taking office after the enactment date shall expire, as designated by the President, one at the end of two years, one at the end of three years, and one at the end of four years after the enactment date. One member shall be appointed from recommendations made by representatives of the employees and one member shall be appointed from recommendations made by representatives of carriers, in both cases as the President shall direct, so as to provide representation on the Board satisfactory to the largest number, respectively, of employees and carriers concerned. One member, who shall be the chairman of the Board, shall be appointed initially for a term of two years without recommendation by either carriers or employees and shall not be in the employment of or be pecuniarily or otherwise interested in any employer or organization of employees. Vacancies in the Board shall not impair the powers or affect the duties of the Board or of the remaining members of the Board, of whom a majority of those in office shall constitute a quorum, for the transaction of business. Each of said members shall receive a salary of $10,000 per year, together with necessary traveling expenses and subsistence expenses, or perdiem allowance in lieu thereof, while away from the principal office of the Board on official duties.

"Duties

"(b) 1. The Board shall have and exercise all the duties and powers necessary to administer this Act and the Railroad Retirement Act of 1935. The Board shall take such steps as may be necessary to enforce such Acts and make awards and certify payments. Decisions by the Board upon issues of law and fact relating to pensions, annuities, or death benefits shall not be subject to review by any other administrative or accounting officer, agent, or employee of the United States.

"2. If the Board finds that an applicant is entitled to an annuity under the provisions of this Act or the Railroad Retirement Act of 1935 then the Board shall make an award fixing the amount of the annuity and shall certify the payment thereof as hereinafter provided; otherwise the application shall be denied.

"3. The Board shall from time to time certify to the Secretary of the Treasury the name and address of each individual entitled to receive a payment, the amount of such payment, and the time at which it should be made, and the Secretary of the Treasury through the Division of Disbursements of the Treasury Department, and prior to audit by the General Accounting Office, shall make payment in accordance with the certification by the Board.

"4. The Board shall establish and promulgate rules and regulations to provide for the adjustment of all controversial matters arising in the administration of such Acts, with power as a Board or through any member or designated subordinate thereof, to require and compel the attendance of witnesses, administer oaths, take testimony, and make all necessary investigations in any matter involving annuities or other payments and shall maintain such offices, provide such equipment, furnishings, supplies, services, and facilities, and employ such individuals and provide for their compensation and expenses as may be necessary for the proper discharge of its functions. In the employment of such individuals under the civil service laws and rules the Board shall give preference over all others to individuals who have had experience in railroad service, if, in the judgment of the Board,

they possess the qualifications necessary for the proper discharge of the duties of the positions to which they are to be appointed. All rules, regulations, or decisions of the Board shall require the approval of at least two members except as provided in subdivision 5 of this subsection and they shall be entered upon the records of the Board, which shall be a public record. Notice of a decision of the Board, or of an employee thereof, shall be communicated to the applicant in writing within thirty days after such decision shall have been made. The Board shall gather, keep, compile, and publish in convenient form such records and data as may be necessary to assure proper administration of such Acts. The Board shall have power to require all employers and employees and any officer, board, commission, or other agency of the United States to furnish such information and records as shall be necessary for the administration of such Acts. The several district courts of the United States and the District Court of the United States for the District of Columbia shall have jurisdiction upon suit by the Board to compel obedience to any order of the Board issued pursuant to this section. The orders, writs, and processes of the District Court of the United States for the District of Columbia in such suits may run and be served anywhere in the United States. The Board shall make an annual report to the President of the United States to be submitted to Congress. Witnesses summoned before the Board shall be paid the same fees and mileage that are paid witnesses in the courts of the United States. "5. The Board is authorized to delegate to any of its employees the power to make decisions on applications for annuities or death benefits in accordance with rules and regulations prescribed by the Board: Provided, however, That any person aggrieved by a decision so made shall have the right to appeal to the Board.

