The Department of Labor is authorized, within the discretion of the Secretary of Labor, upon the written request of any person, to make special statistical studies relating to employment, hours of work, wages, and other conditions of employment; to prepare from its records special statistical compilations; and to furnish transcripts of its studies, tables, and other records, upon the payment of the actual cost of such work by the person requesting it. 29 U.S.C. § 9 Apr. 13, 1934, ch. 118, §1, 48