�This Page Declassified lAW EO12958 19 ? USAF ?O?½?L Szwrss Air Force Legi?i?zt?on to be spent for the 3,600-?omber progreen approved by the President on 16 November 1940, and $343?2?,140 for 1,425 planes, an item which had been deferred from the third supplemental appropriation because of lack of bomber-producing facilities. ?'? The Air Corps estimates for the fiscal year 1942 were based on a program which catled for a? additional productive capacity of 12,000 bombers a year.* Already appropria- tions originally contained in the fiscal year 1942 estimates h?d been included in the fifth supplemental appropriation act, !94l, in order to hasten the fulfillment oi the 12,000-plane program.:o The remaining 1942 Air Corps estimates called for $1,834,106,/)00 cash and $104,258,995 in contract au- thority.? While hearings were being conducted on thi? measure in the spring of 1941 the Ger- mans overran the Balkan Peninsula, and on 28 May an additional $2,790,890,?85 was requested for Air Corps expansion. These funds were to be used to construct 12,856 planes which were expected to complete the existing pro,am for aircraft construc- tion. With minor changes this appropria- tlon bill became law on 30 June 1941 as the Military Appropriation Act, 1942. e: As finally approved, the act provided over $I,000,000,000 for the liquidation of pr?or contracts and $2,957,945,079 for the 12,856 planes with accessory equipment; $2,506,- ?63,000 was cash and $104,258,995 was for new contract authorizations. The total Air Corps appropriation was $4,341,735,322, al- though $1,201,159,597 wa? for previous ob- ligations. The measure also contained a prov/sion that the money could be expended without reference to the limitation of Sec- t/on I of Public Law 18, 76 Cong., i Sees. (approved 3 April 1939).? The Air Corps received additional funds ior the procurement of planes when Con- gress passed the first supplemental mfiitary appropriation act for f?cal year 1942, ap- proved on 25 August 1941 as the First Supplemental National Defense Appropri- ation Act, 1942. ?4 Only $728,000 of the
- ?e Chief of [?[?ff indicated that t?tz additional capact?F
t?pe pla=e$ es?sb?hed by the ?e?tdcn? $204,00?,800 appropriated for the A?r Corps in this act was for the procurement of new tarplanes. This was the last appropriation act granting funds to the Air Corps passed before Pearl Harbor.$ In the first eight months of 1941 the liberality of Congress in the matter of funds appropriated for the Air Corps had broken all previous records. In this short period Congre? made available for the Air Corps $6,156,253,117; a major portion of this sum, $4,283,784,379, was to be used for the pro- curement of 14,281 aircraft with spare parts and accessories, and for the creation of extra productive capamty.? The rest went for training, administration, facilities, and other Air Corps needs and activities. One of the greatest problems connected with the procurement oI aircra/t and other materie1 for the Air Corps was that of se- curing productive capacity adequate to meet the greatly increased matertel needs of the Air Corps. It was not sufficient for Congress te appropriate b?hons to be used by the Air Corps for the procurement of aircraft and related matoriel; it was also necessary to appropriate great sums to ex- pedite production and to enact other legis- lation designed to speed up production and facilitate procurement. Otherwise the goals set up under the A?r Corps expansion pro. gram could not be met. Hence legislation expediting production and facilitating procurement constituted an important phase oi material legislation dur- ing the whole period of expansion. President Roosevelt took cognizance of this fact on 12 January 1939 m his special address to Congress on national defense. In this speech he suggested that $50,000,000 be made avmlable immediately in order to correct the lag which existed in aircraft produc- tion because of idle plants.2? Congress took action on the President's suggestion by incorporating in Public Law 18 (approved 3 April 1939) a section au. thorizing the appropriitien of $34,500,0/)0 to be used in placing educational orders to facilitate the production and procurement Tin ?he three years before Pearl ?rbor the A?r Corps author?ed ?o exp?nd a total of a?ou? $8,000,0?0,?0? and procure about 3?,?00 pianos ?ee Craven and Cate, The AAF ht World War II, I, I05 THIS PAGE Declassified lAW EO12958
