§7545. Obsolete material and articles of historical interest: loan or gift

(a) Subject to regulations under section 205 of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (40 U.S.C. 486), the Secretary of the Navy, under regulations prescribed by him, may lend or give, without expense to the United States, captured, condemned, or obsolete ordnance material, books, manuscripts, works of art, drawings, plans, and models, other condemned or obsolete material, trophies, and flags, and other material of historic interest not needed by the Department of the Navy, to-

(1) a State, Territory, Commonwealth, or possession of the United States, or political subdivision or municipal corporation thereof;

(2) the District of Columbia;

(3) a library;

(4) a historical society;

(5) an educational institution whose graduates or students fought in World War I or World War II;

(6) a soldiers' monument association;

(7) a State museum;

(8) a museum operated and maintained for educational purposes only, whose charter denies it the right to operate for profit;

(9) a post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States;

(10) a post of the American Legion;

(11) any other recognized war veterans' association; or

(12) a post of the Sons of Veterans Reserve.

(b) Records of the Government as defined in section 3301 of title 44 may not be disposed of under this section.

(c) If any disposition is authorized by this section and section 2572 of this title, the Secretary may make the gift or loan under either section.

(Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 466 ; Pub. L. 96–513, title V, §513(39), (40), Dec. 12, 1980, 94 Stat. 2934 , 2935; Pub. L. 104–106, div. A, title X, §1061(i), Feb. 10, 1996, 110 Stat. 443 .)

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised section	Source (U.S. Code)	Source (Statutes at Large)
7545	34 U.S.C. 546g.	Aug. 7, 1946, ch. 804, §2, 60 Stat. 897 ; Oct. 31, 1951, ch. 654, §2(23), 65 Stat. 707 .
	34 U.S.C. 546h (last sentence as applicable to 34 U.S.C. 546g).	Aug. 7, 1946, ch. 804, §3 (last sentence as applicable to §2), 60 Stat. 897 .
	34 U.S.C. 546k (1st sentence as applicable to 34 U.S.C. 546g, and 3d sentence).	Aug. 7, 1946, ch. 804, §6 (1st sentence as applicable to §2, and 3d sentence), 60 Stat. 898 .

In subsection (a) the words, "ordnance material" are substituted for the words "ordnance, guns, projectiles". Posts of the Grand Army of the Republic are omitted from the list of authorized donees because there are no surviving members of that organization. The word "Commonwealth" is inserted to reflect the present status of Puerto Rico. Specific reference to the Canal Zone is omitted as unnecessary, since the Zone is a "possession of the United States" as defined in section 101 of this title and is therefore covered by clause (1).

Subsection (d) is added to note the existence of a later act, codified in §2572 of this title, which provides similar disposal authority, and to give effect to §2 of the Act of February 27, 1948, ch. 76, 62 Stat. 37 , which is not now contained in the U.S. Code, and which saves this section despite the apparent implied repeal.

Amendments

1996-Subsecs. (c), (d). Pub. L. 104–106 redesignated subsec. (d) as (c) and struck out former subsec. (c) which read as follows: "No loan or gift under this section may be made unless-

"(1) notice of the proposal to make the loan or gift is sent to Congress;

"(2) 30 calendar days of continuous session of Congress have expired after the notice was sent to Congress; and

"(3) during that 30-day period Congress does not pass a concurrent resolution stating in substance that it does not favor the proposed loan or gift."

1980-Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 96–513, §513(39), substituted "section 205 of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (40 U.S.C. 486)," for "section 486 of title 40".

Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 96–513, §513(40), substituted "section 3301" for "section 366".

Effective Date of 1980 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 96–513 effective Dec. 12, 1980, see section 701(b)(3) of Pub. L. 96–513, set out as a note under section 101 of this title.

Section Referred to in Other Sections

This section is referred to in section 7546 of this title.