"COURT JURISDICTION

"SEO. 11. An employee or other person aggrieved may apply to the district court of any district wherein the Board may have established an office or to the District Court of the United States for the District of Columbia to compel the Board (1) to set aside an action or decision of the Board claimed to be in violation of a legal right of the applicant or (2) to take action or to make a decision necessary for the enforcement of a legal right of the applicant. Such court shall have jurisdiction to entertain such application and to grant appropriate relief. The decision of the Board with respect to an annuity, pension, or death benefit shall not be subject to review by any court unless suit is commenced within one year after the decision shall have been entered upon the records of the Board and communicated to the person claiming the annuity, pension, or death benefit. The jurisdiction herein specifically conferred upon the Federal courts shall not be held exclusive of any jurisdiction otherwise possessed by such courts to entertain actions at law or suits in equity in aid of the enforcement of rights or obligations arising under the provisions of this Act or the Railroad Retirement Act of 1935.

"EXEMPTION

"SEC. 12. No annuity or pension payment shall be assignable or be subject to any tax or to garnishment, attachment, or other legal process under any circumstances whatsoever, nor shall the payment thereof be anticipated.

"PENALTIES

"SEO. 13. Any officer or agent of an employer, as the word employer' is hereinbefore defined, or any employee acting in his own behalf, or any individual whether or not of the character hereinbefore defined, who shall willfully fail or refuse to make any report or furnish any information required, in accordance with the provisions of section 10 (b) 4, by the Board in the administration of this Act or the Railroad Retirement Act of 1935, or who shall knowingly make or cause to be made any false or fraudulent statement or report when a statement or report is required to be made for the purpose of such Acts, or who shall knowingly make or aid in making any false or fraudulent statement or claim for the purpose of causing an award or payment under such Acts, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $10,000 or by imprisonment not exceeding one year.

"SEPARABILITY

"SEO. 14. If any provision of this Act or the Railroad Retirement Act of 1935, or the application thereof to any person or circumstance, should be held invalid, the remainder of such Act, or the application of such provision to other persons or circumstances, shall not be affected thereby.

"RAILROAD RETIREMENT ACCOUNT

"SEC. 15. (a) There is hereby created an account in the Treasury of the United States to be known as the Railroad Retirement Account. There is hereby authorized to be appropriated to the account for each fiscal year, beginning with the fiscal year ending June 30, 1937, as an annual premium an amount sufficient, with a reasonable margin for contingencies, to provide for the payment of all annuities, pensions, and death benefits in accordance with the provisions of this Act and the Railroad Retirement Act of 1935. Such amount shall be based on such tables of mortality as the Railroad Retirement Board shall from time to time adopt, and on an interest rate of 8 per centum per annum compounded annually. The Railroad. Retirement Board shall submit annually to the Bureau of the Budget an estimate of the appropriation to be made to the account.

"(b) At the request and direction of the Board, it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury to invest such portion of the amounts credited to the account as, in the judgment of the Board, is not immediately required for the payment of annuities, pensions, and death benefits in accordance with the provisions of this Act and the Railroad Retirement Act of 1935 in interest-bearing obligations of the United States or in obligations guaranteed as to both principal and interest by the United States. For such purpose such obligations may be acquired on original issue at par or by purchase of outstanding obligations at the market price. The purposes for which obligations of the United States may be issued under the Second Liberty Bond Act, as amended, are hereby extended to authorize the issuance at par of special obligations exclusively to the account. Such special obligations shall bear interest at the rate of 3 per centum per annum. Obligations other than such special obligations

may be acquired for the account only on such terms as to provide an investment yield of not less than 3 per centum per annum. It shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury to sell and dispose of obligations in the account if it shall be in the interest of the account so to do. Any obligations acquired by the account, except special obligations issued exclusively to the account, may be sold at the market price. Special obligations issued exclusively to the account shall, at the request of the Board, be redeemed at par plus accrued interest. All amounts credited to the account shall be available for the payment of all annuities, pensions, and death benefits in accordance with the provisions of this Act and the Railroad Retirement Act of 1935.

