Mr. COLCORD. I decline to answer that question on the grounds previously stated. (Document marked "Colcord Exhibit No. 1" and retained in committee files.) The CHAIRMAN (presiding). May I ask a question? Do you feel that you might be subjected to a criminal prosecution if you answered the question as to whether or not you had the customary papers issued to a person in this seaman-wiper-messman category? (Witness consulted his counsel.) Mr. BOUDIN. Excuse me one second, Mr. Chairman. (Witness consulted his counsel.) Mr. COLCORD. I respectfully decline on the grounds previously stated. The CHAIRMAN. What crime do you think you might be charged with if you admitted that you had papers qualifying you to serve on merchant ships as a seaman-wiper-messman-lifeboatman? Mr. COLCORD. I decline to answer on the grounds previously stated. The CHAIRMAN. I direct you to answer the question. Mr. COLCORD. I decline to answer on the grounds previously stated. Mr. ARENS. Have you had, or do you presently have, a radio operator's license authorizing you to operate a radio aboard ship or on port facilities? Mr. COLCORD. I decline to answer that question on the grounds previously stated. Mr. ARENS. Have you, in the course of the last 5 years, transmitted any messages via radio aboard ship or port facilities, which messages were given to you by a person known by you to be a member of the Communist Party? Mr. COLCORD. I decline to answer that question on the grounds previously stated. Mr. ARENS. Now, sir, there is pending before this committee a bill, H.R. 11580, introduced by the chairman of the committee, which, among other things, precludes the issuance of seaman's papers to a person who when subpenaed before a Federal agency refuses to answer under oath questions concerning three items. I should like to repeat each of these three items to you now so that this record will reflect how this bill would operate if it were law. Item 1. Are you, sir, now a member of the Communist Party? Mr. COLCORD. I decline to answer that question on the grounds previously stated. Mr. ARENS. Are you, sir, possessed now of information respecting the activities of any person known by you to be a member of the Communist Party? Mr. COLCORD. I decline to answer that question on the grounds previously stated. Mr. ARENS. Do you, sir, have information now respecting the participation of any individual in activities conducted by, or under the direction of, the Communist Party? Mr. COLCORD. I decline to answer that question on the grounds previously stated. Mr. ARENS. Mr. Chairman, I respectfully suggest that would conclude the staff interrogation of this witness. The CHAIRMAN. Now, as I understand the bill, if the witness had invoked the fifth amendment with respect to these three questions, or any one of them, it would have been impossible for him to obtain a radio license or a license as a sailor. Mr. ARENS. That is right, and if he has such a license he would not be able to sail under the papers which had been issued to him prior to the instance in which he would refuse to answer these questions. The CHAIRMAN. Are there any questions? Mr. Tuck. I have no questions. The CHAIRMAN. Thank you. In view of the fact that important witnesses, operators of lines and the officers of labor unions, are now in a conference in Europe, the hearings will be recessed until such time as it is possible for them to attend. So the present session is adjourned. (Thereupon at 10:30 a.m., Wednesday, June 8, 1960, the committee recessed subject to call of the Chair.) COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES AMONG SEAMEN AND ON WATERFRONT FACILITIES PART 1 THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 1960 UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, PUBLIC HEARINGS Washington, DC, The Committee on Un-American Activities met, pursuant to call, at 10 a.m. in the Caucus Room, House Office Building, Washington, D.C. Committee members present: Representatives Francis E. Walter, of Pennsylvania; William M. Tuck, of Virginia; Gordon II. Meheer, of Ohio; and August E. Johansen, of Michigan, (Appearances as noted.) Staff members present: Richard Arens, staff director, and Raymond T. Collins, investigator. Mr. SCHERER (presiding). The committee will come to order, (Members of the committee present at time of convening: Bep resentative Scherer.) Mr. SCHERER. Mr. Director, will you call your first witness! Mr. ARENS. The first withless, if you please, will be Mr. Bay B. Murdock, Washington councel for the Seafarers International Chion of North America. Mr. Murdock, would you kindly come forwardt Mr. SCHERER. Mr. Murdock to you semny swear that O& Ma Mozy you we about to give shall be the truth, the whox Naval, knd noching but the truth, to help you God! I am accompanied at the table by Mr. H. Howard Ostrin, of the firm of Cooper, Ostrin & DeVarco, who is the general counsel to the National Maritime Union, and by Mr. Hoyt Haddock. Mr. Haddock is the director of the Seafarers' Section, Maritime Trades Department of the AFL-CIO. The Seafarers' Section comprises all legitimate seagoing unions which are affiliated with the AFL-CIO and has a membership in excess of 100,000. Mr. ARENS. Mr. Murdock, you have a prepared statement to present to the committee today? Mr. MURDOCK. Yes. Mr. ARENS. And may I inquire, do the other two gentlemen accompanying you have prepared statements or do they have anything they want to say or do they, in effect, lend their support to the essence of your statement? Mr. MURDOCK. They do not have prepared statements. Mr. Ostrin is here in the event some technical question arises on which his advice is needed. We are in agreement with the statement which I will put into the record. Mr. ARENS. All right, sir. Would you kindly proceed, then, Mr. Murdock? The statement is not too long. You can read it, if you please, for the benefit of the member who is present and also for the benefit of the record, which will be available to the entire membership of the committee. Mr. MURDOCK. More than any other group, legitimate American seamen favor exclusion of Communists and other security risks from the waterfront. Not only do Communists on the waterfront imperil our national defense, they also constitute an unstable factor which disrupts the industry and interferes with genuine collective bargaining. It is generally recognized that, of all industries, the waterfront industries are most vulnerable to infiltration by subversives. This vulnerability results primarily from the facts that (1) shipping is an international operation and the flags in the maritime industry represent governments of every political complexion, and (2) in the very nature of the business, maritime is an industry of casual employment, that is, seamen frequently change employers after every voyage, and their tenure is variable and undependable. Because of these conditions, it is perhaps inevitable that opportunists and adventurers, renegades and conspirators are attracted to the waterfront. However, I call your attention to the fact that the maritime unions affiliated with the AFL-CIO have done a remarkable job of cleaning Communists and other subversives out of their ranks. The maritime unions have carried on, and will continue to carry on, an intensive crusade against Communists and other subversives. Unfortunately, as you know, not all segments of the waterfront industries are under the jurisdiction of unions affiliated with the Federation. As Chairman Walter said in his opening statement in these hearings, "for all practical purposes... the entire security screening procedures administered by the United States Coast Guard" have been ruled invalid by Federal courts. The result is that subversives have free access to ships and port facilities in this country. |