COMMUNIST PENETRATION OF RADIO FACILITIES (CONELRAD-COMMUNICATIONS) (PART 1) TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 1960 UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, PUBLIC HEARINGS Washington, D.C. The Committee on Un-American Activities met, pursuant to call, at 10:10 a.m. in the Caucus Room, Old House Office Building, Washington, D.C., Hon. Francis E. Walter (chairman) presiding. Committee members present: Francis E. Walter, of Pennsylvania; Morgan M. Moulder, of Missouri; Clyde Doyle, of California; William M. Tuck, of Virginia; Gordon H. Scherer, of Ohio; and August E. Johansen, of Michigan. (Appearances as noted.) Staff members present: Richard Arens, staff director, and Louis J. Russell, investigator. The CHAIRMAN. The hearing will be in order. (Members of the committee present at time of convening: Representatives Walter, Doyle, Tuck, and Johansen.) The CHAIRMAN. The hearings which are beginning today are on H.R. 12852, which I introduced on June 28, to cope with a situation which is similar to the situation revealed to exist in regard to Communist activities among seamen. H.R. 12852 to amend the Subversive Activities Control Act of 1950, is designed to cope with Communist infiltration in the field of radio communications. It prohibits the issuance of a radio operator's license to any individual who wilfully fails or refuses to answer certain questions relating to Communist activities when summoned to appear before designated Federal agencies and provides for the revocation of a license which may be or may have been issued to any such individual. Let there now be inserted in the body of this record the text of the bill H.R. 12852. (H.R. 12852 follows.) 1861 88TH CONGRESS H. R. 12852 2D SESSION IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 28, 1960 Mr. WALTER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Un-American Activities A BILL To amend the Subversive Activities Control Act of 1950 so as to prohibit the licensing of certain individuals as station operators of certain communication facilities, and for other purposes. 1 2 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 3 That the Subversive Activities Control Act of 1950 is 4 amended by redesignating section 32 as section 33 and by 5 inserting, immediately after section 31, the following new 6 section: I 1 2 2 "AMENDING COMMUNICATIONS ACT OF 1934 "SEC. 32. The Communications Act of 1934 is amended 3 by inserting immediately after section 303 the following 4 new section: 78 "'DENIAL AND REVOCATION OF OPERATOR'S LICENSES IN "SEC. 303A. (a) The Commission shall not issue an 8 operator's license to any individual who willfully fails or 9 refuses to appear before any Federal agency, when sub10 penaed or ordered to appear, or to answer under oath before such Federal agency any question concerning— 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 "(1) the membership of such individual, or any other individual, in the Communist Party, "(2) the activities of such individual, or any other individual, as a member of the Communist Party, or 6 "(3) the participation of such individual, or any other individual, in activities conducted by or under the direction of the Communist Party or any member thereof. In any case in which any individual who holds such a license shall willfully fail or refuse to appear, or to answer 22 questions, under the circumstances described in the first 23 sentence of this subsection, the Commission shall revoke such 24 license. 123456789 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 3 "(b) As used in this section the "(1) the term "Communist Party" means Communist Party of the United States, or any successors of such party regardless of the assumed name, whose object or purpose is to overthrow the Government of the United States, or the government of any State, District, Commonwealth, or possession thereof, or the government of any political subdivision therein, by force and violence, and includes subsidiary organizations of such party; and "(2) the term "Federal agency" means any department, independent establishment, or other agency or instrumentality of the executive branch of the Government of the United States, and any congressional committee or subcommittee.'" SEC. 2. The amendments made by the first section of 17 this Act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after the date 18 of enactment of this Act. The CHAIRMAN. May I say that both the bill to cope with Communist activities among seamen-H.R. 11580-and the bill which is the subject of the present hearings dealing with Communists in the radio communications field-H.R. 12852-are patterned after a California statute which was held valid by the United States Supreme Court in the case of Nelson and Globe versus County of Los Angeles, decided February 29, 1960, in which the court sustained the validity of a provision of the California statute providing for the dismissal of any public employee who, when summoned before an appropriate government agency, refuses to give information of which he is possessed on communism and other subversive activities. Shortly after I introduced H.R. 12852, which we are now considering, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia issued its decision in the case of Borrow versus Federal Communications Commission. In this case Borrow was an applicant for the renewal of a radio operator's license. In connection with the renewal application he was asked by the Federal Communications Commission certain questions respecting Communist Party membership, but he refused to answer them on the ground that the commission had no legal authority to require answers to these questions as a prerequisite to renewal of his license. I will ask Mr. Doyle to complete the reading of this statement. Mr. DOYLE. The court held that under the Communications Act it was proper for the commission to ask the questions of the applicant and that his refusal to answer the questions was a sufficient basis upon which the commission could dismiss his application. While the majority opinion of the Court of Appeals in this case reveals an encouraging trend toward a recognition of the facts as to the nature of the Communist conspiracy and of the threat which Communists pose in such a vital area as radio communications, the