PUBLIC LAWS-CH. 65 -FEB . 19, 1948 Lien in favor of (b) The terms governing advance payments may include as security provision for, and upon inclusion of such provision there shall there- by be created, a lien in favor of the Government, paramount to all other liens, upon the supplies contracted for, upon the credit balance in any special account in which such payments may be deposited and upon such of the material and other property acquired for perform- ance of the contract as the parties shall agree. Liquidated dam- SEC. 6. Whenever any contract made on behalf of the Government ag es. by the agency head or by officers authorized by him so to do includes a provision for liquidated damages for delay, the Comptroller Gen- eral on the recommendation of the agency head is authorized and empowered to remit the whole or any part of such damages as in his discretion may be just and equitable. Determnations by SEC. 7. (a) The determinations and decisions provided in this Act agency h. to be made by the agency head may be made with respect to individual purchases and contracts or with respect to classes of purchases or Delegation of pow- contracts, and shall be final. Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, the agency head is authorized to delegate his powers provided by this Act, including the making of such determinations and decisions, in his discretion and subject to his direction, to any other officer or officers or officials of the agency. (b) The power of the agency head to make the determinations or decisions specified in paragraphs (12), (13), (14), (15), and (16) of Ante, pp . 21, 22 , 23. section 2 (c) and in section 5 (a) shall not be delegable, and the power to make the determinations or decisions specified in paragraph (11) of section 2 (c) shall be delegable only to a chief officer responsible for procurement and only with respect to contracts which will not require the expenditure of more than $25,000. tiBasit ofdetermina- (c) Each determination or decision required by paragraphs (11), Ante,pp. 21,22,23. (12), (13), (14), (15), or (16) of section 2 (c), by section 4 or by section 5 (a) shall be based upon written findings made by the official making such determination, which findings shall be final and shall be available within the agency for a period of at least six years following the date of the determination. A copy of the findings shall be sub- mitted to the General Accounting Office with the contract. Preservationofdata. (d) In any case where any purchase or contract is negotiated pur- suant to the provisions of section 2 (c), except in a case covered by Antcp.21 . paragraphs (2), (3), (4), (5) or (6) thereof, the data with respect to the negotiation shall be preserved in the files of the agency for a period of six years following final payment on such contract. SEC. 8 . No purchase or contract shall be exempt from the Act of June 30, 1936, as amended (49 Stat. 2036, as amended by the Act of June 28, 1940,54 Stat. 681, and by the Act of May 13,1942,56 Stat. 277; U. S . C., title 41, sees. 35 to 45) or from the Act of March 3, 1931, as amended (46 Stat. 1494, as amended by the Act of August 30, 1935, 49 Stat. 1011, and by the Act of June 15, 1940, 54 Stat. 399; U. S. C., title 40 U sa-c., su pp. 1, 40, se c s. 276a to 276a-6), solely by reason of having been entered into Ante, p. 21. pursuant to section 2 (c) hereof without advertising, and the provisions of said Acts and of the Act of June 19, 1912, as amended (37 Stat. 137, as amended by the Act of September 9, 1940, 54 Stat. 884; U. S . C., S40 Up. S. C.325 title 40, sees. 324 and 325a), if otherwise applicable, shall apply to such Uot, p. 989. purchases and contracts. SEC. 9. As used herein- "Agency head." (a) The term "agency head" shall mean the Secretary, Under Secre- tary (if any). or ay Assistant Secretary of the Army, of the Navy, or of the Air Force; the Commandant, United States Coast Guard, Treasury Department; and the Executive Secretary, National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, respectively. "Supplies." (b) The term "supplies" shall mean all property except land, and shall include, by way of description and without limitation, public 24 [62 STAT.
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