CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - HOUSE

ULLMAN. PETITIONER, VERSUS

U.S.A.

Mr. DOYLE. Mr. Speaker, I ask

unanimous consent to address the House

for 1 minute and to revise and extend my

remarks.

The SPEAKER. Is there objection to

the request of the gentleman from

California?

There was no objection.

Mr. DOYLE. Mr. Speaker, because I

know very few Members of the House

have had the opportunity to read the

full text of a very important recent decision by the Supreme Court of the

United States in the case of Ullman,

petitioner, against U. S. A., which is commonly known as the recent decision on the Immunity Act of 1954, I am, pursuant

to consent previously granted, placing

most of the text of the decision in the

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD for your guidance.

Secondly, I wish to call your attention

to the fact that I am placing in the RECORD today what I believe is a very significant and important letter from J.

Edgar Hoover, Director of the FBI, to

'me in answer to certain questions I

asked him because I wanted his opinion

to me as a member of the House Committee on Un-American Activities. It

was in answer to my letter to him

of March 29 asking him to give

me his letter reply thereto, a copy of

which letter to him is hereinafter set

forth. He has done so in his letter to me

of April 2, and I feel it is so clearly a

helpful explanation by this distinguished

American of the respective functioning

of the FBI and the House Un-American

Activities Committee, of which I am a

member; and other similar congressional committees, that I am pleased

to have you and every one of my distinguished colleagues in this great legislative body promptly know of his analysis, appraisement, and opinion.

One reason I wrote Mr. Hoover and

asked him to give me his considered opinion is because of the frequent inquiries

I receive asking why the FBI could not

also do the work being done by the House

Un-American Activities Committee and

by the corresponding committee in the

United States Senate. Also almost universally the letters I receive about the

FBI compliment Mr. Hoover on thd work

of the FBI, of which he is the distinguished Director. So I therefore assume that this clearcut statement by Mr.

Hoover showing the place and importance of these congressional committees

will be accepted in full faith and credit

by any who have open minds on this

subject and really seek the true and correct answers.

MARCH 29, 1956. Hon. J. EDGAR HOOVER,

Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department o/ Justice, Washington, D. C.

My DEAR SIR: I read in the Washington

Evening Star for Tuesday, March 20, on page

A-3, a quotation by you as to some of your

testimony before the House Appropriations

Committee. If you have more of the text of

your prepared statement available so that I

might have a copy of whatever you are able to send me, I will appreciate it very much.

Being a member of the House Un-American

Activities Committee, your statement, as

printed, was naturally very interesting and

informative and whatever additional you

have along those lines will be welcomely received by me. And if you do communicate

with me in the premises I will especially

thank you to answer the following inquiry

by me: to wit, To what extent do you believe it is valuable and necessary to our

national defense and national security

against subversive activities of persons or

groups in our Nation for such a committee

as the House Un-American Activities Committee, or the corresponding Senate committee, to operate vigilantly from day to day.

One reason I ask this is that not infrequently I receive expression of opinion of

people questioning the need of both the

FBI and the congressional committees herein

named. Many of these persons clearly state

that they do not see the need of either of

these committees functioning because, they

claim that the FBI can, could, and should

do all the work that is necessary. In your answer, therefore, if you can make it clear

as to what you believe to be the function

of such congressional committees and why

you believe them to be necessary, if you do,

I will appreciate it.

I trust you will anticipate from my question to you and the extent of my inquiry

that it will be also appreciated if you will

make a statement of the value of such committees in the House and Senate, and

wherein they do necessary work which the

FBI cannot and should not be expected to do.

I write you this letter because I want to be

able to show your answer, and if convenient

and you have no objection, to insert it in

the daily CONGRESSIONAL RECORD and also release it back to at least these people who

write me as above indicated and criticize the

existence of the House Un-American Activities Committee and the corresponding Senate Committee.

For your cooperation in this, which I hope

may come forward as promptly as convenient,

and with personal regards, I have the honor

to be

Cordially,

CLYDE DOYLE,

Member of Congress.

UNITED STATES

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE,

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION,

OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR,

Washington, D. C., April 2, 1956.

Hon. CLYDE DOYLE,

House of Representatives,

Washington, D. C.

MY DEAR CONGRESSMAN: Your letter of

March 29, 1956, has ben received and I do

appreciate your interest in my recent testimony before the House Appropriations Subcommittee. Unfortunately, I do not have

copies available for distribution, but you

may like to make inquiry with the office of

the committee for the text.

The American people owe a great debt of

gratitude to the work over the years of congressional Investigating committees. These

committees, day after day, secure information vitally needed in the consideration of

new legislation. They are indeed indispensable parts of the American legislative process.

Congressional investigating committees,

moreover, time after time have brought to the

attention of the Nation conditions of fraud,

dishonesty, and subversion. This function

of awakening public opinion is of the greatest importance in our democratic life-a

service not within the province of regularly

constituted investigative agencies. Congressional investigating committees, by the

very nature of the broad powers vested in

them, are enabled to search out the facts and

make them available to the citizenry.

