Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/345/41/
Timestamp: 2019-04-25 20:26:00+00:00

Document:
"authorized and directed to conduct a study and investigation of (1) all lobbying activities intended to influence, encourage, promote, or retard legislation; and (2) all activities of agencies of the Federal Government intended to influence, encourage, promote, or retard legislation."
Held: The Committee was without power to exact the information sought from respondent. Pp. 345 U. S. 42-48.
(a) To construe the resolution as authorizing the Committee to inquire into all efforts of private individuals to influence public opinion through books and periodicals, however remote the radiations of influence which they may exert upon the ultimate legislative process, would raise doubts of constitutionality in view of the prohibition of the First Amendment. P. 345 U. S. 46.
(b) The phrase "lobbying activities" in the resolution is to be construed as lobbying in the commonly accepted sense of "representations made directly to the Congress, its members, or its committees," and not as extending to attempts "to saturate the thinking of the community." P. 345 U. S. 47.
(c) The scope of the resolution defining respondent's duty to answer must be ascertained as of the time of his refusal, and cannot be enlarged by subsequent action of Congress. Pp. 345 U. S. 47-48.
90 U.S.App.D.C. 382, 197 F.2d 155, affirmed.
Appeals reversed. 90 U.S.App.D.C. 382, 197 F.2d 166. This Court granted certiorari. 344 U.S. 812. Affirmed, p. 345 U. S. 48.
exact the information which the witness withheld -- must first be settled before we may consider whether Congress had the power to confer upon the committee the authority which it claimed.
"It is the proper duty of a representative body to look diligently into every affair of government and to talk much about what it sees. It is meant to be the eyes and the voice, and to embody the wisdom and will of its constituents. Unless Congress have and use every means of acquainting itself with the acts and the disposition of the administrative agents of the government, the country must be helpless to learn how it is being served; and unless Congress both scrutinize these things and sift them by every form of discussion, the country must remain in embarrassing, crippling ignorance of the very affairs which it is most important that it should understand and direct. The informing function of Congress should be preferred even to its legislative function."
absolute to their logical extreme. Yet all in fact are limited by the neighborhood of principles of policy which are other than those on which the particular right is founded, and which become strong enough to hold their own when a certain point is reached."
Hudson County Water Co. v. McCarter, 209 U. S. 349, 209 U. S. 355. President Wilson did not write in light of the history of events since he wrote; more particularly, he did not write of the investigative power of Congress in the context of the First Amendment. And so we would have to be that "blind" Court, against which Mr. Chief Justice Taft admonished in a famous passage, Child Labor Tax Case, 259 U. S. 20, 259 U. S. 37, that does not see what "[a]ll others can see and understand" not to know that there is wide concern, both in and out of Congress, over some aspects of the exercise of the congressional power of investigation.
"The Committee is authorized and directed to conduct a study and investigation of (1) all lobbying activities intended to influence, encourage, promote, or retard legislation; and (2) all activities of agencies of the Federal Government intended to influence, encourage, promote, or retard legislation."
H.Res. 298, 81st Cong., 1st Sess.
"if a serious doubt of constitutionality is raised, it is a cardinal principle that this Court will first ascertain whether a construction of the statute is fairly possible by which the question may be avoided."
Crowell v. Benson, 285 U. S. 22, 285 U. S. 62, and cases cited.
needlessly projecting delicate issues for judicial pronouncement is even more applicable to resolutions than to formal legislation. It can hardly be gainsaid that resolutions secure passage more casually and less responsibly, in the main, than do enactments requiring presidential approval.
