and had been active in the California Democratic Clubs in the Peninsula area. He is the gentleman that I referred to when I was talking about knowledge on missiles and that sort of information. Mr. ARENS. Mr. Chairman, in view of the fact that we are presently running considerably behind our anticipated schedule of witnesses here, and the fact that we have in good faith made commitments to some people, or at least their counsel, to be heard at various times, I would like, if it meets with the pleasure of the chairman, for Mr. Prussion to be temporarily excused from further testimony today so that we may get on with other witnesses, with the end in view of a resumption of his testimony on certain items tomorrow, if that meets with the pleasure of the chairman. Mr. WILLIS. That procedure will be followed. Mr. PRUSSION. Thank you. Mr. WILLIS. Call your next witness. Mr. ARENS. Edward Ross, please come forward. Mr. STEWART. Mr. Lewis, Mr. Ross' attorney, advised me that he was informed Mr. Ross would not be called today. He talked to Representative Willis about that. Mr. ARENS. You are absolutely right. I apologize for that. He will be called tomorrow. Let me call a couple more names. The gentleman who just addressed the committee, would you come back please for a moment? Elizabeth Nicholas, is she likewise represented by the same counsel? Mr. WILLIS. Thank you. Mr. ARENS. Elizabeth Nicholas, please come forward and remain standing while the chairman administers an oath. Mr. WILLIS. Please raise your right hand. You do solemnly 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? Mrs. NICHOLAS. I do. TESTIMONY OF ELIZABETH M. NICHOLAS, ACCOMPANIED BY Mr. ARENS. Kindly identify yourself by name, residence and occupation. (The witness conferred with her counsel.) Mrs. NICHOLAS. Elizabeth Nicholas, Sunnyvale. Mr. ARENS. You are appearing today in response to a subpena which was served upon you by this committee? Mrs. NICHOLAS. I did. Mr. WILLIS. The witness didn't state her occupation. Mr. ARENS. I beg your pardon? Mr. WILLIS. You asked for the occupation, and she didn't designate it. Mr. ARENS. Would you kindly tell us your occupation? Mrs. NICHOLAS. Well, I can start out that I have been a prune Dicker, an apricot cutter, a cannery worker, a dry fruit worker, a houseworker, by the hour, and now I am an assistant cook. Mr. ARENS. Have you had any other principal occupation in the course of your career? (The witness conferred with her counsel.) Mrs. NICHOLAS. Those are the occupations that I have usually followed. Mr. ARENS. Have you been a full-time functionary of the Communist Party? (The witness conferred with her counsel.) Mr. WILLIS. Counsel has not been identified. I will have him identified in just a moment. Mrs. NICHOLAS. I stand on my grounds of not answering on the first and fifth amendments. Mr. ARENS. You are appearing today in response to a subpena which was served upon you by this committee? Mrs. NICHOLAS. Pardon? Mr. ARENS. You are appearing here in response to a subpena which was served upon you by this committee? Mr. ARENS. Counsel, kindly identify yourself on this record. Mr. ARENS. Ma'am, we would like to display to you now certain documents bearing the signature of Elizabeth M. Nicholas. First; the photostatic copy of Communist Party proxy for attendance at the State Central Committee meeting in Sacramento, 1940 and dated September 19, 1940: I, Elizabeth M. Nicholas, duly qualified to sit as a member of the State Central Committee designates a certain person named herein as your proxy. Second; a copy of Communist Party appointment of members of the State Central Committee meeting, Sacramento, 1940, signed by Elizabeth M. Nicholas on the 18th day of September 1940. Kindly look at these two documents which will now be displayed to you by Mr. Wheeler and tell this committee whether or not they are true and correct reproductions of documents signed by yourself as a member of the State Central Committee of the Communist Party in 1940. (The document was handed to the witness.) The witness conferred with her counsel.) Mrs. NICHOLAS. The same answer. (Documents marked "Nicholas Exhibits Nos. 1 and 2, and retained in committee files.) Mr. ARENS. Ma'am, if you will kindly look to your left, at the gentleman seated across from you at the table, at the second desk there, who was just testifying and took an oath that while he served as an undercover operative for the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the Communist Party he knew you to be a member of the Communist Party. Was he in error in that statement? (The witness conferred with her counsel.) Mr. ARENS. Or was his statement correct? Mrs. NICHOLAS. The same answer. Mr. ARENS. Are you now, this instant, a member of the Communist Party? Mrs. NICHOLAS. The same answer. Mr. ARENS. Mr. Chairman, I respectfully suggest that will conclude the staff interrogation of this witness. Mr. WILLIS. The witness is excused. Mr. ARENS. The next witness, if you please, Mr. Chairman, will be Donald H. Clark. Please come forward and remain standing while the chairman administers an oath. Mr. WILLIS. Please raise your right hand. You do solemnly swear that the testimony you are about to give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing by the truth, so help you God? Mr. CLARK, I do. TESTIMONY OF DONALD H. CLARK, ACCOMPANIED BY COUNSEL, NORMAN HOWARD Mr. ARENS. Kindly identify yourself by name, residence, and occupation. Mr. CLARK. My name is Donald H. Clark. My residence is Post Office Box 972, San Jose, Calif. My occupation is I am a civil engineer by profession. My work includes checking line, grade, and workmanship of streets, sidewalks, and sewers, which includes occasionally going a little underground into sanitary sewer lines. Mr. ARENS. I didn't get the last you said there. Mr. CLARK. I would like to request that the lights be turned out. Even though I work outdoors in the sunlight often I am not used to being in this third-degree atmosphere which these lights engender. I understand