Borrow case does not deal with holders of operators' licenses as distinct from applicants. Therefore, it appears that in addition to the law as pronounced in the Borrow case, legislation is needed in this field. I shall not at this time attempt to detail the threat to our internal security which can be posed by Communists with access to radio communications facilities. In this day of guided missiles, radio alerts, directional signals, and various electronic devices which govern communications and the dissemination of public information, it should be obvious to anyone that precautions must be taken to preclude access by Communists to our radio communications facilities. We shall, accordingly, explore various factual situations in which persons we have reason to believe are, or in the recent past have been, members of the Communist Party have access to radio communications facilities. This exploration will be for the purpose of attempting to elicit factual information to assist this committee in its appraisal of the legislation. I have just concluded your statement, Mr. Chairman. The CHAIRMAN. Thank you. Call your first witness. Mr. ARENS. Mr. Chairman, if you please, the first witness will be Commissioner Robert E. Lee of the Federal Communications Commission, accompanied by certain of his associates on the commission staff who will assist him in his testimony. Gentlemen, will you kindly rise while the chairman administers an oath? The CHAIRMAN. Please raise your right hands. Do you 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. LEE. I do. Mr. MILLER. I do. TESTIMONY OF ROBERT E. LEE, COMMISSIONER, FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION; EDGAR W. HOLTZ, ASSOCIATE GENERAL COUNSEL; CHARLES R. ESCOLA, ASSISTANT GENERAL COUNSEL; AND KENNETH W. MILLER, U.S. SUPERVISOR, CONELRAD; ACCOMPANIED BY FRANK M. KRATOKVIL, ASSISTANT CHIEF, FIELD ENGINEERING AND MONITORING BUREAU Mr. ARENS. Commissioner Lee, kindly identify yourself by full name, and occupation. Then I shall ask, beginning with the gentleman on your far right, for your associates to identify themselves by name and occupation. Mr. LEE. I am Robert E. Lee. I entered Federal service in 1938 as a special agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Subsequently I was research director for the House Appropriations Committee here on the Hill for six or seven years and was appointed to the Federal Communications Commission by President Eisenhower in October 1953, and reappointed this year, and gratefully reconfirmed as Commissioner. Mr. ARENS. Now, will you kindly identify yourself and give us a word about your occupation? Mr. ESCOLA. I am Charles R. Escola, assistant general counsel, Federal Communications Commission. Mr. ARENS. Will you do likewise? Mr. HOLTZ. I am Edgar W. Holtz. I am the associate general counsel of the commission, at the present time acting general counsel during this period. Mr. MILLER. My name is Kenneth W. Miller. I am the U.S. Supervisor of CONELRAD, Office of the Chief Engineer. Mr. ARENS. Gentlemen, may I respectfully suggest, if it meets with the pleasure of the committee, that, as I pose questions, the individual who is equipped, because of his particular status with the Federal Communications Commission, give the response. In that way we can cover the subject matter, I believe, more efficiently. As a point of departure in our inquiry, may I ask if you will kindly give us a word about the power, duty, and jurisdiction of the FCC? Mr. LEE. By way of background, I would like to say that I do not have a prepared statement. I do, however, have an excerpt of a statement that was prepared for our annual report concerning the defense activities of the FCC. Mr. ARENS. Would you kindly summarize it in this presentation, and then if it meets with the pleasure of the chairman, we will cause that document which you now have to be incorporated in this record. Mr. LEE. Yes; I will be happy to do it. (The Federal Communications Commission material referred to above follows:) NATIONAL DEFENSE DELEGATION OF EMERGENCY POWERS In time of war or other national emergency the President, under section 606 of the Communications Act, has certain powers to deal with wire and radio communication and devices capable of radiation which could be used as "homing" beams to guide enemy aircraft and missiles. This authority covers closure or utilization of facilities in such an emergency; establishment of priorities for essential communications, and employment of the Armed Forces to protect communication facilities. Severe penalties are prescribed for convicted violators. Since 1951 the FCC, under Presidential directive, has established and enforced regulations concerning electromagnetic radiation from noncommunication devices. CONELRAD CONELRAD is a code word meaning CONtrol of ELectromagnetic RADiation. It is a voluntary program prepared at the request and with the cooperation of the Department of Defense and the Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization. In addition to minimizing the navigational aid an enemy might obtain from radio emissions, it encompasses a variety of classified projects. It seeks to mobilize, for emergency purposes, the entire non-Government non-military communications industry at no capital cost to the taxpayer. CONELRAD plans have been completed and implemented for the majority of the radio services authorized by the Commission. These plans establish means for dissemination of the CONELRAD radio alert to all radio stations. Upon notification of a CONELRAD radio alert, all AM, FM and TV stations leave the air after making a short announcement. Certain designated AM stations return to the air and broadcast civil defense messages and other pertinent information on the emergency broadcast frequencies of 640 and 1240 kilocycles. Stations in other radio services whose operation is essential to the national safety or the safety of life and property are permitted to operate in a controlled manner. All others must remain silent until the CONELRAD radio all clear has been issued. The CONELRAD radio alert is invoked by the Commander-in-Chief, North American Air Defense Command, and is transmitted to certain designated key broadcast stations which in turn broadcast the CONELRAD attention signal 60500-60-pt. 1—3 |