Mr. NIXON. It will be so ordered. Mr. STRIPLING. The statement of James Truslow Adams, as you recall, was placed in the record at the conclusion of the first day's testimony and it already appears, but I ask in the final printing of the record that all of these statements appear at the end of the volume. Mr. NIXON. It is so ordered. The committee will recess now until 10 o'clock tomorrow morning. (Whereupon, at 3:30 p. m., on February 9, 1948, the subcommittee adjourned to reconvene at 10 a. m. on February 10, 1948.) HEARINGS ON PROPOSED LEGISLATION TO CURB OR CONTROL THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1948 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON LEGISLATION OF THE Washington, D. C. The subcommittee met, pursuant to order, at 10 a. m. in room 225, Old House Office Building, Hon. Richard M. Nixon (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Subcommittee members present: Representatives Nixon, Hébert, and McDowell. Also present: Representative Rankin. Staff members present: Robert E. Stripling, chief investigator, and Robert B. Gaston, investigator. Mr. NIXON. The hearing will come to order. The record will show that the following members of the subcommittee are present: Mr. McDowell, Mr. Hébert, and Mr. Nixon. Let the record show that Mr. McDowell has been appointed a member of the sucommittee, effective this date. Mr. Stripling, will you call the first witness? Mr. STRIPLING. Mr. Edgar C. Corry. Mr. NIXON. Will you raise your right hand, Mr. Corry? Do you solomnly swear that the testimony you are about to give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God? Mr. CORRY. I do. Mr. NIXON. Be seated. Mr. STRIPLING. Mr. Corry, will you please state your full name and present address? Mr. CORRY. Edgar C. Corry, Jr.; address, office address, 724 Ninth Street NW., Washington, D. C. TESTIMONY OF EDGAR C. CORRY, JR., NATIONAL COMMANDER OF AMVETS Mr. STRIPLING. What is your present position? Mr. CORRY. I am the national commander of AMVETS. Mr. STRIPLING. When were you elected? Mr. CORRY. Last October 1947. Mr. STRIPLING. You are here in response to the committee's invitation to give your opinions and recommendations on certain legislation which is before the committee. Mr. CORRY. Yes, sir. Mr. STRIPLING. This legislation seeks to curb and outlaw the Communist Party. Mr. CORRY. Yes, sir. Mr. STRIPLING. Do you have a prepared statement? Mr. CORRY. Yes, sir, I do.. Mr. STRIPLING. You give your statement at this time, after which the committee members will direct questions to you. Mr. CORRY. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, and members of the committee, AMVETS, as you know, is the only exclusively World War II veterans organization chartered by Congress. But some of you may not know that AMVETS since its inception has been unalterably opposed to communism and Communist agitation in this country. Article IV of our national constitution specifically provides, and I am quoting: "No person who is a member of, or who advocates the principles of, any organization believing in, or working for, the overthrow of the United States Government by force, and no person who refuses to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States, shall be privileged to become, or continue to be, a member of this organization." This constitutional provision has always been construed by us to mean that no person who belongs to the Communist Party or who espouses Communist principles shall be a member of or hold office in AMVETS. AMVETS alone among the major War II veterans' organizations has never been accused of accepting Communists into its membership. We believe sincerely that what is healthy and good for AMVETS is healthy and good for the country at large. Thus we believe that some form of national proscription against Communists is essential to the well-being of the Nation, too. This belief is based on a firm conviction that no member of the Communist Party can maintain allegiance to the United States of America or can uphold and defend the Constitution of this country so long as he subscribes to Communist princples. But before you can approach the problem of how the proscription can be implemented the question first must be answered: "What is communism?" We believe that Congress must define communism by legislative enactment as the first basic step toward solving the problem of what to do about it. Congressman McDonough has prepared such a definition in his bill, H. R. 4581, now pending in this committee. AMVETS is well satisfied with that portion of the Congressman's definition, which declares communism to be not a political policy but an international conspiracy, an atheistic and antireligious ideology advocating and practicing deceit, confusion, subversion, revolution, and the subordination of man to the state. Whether, under that definition, a Communist automatically becomes a treasonable enemy of the United States with intent to overthrow the Government by force, is a fundamental question which neither AMVETS nor any other private organization is qualified to answer; but which properly must be decided by the Congress and the courts of the United States. But whatever the ultimate decision, we believe that prompt legislative action is needed now to emasculate Communists in this country, economically and politically, by every possible means open to us within the legitimate framework of the American constitutional system. Our personal safety and the security of our Nation demand that all Communists within our borders be rendered politically and economically impotent. We long ago passed laws to protect us against criminal banditry and to protect our national economy against the dangers of illegal acts. We would be less than consistent now if we did not attempt to neutralize the threat posed by the Communists. We further believe that outlawing the Communists and the Communist Party would achieve no useful purpose. Most Communists already are working underground. To outlaw them would be to drive them even further underground and make more difficult the task of searching them out and exposing them quite aside from any considerations of constitutionality that might be involved. We want to drag the Communists out into the open, to put the spotlight on every last one of them, to see who they are, where they are working, and what they are trying to do. We are convinced that few rank-and-file Communists could long endure as effective agents under such circumstances beset, as they would be, by public condemnation if they were known and threatened always by heavy fines and imprisonment if they chose to persist in secrecy. Bearing these facts in mind, we recommend that Congress take the following steps immediately: 1. That any person who is a member of the Communist Party or of any organization, association, or other combination of individuals which is dominated, directed, or controlled by the Communist Party be required to register publicly with the Department of Justice as an agent of a foreign principle. 2. That all publications, papers, and any and all mediums of political propaganda disseminated by such persons or organizations be clearly labelled under the law for what it is—namely, Communist propaganda. 3. That the postal regulations governing the dissemination of the propaganda described above be drastically tightened to restrict their mailing privileges to first-class mail only. 4. That the right of a Communist to be a candidate for any elective public office on any political ticket be denied by law. 5. That all aliens, whether Communists or not, be required to report their addresses once a year to the Justice Department and that the Justice Department be authorized to hold aliens for a definite length of time when their own countries refuse to take them back. 6. That officers of all subversive groups be made personally responsible for the registration of their groups under the existing Voorhis Act requiring registration of groups under foreign control aimed at overthrow of the Government by force. We believe that punitive provisions imposing heavy fines and imprisonment are essential, of course, to the aims of these proposals. On the assumption that this committee is well acquainted with the devious aims of the Communists and their slavish subservience to the Kremlin, we have made no effort here today to outline the compelling reasons for enacting a legislative program of this nature. The whole evil story of Communist intentions is well known to this committee and needs no repetition here. We have thus contented ourselves with |