The statute, as is the American tradition, was named after its sponsor in Congress, Henry Cabot Lodge Jr (1902-1985). It is sometimes referred to as the Lodge-Philbin Act.
The purpose of the act was to recruit US spies that could readily reintergrate back into their country of origin. In 1950, there were a considerable number of such candidates holed-up in West Germany.
The act expired in 1959.
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