invited to the city of Washington or elsewhere for conference or advisory purposes in furthering the work of the Board; when found by the Board to be in the interest of the Government, not exceeding 3 per centum, in any fiscal year, of the amounts credited during such year to the fund, for engaging persons or organizations, by contract or otherwise, for any special technical or professional services, determined necessary by the Board, including but not restricted to accounting, actuarial, statistical, and reporting services, without regard to section 3709 of the Revised Statutes (U. S. C., title 41, sec. 5) and the provisions of other laws applicable to the employment and compensation of officers and employees of the United States; services; advertising, postage, telephone, telegraph, teletype, and other communication services and tolls; supplies; reproducing, photographing, and all other equipment, office appliances, and labor-saving devices, including devices for internal communication and conveyance; purchase and exchange, operation, maintenance and repair of motor-propelled passenger-carrying vehicles to be used only for official purposes in the District of Columbia and in the field; printing and binding; purchase and exchange of law books, books of reference and directories; periodicals, newspapers and press clippings, in such amounts as the Board deems necessary, without regard to the provisions of section 192 of the Revised Statutes; manuscripts and special reports; membership fees or dues in organizations which issue publications to members only, or to members at a lower price than to others, payment for which may be made in advance; rentals, including garages, in the District of Columbia or elsewhere; alterations and repairs; if found by the Board to be necessary to expedite the certification to the Board by the Civil Service Commission of persons eligible to be employed by the Board, and to the extent that the Board finds such expedition necessary, meeting the expenses of the Civil Service Commission in holding examinations for testing the fitness of applicants for admission to the classified service for employment by the Board pursuant to the second paragraph of section 12 (1) of this Act, but not to exceed the additional expenses found by the Board to have been incurred by reason of the holding of such examinations; and miscellaneous items, including those for public instruction and_information deemed necessary by the Board: Provided, That section 3709 of Revised Statutes (U. S. C., title 41, sec. 5) shall not be construed

to apply to any purchase or procurement of supplies or services by the Board from moneys in the fund when the aggregate amount involved does not exceed $300. Determinations of the Board whether the fund or an appropriation for the administration of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1937 and the Railroad Retirement Act of 1935 is properly chargeable with the authorized expenses, or parts thereof, incurred in the administration of such Acts, or of this Act, shall be binding and conclusive for all purposes and upon all persons, including the Comptroller General and any other administrative or accounting officer, employee, or agent of the United States, and shall not be subject to review in any manner.

(d) No part of the fund shall lapse at any time, or be carried to the surplus fund or any other fund, except that at the expiration of the fiscal year 1946, and of each fiscal year thereafter, there shall be transferred from the fund and credited to the account such part as the Board deems proper of the excess, if any, of the amount credited to the fund during the preceding seven fiscal years pursuant to section 8 (f) of this Act over the total amount expended by the Board during the same period for the purpose of administering this Act.

DUTIES AND POWERS OF THE BOARD

SEC. 12. (a) For the purpose of any investigation or other proceeding relative to the determination of any right to benefits, or relative to any other matter within its jurisdiction under this Act, the Board shall have the power to issue subpenas requiring the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of any evidence, documentary or otherwise, that relates to any matter under investigation or in question, before the Board or any member, employee, or representative thereof. Any member of the Board or any of its employees or representatives designated by it may administer oaths and affirmations, examine witnesses, and receive evidence. Such attendance of witnesses and production of evidence may be required from any place in the United States or any Territory or possession thereof at any designated place of hearing. All subpenas may be served and returned by anyone authorized by the Board in the same manner as is now provided by law for the service and return by United States marshals of subpenas in suits in equity. Such service may also be made by registered mail and in such case the return post-office receipt shall be proof of service. Witnesses summoned in accordance with this subsection shall be paid the same fees and mileage as are paid witnesses in the district courts of the United States.

(b) In case of contumacy by, or refusal to obey a subpena lawfully issued to, any person, the Board may invoke the aid of the district court of the United States or the United States courts of any Territory or possession, where such person is found or resides or is otherwise subject to service of process, or the District Court of the United States for the District of Columbia if the investigation or proceeding is being carried on in the District of Columbia, in requiring the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of evidence. Any such court shall issue an order requiring such person to appear before the Board or its specified employee or representative at the place specified in the subpena of the Board, whether within or without the judicial district of the court, there to produce evidence, if so ordered, or there to give testimony concerning the matter under investigation or in question; and any failure to obey such order of the court may be punished by said court as a contempt thereof. All orders, writs, and processes in any such proceeding may be served in the judicial district of the district court issuing such order, writ, or process, except that the orders, writs, and processes of the District Court of the United States for the District of Columbia in such proceedings may run and be served anywhere in the United States.

(c) No person shall be excused from attending or testifying in obedience to a subpena issued under this Act or from complying with any subpena duces tecum issued under this Act, on the ground that the testimony or evidence, documentary or otherwise, required of him may tend to incriminate him or subject him to a penalty or forfeiture; but no person shall be prosecuted or subjected to any penalty or forfeiture for or on account of any transaction, matter, or thing concerning which he is compelled, after having claimed his privilege against self-incrimination, to testify or produce evidence, documentary or otherwise, but such person so testifying shall not be exempt from prosecution and punishment for perjury committed in so testifying.

(d) Information obtained by the Board in connection with the administration of this Act shall not be revealed or open to inspection nor be published in any manner revealing an employee's identity: Provided, however, That (i) the Board may arrange for the exchange of any information with governmental agencies engaged in functions related to the administration of this Act; (ii) the Board may