Surely it cannot be denied that giving the scope to the resolution for which the Government contends, that is, deriving from it the power to inquire into all efforts of private individuals to influence public opinion through books and periodicals, however remote the radiations of influence which they may exert upon the ultimate legislative process, raises doubts of constitutionality in view of the prohibition of the First Amendment. In light of the opinion of Prettyman, J., below and of some of the views expressed here, it would not be seemly to maintain that these doubts are fanciful or factitious. Indeed, adjudication here, if it were necessary, would affect not an evanescent policy of Congress, but its power to inform itself, which underlies its policymaking function. Whenever constitutional limits upon the investigative power of Congress have to be drawn by this Court, it ought only to be done after Congress has demonstrated its full awareness of what is at stake by unequivocally authorizing an inquiry of dubious limits. Experience admonishes us to tread warily in this domain. The loose language of Kilbourn v. Thompson, 103 U. S. 168, the weighty criticism to which it has been subjected, see, e.g., Fairman, Mr. Justice Miller and the Supreme Court, 332-334; Landis, Constitutional Limitations on the Congressional Power of Investigation, 40 Harv.L.Rev. 153, the inroads that have been made upon that case by later cases, McGrain v. Daugherty, 273 U. S. 135, 273 U. S. 170-171, and Sinclair v. United States, 279 U. S. 263, strongly counsel abstention from adjudication unless no choice is left.
Choice is left. As a matter of English, the phrase "lobbying activities" readily lends itself to the construction placed upon it below, namely, "lobbying in its commonly accepted sense," that is, "representations made directly to the Congress, its members, or its committees", 90 U.S.App.D.C. 382, 197 F.2d 166, 175, and does not reach what was in Chairman Buchanan's mind, attempts "to saturate the thinking of the community." 96 Cong.Rec. 13883. If "lobbying" was to cover all activities of anyone intending to influence, encourage, promote or retard legislation, why did Congress differentiate between "lobbying activities" and other "activities . . . intended to influence"? Had Congress wished to authorize so extensive an investigation of the influences that form public opinion, would it not have used language at least as explicit as it employed in the very resolution in question in authorizing investigation of government agencies? Certainly it does not violence to the phrase "lobbying activities" to give it a more restricted scope. To give such meaning is not barred by intellectual honesty. So to interpret is in the candid service of avoiding a serious constitutional doubt. "Words have been strained more than they need to be strained here in order to avoid that doubt." Mr. Justice Holmes, in Blodgett v. Holden, 275 U. S. 142, 275 U. S. 148, 276 U.S. 594, with the concurrence of Mr. Justice Brandeis, Mr. Justice Sanford and Mr. Justice Stone. With a view to observing this principle of wisdom and duty, the Court very recently strained words more than they need be strained here. United States v. CIO, 335 U. S. 106. The considerations which prevailed in that case should prevail in this.
to ask Rumely for the information he withheld is not legislative history defining the scope of a congressional measure. What was said in the debate on August 30, 1950, after the controversy had arisen regarding the scope of the resolution of August 12, 1949, had the usual infirmity of post litem motam, self-serving declarations. * In any event, Rumely's duty to answer must be judged as of the time of his refusal. The scope of the resolution defining that duty is therefore to be ascertained as of that time and cannot be enlarged by subsequent action of Congress.
Grave constitutional questions are matters properly to be decided by this Court but only when they inescapably come before us for adjudication. Until then, it is our duty to abstain from marking the boundaries of congressional power or delimiting the protection guaranteed by the First Amendment. Only by such self-restraint will we avoid the mischief which has followed occasional departures from the principles which we profess.
MR. JUSTICE BURTON and MR. JUSTICE MINTON took no part in the consideration or decision of this case.
* The ambiguity of the terms of the resolution -- that is, whether questions asked to which answers were refused were within those terms -- is reflected by the close division by which the committee's view of its own authority prevailed. The vote was 183 to 175.
MR. JUSTICE DOUGLAS, with whom MR. JUSTICE BLACK concurs, concurring.
"The committee is authorized and directed to conduct at study and investigation of (1) all lobbying activities intended to influence, encourage, promote, or retard legislation; and (2) all activities of agencies of the Federal Government intended to influence, encourage, promote, or retard legislation."
Count one of the indictment charged that respondent willfully refused to produce records, duly subpoenaed, of the Committee for Constitutional Government (CCG), showing the name and address of each person from whom a total of $1,000 or more had been received by CCG from January 1, 1947, to May 1, 1950, for any purpose including receipts from the sale of books and pamphlets. Count six charged a similar offense as to a subpoena calling for the name and address of each person from whom CCG had received between those dates a total of $500 or more for any purpose. Count seven charged a willful refusal to give the name of a woman from Toledo who gave respondent $2,000 for distribution of The Road Ahead, a book written by John T. Flynn.
