We Are Under Martial Law: Evidence: Senate Report 93-549 EMERGENCY POWERS STATUTES

93D CONGRESS

1st Session f SENATE

EMERGENCY POWERS STATUTES:

PROVISIONS OF FEDERAL LAW

Now IN EFFECT DELEGATING TO THE

EXECUTIVE EXTRAORDINARY AUTHORITY

IN TIME OF NATIONAL EMERGENCY

REPORT

OF THE

SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON THE

TERMINATION OF THE

NATIONAL EMERGENCY

UNITED STATES SENATE

NOVEMBER 19, 1973

U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

WASHINGTON ” 1973

REPORT

No. 93-549

24-509 0

SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON THE

TERMINATION OF THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY

FRANK CHURCH, Idaho Co-Chairmen CHARLES McC. MATHIAS. JL., Maryland

PHILIP A. HART, Michigan CLIFFORD P. CASE. New Jersey

CLAIBORNE PELL, Rhode Island JAMES B. PEARSON, Kansas

ADLAI E. STEVENSON III, Illinois CLIFFORD P. HANSEN, Wyoming

WILLIAM G. MILLER, Staff Director

TROMAs A. DINE, Profeusional Staff

Oil)

FOREWORD

Since March 9, 1933, the United States has been in a state of declared

national emergency. In fact, there are now in effect four presidentially

proclaimed states of national emergency: In addition to the

national emergency declared by President Roosevelt in 1933, there are

also the national emergency proclaimed by President Truman on December

16, 1950, during the Korean conflict, and the states of national

emergency declared by President Nixon on March 23, 1970, and

August 15, 1971.

These proclamations give force to 470 provisions of Federal

law. These hundreds of statutes delegate to the President extraordinary

powers, ordinarily exercised by the Congress, which affect the

lives of American citizens in a host of all-encompassing manners. This

vast range of powers, taken together, confer enough authority to rule

the country without reference to normal constitutional processes.

Under the powers delegated by these statutes, the President may:

seize property; organize and control the means of production; seize

commodities; assign military forces abroad; institute martial law;

seize and control all transportation and communication; regulate the

operation of private enterprise; restrict travel; and, in a plethora of

particular ways, control the lives of all American citizens.

With the melting of the cold war-the developing ditente with the

Soviet Union and China, the stable truce of over 20 years duration

between North and South Korea, and the end of U.S. involvement in

the war in Indochina-there is no present need for the United States

Government to continue to function under emergency conditions.

The Special Committee on the Termination of the National Emergency

was created I to examine the consequences of terminating the declared

states of national emergency that now prevail; to recommend

what steps the Congress should take to ensure that the termination can

be accomplished without adverse effect upon the necessary tasks of governing;

and, also, to recommend ways in which the United States can

meet future emergency situations with speed and effectiveness but

without relinquishment of congressional oversight and control.

In accordance with this mandate, the Special Committee-in conjunction

with the Executive branch, expert constitutional authorities,

as well as former high officials of this Government-is now engaged

1 S. Res. 9, 93d Cong., let Sess.

in a detailed study to determine the most reasonable ways to restore

normalcy to the operations of our Government.

A first and necessary step was to bring together the body of statutes,

which have been passed by Congress, conferring extraordinary

powers upon the Executive branch in times of national emergency.

This has been a most difficult task. Nowhere in the Government, in

either the Executive or Legislative branches, did there exist a complete

catalog of all emergency statutes. Many were aware that there

had been a delegation of an enormous amount of power but, of how

much power, no one knew. In order to correct this situation, the

Special Committee staff was instructed to work with the Executive

branch, the Library of Congress, and knowledgeable legal authorities

to compile an authoritative list of delegated emergency powers.

This Special Committee study, which contains a list of all provisions

of Federal law, except the most trivial, conferring extraordinary

powers in time of national emergency, was compiled by the staff under

the direction of Staff Director William G. Miller, and Mr. Thomas A.

Dine; utilizing the help of the General Accounting Office, the American

Law Division of the Library of Congress, the Department of

Justice, the Department of Defense, and the Office of Emergency

Planning.

The Special Committee is grateful for the assistance provided by

Jack Goldklang of the Office of Legal Counsel, Department of Justice;

Lester S. Jayson, the director of the Congressional Research Service

of the Library of Congress; Joseph E. Ross, head of the American

Law Division of CRS; and especially Raymond Celada of the American

Law Division and his able assistants, Charles V. Dale and Grover

S. Williams; Paul Armstrong of the General Accounting Office; Linda

Lee, Patrick Norton, Roland Moore, William K. Sawyer, Audrey

Hatry, Martha Mecham, and David J. Kyte.

The Special Committee will also publish a list of Executive Orders,

issued pursuant to statutes brought into force by declared states of

emergency, at a later date.

CHARLES McC. MATHIAS, JR.

FRANK CHURCH,

Co-c hairnen.