(f) Neither the holding of office nor membership in any Communist organization by any person shall constitute per se a violation of subsection (a) or subsection (c) of this section or of any other criminal statute.

SECTION 952 OF TITLE 18, UNITED STATES CODE

§ 952. Diplomatic codes and correspondence

Whoever, by virtue of his employment by the United States, obtains from another or has or has had custody of or access to, any official diplomatic code or any matter prepared in any such code, or which purports to have been prepared in any such code, and without authorization or competent authority, willfully publishes or furnishes to another any such code or matter, or any matter which was obtained while in the process of transmission between any foreign government and its diplomatic mission in the United States, shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.

SECTIONS 1702 AND 1703 OF TITLE 18, UNITED STATES

CODE

§ 1702. Obstruction of correspondence

Whoever takes any letter, postal card, or package out of any post office or any authorized depository for mail matter, or from any letter or mail carrier, or which has been in any post office or authorized depository, or in the custody of any letter or mail carrier, before it has been delivered to the person to whom it was directed, with design to obstruct the correspondence, or to pry into the business or secrets of another, or opens, secretes, embezzles, or destroys the same, shall be fined not more than $2,000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.

§ 1703. Delay or destruction of mail or newspapers

(a) Whoever, being a Postal Service officer or employee, unlawfully secretes, destroys, detains, delays, or opens any letter, postal card, package, bag, or mail entrusted to him or which shall come into his possession, and which was intended to be conveyed by mail, or carried or delivered by any carrier or other employee of the Postal Service, or forwarded through or delivered from any post office or station thereof established by authority of the Postmaster General or the Postal Service, shall be fined not more than $500 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.

(b) Whoever, being a Postal Service officer or employee, improperly detains, delays, or destroys any newspaper, or permits any other person to detain, delay, or destroy the same, or opens, or permits any other person to open, any mail or package of newspapers not directed to the office where he is employed; or

Whoever, without authority, opens, or destroys any mail or package of newspapers not directed to him, shall be fined not more than $100 or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.

SECTION 3623(d) OF TITLE 39, UNITED STATES CODE

§ 3623. Mail classification

(a)

(d) The Postal Service shall maintain one or more classes of mail for the transmission of letters sealed against inspection. The rate for each such class shall be uniform throughout the United States, its territories, and possessions. One such class shall provide for the most expeditious handling and transportation afforded mail matter by the Postal Service. No letter of such a class of domestic origin shall be opened except under authority of a search warrant authorized by law, or by an officer or employee of the Postal Service for the sole purpose of determining an address at which the letter can be delivered, or pursuant to the authorization of the addressee.

SECTION 313 OF THE BUDGET AND ACCOUNTING ACT, 1921 (31 U.S.C. 54) (ACCESS TO AGENCY RECORDS BY COMPTROLLER GENERAL)

SEC. 313.1 (a) All departments and establishments shall furnish to the Comptroller General such information regarding the powers, duties, activities, organization, financial transactions, and methods of business of their respective offices as he may from time to time require of them; and the Comptroller General, or any of his assistants or employees, when duly authorized by him, shall, for the purpose of securing such information, have access to and the right to examine any books, documents, papers, or records of any such department or establishment. The authority contained in this section shall not be applicable to expenditures made under the provisions of section 291 of the Revised Statutes [31 U.S.C. 107].

(b)(1) When access to any books, documents, papers, or records of any department or establishment is not made available within a reasonable period of time, the Comptroller General in his discretion may make a written request to the head of the department or establishment concerned. Any such request shall set forth any authority in addition to subsection (a) for such access and the reasons such access is desired. The head of the department or establishment concerned shall have a period of twenty days from the date of receipt to respond to the written request of the Comptroller General. The response shall describe any books, documents, papers, or records withheld and the reasons therefor. If within such twentyday period full access to such books, documents, papers, or records has not been afforded the Comptroller General or any of his designated assistants or employees, the Comptroller General may file a written report of the matter with the President of the United States, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the Attorney General, the head of the department or establishment concerned, and with the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate.

1 Subsections (b) through (f) were added by section 102 of the General Accounting Office Act of 1980 (Public Law 96-226; 94 Stat. 312).

(2) Subject to subsection (d) the Comptroller General, through any attorney designated by him in writing, may, after twenty calendar days after the filing of a written report under paragraph (1), apply to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia for any order requiring the head of the department or establishment concerned to produce the material withheld. The Attorney General is authorized to represent the defendant official in such proceedings. Any failure to obey an order of the court under this subsection may be treated by the court as a contempt thereof. (c)(1) Subject to subsection (d), the Comptroller General may require by subpena the production of books, records, correspondence, memoranda, papers, and documents of contractors, subcontractors, or other non-Federal persons to which he has access by law or by agreement of the non-Federal person from whom access is sought. Subpenas may be issued under the signature of the Comptroller General and shall identify the material sought and the authority on which access is based. Service of a subpena issued under this subsection may be made by anyone authorized by the Comptroller General (A) by delivering a copy thereof to the person named therein, or (B) by mailing a copy thereof by certified or registered mail, return receipt requested, addressed to such person at his residence, or principal place of business. A verified return by the person so serving the subpena setting forth the manner of service or in the case of service by certified or registered mail, the return post office receipt signed by the person so served, shall be proof of service.

