tions made by representatives of employers. Each of the latter two members shall not be subject to the civil-service laws or rules and shall be paid a per diem salary of such amount as the Board finds reasonable for each day of active se vice on such district board, plus necessary expenses. The Board may designate an alternate for each member of a district board to serve in the absence or disqualification of such member. In no case shall a hearing before a district board proceed unless the chairman thereof is present. In the absence or disqualification of any other member and his alternate, the chairman shall act alone as the district board.

(d) The Board shall prescribe regulations governing the filing of cases with and the decision of cases by district boards, and the review of such decisions. The Board may provide for intermediate reviews of such decisions by such bodies as the Board may establish or assign thereto. The Board may (i) on its own motion review a decision of a district board or of an intermediate reviewing body on the basis of the evidence previously submitted in such case, and may direct the taking of additional evidence, or (ii) permit such parties as it finds properly interested in the proceedings to take appeals to the Board. Unless a review or an appeal is had pursuant to this subsection, the decision of a district board or of an intermediate reviewing body shall, subject to such regulations as the Board may prescribe, be deemed to be the final decision of the Board.

(e) In any proceeding other than a court proceeding, upon a claim for benefits, the rules of evidence prevailing in courts of law or equity shall not be controlling, but a full and complete record shall be kept of all proceedings and testimony, and the Board's final determination allowing or denying benefits, together with its findings of fact and conclusions of law in connection therewith, shall be communicated to the claimant within fifteen days after the date of such final determination.

(f) Any claimant, and any railway labor organization organized in accordance with the provisions of the Railway Labor Act, of which such claimant is a member, may, only after all administrative remedies within the Board have been availed of and exhausted, obtain a review of any final decision of the Board with reference to a claim for benefits by filing a petition for review within ninety days. after the mailing of notice of such decision to the claimant, or within such further time as the Board may allow, in the United States district court for the judicial district in which the claimant resides, or in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. A copy of such petition, together with initial process, shall forthwith. be served upon the Board or any officer designated by it for such purpose. Service may be made upon the Board by registered mail addressed to the Chairman. Within fifteen days after receipt of service, or within such additional time as the court may allow, the Board shall certify and file with the court in which such petition has been filed a transcript of the record upon which the findings and decision complained of are based. Upon such filing the court shall have exclusive jurisdiction of the proceeding and of the question determined therein, and shall give precedence in the adjudication thereof over all other civil cases not otherwise entitled by law to precedence. It shall have power to enter upon the pleadings and

transcript of the record a decree affirming, modifying, or reversing the decision of the Board, with or without remanding the cause for rehearing. The findings of the Board as to the facts, if supported by evidence and in the absence of fraud, shall be conclusive. No addítional evidence shall be received by the court, but the court may order additional evidence to be taken before the Board, and the Board may, after hearing such additional evidence, modify its findings of fact and conclusions and file such additional or modified findings and conclusions with the court, and the Board shall file with the court a transcript of the additional record. The judgment and decree of the court shall be final, subject to review as in equity cases.

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, includ ing 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

SEO. 7. It shall not be unlawful for carriers to furnish free transportation to employees qualified for benefits or serving waiting periods under this Act.

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 were 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 hereinbefore 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