5. House Debate of December 17, 1941 (Excerpts) 87 Cong. Rec. 9946-9947 TO EXPEDITE THE WAR EFFORT Mr. SUMNERS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to take from the Speaker's table the bill H.R. 6233, to expedite the prosecution of the war effort, with a Senate amendment thereto, and concur in the Senate amendment. Mr. Speaker, with reference to H.R. 6233 and especially with regard to paragraph (1) of section 301 of title III, Trading With the Enemy, in view of the discussion on the floor of the House during the consideration of H.R. 6233, on yesterday, I would like to make it clear that there was no intention on my part and so far as I know there was no intention on the part of any member of the Committee on the Judiciary to propose or support any legislation reducing the powers of the Presi dent under existing law, nor to reduce in any degree existing law relative to domestic transactions. The SPEAKER. The Clerk will report the Senate amendment. The SPEAKER. Is there objection? Mr. MICHENER. Mr. Speaker, I have looked over the amendment, and the committee is unanimously in favor of it. The SPEAKER. Is there objection? There was no objection. The SPEAKER. The question is on concurring in the Senate amendment. The Senate amendment was concurred in and a motion to reconsider the vote by which the Senate amendment was agreed to was laid on the table. The bill S. 2129 was laid on the table. 6. House Report (Excerpt) Expediting the Prosecution of the War Effort, House Report No. 1507, 77th Congress, 1st Session, to Accompany H.R. 6233, December 15, 1941 * III Title III of the bill deals with the Trading With the Enemy Act, which originally became law on October 6, 1917, during the last war. Some sections of that act are still in effect. Some sections have terminated, and there is doubt as to the effectiveness of other sections. Title III contains three provisions: (1) Section 5(b) of the Trading With the Enemy Act has been continued down to the present time. The existing system of foreign property control (commonly known as freezing control) is based on that subdivision as last amended on May 7, 1940. That subdivision of section 5 as it is now in effect, however, does not give the broad powers to take, administer, control, use, liquidate, etc., such foreign-owned property that would be given by section 301 of the bill. At present the Government exercises supervision over transactions in foreign property, either by prohibiting such transactions or by permitting them on condition and under license. It is, therefore, a system which can prevent transactions in foreign property prejudicial to the best interests of the United States, but it is not a system which can affirmatively compel the use and application of foreign property in those interests. Section 301 remedies that situation by adding to the existing freezing control, in substance, the powers contained in the Trading With the Enemy Act with respect to alien property, extending those powers, and adding a flexibility of control which experience under the original act and the recent experience under freezing control have demonstrated to be advisable. The provisions of section 301 would permit the establishment of a complete system of alien property treatment. It vests flexible powers in the President, operating through such agency or agencies as he might choose, to deal with the problems that surround alien property or its ownership or control in the manner deemed most effective in each particular case. In this respect the bill avoids the rigidity and inflexibility which characterized the alien property custodian law enacted during the last war. The necessity for flexibility in legislation on this subject is accentuated by the vastness of the alien property problem confronting the Government today. At the peak of his activity, the Alien Property Custodian of the last war administered property valued at something over $500,000,000. Today there is over $7,000,000,000 worth of property already subject to the existing control. This provision of the bill to a considerable extent follows the pattern of existing law and is a logical extension of the present foreign prop erty control system, which has been operating very satisfactorily for almost 2 years. The extension could be put into immediate operation with a minimum amount of trouble or dislocation of legitímate activities. (2) Section 302 of title III approves and ratifies action taken prior to the enactment of this legislation, under the Trading With the Enemy Act, as amended, which would have been authorized if the provisions of this proposed legislation had been in effect at the time of the taking of the action in question. This ratification provision is similar in principle to those heretofore adapted by Congress, applicable to action taken under section 5(b) of the Trading With the Enemy Act. (See sec. 2 of the joint resolution of May 7, 1940, Public Res. No. 69, 76th Cong.; and sec. 1 of the act of March 9, 1933, 48 Stat. 1.) (3) Section 303 is identical with the provisions of section 3(d) of the Trading With the Enemy Act passed in 1917, except that it also contains provisions identical with section 16, the penalty provision of such act. Section 3(d) of the Trading With the Enemy Act authorized President Wilson, whenever he deemed that the public safety demanded it during the last World War, to cause to be censored, under such rules and regulations as he might from time to time establish, communications by mail, cable, radio, or any other means of transmission between the United States and any foreign country. Section 303 of the present bill deals only with censorship of international communications and not with domestic censorship. The authority given by this provision is the minimum necessary for an effective control over foreign communications. It seems likely that the President as Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy already has, during time of war, power to censor international communications. However, in a matter of such importance there should be no question about the extent of such power. It is especially important that the President's power extend not only to the direct means of communication but also to control over communications which may be carried by means of vessels, automobiles, or other means of transportation. Section 303 will make it absolutely clear that the President may censor all forms of foreign communication direct or indirect. It will further permit him, as a matter of administration, to set up an organization and definite rules under which the control is to be carried out. IV Title IV provides a time