Committee, H.R.Rep.No.3024, 81st Cong., 2d Sess. It appears that CCG and respondent, its executive, registered under the Regulation of Lobbying Act, 60 Stat. 839, 2 U.S.C. § 261 et seq., on October 7, 1946. The reports under this registration (which was made under protest) showed that CCG had spent about $2,000,000 from October, 1946, to August ,1950. The basic function of CCG, according to the Select Committee, was the "distribution of printed material to influence legislation indirectly." The Regulation of Lobbying Act requires disclosure of contributions of $500 or more received or expended to influence, directly or indirectly, the passage or defeat of any legislation by the Congress. 2 U.S.C. §§ 264. The Select Committee reported that, after enactment of the Regulation of Lobbying Act, CCG adopted a policy of accepting payments of over $490 only if the contributor specified that the funds be used for the distribution of one or more of its books or pamphlets. It then applied the term "sale" to the "contribution," and did not report them under the Regulation of Lobbying Act. H.R.Rep. No.3024, supra, pp. 1, 2.
"Our study of this organization indicates very clearly that its most important function is the distribution of books and pamphlets in order to influence legislation directly and indirectly. It attempts to influence legislation directly by sending copies of books, pamphlets, and other printed materials to Members of Congress. It attempts to influence legislation indirectly by distributing hundreds of thousands of copies of these printed materials to people throughout the United States."
"Of particular significance is the fact that Edward A. Rumely and the Committee for Constitutional Government, Inc., in recent years have devised a scheme for raising enormous funds without filing true reports pursuant to the provisions of the Federal Regulation of Lobbying Act. This scheme has the color of legality, but, in fact, is a method of circumventing the law. It utilizes the system outlined above whereby contributions to the Committee for Constitutional Government are designated as payments for the purchase of books, which are transmitted to others at the direction of the purchaser, with both the contributor of the money and the recipients of the books totally unaware of the subterfuge in most cases."
H.R.Rep. No. 3024, supra, p. 2.
"Because of the refusal of the Committee for Constitutional Government, Inc., to produce pertinent financial records, this committee was unable to determine whether or not the Committee for Constitutional Government, Inc., is evading or violating the letter or the spirit of the Federal Regulation of Lobbying Act by the establishment of a class of contributions called 'Receipts from the sale of books and literature,' or whether they are complying with a law which requires amendments to strengthen it."
"The policy of the Committee for Constitutional Government, Inc., of refusing to accept contributions of more than $490 unless earmarked for books, etc., may also involve: (1) Dividing large contributions into installments of $490 or less, and causing the records of the Committee for Constitutional Government to reflect receipt of each installment on a different date, and/or causing the records of the Committee for Constitutional Government to give credit, for the several installments, to various relatives and associates of the actual contributor. (2) Causing the Committee for Constitutional Government's records as to 'Contributions' to reflect less than the total amount of contributions actually received, by labeling some part of such funds as payments made for printed matter."
large contributions into installments, or to prevent the crediting of contributions to others than the real contributor, or to prevent the use of other subterfuges."
H.R.Rep. No. 3024, supra, pp. 2-3.
The Select Committee submitted its report to the House (96 Cong.Rec., p 13873) and offered a Resolution that the Speaker certify respondent's refusal to answer to the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia. Id., p. 13881. The House adopted the Resolution, id., p. 13893, and on August 31, 1950, the Speaker certified respondent's refusal to testify.
Respondent was convicted and sentenced to a fine of $1,000 and to imprisonment for six months. The Court of Appeals reversed by a divided vote, 197 F.2d 166, the majority holding that "lobbying activities" as used in the Resolution creating the Select Committee did not authorize the inquiries made of respondent. In its view, the term "lobbying activities" meant direct contact with Congress, not attempts to influence public opinion through the sale of books and documents.
or receiving money to be used principally "To influence, directly or indirectly, the passage or defeat of any legislation by the Congress of the United States." 2 U.S.C. § 266(b). Congressman Buchanan, who introduced the Resolution and who became Chairman of the Select Committee, said that the purpose of the Resolution was to investigate the operations of that Act. [Footnote 4] Not a word in the Resolution, not a word in the debate preceding its adoption suggests that the inquiry was to be delimited, restricted, or confined to particular methods of collecting money to influence legislation directly or indirectly.