We in the FBI have the highest appreciation for the contributions rendered by congressional investigating committees dealing

with un-American activities. Each in its

own way is serving the American people.

The FBI is strictly a fact-gathering agency.

It does not express opinions or make recommendations on the information it secures.

That is the function of other officials of the

Government. As the investigative arm of

the Department of Justice, the FBI is

charged with the duty of investigating violations of the laws of the United States, collecting evidence in cases in which the United

States is or may be a party in interest, and

performing other duties imposed by law.

Its function is not exposure or securing information for legislative purposes. That is

the function of the congressional investigating committees.

I feel that both the FBI and congressional

investigating committees, in the field of internal security, have important roles to play.

We are working for the same goal-protecting

our great Nation from enemies who seek to

destroy us. Our work is not contradictory,

but mutually helpful. That is as it should

be.

It was a pleasure to set forth my opinions

on this topic and you may feel free to insert

this letter in the CONGRESSIONAL RECORD.

Sincerely yours,

J. EDGAR HOOVER.

ROY COWAN ET AL.-VETO MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF

THE UNITED STATES (H. DOC. NO.

370)

The SPEAKER laid before the House

the following veto message from the

President of the United States:

To the House of Representatives:

I return herewith, without my approval, H. R. 6421, "For the relief of

Roy Cowan and others."

The bill directs the payment of sums

aggregating $276,568 to 28 individuals in

settlement of claims for damage based

on the flooding of privately owned lands.

The flooding is alleged to have resulted

from activiities of the Fish and Wildlife

Service of the Department of the Interior in the establishment and management of the Lake Alice National Wildlife Refuge in North Dakota.

In my judgment this is a case in which

there has been an unfortunate failure

in communications between the executive and legislative branches of the Government. A subcommittee of the House

conducted a hearing on the ground and

made a personal inspection of the area

and the construction works involved.

Although Department of. the Interior

engineers testified at the hearing, the

views of the Department were not presented at the hearing and the report of

the Department on the bill apparently

was not received in time for consideration before floor action was taken by the

House of Representatives. As a result,

the record before me is one of unresolved disagreements of fact and law.

Nevertheless, the materials presented by

the Department of the Interior convince

me that a satisfactory and adequate

basis has not been established for appraising the merits and the equity of

the claims.

Under the circumstances I believe that

I have no choice but to return the bill

5956 April 9.
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - HOUSE

without my approval, but with my recommendation that the case be handled

either by the referral process frequently used in difficult claims cases or, if

warranted, by the enactment of a jurisdictional bill which will preserve the

rights and proper defenses of the litigants.

DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER.

THE WHITE HOUSE, April 9, 1956.

The SPEAKER. The objections of

the President will be spread at large

upon the Journal, and, without objection the bill and the message will be referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

and ordered to be printed.

There was no objection.

FEASIBILITY OF MAINTAINING A

PERMANENT DOMESTIC TINSMELTING INDUSTRY IN THE

UNITED STATES-MESSAGE FROM

THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED

STATES (H. DOC. NO. 371)

The SPEAKER laid before the House

the following message from the President of the United States, which was

read and, together with the accompanying papers, referred to the Committee on

Banking and Currency and ordered to be

printed:

To the Congress o1 the United States:

Pursuant to the provisions of Senate

Concurrent Resolution 26 of April 21,

1955, I transmit herewith for the information of the Congress a report entitled:

"A Study of the Feasibility of Maintaining a Permanent Domestic Tin-Smelting

Industry in the United States."

The study was 'made for me by the

Office of Defense Mobilization with the

assistance of a special interagency group

comprised of representatives of the Departments of State, Treasury, Defense,

Interior, and Commerce, the General

Services Administration, and the United

States Tariff Commission.

I concur with the conclusions of the

study, and I am also in accord with the

recommendation contained in the attached memorandum from the Director

of the Office of Defense Mobilization.

DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER.

THE WHITE HOUSE, March 29, 1956.

REPORT OF THE NATIONAL CAPITAL HOUSING AUTHORITYMESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

OF THE UNITED STATES

The SPEAKER laid before the House

the following message from the President

of the United States, which was read and,

together with the accompanying papers,

referred to the Committee on the District of Columbia:

To the Congress of the United States:

In accordance with the provisions of

section 5 (a) of Public Law 307, 73d Congress, approved June 12, 1934, I transmit

herewith for the information of the Congress the report of the National Capital

Housing Authority for the fiscal year

ended June 30, 1955.

DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER.

THE WHITE HOUSE, April 9, 1956.

FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF THE

OPERATION OF THE UNIFORMED

SERVICES CONTINGENCY OPTION

ACT OF 1953-MESSAGE FROM

THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED

STATES

The SPEAKER laid before the House

the following message from the President of the United States, which was

read and, together with the accompanying papers, referred to the Committee

on Armed Services:

To the Congress of the United States:

Pursuant to the provisions of section 8

of the Uniformed Services Contingency

Option Act of 1953 (Public Law 239, 83d

Cong.), I transmit herewith for the information of the Congress the First Annual Report of the Operation of the

Uniformed Services Contingency Option

Act of 1953.

DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER.

THE WHITE HOUSE, April 9, 1956.

AMENDING THE ARMED FORCES

RESERVE ACT OF 1952

Mr. BROOKS of Louisiana. Mr.

Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to

take from the Speaker's desk the bill (H.

R. 8107) to amend the Armed Forces Reserve Act of 1952, as amended, with Senate amendments thereto, and concur in

the Senate amendments.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

The Clerk read the Senate amendments, as follows:

After line 5, Insert:

"SEC. 2. The Armed Forces Reserve Act of

1952, as amended, is amended by inserting

immediately after section 263 thereof the

following new section:

"'SEC. 264. Notwithstanding any other

provision of law any person called or ordered

to perform a period of active duty for training in excess of 30 days under authority of

subsections 233 (d) or 262 (c) of this act,

shall during such period be deemed to have

been called or ordered into active naval or

military service by the Federal Government

for extended naval or military service in excess of 30 days for the purpose of determining

eligibility for any benefit prescribed under

Public Law 108, 81st Congress (63 Stat.

201)'."

After line 5, insert:

"SEC. 3. This act shall be effective from

August 9, 1955: Provided, That no additional

basic pay shall be paid to any member by

reason of the enactment of this act for any

period prior to the first day of the calendar

month in which this act is approved."

The SPEAKER. Is there objection to

the request of the gentleman from

Louisiana?

Mr. ARENDS. Mr. Speaker, reserving

the right to object, and I shall not object

because I know what the bill purports to

do, but I would like to ask the gentleman

from Louisiana if he will kindly explain

the substance not only of what the bill

proposes to do but the Senate amendments added by the Senate.

Mr. BROOKS of Louisiana. Mr.

Speaker, this measure simply equalizes

the pay received by all the reservists

under the new Reserve Forces Act of

1954. It seems that the National

Guard man called on active duty for 6

months' training received greater pay

than the reservist for the armed services

who is not a guardsman. This bill

would equalize that pay so that the men

all receive the same amount of money

when they go on active training for 6

months. They would receive the pay of a

private and after 4 months get the pay

of a private first class; that is, a pfc.

The Senate added two amendments.

One of the amendments was to the effect

that if a man on active duty training

for 6 months received some disease which

was injurious and disabling to him or

contributed to his death, that this man

should be compensated on the basis that

the regular is compensated for when he

dies or is injured in the service. It also

provides under section 3 that the act

shall be effective from August 9, 1955.

The reason is that the Comptroller asked

that we so frame the act so that the repeal is dated back to August 9, 1955,

except for pay purposes.

Mr. ARENDS. Let me say to the

gentleman from Louisiana I think this

is good legislation. I withdraw my

reservation of objection, Mr. Speaker.

The SPEAKER. Is there objection to

the request of the gentleman from

Louisiana?

There was no objection.

The Senate amendments were concurred in, and a motion to reconsider was

laid on the table.

CONVEYANCE OF LAND TO THE CITY

OF CHARLOTTE, N. C.

Mr. McCORMACK. Mr. Speaker, I

ask unanimous consent for the immediate consideration of the bill (H. R. 8634)

to authorize the conveyance of a certain

tract of land in North Carolina to the

city of Charlotte, N. C.

The SPEAKER. Is there objection to

the request of the gentleman from

Massachusetts?

There was no objection.

The Clerk read the bill, as follows:

Be it enacted, etc., That the Administrator of General Services shall convey to the

Charlotte Park and Recreation Commission, an instrumentality of the city of Charlotte,

N. C., all right, title, and interest of the

United States in and to the tract of land

described in section 2 of this act upon the

payment by such commission of an amount

equal to 50 percent of the fair market value

of such tract as determined by the Administrator, less $10,000, the latter sum representing the amount contributed by the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce toward the pur- chase price paid for such tract and contiguous land by the United States.

SEC. 2. The tract of land referred to in the

first section of this act is described as follows:

A parcel of land located two and one- quarter miles east of the center of Charlotte

County of Mecklenburg, State of North Carolina, and more particularly described as follows:

Beginning at a stake at the southeasterly

intersection of Central Avenue and West- over Street, and running thence with the

southerly line of Central Avenue south 82

degrees 36 feet east 1,200.00 feet to a stake

in the southerly line of Central Avenue;

thence south 7 degrees 34 feet 30 inches west

1,445 feet, more or less to a stake in the

northerly line of McClintock Avenue; thence

with the northerly line of McClintock Ave- nue in a westerly direction 1,325 feet, more

1956 5957