(2) In the case of contumacy or refusal to obey a subpena issued under paragraph (1) of this subsection, by any person who resides, is found, or transacts business within the jurisdiction of any district court of the United States, such court, upon application made by the Comptroller General through any attorney designated by him in writing, shall have jurisdiction to issue to such person an order requiring such person to produce the matter requested. Any failure of any such person to obey such order of the court may be treated by the court as a contempt thereof.

(d) The Comptroller General may not bring an action under subsection (b) for an order or issue a subpena under subsection (c) requiring the production of material

(1) if such material relates to activities designated by the President as being foreign intelligence or foreign counterintelligence activities;

(2) if such material is specifically exempted from disclosure to the Comptroller General by statute provided that such statute (A) requires that the material be withheld from the Comptroller General in such a manner as to leave no discretion on the issue, or (B) establishes particular criteria for withholding from the Comptroller General or refers to particular types of matters to be withheld from the Comptroller General; or

(3) if the President or the Director of the Office of Management and Budget within twenty days after the filing of a report under subsection (b)(1), certifies in writing to the Comptroller General, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the President of the Senate, that (A) such material consists of matters which could be withheld from disclosure under

section 552(b)(5) or 552(b)(7), of title 5, United States Code and (B) the disclosure of such material to the Comptroller General could reasonably be expected to substantially impair the operations of the Federal Government. Such certification shall be nondelegable by the President or by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget and shall be accompanied by a full explanation of the rationale therefor.

(e) Any written information, books, documents, papers, or records made available to the Comptroller General pursuant to this section shall be subject to the same level of confidentiality as is required of the agency from which obtained. The officers and employees of the General Accounting Office shall be subject to the same penalties prescribed by statute for unauthorized disclosure or use as the officers or employees of the agency from which such material was obtained. Information described in section 552(b)(6) of title 5 of the United States Code obtained by the Comptroller General shall be maintained in a manner designed to prevent unwarranted invasions of personal privacy.

(f) Nothing in this section shall be construed as authority to withhold information from Congress.

CHAPTER 17 OF TITLE 35, UNITED STATES CODE

Sec.

CHAPTER 17—SECRECY OF CERTAIN INVENTIONS AND FILING APPLICATIONS IN FOREIGN COUNTRY 1

181. Secrecy of certain inventions and withholding of patent.

182.

Abandonment of invention for unauthorized disclosure.

183. Right of compensation.2

184. Filing of application in foreign country.

185. Patent barred for filing without license.

186. Penalty.

187. Nonapplicability to certain persons.

188. Rules and regulations, delegation of power.

§ 181. Secrecy of certain inventions and withholding of patent

Whenever publication or disclosure by the grant of a patent on an invention in which the Government has a property interest might, in the opinion of the head of the interested Government agency, be detrimental to the national security, the Commissioner upon being so notified shall order that the invention be kept secret and shall withhold the grant of a patent therefor under the conditions set forth hereinafter.

Whenever the publication or disclosure of an invention by the granting of a patent, in which the Government does not have a property interest, might, in the opinion of the Commissioner, be detrimental to the national security, he shall make the application for patent in which such invention is disclosed available for inspec

'Throughout this chapter, the term "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks in the Department of Commerce. 2 So in original. Does not conform to section catchline.

tion to the Atomic Energy Commission 3, the Secretary of Defense, and the chief officer of any other department or agency of the Government designated by the President as a defense agency of the United States.4

Each individual to whom the application is disclosed shall sign a dated acknowledgment thereof, which acknowledgement shall be entered in the file of the application. If, in the opinion of the Atomic Energy Commission, the Secretary of a Defense Department, or the chief officer of another department or agency so designated, the publication or disclosure of the invention by the granting of a patent therefor would be detrimental to the national security, the Atomic Energy Commission, the Secretary of a Defense Department, or such other chief officer shall notify the Commissioner and the Commissioner shall order that the invention be kept secret and shall withhold the grant of a patent for such period as the national interest requires, and notify the applicant thereof. Upon proper showing by the head of the department or agency who caused the secrecy order to be issued that the examination of the application might jeopardize the national interest, the Commissioner shall thereupon maintain the application in a sealed condition and notify the applicant thereof. The owner of an application which has been placed under a secrecy order shall have a right to appeal from the order of the Secretary of Commerce under rules prescribed by him.

An invention shall not be ordered kept secret and the grant of a patent withheld for a period of more than one year. The Commissioner shall renew the order at the end thereof, or at the end of any renewal period, for additional periods of one year upon notification by the head of the department or the chief officer of the agency who caused the order to be issued that an affirmative determination has been made that the national interest continues so to require. An order in effect, or issued, during a time when the United States is at war, shall remain in effect for the duration of hostilities and one year following cessation of hostilities. An order in effect, or issued, during a national emergency declared by the President shall remain in effect for the duration of the national emergency and six months thereafter. The Commissioner may rescind any order upon notification by the heads of the departments and the chief officers of the agencies who caused the order to be issued that the publication or disclosure of the invention is no longer deemed detrimental to the national security.

§182. Abandonment of invention for unauthorized disclosure

The invention disclosed in an application for patent subject to an order made pursuant to section 181 of this title may be held abandoned upon its being established by the Commissioner that in violation of said order the invention has been published or disclosed or that an application for a patent therefor has been filed in a foreign

3 Functions of the Atomic Energy Commission, which previously were transferred to the Administrator of the Energy Research and Development Administration, were transferred to the Secretary of Energy by section 301 of the Department of Energy Organization Act (Public Law 95-91; 91 Stat. 577).

*The Department of Justice was designated as a defense agency of the United States for the purposes of this chapter by Executive Order No. 10457, May 27, 1953.