The Select Committee took the same broad view of its authority. [Footnote 5] It concluded that "all substantial attempts to influence legislation for pay or for any consideration constitute lobbying." H.R.Rep. No. 3239, 81st Cong., 2d Sess., p. 1. It said that "pamphleteering" was a lobbying activity that overshadows "the traditional techniques of contact and persuasion." Id., p. 3. And it cited for its conclusion the activities of CCG. Id. This conclusion was reached over vehement objections by three minority members of the Select Committee who insisted that an investigation of that breadth exceeded the authority of the Resolution and infringed on the constitutional rights of free speech and free press. Id., Part 2, p. 2.
"nothing to do with the influencing of legislation in the ordinary ways of seeing Members of Congress or communicating with them. It has only to do with the formation of public opinion among the people of the country."
Id., p. 13888. Congressman Halleck's argument was two-fold -- that the inquiry was not within the purview of the Resolution and that, if it were, it would be unconstitutional. Id., pp. 13887-13888. Others took up the debate on those issues. The vote was taken, and the Resolution passed. Id., p. 13893.
Resolution 298, the House removed them. The Court is repudiating what the House emphatically affirmed when it now says that the Select Committee lacked the authority to compel respondent to answer the questions propounded.
shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press" has behind it a long history. It expresses the confidence that the safety of society depends on the tolerance of government for hostile, as well as friendly, criticism, that, in a community where men's minds are free, there must be room for the unorthodox, as well as the orthodox, views.
the shadow which government will cast over literature that does not follow the dominant party line. If the lady from Toledo can be required to disclose what she read yesterday and what she will read tomorrow, fear will take the place of freedom in the libraries, bookstores, and homes of the land. Through the harassment of hearings, investigations, reports, and subpoenas government will hold a club over speech and over the press. Congress could not do this by law. The power of investigation is also limited. [Footnote 6] Inquiry into personal and private affairs is precluded. See Kilbourn v. Thompson, 103 U. S. 168, 103 U. S. 190; McGrain v. Daugherty, 273 U. S. 135, 273 U. S. 173-174; Sinclair v. United States, 279 U. S. 263, 279 U. S. 292. And so is any matter in respect to which no valid legislation could be had. Kilbourn v. Thompson, supra, pp. 103 U. S. 194-195; McGrain v. Daugherty, supra, p. 273 U. S. 171. Since Congress could not by law require of respondent what the House demanded, it may not take the first step in an inquiry ending in fine or imprisonment.
"Every person who having been summoned as a witness by the authority of either House of Congress to give testimony or to produce papers upon any matter under inquiry before either House, . . . or any committee of either House of Congress, willfully makes default, or who, having appeared, refuses to answer any question pertinent to the question under inquiry, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000 nor less than $100 and imprisonment in a common fail for not less than one month nor more than twelve months."
When the Taft-Hartley law was under discussion, CCG published a pamphlet "Labor Monopolies or Freedom" of which 250,000 copies were distributed.
"All members of Congress got a copy. It went to publishers. People who could take opinion that way, and mint it into small coin to distribute to others."
H.R.Rep.No.3024, supra, p. 11. Respondent testified that Frank Gannett paid for that distribution.
"Pressure groups interpret the Lobbying Act in different ways. Some file expenses. Others file full budget, but list expenditures they judge allocable to legislative activities. Still others file only expenditures directly concerned with lobbying."
"Some organizations argue they need not file unless principal purpose is influencing legislation. But Justice Department says, 'principal' includes all who have substantial legislative interests. Lobbies also differ on who filed expenditures -- organizations or individuals."
An analysis of the scope of the investigation and the meaning of "lobbying" is contained in the General Interim Report of the Select Committee. H.R.Rep. No. 3138, 81st Cong., 2d Sess., pp. 5 et seq.
Cf. Barsky v. United States, 83 U.S.App.D.C. 127, 167 F.2d 241, certiorari denied, 334 U.S. 843, rehearing denied, 339 U.S. 971, and Marshall v. United States, 85 U.S.App.D.C. 184, 176 F.2d 473, certiorari denied, 339 U.S. 933, rehearing denied, 339 U.S. 959.

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