78TH CONG., 2n SESS.- CH. 404-AUG. 21,1944 [CHAPTER 404] AN ACT To amend the Act of August 2, 1939, entitled "An Act to prevent pernicious political activities", as amended by the Act of April 1, 1944, entitled "An Act to facilitate voting, in time of war, by members of the land and naval forces, members of the merchant marine, and others, absent from the place of their residence, and to amend the Act of September 16, 1942, and for other pur- poses". Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 22 of the Act of August 2,1939, as amended by the Act of April 1, 1944 (Public Law 277, Seventy-eighth Congress), is amended to read as follows: "SEO. 22. It shall be unlawful for any officer of, or person employed in, the executive branch of the Federal Government, or any agency or department thereof including the Army and Navy, to deliver or cause to be delivered to persons in the armed forces of the United States any general communication, Government maga- zine, Government newspaper, motion-picture film, or other literature or material, or to make, or cause to be made, any broadcast to the armed forces of the United States, paid for in whole or in part with Government funds, or sponsored by the Government, or any agency or department thereof, including the Army and Navy, which when considered in its entirety contains political propaganda obvi- ously designed to affect the result of any election for President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, or Member of the House of Representatives, or obviously calculated to create bias for or against a particular candidate in any such election, except as hereinafter provided: "(1) The word 'sponsored' as used herein shall not be deemed to include sales at or through post exchanges, ship's service stores, or ship's stores of the armed forces, or purchases by company funds, welfare funds, or other similar nonappropriated funds of the armed forces. "(2) Nothing herein shall prohibit the rebroadcast over Govern- ment-controlled radio stations of any political address, but equal time must if requested be given for such purposes to representatives of each political party which has a candidate for President in at least six States in the current Presidential election. "(3) Nothing herein shall prevent the Army or Navy, or per- sonnel thereof, from selling, distributing, presenting, or making available to members of the armed forces- "(a) books, magazines, or newspapers of general circulation in the United States and also, in an overseas command, those of general circulation therein; or motion-picture films, radio broadcasts, radio rebroadcasts, plays, or entertainment material as generally presented to the public in the United States; or written material for use in educational programs of the armed forces similar to written material generally provided for use in civilian educational programs by recognized educational insti- tutions in the United States: Provided, That the selection of such books, magazines, and newspapers, when the selection is necessarily limited by difficulties of transportation or other exigencies of war, shall be made in some impartial manner pre- scribed by the Secretary of War and the Secretary of the Navy for their respective services, such as a preference expressed by members of the armed forces, or the recommendation of expert committees, or otherwise; "(b) impartial and nonpartisan coverage or presentation of news or information of public events and affairs and persons in 727 August 21, 1944 [S. 2050] [Public Law 418] Pernicious political activities. Ante, p. 148. Unlawful acts. Exceptions. "Sponsored. " Rebroadcasts of po- litical addresses. Books, magazines, newspapers, motion- picture films, etc. Impartial selections. Impartial coverag of news, etc. 58 STAT.]
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