Official Document Text
Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB Archive)
By virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the statutes, including the First War Powers Act, 1941, as President of the United States and Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy, and for the purpose of assuring the most effective mobilization and utilization of the national manpower, it is hereby ordered: 1. There is established within the Office for Emergency Management of the Executive Office of the President a War Manpower Commission, hereinafter referred to as the Commission. The Commission shall consist of the Federal Security Administrator as Chairman, and a representative of each of the following departments and agencies: the Department of War, the Department of the Navy, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Labor, the War Production Board, the Labor Production Division of the War Production Board, the Selective Service System, and the United States Civil Service Commission. 2. The Chairman, after consultation with the members of the Commission, shall: (a) Formulate plans and programs and establish basic national policies to assure the most effective mobilization and maximum utilization of the Nation's manpower in the prosecution of the war; and issue such policy and operating directives as may be necessary thereto. (b) Estimate the requirements of manpower for industry; review all other estimates of needs for military, agricultural, and civilian manpower; and direct the several departments and agencies of the Government as to the proper allocation of available manpower. (c) Determine basic policies for, and take such other steps as are necessary to coordinate, the collection and compilation of labor market data by Federal departments and agencies. (d) Establish policies and prescribe regulations governing all Federal programs relating to the recruitment, vocational training, and placement of workers to meet the needs of industry and agriculture. (e) Prescribe basic policies governing the filling of the Federal Government's requirements for manpower, excluding those of the military and naval forces, and issue such operating directives as may be necessary thereto. (f) Formulate legislative programs designed to facilitate the most effective mobilization and utilization of the manpower of the country; and, with the approval of the President, recommend such legislation as may be necessary for this purpose. 3. The following agencies shall conform to such policies, directives, regulations, and standards as the Chairman may prescribe in the execution of the powers vested in him by this Order, and shall be subject to such other coordination by the Chairman as may be necessary to enable the Chairman to discharge the responsibilities placed upon him: (a) The Selective Service System with respect to the use and classification of manpower needed for critical industrial, agricultural, and governmental employment. (b) The Federal Security Agency with respect to employment service and defense training functions. (c) The Work Projects Administration with respect to placement and training functions. (d) The United States Civil Service Commission with respect to functions relating to the filling of positions in the Government Service. (e) The Railroad Retirement Board with respect to employment service activities. (f) The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of Labor. (g) The Labor Production Division of the War Production Board. (h) The Civilian Conservation Corps. (i) The Department of Agriculture with respect to farm labor statistics, farm labor camp programs, and other labor market activities. (j) The Office of Defense Transportation with respect to labor supply and requirement activities. Similarly, all other Federal departments and agencies which perform functions relating to the recruitment or utilization of manpower shall, in discharging such functions, conform to such policies, directives, regulations, and standards as the Chairman may prescribe in the execution of the powers vested in him by this Order; and shall be subject to such other coordination by the Chairman as may be necessary to enable the Chairman to discharge the responsibilities placed upon him. 4. The following agencies and functions are transferred to the War Manpower Commission. (a) The labor supply functions of the Labor Division of the War Production Board. (b) The National Roster of Scientific and Specialized Personnel of the United States Civil Service Commission and its functions. (c) The Office of Procurement and Assignment in the Office of Defense Health and Welfare Services in the Office for Emergency Management and its functions. 5. The following agencies and functions are transferred to the Office of the Administrator of the Federal Security Agency, and shall be administered under the direction and supervision of such officer or employee as the Federal Security Administrator shall designate: (a) The Apprenticeship Section of the Division of Labor Standards of the Department of Labor and its functions. (b) The training functions of the Labor Division of the War Production Board. 6. The National Roster of Scientific and Specialized Personnel transferred to the War Manpower Commission and the Apprenticeship Section transferred to the Federal Security Agency shall be preserved as organizational entities within the War Manpower Commission and the Federal Security Agency respectively. 7. The functions of the head of any department or agency relating to the administration of any agency or function transferred from his department or agency by this Order are transferred to, and shall be exercised by, the head of the department or agency to which such transferred agency or function is transferred by this Order. 8. All records and property (including office equipment) of the several agencies and all records and property used primarily in the administration of any functions transferred or consolidated by this Order, and all personnel used in the administration of such agencies and functions (including officers whose chief duties relate to such administration) are transferred to the respective agencies concerned, for use in the administration of the agencies and functions transferred or consolidated by this Order; provided, that any personnel transferred to any agency by this Order, found by the head of such agency to be in excess of the personnel necessary for the administration of the functions transferred to his agency, shall be retransfered under existing procedure to other positions in the Government service or separated from the service. So much of the unexpended balances of appropriations, allocations, or other funds available for the use of any agency in the exercise of any function transferred or consolidated by this Order or for the use of the head of any agency in the exercise of any function so transferred or consolidated, as the Director of the Bureau of the Budget with the approval of the President shall determine, shall be transferred to the agency concerned, for use in connection with the exercise of functions so transferred or consolidated. In determining the amount to be transferred, the Director of the Bureau of the Budget may include an amount to provide for the liquidation of obligations incurred against such appropriations, allocations, or other funds prior to the transfer or consolidation. 9. Within the limits of such funds as may be made available for that purpose, the Chairman may appoint such personnel and make provision for such supplies, facilities, and services as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Order. The Chairman may appoint an executive officer of the Commission and may exercise and perform the powers, authorities, and duties set forth in this Order through such officials or agencies and in such manner as he may determine. FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT The White House, April 18, 1942.