"(c) The Board is hereby authorized and directed to select two actuaries, one from recommendations made by representatives of employees and the other from recommendations made by representatives of carriers. These actuaries, along with a third who shall be designated by the Secretary of the Treasury, shall be known as the Actuarial Advisory Committee with respect to the Railroad Retirement Account. The committee shall examine the actuarial reports and estimates made by the Railroad Retirement Board and shall have authority to recommend to the Board such changes in actuarial methods as they may deem necessary. The compensation of the members of the committee of actuaries, exclusive of the member designated by the Secretary, shall be fixed by the Board on a per-diem basis.

"(d) The Board shall include in its annual report a statement of the status and the operations of the Railroad Retirement Account. At intervals not longer than three years the Board shall make an estimate of the liabilities created by this Act and the Railroad Retirement Act of 1935 and shall include such estimate in its annual report. Such report shall also contain an estimate of the reduction in liabilities under Title II of the Social Security Act arising as a result of the maintenance of this Act and the Railroad Retirement Act of 1935.

"APPROPRIATION FOR ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES

"SEC. 16. There is hereby authorized to be appropriated from time to time such sums as may be necessary to provide for the expenses of the Board in administering the provisions of this Act and the Railroad Retirement Act of 1935.

"SOCIAL SECURITY ACT

"SEC. 17. The term 'employment', as defined in subsection (b) of section 210 of title II of the Social Security Act, shall not include service performed by an individual as an employee as defined in section 1 (b).

"FREE TRANSPORTATION

"SEC. 18. It shall not be unlawful for carriers by railroad subject to this Act to furnish free transportation to individuals receiving annuities or pensions under this Act or the Railroad Retirement Act of 1935 in the same manner as such transportation is furnished to employees in their service."

PART II

SEC. 201. The Act entitled "An Act to establish a retirement system for employees of carriers subject to the Interstate Commerce Act, and for other purposes", approved August 29, 1935, as in force prior to its amendment by part I of this Act, may be cited as the "Railroad Retirement Act of 1935"; and such Act, as amended by part I of this Act, may be cited as the "Railroad Retirement Act of 1937". SEC. 202. The claims of individuals (and the claims of spouses and next of kin of such individuals) who, prior to the date of the enactment of this Act, relinquished all rights to return to the service of a carrier as defined in the Railroad Retirement Act of 1935 or ceased to be employee representatives as defined therein, and became eligible for annuities under such Act, shall be adjudicated by the Board in the same manner and with the same effect as if this Act had not been enacted: Provided, however, That with respect to any such claims no reduction shall be made in any annuity certified after the date of the enactment of this Act because of continuance in service after age sixty-five: And provided further, That service rendered prior to August 29, 1935, to a company which on that date was a carrier as defined in the Railroad Retirement Act of 1935, shall be included in the service period in connection with any annuity certified in whole or in part by the Board after the date of the enactment of this Act, irrespective of whether at the time such service was rendered such company was a carrier as defined in the Railroad Retirement Act of 1935; and service rendered prior to August 29, 1935, to any express company, sleeping-car company, or carrier by railroad which was a predecessor of a company which on that date was a carrier as defined in the Railroad Retirement Act of 1935, shall also be included in the service period in connection with any annuity certified in whole or in part by the Board after the date of the enactment of this Act, irrespective of whether at the time such service was rendered such predecessor was a carrier as defined in the Railroad Retirement Act of 1935: And provided further, That annuity payments due an individual under the Railroad Retirement Act of 1935 but not yet paid at death shall be paid to a surviving spouse if such spouse is entitled to an annuity under an election made pursuant to the provisions of section 5 of such Act; otherwise they shall be paid to such person or persons as the deceased may have designated by a writing filed with the Board prior to his death, or if there be no designation, to the legal representative of the deceased.

SEC. 203. Any individual who, prior to the date of the enactment of this Act, relinquished all rights to return to the service of a carrier as defined in the Railroad Retirement Act of 1935 or ceased to be an employee representative as defined in such Act, and who is not eligible for an annuity under that Act but who would have been eligible for an annuity under the Railroad Retirement Act of 1937 had such Act been in force from an1after August 29, 1935, shall have his right to an annuity adjudicated under the Railroad Retirement Act of 1937: Provided, however, That no such annuity shall begin prior to the date of the enactment of this Act.

1 So in original.