Mr. WILLIS. That is enough. Turn off the lights. Mr. ARENS. Mr. Clark, you are appearing today in response to a subpena which was served upon you by this committee? Mr. CLARK. Yes, sir; I am. Mr. ARENS. And you are represented by counsel? Mr. CLARK. Yes, sir; I am. Mr. ARENS. Counsel, will you kindly identify yourself? Mr. HOWARD. Norman Howard, San Jose, Calif. Mr. ARENS. Do you know a man by the name of Karl Prussion? Mr. CLARK. Just a minute, sir. (The witness conferred with his counsel.) Mr. CLARK. On the grounds of freedom of association, and on the ground that this question is not pertinent to my-it is not the right of this committee meeting here today to ask me these questions, I decline to reply. Mr. ARENS. Mr. Prussion testified a few moments ago that while he served as an undercover agent in the Communist Party at the behest of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, he knew you to be a member of the Communist Party. Mr. Prussion is seated over there to your left. Was Mr. Prussion in error or was he correct in identifying you as a person who was a member of the Communist Party? 56597-60-pt. 2—5 Mr. CLARK. I think the answer that I am going to give is essentially the same answer I gave to the previous question. I don't believe it is the business of this Congress, I don't believe it is the business of this committee meeting today to interrogate me in that manner under the constitutional rights that I have granted me as an American citizen. Mr. ARENS. Are you now, this very minute, a member of the Communist Party? Mr. CLARK. I think, sir, that by the replies I have given up to now, that you know that I do not intend to cooperate with this committee. the composition being as it is. I could go into many statements. I do not intend to use this as a public forum of my beliefs. I believe this is not the place. My beliefs and my associations are strictly private, my own business, and nobody else's. Mr. ARENS. Now, Mr. Chairman, I respectfully suggest that this witness be ordered and directed to answer the question. Mr. WILLIS. I order you to answer the question. (The witness conferred with his counsel.) Mr. CLARK. Excuse me for a moment for consultation with my counsel. (The witness conferred with his counsel.) Mr. CLARK. I believe there is a Constitution and I believe it savs something to the effect of freedom of speech, and also I believe there is a point in the Bill of Rights regarding self-incrimination, and I stand on those Bills of Rights as an American citizen, as a former Army officer, as a citizen of this country, as a registered civil engineer. I do not believe you have the right to interrogate me in this manner and I stand on my rights as I declared. Mr. ARENS. Over what period of time were you engaged in the service in the military? (The witness conferred with his counsel.) Mr. CLARK. I served for this country, I demonstrated my loyalty. I think, very well, for 41⁄2 years, 27 months in the Aleutians, I faced willy-wa's. For your information that is a wind that blows 100 miles an hour or more, and I think I can face this committee. I don't want to face this committee. I don't feel as if I have any place here. I would like to stop answering right there. Mr. ARENS. During your period of service in the military, were you likewise at that time under the discipline, as a member, of the Communist Party? Mr. CLARK. Excuse me, sir. (The witness conferred with his counsel.) Mr. CLARK. I decline to answer that question on the same grounds as previously stated. Mr. ARENS. Were you commissioned in the military or did you serve in a non-commissioned capacity? (The witness conferred with his counsel.) Mr. CLARK. I think it is a matter of public record that I was a commissioned officer. Mr. ARENS. At the time you took an oath as a commissioned officer to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic, were you at that very instant a member of the Communist Party? (The witness conferred with his counsel.) Mr. CLARK. I decline on the same grounds as previously stated. Mr. CLARK. I believe you asked me that question already. If your memory is sound, I think I gave you an answer before. It shouldn't be necessary to interrogate me again. Mr. ARENS. I have in my hand a note written in your handwriting: DEAR KARL: Please accept my apologies for hollering at you today. It was incorrect using your name and questioning your judgment. Regards, DON. Kindly look at that note which is now being displayed to you by Mr. Wheeler and tell us, while you are under oath, whether or not that is the original note sent by you to a member-a person known by you to be a member of the Communist Party.. (The document was handed to the witness.) Mr. CLARK. Excuse me, sir. (The witness conferred with his counsel.) Mr. CLARK. My counsel tells me I am getting too angry; I should try to be more calm and collected. I refuse to answer on the same grounds that I used previously. Mr. ARENS. Mr. Chairman, I respectfully suggest that will conclude the staff interrogation of this witness. (Document marked "Clark Exhibit No. 1," and retained in committee files.) The next witness, if you please, Mr. Chairman, is Morris Graham. Please come forward and remain standing while the chairman administers an oath. Mr. WILLIS. You do solemnly 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. GRAHAM. I do. TESTIMONY OF MORRIS GRAHAM, ACCOMPANIED BY COUNSEL, GEORGE R. ANDERSEN Mr. ARENS. Kindly identify yourself by name, residence, and occupation. Mr. GRAHAM. Morris Graham, San Jose, California. I am a welder. Mr. ARENS. Would you sit a little closer to the microphone? I only got your name and--I didn't get the latter part of your response, although I guess the reporter got it. Mr. GRAHAM. My name is Morris Graham, and I live in San Jose, California, and I am a welder by trade. Mr. ARENS. You are appearing today in response to a subpena which was served upon you by this committee? Mr. GRAHAM. I am. Mr. ARENS. You are represented by counsel? Mr. ARENS. Counsel, kindly identify yourself. |