limit for titles I and II of the bill. It provides that these titles shall expire 6 months after the treaty of peace or at such earlier time as the Congress by concurrent resolution, or the President may designate. The provisions in title III are limited by their own terms and thus do not require a special termination date. CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW The changes in section 5 (b) of the Trading With the Enemy Act, as amended, proposed by this legislation are shown as follows: Existing law proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new matter is printed in italics, existing law in which no change is proposed is shown in roman. SEC. 5. (b) [During time of war or during any other period of national emergency declared by the President, the President may, through any agency that he may designate, or otherwise, investigate, regulate, or prohibit, under such rules and regulations as he may prescribe, by means of licenses or otherwise, any transactions in foreign exchange, transfers of credit between or payments by or to banking institutions as defined by the President, and export, hoarding, melting, or earmarking of gold or silver coin or bullion or currency, and any transfer, withdrawal or exportation of, or dealing in, any evidences of indebtedness or evidences of ownership of property in which any foreign state or a national or political subdivision thereof, as defined by the President, has any interest, by any person within the United States or any place subject to the jurisdiction thereof; and the President may require any person to furnish under oath, complete information relative to any transaction referred to in this subdivision or to any property in which any such foreign state, national or political subdivision has any interest, including the production of any books of account, contracts, letters, or other papers, in connection therewith in the custody or control of such person, either before or after such transaction is completed.] (1) During the time of war or during any other period of national emergency declared by the President, the President may, through any agency that he may designate, or otherwise, and under such rules and regulations as he may prescribe, by means of instructions, licenses, or otherwise— (A) investigate, regulate, or prohibit, any transactions in foreign exchange, transfers of credit or payments between, by, through, or to any banking institution, and the importing, exporting, hoarding, melting, or earmarking of gold or silver coin or bullion, currency or securities, and (B) investigate, regulate, direct and compel, nullify, void, prevent or prohibit, any acquisition holding, withholding, use, transfer, withdrawal, transportation, importation or exportation of, or dealing in, or exercising any right, power, or privilege with respect to, or transactions involving, any property in which any foreign country or a national thereof has any interest, by any person, or with respect to any property, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States; and any property or interest of any foreign country or national thereof shall vest, when, as, and upon the terms, directed by the President, in such agency or person as may be designated from time to time by the President, and upon such terms and conditions as the President may prescribe such interest or property shall be held, used, administered, liquidated, sold, or otherwise dealt with in the interest of and for the benefit of the United States, and such designated agency or person may perform any and all acts incident to the accomplishment or furtherance of these purposes; and the President may, in the manner hereinabove provided, require any person to keep a full record of, and to furnish under oath, in the form of reports or otherwise, complete information relative to any act or transaction referred to in this subdivision either before, during, or after the completion thereof, or relative to any interest in foreign property, or relative to any property in which any foreign country or any national thereof has or has had any interest, or as may be otherwise necessary to enforce the provisions of this subdivision, and in any case in which a report could be required, the President may, in the manner hereinabove provided, require the production, or if necessary to the national security or defense, the seizure, of any books of account, records, contracts, letters, memoranda, or other papers, in the custody or control of such person; and the President may, in the manner hereinabove provided, take other and further measures not inconsistent herewith for the enforcement of this subdivision. (2) Any payment, conveyance, transfer, assignment, or delivery of property or interest therein, made to or for the account of the United States, or as otherwise directed, pursuant to this subdivision or any rule, regulation, instruction, or direotion issued hereunder shall to the extent thereof be a full acquittance and discharge for all purposes of the obligation of the person making the same; and no person shall be held liable in any court for or in respect to anything done or omitted in good faith in connection with the administration of, or in pursuance of and in reliance on, this subdivision, or any rule, reoulation, instruction, or direction issued hereunder. (3) As used in this subdivision the term “United States" means the United States and any place subject to the jurisdiction thereof, including the Philippine Islands, and the several courts of first instance of the Commonwealth of the Philippine Islands shall have jurisdiction in all cases, civil or criminal, arising under this subdivision in the Philippine Islands and concurrent jurisdiction with the district courts of the United States of all cases, civil or criminal, arising upon the high seas: Provided, however, That the foregoing shall not be construed as a limitation upon the power of the President, which is hereby conferred, to prescribe from time to time, definitions, not inconsistent with the purposes of this subdivision, for any or all of the terms used in this subdivision. Whoever willfully violates any of the provisions of this subdivision or of any license, order, rule, or regulation issued thereunder, shall, upon conviction, be fined not more than $10,000, or, if a natural person, may be imprisoned for not more than ten years, or both; and any officer, director, or agent of any corporation who knowingly participates in such violation may be punished by a like fine, imprisonment, or both. As used in this subdivision the term "person" means an individual, partnership, association, or corporation. |